“Oxford binders developed a habit for two-way hatching patterns [on the board edges], finishing a row of diagonal hatching with a few rows running horizontally, or diagonally the other way; this can be a useful rule of thumb for recognising Oxford work between about 1580 and 1650, …” – David Pearson, English Bookbinding Styles, 1450-1800 (London: British Library, 2005), p. 113.
“One very distinctive feature of nearly all Oxford bindings executed between 1580 and 1620, and of a certain number between the latter date and about 1670, is the ‘hatching’ at the head and tail of the back. This consists of diagonal lines, …” — Strickland Gibson, Early Oxford Bindings (Oxford: Bibliographical Society, 1903), p. 41 (see also Plate XXX)

Exemplar: Peter Heylyn, Mikrokosmos: a Little Description of the Great World. Oxford : Printed by William Turner, and are to be sold at the black Beare in Pauls Church-yard [by M. Allott, London], 1636. Call number: (Ex) 1007.461.11.