right-to-left fastenings

Bindings are fastened from the side to which the movable part is attached to the side to which the immovable catchplate or pin is attached. A binding with catchplates on the left board and straps and clasps on the right board can therefore be described as fastening from right to left (and vice-versa). It is important to record this, as German, Scandinavian, Dutch/Flemish and most eastern European and Greek bindings traditionally fasten from right to left and most British, French and Spanish bindings fasten from left to right. The only country to do both on a regular basis is Italy, where a small proportion of books fasten from right to left, possibly bound in the very north of the country, where German is still spoken. Some binders would reverse their normal direction of fastening when binding books printed or written in languages that read from right to left (e.g. Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac, etc.). The direction of fastening is not relevant for ties.