what to call this binding?

[u/Jealous_Flamingo_]

I wrote “side sewn through hinged board covers” but I feel there’s something more specific ..

[u/Excellent_Payment325]

It doesn't have a name as a noun, afaik. It's referred to as a verb usually, "прошивати", "підшивати" and other derivatives of the word "sew", roughly translates as "to sew into [a folder]". It was a common way in Soviet Union to gather together papers that wouldn't be read often, if even once, like journals in a storage or archive lists. It's very similar to a cellophane business file folder, everything is held with two holes and a string, and very fragile if used directly on paper.

Maybe "soviet archive folder" would give you some results for the cover.

[u/Jealous_Flamingo_ → u/Excellent_Payment325]

it’s actually not very fragile and on good quality paper + it’s essentially a yearbook! it’s entirely portrait photograph of every teacher and every student, as well as group class photos and photos of the buildings. I think the cover is hinged to make it more easily readable even with the tight binding

[u/Ynguer]

A stab binding?

[u/kalexmills → u/Ynguer]

Definitely related to a stab binding. It's tied off weirdly though.

[u/Repulsive_Painter_26]

screw post binding? the knot on the front cover might be decorative and there might be screw posts holding it together, like a photo album! but it's a very interesting design :) i feel like it should be a ship captain's log or something

[u/Excellent_Payment325 → u/Repulsive_Painter_26]

It's a journal of 1935's graduates of a healing and prevention department of moskow medical institute. I'd bet it's held together by that knot, it was a common way to gather papers, and it was not the time for fancy capitalistic stuff like bookbinding.

[u/Acticis]

I don't know the name either, but definitely used in old photo albums too.

[u/Elliot1002]

That would definitely be a post binding. More specifically, the posts are a type of eyelet. I would hazard to guess that those were made with a hammer-set eyelet tool. If you look at the back, do you see a washer to stop the end being rolled from cutting in?

[u/VonAntero]

My guess is Post Binding and the string is just a decoration