Later, thoughts were recorded on wax tablets, and finally on animal skins sewn together and rolled up for preservation. Certain reading inconveniences most likely gave way to the invention of fanfold manuscripts, which were manuscripts secured between two small boards. Until the fifteenth century, the art of binding was relatively simple, consisting of tying leaves or sheets together by sewing and trimming them. Though the Chinese were credited with the invention of rag paper, it is important to mention here that they had already been using it since the ninth century, while the Arabs introduced it to Europe four centuries later, around 1240.

In addition to binding books, the binder would also assist the printer and the publishers. We might recall that at the beginning of printing, the binder would be in charge of sizing and glazing the paper in order to partially eliminate the surface asperity resulting from the manufacturing process; drying the sheets in order to prevent the ink from smudging over other pages of the project; and assembling them into books.

While the process of binding is closely linked to book publishing, binding has undergone many changes and improvements since its beginnings. We will mainly look at artisan binding here, for it is this creative labour that gives rise to our admiration for Pierre Ouvrard's achievements.