As early as the era of Jane Eyre, books had a certain binding form. For example, the use of redundant bamboo slips (several blank bamboo slips in front of the volume) and standard bamboo slips (the most right bamboo slip with a title on the back) is recognized as the source of supplementary pages and covers in later books. After the popularization of printed books in Song Dynasty, the binding form of books became more and more perfect. For example, the book structure of thread-bound books includes books, bookmarks, covers, envelopes, pages, inserts, heads, backs, roots and corners.

"Book coat", commonly known as "book cover", is the surface of a book wrapped in paper, which is called "protective seal" or "packaging" in modern times. Generally, it is made of hard and thick colored paper or colored silk, which covers the book cover for protection and decoration. Book covers can be divided into single-page and double-page, with single-page called "buckle skin" and double-page called "cheese skin".

Bookmark, also known as "buoy" or "book cover title", is a paper label attached to the book cover, and the title, volume or book number are also written in silk.

The "cover" is the first page behind the book cover, which is equivalent to the modern title page, also known as the "title page". It is often printed with the title of the book, the name of the author, the name of the publishing house, and the publication time. In particular, the calligraphy of the book title and the signature of the inscriber are often covered with thin paper.

"Inside the cover", commonly known as "inside the cover", means that the back of the cover is mostly blank, and some are printed with words.

"Leaf" refers to the blank page between the cover and the cover. The front leaf is called "front leaf" and the back leaf is called "back leaf", also called "accessory leaf". Its function can protect the leaves of paper, and it can also prevent moisture and insects, so it is also called "leaf protection". The title page can also be inscribed with words.

"Lined pages" refer to blank pages lined on the front and back of a book.

"Book brain" refers to the blank of drilling lines outside the left and right side columns of the book leaves. Because it is the key position in binding and the hub of fixing the form of books, it is called "book brain".

"Back", also called "spine", refers to the binding and sewing side of pages, just like back.

"Book root" refers to the side cut at the bottom of each book. Thread-bound books can only be laid flat on the bookshelf, so book collectors write down the title, volume number or album number at the root of the book for easy inspection and sorting.

"Book head", also known as "book head", refers to the side cut at the top of each book.

"Book corner" refers to the upper and lower corners on the right side of the book. For more precious books, the corner of the book is often wrapped with lake color or blue Zi Ling, which is called "corner wrapping".

"Letters", also known as "letter cases", are used to hold books.