i think the only advantage is that binding books back then was expensive as hell... so maybe this crazy 6-way binding could have cost 2x or 3x and it would stil

i think the only advantage is that binding books back then was expensive as hell... so maybe this crazy 6-way binding could have cost 2x or 3x and it would still be cheaper then paying the normal 6x. not to mention you save the weight of extra 10 front and back covers. now, why they didn't simply make the 6 volumes in the same book and put some tabs protruding from the pages, i will never know. there is a russian book binder faux anecdote there...