THE ARTISTIC CRAFTS SERIES
OF TECHNICAL HANDBOOKS
EDITED BY W. R. LETHABY

BOOKBINDING

BOOKBINDING, AND
THE CARE OF BOOKS

A HANDBOOK FOR AMATEURS
BOOKBINDERS & LIBRARIANS
BY DOUGLAS COCKERELL

WITH

DRAWINGS BY NOEL ROOKE
AND OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS

NEW YORK
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
1910

Copyright, 1901,
By D. Appleton and Company

All rights reserved

White Pigskin.—Basle, 1512.

EDITOR’S PREFACE[7]

In issuing this volume of a series of
Handbooks on the Artistic Crafts, it
will be well to state what are our general
aims.

In the first place, we wish to provide
trustworthy text-books of workshop practice,
from the points of view of experts
who have critically examined the methods
current in the shops, and putting aside
vain survivals, are prepared to say what
is good workmanship, and to set up a
standard of quality in the crafts which
are more especially associated with design.
Secondly, in doing this, we hope
to treat design itself as an essential part
of good workmanship. During the last
century most of the arts, save painting[8]
and sculpture of an academic kind, were
little considered, and there was a tendency
to look on “design” as a mere matter
of appearance. Such “ornamentation” as
there was was usually obtained by following
in a mechanical way a drawing provided
by an artist who often knew little
of the technical processes involved in
production. With the critical attention
given to the crafts by Ruskin and Morris,
it came to be seen that it was impossible
to detach design from craft in this
way, and that, in the widest sense, true
design is an inseparable element of good
quality, involving as it does the selection
of good and suitable material, contrivance
for special purpose, expert workmanship,
proper finish and so on, far
more than mere ornament, and indeed,
that ornamentation itself was rather an
exuberance of fine workmanship than a
matter of merely abstract lines. Workmanship
when separated by too wide a gulf
from fresh thought—that is, from design—inevitably
decays, and, on the other hand,[9]
ornamentation, divorced from workmanship,
is necessarily unreal, and quickly
falls into affectation. Proper ornamentation
may be defined as a language addressed
to the eye; it is pleasant thought
expressed in the speech of the tool.

In the third place, we would have this
series put artistic craftsmanship before
people as furnishing reasonable occupation
for those who would gain a livelihood.
Although within the bounds of
academic art, the competition, of its kind,
is so acute that only a very few per cent.
can fairly hope to succeed as painters and
sculptors; yet, as artistic craftsmen, there
is every probability that nearly every
one who would pass through a sufficient
period of apprenticeship to workmanship
and design would reach a measure
of success.

In the blending of handwork and
thought in such arts as we propose to
deal with, happy careers may be found
as far removed from the dreary routine
of hack labour, as from the terrible uncertainty[10]
of academic art. It is desirable
in every way that men of good education
should be brought back into the productive
crafts: there are more than enough
of us “in the city,” and it is probable
that more consideration will be given in
this century than in the last to Design
and Workmanship.

W. R. LETHABY.

AUTHOR’S NOTE[11]

It is hoped that this book will help
bookbinders and librarians to select sound
methods of binding books.

It is intended to supplement and not
to supplant workshop training for bookbinders.
No one can become a skilled
workman by reading text-books, but to
a man who has acquired skill and practical
experience, a text-book, giving perhaps
different methods from those to which
he has been accustomed, may be helpful.

My thanks are due to many friends,
including the workmen in my workshop,
for useful suggestions and other
help, and to the Society of Arts for permission
to quote from the report of their
Special Committee on leather for bookbinding.[12]

I should also like to express my indebtedness
to my master, Mr. T. J.
Cobden-Sanderson, for it was in his workshop
that I learned my craft, and anything
that may be of value in this book is due
to his influence.

D. C.

November 1901.

CONTENTS[13]

PART I

BINDING

CHAPTER I[17]

INTRODUCTION

The reasons for binding the leaves of a
book are to keep them together in their
proper order, and to protect them. That
bindings can be made, that will adequately
protect books, can be seen from the large
number of fifteenth and sixteenth century
bindings now existing on books still in
excellent condition. That bindings are
made, that fail to protect books, may be
seen by visiting any large library, when
it will be found that many bindings have
their boards loose and the leather crumbling
to dust. Nearly all librarians complain,
that they have to be continually[18]
rebinding books, and this not after four
hundred, but after only five or ten years.

It is no exaggeration to say that ninety
per cent. of the books bound in leather
during the last thirty years will need rebinding
during the next thirty. The
immense expense involved must be a very
serious drag on the usefulness of libraries;
and as rebinding is always to some
extent damaging to the leaves of a book, it
is not only on account of the expense that
the necessity for it is to be regretted.

The reasons that have led to the production
in modern times of bindings that
fail to last for a reasonable time, are twofold.
The materials are badly selected or
prepared, and the method of binding is
faulty. Another factor in the decay of
bindings, both old and new, is the bad
conditions under which they are often
kept.

The object of this text-book is to
describe the best methods of bookbinding,
and of keeping books when bound, taking
into account the present-day conditions.
No attempt has been made to describe all
possible methods, but only such as appear
to have answered best on old books. The
methods described are for binding that[19]
can be done by hand with the aid of
simple appliances. Large editions of
books are now bound, or rather cased,
at an almost incredible speed by the aid
of machinery, but all work that needs
personal care and thought on each book,
is still done, and probably always will be
done, by hand. Elaborate machinery can
only be economically employed when very
large numbers of books have to be turned
out exactly alike.

The ordinary cloth “binding” of the
trade, is better described as casing. The
methods being different, it is convenient
to distinguish between casing and binding.
In binding, the slips are firmly attached
to the boards before covering; in casing,
the boards are covered separately, and
afterwards glued on to the book. Very
great efforts have been made in the decoration
of cloth covers, and it is a pity
that the methods of construction have
not been equally considered. If cloth cases
are to be looked upon as a temporary
binding, then it seems a pity to waste so
much trouble on their decoration; and
if they are to be looked upon as permanent
binding, it is a pity the construction
is not better.[20]

For books of only temporary interest,
the usual cloth cases answer well enough;
but for books expected to have permanent
value, some change is desirable.

Valuable books should either be issued
in bindings that are obviously temporary,
or else in bindings that are strong enough
to be considered permanent. The usual
cloth case fails as a temporary binding,
because the methods employed result in
serious damage to the sections of the book,
often unfitting them for rebinding, and it
fails as a permanent binding on account of
the absence of sound construction.

In a temporary publisher’s binding,
nothing should be done to the sections
of a book that would injure them. Plates
should be guarded, the sewing should be
on tapes, without splitting the head and
tail, or “sawing in” the backs, of the
sections; the backs should be glued up
square without backing. The case may
be attached, as is now usual. For a permanent
publisher’s binding, something
like that recommended for libraries (page
173) is suggested, with either leather or
cloth on the back.

At the end of the book four specifications
are given (page 307). The first is[21]
suggested for binding books of special
interest or value, where no restriction as to
price is made. A binding under this specification
may be decorated to any extent
that the nature of the book justifies. The
second is for good binding, for books
of reference and other heavy books that
may have a great deal of wear. All the
features of the first that make for the
strength of the binding are retained, while
those less essential, that only add to the
appearance, are omitted. Although the
binding under this specification would be
much cheaper than that carried out under
the first, it would still be too expensive
for the majority of books in most libraries;
and as it would seem to be impossible
to further modify this form of
binding, without materially reducing its
strength, for cheaper work, a somewhat
different system is recommended. The
third specification is recommended for
the binding of the general run of small
books in most libraries. The fourth is
a modification of this for pamphlets and
other books of little value, that need to
be kept together tidily for occasional
reference.

Thanks, in a great measure, to the work[22]
of Mr. Cobden-Sanderson, there is in England
the germ of a sound tradition for the
best binding. The Report of the Committee
appointed by the Society of Arts
to investigate the cause of the decay of
modern leather bindings, should tend to
establish a sound tradition for cheaper
work. The third specification at the end
of this book is practically the same as that
given in their Report, and was arrived at
by selection, after many libraries had been
examined, and many forms of binding
compared.

Up to the end of the eighteenth century
the traditional methods of binding
books had altered very little during three
hundred years. Books were generally
sewn round five cords, the ends of all of
these laced into the boards, and the leather
attached directly to the back. At the end
of the eighteenth century it became customary
to pare down leather until it was as
thin as paper, and soon afterwards the use
of hollow backs and false bands became
general, and these two things together
mark the beginning of the modern degradation
of binding, so far as its utility as a
protection is concerned.

The Society of Arts Committee report[23]
that the bookbinders must share with the
leather manufacturers and librarians the
blame for the premature decay of modern
bindings, because—

“1. Books are sewn on too few, and
too thin cords, and the slips are pared
down unduly (for the sake of neatness),
and are not in all cases firmly laced into
the boards. This renders the attachment
of the boards to the book almost
entirely dependent on the strength of the
leather.

“2. The use of hollow backs throws all
the strain of opening and shutting on the
joints, and renders the back liable to come
right off if the book is much used.

“3. The leather of the back is apt to
become torn through the use of insufficiently
strong headbands, which are unable
to stand the strain of the book being taken
from the shelf.

“4. It is a common practice to use far
too thin leather; especially to use large
thick skins very much pared down for
small books.

“5. The leather is often made very
wet and stretched a great deal in covering,
with the result that on drying it is further
strained, almost to breaking point, by contraction,[24]
leaving a very small margin of
strength to meet the accidents of use.”

The history of the general introduction
of hollow backs is probably somewhat
as follows: Leather was doubtless first
chosen for covering the backs of books
because of its toughness and flexibility;
because, while protecting the back, it
would bend when the book was opened
and allow the back to “throw up” (see
fig. 1, A). When gold tooling became
common, and the backs of books were elaborately
decorated, it was found that the
creasing of the leather injured the brightness
or the gold and caused it to crack.
To avoid this the binders lined up the
back until it was as stiff as a block of
wood. The back would then not “throw
up” as the book was opened, the leather
would not be creased, and the gold would
remain uninjured (see fig. 1, B). This was
all very well for the gold, but a book so
treated does not open fully, and indeed,
if the paper is stiff, can hardly be got to
open at all. To overcome both difficulties
the hollow back was introduced, and
as projecting bands would have been
in the way, the sewing cord was sunk in
saw cuts made across the back of the book.[25]

Fig. 1.

The use of hollow backs was a very
ingenious way out of the difficulty, as
with them the backs could be made to
“throw up,” and at the same time the
leather was not disturbed (see fig. 1, C).
The method of “sawing in” bands was
known for a long time before the general[26]
use of hollow backs. It has been used to
avoid the raised bands on books covered
with embroidered material.

If a book is sewn on tapes, and the back
lined with leather, there is no serious objection
to a carefully-made hollow back
without bands. The vellum binders use
hollow backs made in this way for great
account books that stand an immense
amount of wear. They make the “hollow”
very stiff, so that it acts as a spring to
throw the back up.

But although, if carefully done, satisfactory
bindings may be made with hollow
backs, their use has resulted in the production
of worthless bindings with little
strength, and yet with the appearance of
better work.

The public having been accustomed to
raised bands on the backs of books, and
the real bands being sunk in the back, the
binders put false ones over the “hollow.”
To save money or trouble, the bands being
out of sight, the book would be sewn on
only three or sometimes only two cords,
the usual five false ones still showing at
the back. Often only two out of the
three bands would be laced into the board,
and sometimes the slips would not be laced[27]
in at all. Again, false headbands worked
by the yard by machinery would be stuck
on at the head and tail, and a “hollow”
made with brown paper. Then leather so
thin as to have but little strength, but used
because it is easy to work and needs no
paring, would be stuck on. The back
would often be full gilt and lettered, and
the sides sprinkled or marbled, thus further
damaging the leather.

In every large library hundreds of books
bound somewhat on these lines may be
seen. When they are received from the
binder they have the appearance of being
well bound, they look smart on the shelf,
but in a few years, whether they are used
or not, the leather will have perished and
the boards become detached, and they will
have to be rebound.

As long as librarians expect the appearance
of a guinea binding for two or three
shillings, such shams will be produced.
The librarian generally gets his money’s
worth, for it would be impossible for the
binder to do better work at the price
usually paid without materially altering
the appearance of the binding. The
polished calf and imitation crushed morocco
must go, and in its place a rougher,[28]
thicker leather must be employed. The
full-gilt backs must go, the coloured lettering
panel must go, the hollow backs must
go, but in the place of these we may have
the books sewn on tapes with the ends
securely fastened into split boards, and
the thick leather attached directly to the
backs of the sections. (See specification
III. page 307.)

Such a binding would look well and not
be more expensive than the usual library
binding. It should allow the book to
open flat, and if the materials are well
selected, be very durable, and specially
strong in the joints, the weak place in
most bindings. The lettering on the back
may be damaged in time if the book is
much used, but if so it can easily be
renewed at a fraction of the cost of rebinding,
and without injury to the book.

While the majority of books in most
libraries must be bound at a small cost,
at most not exceeding a few shillings a
volume, there is a large demand for good
plain bindings, and a limited, but growing,
demand for more or less decorated
bindings for special books.

Any decoration but the simplest should
be restricted to books bound as well as[29]
the binder can do them. The presence
of decoration should be evidence that the
binder, after doing his best with the “forwarding,”
has had time in which to try
to make his work a beautiful, as well as
a serviceable, production.

Many books, although well bound, are
better left plain, or with only a little
decoration. But occasionally there are
books that the binder can decorate as
lavishly as he is able. As an instance of
bindings that cannot be over-decorated,
those books which are used in important
ceremonies, such as Altar Books, may be
mentioned. Such books may be decorated
with gold and colour until they seem to
be covered in a golden material. They
will be but spots of gorgeousness in a
great church or cathedral, and they cannot
be said to be over-decorated as long
as the decoration is good.

So, occasionally some one may have a
book to which he is for some reason
greatly attached, and wishing to enshrine
it, give the binder a free hand to do
his best with it. The binder may wish
to make a delicate pattern with nicely-balanced
spots of ornament, leaving the
leather for the most part bare, or he may[30]
wish to cover the outside with some close
gold-tooled pattern, giving a richness of
texture hardly to be got by other means.
If he decides on the latter, many people
will say that the cover is over-decorated.
But as a book cover can never be seen
absolutely alone, it should not be judged
as an isolated thing covered with ornament
without relief, but as a spot of
brightness and interest among its surroundings.
If a room and everything in
it is covered with elaborate pattern, then
anything with a plain surface would be
welcome as a relief; but in a room which
is reasonably free from ornament, a spot
of rich decoration should be welcome.

It is not contended that the only, or
necessarily the best, method of decorating
book covers is by elaborate all-over gold-tooled
pattern; but it is contended that
this is a legitimate method of decoration
for exceptional books, and that by its use
it is possible to get a beautiful effect well
worth the trouble and expense involved.

Good leather has a beautiful surface,
and may sometimes be got of a fine colour.
The binder may often wish to show this
surface and colour, and to restrict his
decoration to small portions of the cover,[31]
and this quite rightly, he aiming at, and
getting, a totally different effect than that
got by all-over patterns. Both methods
are right if well done, and both methods
can equally be vulgarised if badly done.

A much debated question is, how far
the decoration of a binding should be
influenced by the contents of the book?
A certain appropriateness there should be,
but as a general thing, if the binder aims
at making the cover beautiful, that is the
best he can do. The hints given for
designing are not intended to stop the
development of the student’s own ideas,
but only to encourage their development
on right lines.

There should be a certain similarity of
treatment between the general get-up of
a book and its binding. It is a great pity
that printers and binders have drifted so
far apart; they are, or should be, working
for one end, the production of a book,
and some unity of aim should be evident
in the work of the two.

The binding of manuscripts and early
printed books should be strong and simple.
It should be as strong and durable as the
original old bindings, and, like them, last
with reasonable care for four hundred years[32]
or more. To this end the old bindings,
with their stout sewing cord, wooden
boards, and clasps, may be taken as models.

The question is constantly asked, especially
by women, if a living can be made
by setting up as bookbinders. Cheap
binding can most economically be done
in large workshops, but probably the best
bindings can be done more satisfactorily
by binders working alone, or in very small
workshops.

If any one intends to set up as a bookbinder,
doing all the work without help,
it is necessary to charge very high prices
to get any adequate return after the
working expenses have been paid. In
order to get high prices, the standard of
work must be very high; and in order to
attain a high enough standard of work,
a very thorough training is necessary. It
is desirable that any one hoping to make
money at the craft should have at least a
year’s training in a workshop where good
work is done, and after that, some time
will be spent before quite satisfactory work
can be turned out rapidly enough to pay,
supposing that orders can be obtained or
the books bound can be sold.

There are some successful binders who[33]
have had less than a year’s training, but
they are exceptional. Those who have
not been accustomed to manual work have
usually, in addition to the necessary skill,
to acquire the habit of continuous work.
Bookbinding seems to offer an opening
for well-educated youths who are willing
to serve an apprenticeship in a good shop,
and who have some small amount of capital
at their command.

In addition to the production of decorated
bindings, there is much to be done
by specialising in certain kinds of work
requiring special knowledge. Repairing
and binding early printed books and
manuscripts, or the restoration of Parish
Registers and Accounts, may be suggested.

CHAPTER II

Entering—Books in Sheets—Folding—Collating—Pulling
to Pieces—Refolding—Knocking out
Joints

ENTERING

On receiving a book for binding, its title
should be entered in a book kept for
that purpose, with the date of entry, and[34]
customer’s name and address, and any instructions
he may have given, written out
in full underneath, leaving room below to
enter the time taken on the various operations
and cost of the materials used. It
is well to number the entry, and to give
a corresponding number to the book. It
should be at once collated, and any special
features noted, such as pages that need
washing or mending. If the book should
prove to be imperfect, or to have any
serious defect, the owner should be communicated
with, before it is pulled to
pieces. This is very important, as imperfect
books that have been “pulled” are
not returnable to the bookseller. Should
defects only be discovered after the book
has been taken to pieces, the bookbinder is
liable to be blamed for the loss of any
missing leaves.

BOOKS IN SHEETS

The sheets of a newly printed book are
arranged in piles in the printer’s warehouse,
each pile being made up of repetitions
of the same sheet or “signature.”
Plates or maps are in piles by themselves[35]
To make a complete book one sheet is
gathered from each pile, beginning at the
last sheet and working backwards to signature
A. When a book is ordered from a
publisher in sheets, it is such a “gathered”
copy that the binder receives. Some books
are printed “double,” that is, the type is
set up twice, two copies are printed at once
at different ends of a sheet of paper, and
the sheets have to be divided down the
middle before the copies can be separated.
Sometimes the title and introduction, or
perhaps only the last sheet, will be printed
in this way. Publishers usually decline to
supply in sheets fewer than two copies of
such double-printed books.

If a book is received unfolded, it is
generally advisable at once to fold up the
sheets and put them in their proper order,
with half-title, title, introduction, &c., and,
if there are plates, to compare them with
the printed list.

Should there be in a recently published
book defects of any kind, such as soiled
sheets, the publisher will usually replace
them on application, although they sometimes
take a long time to do so. Such
sheets are called “imperfections,” and the
printers usually keep a number of “overs[36]”
in order to make good such imperfections
as may occur.

FOLDING

Books received in sheets must be folded.
Folding requires care, or the margins of
different leaves will be unequal, and the
lines of printing not at right angles to
the back.

Books of various sizes are known as
“folio,” “quarto,” “octavo,” “duodecimo,”
&c. These names signify the
number of folds, and consequently the
number of leaves the paper has been folded
into. Thus, a folio is made up of sheets
of paper folded once down the centre,
forming two leaves and four pages. The
sheets of a quarto have a second fold,
making four leaves and eight pages, and
in an octavo the sheet has a third fold,
forming eight leaves and sixteen pages
(see fig. 2), and so on. Each sheet of
paper when folded constitutes a section,
except in the case of folios, where it is
usual to make up the sections by inserting
two or more sheets, one within the other.

Paper is made in several named sizes,
such as “imperial,” “royal,” “demy,[37]”
“crown,” “foolscap,” &c. (see p. 283),
so that the terms “imperial folio” or
“crown octavo” imply that a sheet of a
definite size has been folded a definite
number of times.

Fig. 2.

Besides the traditional sizes, paper is now
made of almost any length and width, resulting
in books of odd shape, and the
names folio, quarto, &c., are rather losing
their true meaning, and are often used
loosely to signify pages of certain sizes,
irrespective of the number that go to a
sheet.[38]

On receipt, for instance, of an octavo
book for folding, the pile of sheets is laid
flat on the table, and collated by the letter
or signature of each sheet. The first sheet
of the book proper will probably be signature
B, as signature A usually consists of
the half-title, title, introduction, &c., and
often has to be folded up rather differently.

The “outer” sides, known by the signature
letters B, C, D, &c., should be downwards,
and the inner sides facing upwards
with the second signatures, if there are any,
B2, C2, D2, &c., at the right-hand bottom
corner.

The pages of an octave book, commencing
at page 1, are shown at fig. 3.
A folder is taken in the right hand, and
held at the bottom of the sheet at about
the centre, and the sheet taken by the left
hand at the top right-hand corner and bent
over until pages 3 and 6 come exactly over
pages 2 and 7; and when it is seen that
the headlines and figures exactly match, the[39]
paper, while being held in that position,
is creased down the centre with the folder,
and the fold cut up a little more than half-way.
Pages 4, 13, 5, 12 will now be
uppermost; pages 12 and 5 are now folded
over to exactly match pages 13 and 4, and[40]
the fold creased and cut up a little more
than half-way, as before. Pages 8 and 9
will now be uppermost, and will merely
require folding together to make the pages
of the section follow in their proper order.
If the folding has been done carefully,
and the “register” of the printing is
good, the headlines should be exactly even
throughout.

Fig. 3.

The object of cutting past the centre at
each fold is to avoid the unsightly creasing
that results from folding two or more
thicknesses of paper when joined at the
top edge.

A “duodecimo” sheet has the pages
arranged as at fig. 4.

The “inset” pages, 10, 15, 14, 11, must
be cut off, and the rest of the section
folded as for an octavo sheet. The inset
is folded separately and inserted into the
centre of the octavo portion.

Other sizes are folded in much the same[41]
way, and the principle of folding one sheet
having been mastered, no difficulty will be
found in folding any other.

Plates often require trimming, and this
must be done with judgment. The plates
should be trimmed to correspond as far as
possible with the printing on the opposite[42]
page, but if this cannot be done, it is desirable
that something approaching the proportion
of margin shown at fig. 2 (folio)
should be aimed at. That is to say, the
back margin should be the smallest, the
head margin the next, the fore-edge a little
wider, and the tail widest of all. When a
plate consists of a small portrait or diagram
in the centre of the page, it looks better if
it is put a little higher and a little nearer
the back than the actual centre.

Fig. 4.

Plates that have no numbers on them
must be put in order by the list of printed
plates, or “instructions to the binder.”
The half-title, title, dedication, &c., will
often be found to be printed on odd sheets
that have to be made up into section A.
This preliminary matter is usually placed
in the following order: Half-title, title,
dedication, preface, contents, list of illustrations
or other lists. If there is an index,
it should be put at the end of the book.

All plates should be “guarded,” and
any “quarter sections,” that is, sections
consisting of two leaves, should have their
backs strengthened by a “guard,” or they
may very easily be torn in the sewing.
Odd, single leaves may be guarded round
sections in the same way as plates.[43]

When a book has been folded, it should
be pressed (see p. 87).

There will sometimes be pages marked
by the printer with a star. These have
some error in them, and are intended to
be cut out. The printer should supply
corrected pages to replace them.

COLLATING

In addition to the pagination each sheet
or section of a printed book is lettered or
numbered. Each letter or number is called
the “sheet’s signature.” Printers usually
leave out J W and V in lettering sheets.
If there are more sections than there are
letters in the alphabet, the printer doubles
the letters, signing the sections A A, B B,
and so on, after the single letters are exhausted.
Some printers use an Arabic
numeral before the section number to
denote the second alphabet, as 2A, 2B,
&c., and others change the character of
the letters, perhaps using capitals for the
first alphabet and italics for the second.
If the sheets are numbered, the numbers
will of course follow consecutively. In
books of more than one volume, the number
of the volume is sometimes added in[44]
Roman numerals before the signature, as
II A, II B.

The main pagination of the book usually
commences with Chapter I., and all before
that is independently paged in Roman
numerals. It is unusual to have actual
numbers on the title or half-title, but if
the pages are counted back from where
the first numeral occurs, they should come
right.

There will sometimes be one or more
blank leaves completing sections at the
beginning or end. Such blank leaves must
be retained, as without them the volume
would be “imperfect.”

To collate a modern book the paging
must be examined to see that the leaves
are in order, and that nothing is defective
or missing.

The method of doing this is to insert the
first finger of the right hand at the bottom
of about the fiftieth page, crook the finger,
and turn up the corners of the pages with
it. When this is done the thumb is placed
on page 1, and the hand twisted, so as to fan
out the top of the pages. They can then
be readily turned over by the thumb and
first finger of the left hand (see fig. 5).
This is repeated throughout the book,[45]
taking about fifty pages at a time. It
will of course only be necessary to check
the odd numbers, as if they are right, the
even ones on the other side of the leaf
must be so. If the pages are numbered at
the foot, the leaves must be fanned out
from the head.

Fig. 5.

Plates or maps that are not paged can
only be checked from the printed list.
When checked it will save time if the[46]
number of the page which each faces is
marked on the back in small pencil figures.

In the case of early printed books or
manuscripts, which are often not paged,
special knowledge is needed for their
collation. It may roughly be said, that
if the sections are all complete, that is,
if there are the same number of leaves
at each side of the sewing in all the
sections, the book may be taken to be
perfect, unless of course whole sections
are missing. All unpaged books should
be paged through in pencil before they
are taken apart; this is best done with a
very fine pencil, at the bottom left-hand
corner; it will only be necessary to number
the front of each leaf.

PULLING TO PIECES

After the volume has been collated it
must be “pulled,” that is to say, the
sections must be separated, and all plates
or maps detached.

If in a bound book there are slips laced
in the front cover, they must be cut and
the back torn off. It will sometimes
happen that in tearing off the leather
nearly all the glue will come too, leaving[47]
the backs of the pages detached except
for the sewing. More usually the back
will be left covered with a mass of glue
and linen, or paper, which it is very difficult
to remove without injury to the
backs of the sections. By drawing a sharp
knife along the bands, the sewing may be
cut and the bands removed, leaving the
sections only connected by the glue.
Then the sections of the book can usually
be separated with a fine folder, after the
thread from the centre of each has been
removed; the point of division being
ascertained by finding the first signature
of each section. In cases where the glue
and leather form too hard a back to yield
to this method, it is advisable to soak the
glue with paste, and when soft to scrape
it off with a folder. As this method is
apt to injure the backs of the sections,
it should not be resorted to unless necessary;
and when it is, care must be taken
not to let the damp penetrate into the
book, or it will cause very ugly stains.
The book must be pulled while damp,
or else the glue will dry up harder than
before. The separated sections must be
piled up carefully to prevent pages being
soiled by the damp glue.[48]

All plates or single leaves “pasted on”
must be removed. These can usually be
detached by carefully tearing apart, but
if too securely pasted they must be soaked
off in water, unless of course the plates
have been painted with water-colour. If
the plates must be soaked off, the leaf
and attached plate should be put into a
pan of slightly warm water and left to
soak until they float apart, then with a
soft brush any remaining glue or paste
can be easily removed while in the water.
Care must be taken not to soak modern
books printed on what is called “Art
Paper,” as this paper will hardly stand
ordinary handling, and is absolutely ruined
if wetted. The growing use of this paper
in important books is one of the greatest
troubles the bookbinder has to face. The
highly loaded and glazed surface of some
of the heavy plate papers easily flakes off,
so that any guard pasted on these plates
is apt to come away, taking with it the
surface of the paper. Moreover, should
the plates chance to be fingered or in any
way soiled, nothing can remove the marks;
and should a corner get turned down, the
paper breaks and the corner will fall off.
It is the opinion of experts that this[49]
heavily loaded Art Paper will not last a
reasonable time, and, apart from other
considerations, this should be ample reason
for not using it in books that are expected
to have a permanent value. Printers like
this paper, because it enables them to
obtain brilliant impressions from blocks
produced by cheap processes.

In “cased” books, sewn by machinery,
the head and tail of the sheets will often
be found to be split up as far as the
“kettle” stitches. If such a book is to
be expensively bound, it will require mending
throughout in these places, or the glue
may soak into the torn ends, and make the
book open stiffly.

Some books are put together with staples
of tinned iron wire, which rapidly rust and
disfigure the book by circular brown marks.
Such marks will usually have to be cut out
and the places carefully mended. This process
is lengthy, and consequently so costly,
that it is generally cheaper, when possible,
to obtain an unbound copy of the book from
the publishers, than to waste time repairing
the damage done by the cloth binder.

Generally speaking, the sections of a
book cased in cloth by modern methods
are so injured as to make it unfit for more[50]
permanent binding unless an unreasonable
amount of time is spent on it. It is a
great pity that publishers do not, in the
case of books expected to have a permanent
literary value, issue a certain number
of copies printed on good paper, and unbound,
for the use of those who require
permanent bindings; and in such copies it
would be a great help if sufficient margin
were left at the back of the plates for the
binder to turn it up to form a guard. If
the plates were very numerous, guards
made of the substance of the plates themselves
would make the book too thick; but
in the case of books with not more than a
dozen plates, printed on comparatively
thin paper, it would be a great advantage.

Some books in which there are a large
number of plates are cut into single leaves,
which are held together at the back by a
coating of an indiarubber solution. For a
short time such a volume is pleasant enough
to handle, and opens freely, but before long
the indiarubber perishes, and the leaves and
plates fall apart. When a book of this
kind comes to have a permanent binding,
all the leaves and plates have to be pared
at the back and made up into sections
with guards—a troublesome and expensive[51]
business. The custom with binders is to
overcast the backs of the leaves in sections,
and to sew through the overcasting thread,
but this, though an easy and quick process,
makes a hopelessly stiff back, and no book
so treated can open freely.

REFOLDING

Fig. 6.—Dividers

When the sheets of books that have to
be rebound have been
carelessly folded, a
certain amount of readjustment
is often
advisable, especially
in cases where the
book has not been
previously cut. The
title-page and the
half-title, when found
to be out of square,
should nearly always
be put straight. The
folding of the whole
book may be corrected
by taking each
pair of leaves and
holding them up to the light and adjusting
the fold so that the print on one
leaf comes exactly over the print on the[52]
other, and creasing the fold to make them
stay in that position. With a pair of
dividers (fig. 6) set to the height of the
shortest top margin, points the same distance
above the headline of the other leaves
can be made. Then against a carpenter’s
square, adjusted to the back of the fold, the
head of one pair of leaves at a time can be
cut square (see fig. 7). If the book has
been previously cut this process is apt to
throw the leaves so far out of their original
position as to make them unduly uneven.

Accurate folding is impossible if the
“register” of the printing is bad, that is
to say, if the print on the back of a leaf
does not lie exactly over that on the front.

Crooked plates should usually be made
straight by judicious trimming of the margins.
It is better to leave a plate short at[53]
tail or fore-edge than to leave it out of
square.

Fig. 7.

KNOCKING OUT JOINTS

The old “joints” must be knocked out
of the sections of books that have been
previously backed. To do this, one or two
sections at a time are held firmly in the left
hand, and well hammered on the knocking-down
iron fixed into the lying press. It
is important that the hammer face should
fall exactly squarely upon the paper, or
it may cut pieces out. The knocking-down
iron should be covered with a piece
of paper, and the hammer face must be
perfectly clean, or the sheets may be soiled.

CHAPTER III

Guarding—Throwing Out—Paring Paper—Soaking
off India Proofs—Mounting very Thin Paper—Splitting
Paper—Inlaying—Flattening Vellum

GUARDING

Guards are slips of thin paper or linen
used for strengthening the fold of leaves
that are damaged, or for attaching plates
or single leaves.

Fig. 8.

Guards should be of good thin paper.
That known as Whatman’s Banknote paper[54]
answers very well. An easy way to cut
guards is shown in fig. 8. Two or three
pieces of paper
of the height of
the required
guards are folded
and pinned to
the board by the
right-hand corners.
A series
of points are marked at the head and
tail with dividers set to the width desired
for the guards, and with a knife guided
by a straight-edge, cuts joining the
points are made right through the paper,
but not extending quite to either end.
On a transverse cut being made near the
bottom, the guards are left attached by
one end only (see
fig. 9), and can
be torn off as
wanted. This
method prevents
the paper from
slipping while it
is being cut.

Fig. 9.

A mount cutter’s knife (fig. 10) will
be found to be a convenient form of knife
to use for cutting guards.[55]

In using the knife and straight-edge a
good deal of pressure should be put on
the straight-edge, and comparatively little
on the knife.

Fig. 10.—Mount Cutter’s Knife

To mend the torn back of a pair of
leaves, a guard should be selected a little
longer than the height of the pages
and well pasted with white paste (see
page 288). If the pair of leaves are not
quite separated, the pasted guard held by
its extremities may be simply laid along
the weak place and rubbed down through
blotting-paper. If the leaves are quite
apart, it is better to lay the pasted guard
on a piece of glass and put the edges of
first one and then the other leaf on to it
and rub down.

On an outside pair of leaves the guard
should be inside, so that the glue may
catch any ragged edges; while on the
inside pair the guard should be outside, or
it will be found to be troublesome in sewing.
In handling the pasted guards care is
needed not to stretch them, or they may
cause the sheet to crinkle as they dry.[56]

Fig. 11.

Plates must be guarded round the
sections next them. When there are a
great many plates the back margin of
each, to which a guard will be attached,
must be pared (see fig. 11, A), or the additional
thickness caused by the guards
will make the back swell unduly. In
guarding plates a number can be pasted
at once if they are laid one on another,
with about an eighth of an inch of the
back of each exposed, the top of the pile
being protected by a folded piece of
waste paper (see fig. 12). To paste, the
brush is brought from the top to the
bottom of the pile only, and not the
other way, or paste will get between
the plates and soil them. Guards should
usually be attached to the backs of plates,
and should be wide enough to turn up
round the adjoining section, so that they[57]
may be sewn through. Should a plate
come in the middle of a section, the guard
is best turned back and slightly pasted to
the inside of the sheet and then sewn
through in the ordinary way.

Fig. 12.

If plates are very thick, they must be
hinged, as shown at fig. 11, B. This is
done by cutting a strip of about a quarter
of an inch off the back of the plate, and
guarding with a wide guard of linen, leaving
a small space between the plate and
the piece cut off to form a hinge. It will
save some swelling if the plate is pared
and a piece of thinner paper substituted
for the piece cut off (see fig. 11, C). If
the plates are of cardboard, they should
be guarded on both sides with linen, and
may even need a second joint.

A book that consists entirely of plates[58]
or single leaves must be made up into
sections with guards, and sewn as usual.
In books in which there are a great many
plates, it is often found that two plates
either come together in the centre of a
section, or come at opposite sides of the
same pair of leaves. Such plates should
be guarded together and treated as folded
sheets (see fig. 13).

Fig. 13.

In order to be sure that the pages of
a book to be guarded throughout will
come in their proper order, it is well to
make a plan of the sections as follows,
and to check each pair of leaves by it, as
they are guarded:—

Thus, if the book is to be made up
into sections of eight leaves, the pairs of
leaves to be guarded together can be seen
at once if the number of the pages are
written out—

• 1, 3, 5, 7,—9, 11, 13, 15.

First the inside pair, 7 and 9, are guarded
together with the guard outside, then the
next pair, 5 and 11, then 3 and 13, and[59]
then the outside pair, 1 and 15, which
should have the guard outside. A plan
for the whole book would be more conveniently
written thus—

• 1-1517-3133-47
• 3-1319-2935-45
• 5-1121-2737-43
• 7-923-2539-41, and so on.

To arrange a book of single leaves for
guarding, it is convenient to take as many
leaves as you intend to go to a section,
and opening them in the centre, take a
pair at a time as they come.

The number of leaves it is advisable to
put into a section will depend on the thickness
of the paper and the size and thickness
of the book. If the paper is thick,
and the backs of the leaves have been
pared, four leaves to a section will be
found to answer. But if the paper is thin,
and does not allow of much paring, it is
better to have a larger section, in order
to have as little thread in the back as
possible.

The sheets of any guarded book should
be pressed before sewing, in order to reduce
the swelling of the back caused by
the guards.[60]

THROWING OUT

Fig. 14.

Maps or diagrams
that are
frequently referred
to in the
text of a book,
should be
“thrown out”
on a guard as
wide as the sheet
of the book.
Such maps, &c.,
should be placed
at the end, so
that they may
lie open for reference
while
the book is
being read (see
fig. 14). Large
folded maps or
diagrams should
be mounted on
linen. To do
this take a piece
of jaconet and
pin it out flat
on the board,[61]
then evenly paste the back of the map
with thin paste in which there are no
lumps, and lay it on the linen, rub
down through blotting-paper, and leave
to dry. Unless the pasting is done
evenly the marks of the paste-brush will
show through the linen. If a folded
map is printed on very thick paper each
fold must be cut up, and the separate
pieces mounted on the linen, with a slight
space between them to form a flexible joint.

Fig. 15.

A folded map must have in the back
of the book sufficient guards to equal it
in thickness at its thickest part when
folded, or the book will not shut properly
(see fig. 15).

PARING PAPER

For paring the edge of paper for mending
or guarding, take a very sharp knife,[62]
and holding the blade at right angles to
the covering-board, draw the edge once or
twice along it from left to right. This
should turn up enough of the edge to
form a “burr,” which causes the knife to
cut while being held almost flat on the
paper. The plate or paper should be laid
face downwards on the glass with the
edge to be pared away from the workman,
the knife held in the right hand, with the
burr downwards. The angle at which to
hold the knife will depend on its shape
and on the thickness and character of
the paper to be pared, and can only be
learned by practice. If the knife is in
order, and is held at the proper angle,
the shaving removed from a straight edge
of paper should come off in a long spiral.
If the knife is not in proper order, the
paper may be badly jagged or creased.

SOAKING OFF INDIA PROOFS

Place a piece of well-sized paper in a
pan of warm water, then lay the mounted
India proof, face downwards, upon it and
leave it to soak until the proof floats off.
Then carefully take out the old mount,
and the India proof can be readily removed[63]
from the water on the under paper, and
dried between sheets of blotting-paper.

MOUNTING VERY THIN PAPER

Very thin paper, such as that of some
“India” proofs, may be safely mounted
as follows:—The mount, ready for use,
is laid on a pad of blotting-paper. The
thin paper to be mounted is laid face
downwards on a piece of glass and very
carefully pasted with thin, white paste.
Any paste on the glass beyond the edges
of the paper is carefully wiped off with
a clean cloth. The glass may then be
turned over, and the pasted plate laid on
the mount, its exact position being seen
through the glass.

SPLITTING PAPER

It is sometimes desirable to split pieces
of paper when the matter on one side only
is needed, or when the matter printed on
each side is to be used in different places.
The paper to be split should be well
pasted on both sides with a thickish paste,
and fine linen or jaconet placed on each
side. It is then nipped in the press to[64]
make the linen stick all over, and left to
dry.

If the two pieces of jaconet are carefully
pulled apart when dry, half the
paper should be attached to each, unless
at any point the paste has failed to stick,
when the paper will tear. The jaconet
and paper attached must be put into warm
water until the split paper floats off.

INLAYING LEAVES OR PLATES

Fig. 16.

When a small plate or leaf has to be
inserted into a larger book, it is best to
“inlay it”; that is to say, the plate or
leaf is let into a sheet of
paper the size of the page
of the book. To do this, a
piece of paper as thick as
the plate to be inlaid, or
a little thicker, is selected,
and on this is laid the plate,
which should have been
previously squared, and the
positions of the corners marked with a
folder. A point is made about an eighth of
an inch inside each corner mark, and the
paper within these points is cut out (see fig.
16). This leaves a frame of paper, the[65]
inner edges of which will slightly overlap
the edges of the plate. The under edge
of the plate, and the upper edge of the
mount, should then be pared and pasted,
and the plate laid in its place (with the
corners corresponding to the folder marks).
If the edges have been properly pared, the
thickness where they overlap should not
exceed the thickness of the frame paper.
If an irregular fragment is to be inlaid,
it is done in the same way, except that the
entire outline is traced on the new paper
with a folder, and the paper cut away,
allowing one eighth of an inch inside the
indented line.

FLATTENING VELLUM

The leaves of a vellum book that have
become cockled from damp or other causes
may be flattened by damping them, pulling
them out straight, and allowing them
to dry under pressure. To do this take
the book to pieces, clean out any dirt
there may be in the folds of the leaves, and
spread out each pair of leaves as flatly as
possible.

Damp some white blotting-paper by
interleaving it with common white paper[66]
that has been wetted with a sponge. One
sheet of wet paper to two of blotting-paper
will be enough. The pile of blotting-paper
and wet paper is put in the
press and left for an hour or two under
pressure, then taken out and the common
paper removed.

The blotting-paper should now be
slightly and evenly damp. To flatten the
vellum the open pairs of leaves are interleaved
with the slightly damp blotting-paper,
and are left for an hour under the
weight of a pressing-board. After this
time the vellum will have become quite
soft, and can with care be flattened out
and lightly pressed between the blotting-paper,
and left for a night. The next day
the vellum leaves should be looked at to
see that they lie quite flat, and the blotting-paper
changed for some that is dry.
The vellum must remain under pressure
until it is quite dry, or it will cockle up
worse than ever when exposed to the air.
The blotting-paper should be changed
every day or two. The length of time
that vellum leaves take to dry will vary
with the state of the atmosphere, and the
thickness of the vellum, from one to six
weeks.[67]

Almost any manuscript or printed
book on vellum can be successfully flattened
in this way; miniatures should have
pieces of waxed paper laid over them to
prevent the chance of any of the fibres of
the blotting-paper sticking. The pressure
must not be great; only enough is needed
to keep the vellum flat as it dries.

This process of flattening, although so
simple, requires the utmost care. If the
blotting-paper is used too damp, a manuscript
may be ruined; and if not damp
enough, the pressing will have no effect.

CHAPTER IV

Sizing—Washing—Mending

SIZING

The paper in old books is sometimes soft
and woolly. This is generally because the
size has perished, and such paper can
often be made perfectly sound by resizing.

Fig. 17.

For size, an ounce of isinglass or good
gelatine is dissolved in a quart of water.
This should make a clear solution when[68]
gently warmed, and should be used at
about a temperature of 120° F. Care
must be taken not to heat too quickly,
or the solution may burn and turn brown.
If the size is not quite clear, it should
be strained through fine muslin or linen
before being used. When it is ready it
should be poured into an open pan (fig.
17), so arranged that it can be kept warm
by a gas flame or spirit lamp underneath.
When this is ready the sheets to be sized
can be put in one after another and taken
out at once. The hot size will be found
to take out a great many stains, and especially
those deep brown stains that come
from water. If there are only a few
sheets, they can be placed between blotting-paper
as they are removed from the size;
but if there is a whole book, it is best to
lay them in a pile one on the other, and[69]
when all have been sized to squeeze them
in the “lying press” between pressing-boards,
a pan being put underneath to
catch the liquid squeezed out. When
the sheets have been squeezed they can
be readily handled, and should be spread
out to dry on a table upon clean paper.
When they are getting dry and firm they
can be hung on strings stretched across
the room, slightly overlapping one another.
The strings must first be covered
with slips of clean paper, and the sized
sheets should have more paper over them
to keep them clean.

Before sizing it will be necessary to go
through a book and take out any pencil
or dust marks that can be removed with
indiarubber or bread crumbs, or the size
will fix them, and it will be found exceedingly
difficult to remove them afterwards.

When the sheets are dry they should
be carefully mended in any places that
may be torn, and folded up into sections
and pressed. A long, comparatively light
pressure will be found to flatten them
better and with less injury to the surface
of the paper than a short, very heavy pressure,
such as that of the rolling-machine.

In some cases it will be found that[70]
sheets of old books are so far damaged
as to be hardly strong enough to handle.
Such sheets must be sized in rather a
stronger size in the following way:—Take
a sheet of heavily-sized paper, such as
notepaper, and carefully lay your damaged
sheet on that. Then put another sheet
of strong paper on the top, and put all
three sheets into the size. It will be
found that the top sheet can then be
easily lifted off, and the size be made to
flow over the face of the damaged sheet.
Then, if the top sheet be put on again,
the three sheets, if handled as one, can be
turned over and the operation repeated,
and size induced to cover the back of
the damaged leaf. The three sheets
must then be taken out and laid between
blotting-paper to take up the surplus
moisture. The top sheet must then be
carefully peeled off, and the damaged
page laid face downwards on clean blotting-paper.
Then the back sheet can be
peeled off as well, leaving the damaged
sheet to dry.

The following is quoted from “Chambers’
Encyclopædia” on Gelatine:—

“Gelatine should never be judged by
the eye alone.[71]

“Its purity may be very easily tested
thus: Soak it in cold water, then pour
upon it a small quantity of boiling water.
If pure, it will form a thickish, clear straw-coloured
solution, free from smell; but if
made of impure materials, it will give off
a very offensive odour, and have a yellow,
gluey consistency.”

WASHING

When there are stains or ink marks on
books that cannot be removed by the use of
hot size or hot water, stronger measures may
sometimes have to be taken. Many stains
will be found to yield readily to hot water
with a little alum in it, and others can be
got out by a judicious application of curd
soap with a very soft brush and plenty of
warm water. But some, and especially ink
stains, require further treatment. There
are many ways of washing paper, and most
of those in common use are extremely
dangerous, and have in many cases resulted
in the absolute destruction of fine books.
If it is thought to be absolutely necessary
that the sheets of a book should be washed,
the safest method is as follows:—Take an
ounce of permanganate of potash dissolved[72]
in a quart of water, and warmed slightly.
In this put the sheets to be washed, and
leave them until they turn a dark brown.
This will usually take about an hour, but
may take longer for some papers. Then
turn the sheets out and wash them in
running water until all trace of purple
stain disappears from the water as it comes
away. Then transfer them to a bath of
sulphurous (not sulphuric) acid and water
in the proportion of one ounce of acid to
one pint of water. The sheets in this
solution will rapidly turn white, and if
left for some time nearly all stains will be
removed. In case any stains refuse to
come out, the sheets should be put in
clear water for a short time, and then
placed in the permanganate of potash solution
again, and left there for a longer time
than before; then after washing in clear
water, again transferred to the sulphurous
acid. When sheets are removed from the
sulphurous acid they should be well washed
for an hour or two in running water, and
then may be blotted or squeezed off and
hung up on lines to dry. Any sheets
treated in this way will require sizing
afterwards. And if, as is often the case,
only a few sheets at the beginning or end[73]
of the book have to be washed, it will be
necessary to tone down the washed sheets
to match the rest of the book by putting
some stain in the size. For staining there
are many things used. A weak solution
of permanganate of potash gives a yellowish
stain that will be found to match many
papers. Other stains are used, such as
coffee, chicory, tea, liquorice, &c. Whatever
is used should be put in the size. To ascertain
that the right depth of colour has
been obtained, a piece of unsized paper,
such as white blotting-paper, is dipped in
the stained size and blotted off and dried
before the fire. It is impossible to judge
of the depth of colour in a stain unless the
test piece is thoroughly dried. If the
stain is not right, add more water or more
stain as is needed. Experience will tell
what stain to use to match the paper of
any given book.

To remove grease or oil stains, ether
may be used. Pour it freely in a circle
round the spot, narrowing the circle gradually
until the stain is covered. Then
apply a warm iron through a piece of
blotting-paper.

Ether should only be used in a draught
in a well-ventilated room on account of[74]
its well-known inflammable and anæsthetical
properties.

A very dilute (about one per cent.)
solution of pure hydrochloric acid in cold
water will be found to take out some
stains if the paper is left in it for some
hours. When the paper is removed from
the solution, it must be thoroughly washed
in running water. It is important that the
hydrochloric acid used should be pure, as
the commercial quality (spirits of salts)
often contains sulphuric acid.

The following recipes are quoted from
De l’organisation et de l’administration des
Bibliothèques, par Jules Cusin:—

To remove stains from paper:—“Mud
Stains.—To take away these kinds of
stains, spread some soap jelly very evenly
over the stained places, and leave it there
for thirty or forty minutes, according to
the depth of the stain. Then dip the
sheet in clean water, and then having
spread it on a perfectly clean table, remove
the soap lightly with a hog’s hair brush or
a fine sponge; all the mud will disappear
at the same time. Put the sheet into the
clear water again, to get rid of the last
trace of soap. Let it drain a little, press
it lightly between two sheets of blotting-paper,[75]
and finish by letting it dry slowly
in a dry place in the shade.

“Stains of Tallow, Stearine, or Fat.—To
take away these stains cover them with
blotting-paper and pass over them a warm
flat-iron. When the paper has soaked up
the grease, change it and repeat the operation
until the stains have been sufficiently
removed. After that, touch both sides
of the sheets where they have been stained
with a brush dipped in essence of turpentine
heated to boiling-point. Then to
restore the whiteness of the paper, touch
the places which were stained with a piece
of fine linen soaked in purified spirits of
wine warmed in the water-bath. This
method may also be employed to get rid
of sealing-wax stains.

“Oil Stains.—Make a mixture of 500 gr.
of soap, 300 gr. of clay, 60 gr. of quicklime,
and sufficient water to make it of the
right consistency, spread a thin layer of this
on the stain, and leave it there about a
quarter of an hour. Then dip the sheet
in a bath of hot water; take it out, and
let it dry slowly.

“You can also use the following method,
generally employed for finger-marks:—

“Finger-marks.—These stains are sometimes[76]
very obstinate. Still they can generally
be mastered by the following
method:—Spread over them a layer of
white soap jelly (savon blanc en gelée), and
leave it there for some hours. Then
remove this with a fine sponge dipped in
hot water, and more often than not all
the dirt disappears at the same time. If
this treatment is not sufficient, you might
replace the soap jelly by soft soap (savon
noir), but you must be careful not to leave
it long on the printing, which might decompose
and run, and that would do more
harm than good.”

Sheets of very old books are best left
with the stains of age upon them, excepting,
perhaps, such as can be removed with
hot water or size. Nearly all stains can
be removed, but in the process old paper
is apt to lose more in character than it
gains in appearance.

MENDING

For mending torn sheets of an old
book, some paper that matches as nearly
as possible must be found. For this purpose
it is the custom for bookbinders to
collect quantities of old paper. If a piece[77]
of the same tone cannot be found, paper
of similar texture and substance may be
stained to match.

Supposing a corner to be missing, and a
piece of paper to have been found that
matches it, the torn page is laid over the
new paper in such a way that the wire
marks on both papers correspond. Then
the point of a folder should be drawn
along the edge of the torn sheet, leaving
an indented line on the new paper. The
new paper should then be cut off about an
eighth of an inch beyond the indented line,
and the edge carefully pared up to the
line. The edge of the old paper must be
similarly pared, so that the two edges when
laid together will not exceed the thickness
of the rest of the page. It is well to leave
a little greater overlap at the edges of the
page. Both cut edges must then be well
pasted with white paste and rubbed down
between blotting-paper. To ensure a perfectly
clean joint the pasted edge should
not be touched with the hand, and pasting-paper,
brushes, and paste must be perfectly
clean.

In the case of a tear across the page,
if there are any overlapping edges, they
may merely be pasted together and the[78]
end of the tear at the edge of the paper
strengthened by a small piece of pared
paper. If the tear crosses print, and there
are no overlapping edges, either tiny pieces
of pared paper may be cut and laid across
the tear between the lines of print, or
else a piece of the thinnest Japanese paper,
which is nearly transparent, may be pasted
right along the tear over the print; in
either case the mend should be strengthened
at the edge of the page by an additional
thickness of paper. In cases where the
backs of the sections have been much
damaged, it will be necessary to put a
guard the entire length, or in the case of
small holes, to fill them in with pieces of
torn paper. The edges of any mend may,
with great care, be scraped with a sharp
knife having a slight burr on the under
side, and then rubbed lightly with a piece
of worn fine sand-paper, or a fragment of
cuttle-fish bone. Care must be taken not
to pare away too much, and especially not
to weaken the mend at the edges of the
sheet. As a general rule, the new mending
paper should go on the back of a
sheet.

Sometimes it is thought necessary to
fill up worm-holes in the paper. This[79]
may be done by boiling down some paper
in size until it is of a pulpy consistency,
and a little of this filled into the worm-holes
will re-make the paper in those
places. It is a very tedious operation,
and seldom worth doing.

Fig. 18.

Mending vellum is done in much the
same way as mending paper, excepting
that a little greater overlap must be left.
It is well to put a stitch of silk at each
end of a vellum patch, as you cannot
depend on paste alone holding vellum
securely. The overlapping edges must
be well roughed
up with a knife to
make sure that the
paste will stick.
A cut in a vellum
page is best mended
with fine silk with
a lacing stitch
(see fig. 18).

Mending is most easily done on a sheet
of plate-glass, of which the edges and
corners have been rubbed down.

CHAPTER V[80]

End Papers—Leather Joints—Pressing

END PAPERS

If an old book that has had much wear
is examined, it will generally be found
that the leaves at the beginning and the
end have suffered more than the rest of
the book. On this ground, and also to
enable people who must write notes in
books to do so with the least injury to
the book, it is advisable to put a good
number of blank papers at each end. As
these papers are part of the binding, and
have an important protective function to
perform, they should be of good quality.
At all times difficulty has been found in
preventing the first and last section of
the book, whether end papers or not,
from dragging away when the cover is
opened, and various devices have been
tried to overcome this defect. In the
fifteenth century strips of vellum (usually
cut from manuscripts) were pasted on to
the back of the book and on the inside[81]
of the boards, or in some cases were
merely folded round the first and last
section and pasted on to the covers. The
modern, and far less efficient, practice is
to “overcast” the first and last sections.
This is objectionable, because it prevents
the leaves from opening right to the back,
and it fails in the object aimed at, by
merely transferring the strain to the back
of the overcast section.

In order to make provision for any
strain there may be in opening the cover,
it is better to adopt some such arrangement
as shown in fig. 19. In this end
paper the zigzag opens slightly in response
to any strain.

The way to make this end paper is
to take a folded sheet of paper a little
larger than the book. Then with dividers
mark two points an eighth of an inch
from the back for the fold, and paste your
paste-down paper, B B, up to these points
(see fig. 19, II). When the paste is dry,
fold back the sheet (A1) over the paste-down
paper, and A2 the reverse way,
leaving the form seen in fig. 19, III. A
folded sheet of paper similar to A is
inserted at C (fig. 19, V, H), and the
sewing passes through this. When the[82]
book is pasted down the leaf A1 is torn
off, and B1 pasted down on the board.[83]
If marbled paper is desired, the marble
should be “made,” that is, pasted on to
B1.

Fig. 19.

There are considerable disadvantages in
using marbled papers, as if they are of
thick enough paper to help the strength
of the binding, the “made” sheet is very
stiff, and in a small book is troublesome.
On no account should any marble paper
be used, unless it is tough and durable.
The quality of the paper of which most
marbled papers are made is so poor, that
it is unsuitable for use as end papers.
For most books a self-coloured paper of
good quality answers well for the paste-down
sheets.

It is a mistake to leave end papers to
be pasted on after the book has been
forwarded, as in that case they have little
constructive value. Every leaf of such
an end paper as is described above will
open right to the back, and the zigzag
allows play for the drag of the board.

Paper with a conventional pattern
painted or printed on it may be used for
end papers. If such a design is simple,
such as a sprig repeated all over, or an
arrangement of stars or dots, it may look
very well; but over elaborate end papers,[84]
and especially those that aim at pictorial
effect, are seldom successful.

Ends may be made of thin vellum.
If so, unless the board is very heavy, it is
best to have leather joints.

A single leaf of vellum (in the place of
B1 and 2, II, fig. 19) should have an edge
turned up into the zigzag with the leather
joint, and sewn through. Vellum ends
must always be sewn, as it is not safe to
rely upon paste to hold them. They
look well, and may be enriched by
tooling. The disadvantage of vellum is,
that it has a tendency to curl up if subjected
to heat, and when it contracts it
unduly draws the boards of the book.
For large manuscripts, or printed books
on vellum, which are bound in wooden
or other thick boards and are clasped,
thicker vellum may be used for the ends;
that with a slightly brown surface looks
best. The part that will come into the
joint should be scraped thin with a knife,
and a zigzag made of Japanese paper.

Silk or other fine woven material may
be used for ends. It is best used with a
leather joint, and may be stuck on to the
first paper of the end papers (B1, No. 2,
fig. 19), and cut with the book. The[85]
glaire of the edge gilding will help to stop
the edges fraying out. In attaching silk
to paper, thin glue is the best thing to
use; the paper, not the silk, being glued.
Some little practice is needed to get sufficient
glue on the paper to make the silk
stick all over, and yet not to soil it.
When the silk has been glued to the paper,
it should be left under a light weight to
dry. If put in the press, the glue may
be squeezed through and the silk soiled.

If the silk is very thin, or delicate in
colour, or if it seems likely that it will
fray out at the edges, it is better to turn
the edges in over a piece of paper cut a
little smaller than the page of the book
and stick them down. This forms a pad,
which may be attached to the first leaf of
the end papers; a similar pad may be
made for filling in the board.

Before using, the silk should be damped
and ironed flat on the wrong side.

Silk ends give a book a rich finish, but
seldom look altogether satisfactory. If
the silk is merely stuck on to the first
end paper, the edges will generally fray
out if the book is much used. If the
edges are turned in, an unpleasantly thick
end is made.[86]

LEATHER JOINTS

Leather joints are pieces of thin leather
that are used to cover the joints on the
inside (for paring, see page 154). They
add very little strength to the book, but
give a pleasant finish to the inside of the
board.

If there are to be leather joints, the end
papers are made up without A 1, and the
edge of the leather pasted and inserted at
D, with a piece of common paper as a protection
(see fig. 19, IV). When the paste
is dry, the leather is folded over at E.

A piece of blotting-paper may be pasted
on to the inside of the waste leaf, leaving
enough of it loose to go between the
leather joint and the first sheet of the
end paper. This will avoid any chance
of the leather joint staining or marking
the ends while the book is being bound.
The blotting-paper, of course, is taken
out with the waste sheet before the joint
is pasted down.

Joints may also be made of linen or
cloth inserted in the same way. A cloth
joint has greater strength than a leather
one, as the latter has to be very thin[87]
in order that the board may shut properly.

With leather or cloth joints, the sewing
should go through both E and F.

PRESSING

Fig. 20.

Fig. 21.—Standing Press

While the end papers are being made,[88]
the sections of the book should be pressed.
To do this a pressing-board is taken
which is a little larger than the book, and
a tin, covered with common paper, placed
on that, then a few sections of the book,[89]
then another tin covered with paper, and
then more sections, and so on, taking care
that the sections are exactly over one
another (see fig. 20). A second pressing-board
having been placed on the last tin,[90]
the pile of sections, tins, and pressing-boards
can be put into the standing-press
and left under pressure till next day.
Newly printed plates should be protected
by thin tissue paper while being pressed.
Any folded plates or maps, &c., or inserted
letters, must either not be pressed,
or have tins placed on each side of them
to prevent them from indenting the adjoining
leaves.

Fig. 22.—French Standing Press

Hand-printed books, such as the publications
of the Kelmscott Press, should
have very little pressure, or the “impression”
of the print and the surface of the
paper may be injured. Books newly
printed on vellum or heavily coloured
illustrations should not be pressed at all,
or the print may “set off.”

The protecting tissues on the plates of
a book that has been printed for more
than a year can generally be left out,
unless the titles of the plates are printed
on them, as they are a nuisance to readers
and often get crumpled up and mark the
book.

In order to make books solid, that is, to
make the leaves lie evenly and closely to
one another, it was formerly the custom
to beat books on a “stone” with a heavy[91]
hammer. This process has been superseded
by the rolling-press; but with the
admirable presses that are now to be had,
simple pressing will be found to be sufficient
for the “extra” binder.

At fig. 21 is shown an iron standing-press.
This is screwed down first with a
short bar, and finally with a long bar.
This form of press is effective and simple,
but needs a good deal of room for the
long bar, and must have very firm supports,
or it may be pulled over.

At fig. 22 is shown a French standing-press,
in which the pressure is applied by
a weighted wheel, which will, in the first
place, by being spun round, turn the
screw until it is tight, and give additional
pressure by a hammering action. This
press I have found to answer for all ordinary
purposes, and to give as great pressure
as can be got by the iron standing-press,
without any undue strain on supports or
workmen.

There are many other forms of press
by which great pressure can be applied,
some working by various arrangements of
cog-wheels, screws, and levers, others by
hydraulic pressure.

CHAPTER VI[92]

Trimming Edges before Sewing—Edge Gilding

TRIMMING BEFORE SEWING

When the sheets come from the press the
treatment of the edges must be decided
upon, that is, whether they are to be entirely
uncut, trimmed before sewing, or
cut in boards.

Early printed books and manuscripts
should on no account have their edges
cut at all, and any modern books of value
are better only slightly trimmed and gilt
before sewing. But for books of reference
that need good bindings, on account
of the wear they have to withstand, cutting
in boards is best, as the smooth edge
so obtained makes the leaves easier to
turn over. Gilt tops and rough edges
give a book a look of unequal finish.

If the edges are to remain uncut, or be
cut “in boards” with the plough, the
book will be ready for “marking up” as
soon as it comes from the press; but if it
is to be gilt before sewing, it must be first
trimmed.[93]

Fig. 23.

The sheets for trimming with end
papers and all plates inserted must first be
cut square at the head against a carpenter’s
square (see fig.
7). Then a piece
of mill-board may
be cut to the size,
it is desired to leave
the leaves, and the
sections trimmed to
it. To do this three
nails should be put
into the covering
board through a
piece of straw-board,
and the back of the
section slid along
nails 1 and 2 until
it touches No. 3 (see fig. 23). The
board is slid in the same way, and anything
projecting beyond it cut off. When
the under straw-board has become inconveniently
scored in the first position,
by shifting the lower nail (1) a fresh surface
will receive the cuts. Fig. 24 is a
representation of a simple machine that I
use in my workshop for trimming. The
slides A A are adjustable to any width
required, and are fixed by the screws B B.[94]
The brass-bound straight edge C fits on to
slots in A A, and as this, by the adjustment
of the slides, can be fixed at any
distance from B B, all sizes of books can
be trimmed. As by this machine several
sections can be cut at once, the time taken
is not very much greater than if the book
were cut in the plough.

Fig. 24.

Considerable judgment is required in
trimming. The edges of the larger pages
only, on a previously uncut book, should
be cut, leaving the smaller pages untouched.
Such uncut pages are called
“proof,” and the existence of proof in a
bound book is evidence that it has not
been unduly cut.

Before gilding the edges of the trimmed[95]
sections, any uncut folds that may remain
should be opened with a folder, as if
opened after gilding, they will show a
ragged white edge.

Fig. 25.

EDGE GILDING

To gild the edges of trimmed sections,
the book must be “knocked up” to the
fore-edge, getting as many of the short
leaves as possible to the front. It is then
put into the
“lying press,”
with gilding
boards on each
side (see fig.
No. 25), and
screwed up
tightly. Very little scraping will be
necessary, and usually if well rubbed
with fine sand-paper, to remove any
chance finger-marks or loose fragments of
paper, the edge will be smooth enough to
gild. If the paper is very absorbent, the
edges must be washed over with vellum
size and left to dry.

The next process is an application of
red chalk. For this a piece of gilder’s
red chalk is rubbed down on a stone with[96]
water, making a thickish paste, and the
edges are well brushed with a hard brush
dipped in this mixture, care being taken
not to have it wet enough to run between
the leaves. Some gilders prefer to use
blacklead or a mixture of chalk and blacklead.
A further brushing with a dry
brush will to some extent polish the
leaves. It will then be ready for an application
of glaire. Before glairing, the
gold must be cut on the cushion to the
width required (see p. 200), and may be
either taken up on very slightly greased
paper, a gilder’s tip, or with a piece of net
stretched on a little frame (see fig. 26).
The gold leaf will adhere sufficiently to
the net, and can be readily released by a
light breath when it is exactly over the
proper place on the edge.

When the gold is ready, the glaire
should be floated on to the edge with a
soft brush, and the gold spread evenly
over it and left until dry; that is, in a
workshop of ordinary temperature, for
about an hour. The edge is then lightly
rubbed with a piece of leather that has
been previously rubbed on beeswax, and
is ready for burnishing. It is best to commence
burnishing through a piece of thin[97]
slightly waxed paper to set the gold, and
afterwards the burnisher can be used
directly on the edge. A piece of bloodstone
ground so as to have no sharp edges
(see fig. 27) makes a good burnisher.

Fig. 26.

There are several different preparations
used for gilding edges. One part of
beaten up white of egg with four parts of
water left to stand for a day and strained
will be found to answer well.[98]

Fig. 27.

After the fore-edge is gilt the same operation
is repeated at the head and tail. As
it is desirable to have the gilding at the
head as solid as possible, rather more
scraping is advisable here, or the head
may be left to be cut with a plough and
gilt in boards.

CHAPTER VII

Marking up—Sewing—Materials for Sewing

MARKING UP

This is drawing lines across the back of
the sections to show the sewer the position
of the sewing cords.

Marking up for flexible sewing needs
care and judgment, as on it depends the
position of the bands on the back of the
bound book. Nearly all books look best
with five bands, but very large, thinnish
folios may have six, and a very small, thick
book may look better with four. Generally
speaking, five is the best number. In
marking up trimmed sheets for flexible
sewing, the length of the back should be
divided from the head into six portions,[99]
five equal, and one at the tail slightly
longer. From the points so arrived at,
strong pencil lines should be made across
the back with a carpenter’s square as
guide, the book having been previously
knocked up between pressing-boards, and
placed in the lying press. It is important
that the head should be knocked up exactly
square, as otherwise the bands will
be found to slope when the book is bound.
In the case of a book which is to be cut
and gilt in boards, before marking up it
will be necessary to decide how much is
to be cut off, and allowance made, or the
head and tail division of the back will,
when cut, be too small. It must also be
remembered that to the height of the
pages the amount of the “squares” will
be added.

About a quarter of an inch from either
end of the back of a trimmed book, and a
little more in the case of one that is to be
cut in boards, a mark should be made for
the “kettle” or “catch” stitch. This
may be slightly sawn in, but before using
the saw, the end papers are removed. If
these were sawn, the holes would show in
the joint when the ends are pasted down.

If the book is to be sewn on double[100]
cords, or on slips of vellum or tape, two
lines will be necessary for each band.

It has become the custom to saw in the
backs of books, and to sink the bands into
the saw cuts, using “hollow backs,” and
putting false bands to appear when bound.
This is a degenerate form, to which is due
much of the want of durability of modern
bindings. If the bands are not to show
on the back, it is better to sew on tapes or
strips of vellum than to use sawn-in string
bands.

SEWING

The sewing-frame need by bookbinders
is practically the same now as is shown in
prints of the early sixteenth century, and
probably dates from still earlier times. It
consists of a bed with two uprights and
a crossbar, which can be heightened or
lowered by the turning of wooden nuts
working on a screw thread cut in the
uprights (see fig. 29).

To set up for sewing, as many loops
of cord, called “lay cords,” as there are
to be bands, are threaded on to the cross
piece, and to these, by a simple knot,
shown at fig. 28, cords are fastened
to form the bands. The “lay cords[101]”
can be used again and again until worn
out.

Fig. 28.

To fasten the cord below, a key is[102]
taken (see fig. 28) and held below the
press by the right hand; the cord is then
pulled up round it by the left, and held
in position on the key by the first finger
of the right hand. The key is then
turned over, winding up a little of the
string, and the prongs slipped over the
main cord. It is then put through the
slit in the bed of the sewing-press, with
the prongs away from the front. The
cord is then cut off, and the same operation
repeated for each band. When all
the bands have been set up, the book is
laid against them, and they are moved
to correspond with the marks previously
made on the back of the book, care being
taken that they are quite perpendicular.
If they are of the same length and evenly
set up, on screwing up the crossbar they
should all tighten equally.

It will be found to be convenient to
set up the cords as far to the right hand
of the press as possible, as then there
will be room for the sewer’s left arm on
the inner side of the left hand upright.

A roll of paper that will exactly fill
the slot in the sewing-frame is pushed in
in front of the upright cords to steady[103]
them and ensure that they are all in the
same plane.

When the sewing-frame is ready, with
the cords set up and adjusted, the book
must be collated to make sure that neither
sheets nor plates have been lost or misplaced
during the previous operations.
Plates need special care to see that the
guards go properly round the sheets next
them.

Fig. 29.

The top back corner, on front and
back waste end paper, should be marked.
When this has been done, and all is found
to be in order, the book is laid on a
pressing-board behind the sewing-frame,
the fore-edge towards the sewer, and the
front end paper uppermost. As it is
difficult to insert the needle into a section
placed on the bed of the sewing-frame,
it will be found convenient to sew upon
a largish pressing-board, which will lie on
the bed of the frame, and may have small
catches to prevent it from shifting. When
the board is in place, the first section (end
paper) is taken in the left hand and
turned over, so that the marks on the
back come in the proper places against
the strings. The left hand is inserted
into the place where the sewing is to be,[104]
and with the right hand a needle and
thread is passed through the kettle stitch[105]
mark (see fig. 29). It is grasped by
the fingers of the left hand, is passed out
through the back at the first mark on
the left-hand side of the first upright
cord, and pulled tight, leaving a loose end
of thread at the kettle stitch. Then with
the right hand it is inserted again in the
same place, but from the other side of
the cord, and so on round all five bands,
and out again at the kettle stitch mark
at the tail, using right and left hands
alternately. The centre of the next section
is then found, and it is sewn in the
same way from tail to head, the thread
being tied to the loose end hanging from
the first kettle stitch. Another section
is laid on and sewn, but when the kettle
stitch is reached, the under thread is
caught up in the way shown in fig. 30.
These operations are repeated throughout
the whole book. If the back seems
likely to swell too much, the sections can[106]
be lightly tapped down with a loaded
stick made for the purpose, care being
taken not to drive the sections inwards,
as it is difficult to get such sections out
again. When all the sheets and the last
end paper have been sewn on, a double
catch stitch is made, and the end cut off.
This method is known as flexible sewing
“all along.”

Fig. 30.

Fig. 31.

When one needle full of thread is
exhausted, another is tied on, making
practically a continuous
length of
thread going all
along each section
and round every
band. The weaver’s
knot is the best
for joining the
lengths of thread.
A simple way of
tying it is shown at
fig. 31. A simple slip knot is made in the
end of the new thread and put over the end
of the old, and, on being pulled tight, the
old thread should slip through, as shewn
at B. The convenience of this knot is,
that by its use a firm attachment can be
made quite close up to the back of the[107]
book. This is a great advantage, as
if the knot is made at some distance
from the back, it will have to be dragged
through the section two or three times,
instead of only once. The knot, after
having been made, must be pulled inside
the section, and remain there. Considerable
judgment is required in sewing. If
a book is sewn too loosely, it is almost
impossible to bind it firmly; and if too
tightly, especially if the kettle stitches
have been drawn too tight, the thread
may break in “backing,” and the book
have to be resewn.

One way to avoid having too much
swelling in the back of a book consisting
of a great many very thin sections is to
sew “two sheets on.” In this form of
sewing two sections at a time are laid on
the sewing-frame. The thread is inserted
at the “kettle stitch” of the lower section,
and brought out as usual at the first
cord, but instead of being reinserted into
the lower section, it is passed into the
upper one, and so on, alternately passing
into the upper and lower sections. This
will give, if there are five bands, three
stitches in each section instead of six, as
there would be if the sewing were “all[108]
along,” lessening the thread, consequently
the swelling by half. It is usual to sew
the first and last few sections “all along.”

The common method of sewing is to
make saw cuts in the back, in which thin
cords can be sunk, and the thread merely
passes behind them and not round them,
as in flexible sewing. This method,
although very quick and cheap, is not to
be recommended, on account of the injury
done to the backs of the sections by the
saw, and because the glue running into
the saw cuts is apt to make the back stiff,
and to prevent the book from opening
right to the back. Indeed, were a sawn-in
book to open right to the back, as it is
expected a flexibly-sewn book will do,
showing the sewing along the centre of
each section, the saw marks with the band
inserted would show, and be a serious
disfigurement.

Fig. 32.

Fig. 33.

Mediæval books were usually sewn on
double cords or strips of leather, and the
headband was often sewn at the same
time, as shown at fig. 32, A. This is an
excellent method for very large books
with heavy sections, and is specially suitable
for large vellum manuscripts, in many
of which the sections are very thick. An[109]
advantage of this method is, that the twist
round the double cord virtually makes a
knot at every band, and should a thread
at any place break, there is no danger of
the rest of the thread coming loose. This
is the only mode of sewing by which a
thread runs absolutely from end to end of
the sections. The headband sewn at the
same time, and so tied down in every section,
is firmer and stronger than if worked
on in the way now usual. In the fifteenth
century it was the custom to lace
the ends of the headbands into the boards
in the same way as the other bands. This
method, while giving additional strength
at the head and tail, and avoiding the
somewhat unfinished look of the cut-off
ends of the modern headband, is, on the
whole, of doubtful advantage, as it is
necessary to cut the “turn in” at the
point where strength in the leather is
much wanted.

At fig. 32 is shown in section the three
methods of sewing mentioned. A is the
old sewing round double bands; with the[110]
headbands worked at the same time with
the same thread; B is the modern flexible
sewing, and C the common sawn-in method.

Books that are very thin or are to be[111]
bound in vellum, are best sewn on tapes or
vellum slips. The easiest way to set up
the sewing-frame for
such sewing is to sling
a piece of wood
through two of the lay
cords, and to pin one
end of the vellum or tape
band round this, pull the
other end tight, and secure
it with a drawing-pin
underneath the
frame. The sewing, in
the case of such flat
bands, would not go
round, but only across
them. To avoid undue
looseness, every three
or four threads may be
caught up at the back of the band, as
shown in fig. 33.

MATERIALS FOR SEWING

The cord used should be of the best
hemp, specially made with only two strands
of very long fibres to facilitate fraying out.
For very large books where a double cord
is to be used, the best water line will be[112]
found to answer, care being taken to select
that which can be frayed out. If tape is
used it should be unbleached, such as the
sailmakers use. Thread should also be unbleached,
as the unnecessary bleaching of
most bookbinder’s sewing-thread seems to
cause it to rot in a comparatively short
time. Silk of the best quality is better
than any thread. The ligature silk, undyed,
as used by surgeons, is perhaps the
strongest material, and can be had in
various thicknesses. It is impossible to
pay too great attention to the selection of
sewing materials, as the permanency of the
binding depends on their durability. The
rebinding of valuable books is at best a
necessary evil, and anything that makes
frequent rebinding necessary, is not only
objectionable on account of the cost involved,
but because it seriously shortens
the life of the book.

Experience is required to judge what
thickness of thread to use for any given
book. If the sections are very thin, a thin
thread must be used, or the “swelling” of
the back caused by the additional thickness
of the thread in that part will be
excessive, and make the book unmanageable
in “backing.” On the other hand,[113]
if the sections are large, and a too thin
thread is used, there will not be enough
swelling to make a firm “joint.” Broadly
speaking, when there are a great many
very thin sections, the thinnest thread
may be used; and coarser thread may be
used when the sections are thicker, or
fewer in number. In the case of large
manuscripts on vellum it is best to use
very thick silk, or even catgut. Vellum
is so tough and durable, that any binding
of a vellum book should be made as if
it were expected to last for hundreds of
years.

In selecting the thickness of cord for a
book, some judgment is required. On an
old book the bands are best made rather
prominent by the use of thick cord, but
the exact thickness to be used is a matter
for taste and experience to decide.

A very thick band on a small book is
clumsy, while a very thin band on the back
of a heavy book suggests weakness, and is
therefore unsightly.

In bindings of early printed books and
manuscripts an appearance of great strength
is better than extreme neatness.

When the sewing is completed, the cords
are cut off close to the lay cords, and then[114]
the keys will be loose enough to be easily
removed. The knots remaining on the
lay bands are removed, and the keys slung
through one of them.

CHAPTER VIII

Fraying out Slips—Glueing up—Rounding
and Backing

FRAYING OUT SLIPS AND GLUEING UP

After sewing, the book should be looked
through to see that all sheets and plates
have been caught by the thread, and special
attention should be given to end papers to
see that the sewing lies evenly.

The ends of the cords should next be
cut off to within about two inches of the
book on each side, and the free portions
frayed out. If proper sewing cord is used,
this will be found to be very easily done,
if a binder’s bodkin is first inserted between
the two strands, separating them,
and then again in the centre of each separated
strand to still further straighten the
fibres (see fig. 34).

The fraying out of the thick cord recommended[115]
for heavy books is a more
difficult operation, but with a little trouble
the fibres of any good
cord can be frayed out.
Vellum or tape bands
will only require cutting
off, leaving about two
inches free on each side.
The free parts of the
bands are called slips.

Fig. 34.

The book is now
ready for glueing up.
A piece of waste mill-board or an old
cloth cover is put on each side over the
slips, and the book knocked up squarely
at the back and head. Then it is lowered
into the lying press and screwed up,
leaving the back with the protecting
boards projecting about three-quarters
of an inch. If the back has too much
swelling in it or is spongy, it is better to
leave the slips on one side free and to pull
them as tight as possible while the book is
held in the press, or a knocking-down iron
may be placed on one side of the projecting
back and the other side tapped with
the backing hammer to make the sections
lie close to one another, and then the slips
pulled straight (fig. 35). The back must[116]
now be glued. The glue for this operation
must be hot, and not too thick. It
is very important that it should be worked
well between the sections with the brush,
and it is well after it has been applied to
rub the back with a finger or folder to
make quite sure that the glue goes between
every section for its entire length.
If the book is too tightly screwed up in
the press, the glue is apt to remain too
much on the surface; and if not tightly
enough, it may penetrate too deeply between
the sections. If the glue is thick,
or stringy, it may be diluted with hot
water and the glue-brush rapidly spun[117]
round in the glue-pot to break it up and
to make it work freely.

Fig. 35.

Very great care is needed to see that
the head of a previously trimmed book
is knocked up exactly square before the
back is glued, for if it is not, it will be
very difficult to get it even afterwards.

ROUNDING AND BACKING

The amount of rounding on the back
of a book should be determined by the
necessities of the case; that is to say, a
back that has, through guarding, or excess
of sewing, a tendency to be round, is best
not forced to be flat, and a back that
would naturally be flat, is best not forced
to be unduly round. A very round back
is objectionable where it can be avoided,
because it takes up so much of the back
margins of the sheets, and is apt to make
the book stiff in opening. On the other
hand, a back that is quite flat has to be
lined up stiffly, or it may become concave
with use.

Fig. 36.

The method of rounding is to place the
book with the back projecting a little
over the edge of the press or table, then
to draw the back over towards the workman,[118]
and, while in this position, to tap it
carefully with a hammer (see fig. 36).
This is repeated on the other side of
the book, and, if properly done, will give
the back an even, convex form that should
be in section, a portion of a circle.
Rounding and backing are best done after
the glue has ceased to be tacky, but before
it has set hard.[119]

Fig. 37.

Backing is perhaps the most difficult and
important operation in forwarding. The
sewing threads in the back cause that part
to be thicker than the rest of the book.
Thus in a book with twenty sections
there will be in the back, in addition to
the thickness of the paper, twenty thicknesses
of thread.

If the boards were laced on to the book
without rounding or backing, and the
book were pressed, the additional thickness
of the back, having to go somewhere,
would cause it to go either convex or
concave, or else perhaps to crease up[120]
(see fig. 37). The object of rounding
is to control the distribution of this
swelling, and to make the back take an
even and permanently convex form.

Fig. 38.

If the boards were merely laced on after
rounding, there would be a gap between
the square ends of the
board and the edge of the
back (see fig. 38), though
the convexity and even
curve of the back would
be to some extent assured.
What is done in backing
is to make a groove, into
which the edges of the
board will fit neatly, and to hammer the
backs of the sections over one another
from the centre outwards on both sides
to form the “groove,” to
ensure that the back shall return
to the same form after
the book has been opened.

Fig. 39.

To back the book, backing
boards are placed on each
side (leaving the slips outside)
a short distance below the edge of the
back (fig. 39). The amount to leave
here must be decided by the thickness of
the boards to be used. When the backing[121]
boards are in position, the book and
boards must be carefully lowered into the
lying press and screwed up very tight,
great care being taken to see that the
boards do not slip, and that the book is
put in evenly. Even the most experienced
forwarder will sometimes have to take a
book out of the press two or three times
before he gets it in quite evenly and
without allowing the boards to slip.
Unless the back has a perfectly even curve
when put in the press for backing, no
amount of subsequent hammering will put
it permanently right.

Fig. 40.

Fig. 41.

The backs of the sections should be
evenly fanned out one over the other
from the centre outwards on both sides.[122]
This is done by side strokes of the
hammer, in fact by a sort of “riveting”
blow, and not by a directly crushing blow
(see fig. 41, in which the arrows show the
direction of the hammer strokes). If the
sections are not evenly fanned out from
the centre, but are either zigzagged by
being crushed by direct blows of the hammer,
as shown in fig. 42, A, or are unevenly
fanned over more to one side than
the other, as shown in fig. 42, B, the back,
although it may be even enough when
first done, will probably become uneven[123]
with use. A book in which the sections
have been crushed down, as at fig. 42, A,
will be disfigured inside by creases in the
paper.

Fig. 42.

Fig. 43.

Fig. 44.

It is a mistake to suppose that a very[124]
heavy hammer is necessary for backing
any but the largest books. For flexible
books a hammer with a comparatively
small face should be used, as by its use
the book can be backed without flattening
the bands. It is well to have a hammer
head of the shape shown in fig. 43. By
using the thin end, the force of a comparatively
light blow, because concentrated
on a small surface, is effective.

At fig. 44 is shown an ordinary backing
hammer.

CHAPTER IX

Cutting and Attaching Boards—Cleaning off Back—Pressing

CUTTING AND ATTACHING BOARDS

The first quality of the best black board
made from old rope is the best to use for
“extra” binding. It will be found to be
very hard, and not easily broken or bent
at the corners. In selecting the thickness
suitable for any given book, the size
and thickness of the volume should be
taken into account. The tendency of
most modern binders is to use a rather[125]
over thick board, perhaps with a view to
bulk out the volume. For manuscripts,
or other books on vellum, it is best to
use wooden boards, which should be
clasped. From their stability they form
a kind of permanent press, in which the
vellum leaves are kept flat. In a damp
climate like that of England, vellum,
absorbing moisture from the atmosphere,
soon cockles up unless it is held tightly
in some way; and when it is once cockled,
the book cannot be made to shut properly,
except with very special treatment.
Then also dust and damp have ready
access to the interstices of the crinkled
pages, resulting in the disfigurement so
well known and so deplored by all lovers
of fine books.

For large books a “made” board, that
is, two boards pasted together, is better
than a single board of the same thickness.
In making boards a thin and a thick board
should be pasted together, the thin board
to go nearest the book. It will not be
necessary to put a double lining on the
inside of such boards, as a thin board will
always draw a thick one.

Fig. 45.

If mill-boards are used they are first
cut roughly to size with the mill-board[126]
shears, screwed up in the “lying” press.
The straight arm of the shears is the one
to fix in the press, for if the bent arm be
undermost, the knuckles are apt to be
severely bruised against the end. A better
way of fixing the shears is shown at fig. 45.
Any blacksmith will bend the arm of the
shears and make the necessary clips. This
method saves trouble and considerable[127]
wear and tear to the “lying” press.
Where a great many boards are needed,
they may be quickly cut in a board
machine, but for “extra” work they
should be further trimmed in the plough,
in the same way as those cut by the
shears. After the boards have been
roughly cut to size, they should have one
edge cut straight with the plough. To
do this one or two pairs of boards are
knocked up to the back and inserted in
the cutting side of the press, with those
edges projecting which are to be cut off,
and behind them, as a “cut against,” a
board protected by a waste piece of mill-board.

The plough, held by the screw and
handle, and guided by the runners on the
press, is moved backwards and forwards.
A slight turn of the screw at each movement
brings the knife forward. In cutting
mill-boards which are very hard, the screw
should be turned very little each time.
If press and plough are in proper order,
that part of the board which projects
above the cheek of the press should be
cut off, leaving the edges perfectly square
and straight. If the edge of the press has
been damaged, or is out of “truth,” a[128]
cutting board may be used between the
cheek of the press and the board to be
cut, making a true edge for the knife to
run on.

Fig. 46.—Lying or Cutting Press

The position of the plough on the press[129]
is shown at fig. 46. The side of the press
with runners should be reserved for cutting,
the other side used for all other
work.

Fig. 47.

The plough knife for mill-boards should
not be ground at too acute an angle, or
the edge will most likely
break away at the first cut.
The shape shown at fig. 47
is suitable. The knife should
be very frequently ground,
as it soon gets blunt, which
adds greatly to the labour of
cutting.

After an edge has been
cut, each side should be well
rubbed with a folder to smooth down
any burr left by the plough knife.
Then a piece of common paper with
one edge cut straight is pasted on to
one side of the board, with the straight
edge exactly up to the cut edge of the
board. Then a piece of paper large
enough to cover both sides of the board
is pasted round it, and well rubbed down
at the cut edge. After having been lined,
the boards are nipped in the press to
ensure that the lining paper shall stick.[130]
They are stood up to dry, with the doubly
lined side outwards. The double paper
is intended to warp the board slightly to
that side, to compensate for the pull of
the leather when the book is covered. If
the board is a double one, a single lining
paper will be sufficient, the thinner board
helping to draw the thicker. The paste
for lining boards must be fairly thin, and
very well beaten up so as to be free from
lumps. It is of the utmost importance
that the lining papers should stick properly,
for unless they stick, no subsequent
covering of leather or paper can be made
to lie flat.

When the lined boards are quite dry,
they should be paired with the doubly
lined sides together, and the top back
corner marked to correspond with the
marks on the top back corners of the
book. Then near the top edge, with the
aid of a carpenter’s square, two points are
marked in a line at right angles to the cut
edge. The pair of boards is then knocked
up to the back and lowered into the press
as before, so that the plough knife will
exactly cut through the points. The
same operation is repeated on the two
remaining uncut edges. In marking out[131]
those for the fore-edge, the measurement is
taken with a pair of compasses (fig. 48)
from the joint of the book to the fore-edge
of the first section. If the book has been
trimmed, or is to remain uncut, a little
more must be allowed for the “squares,”
and if it is to be cut in the plough, it
must be now decided how
much is to be cut off,
remembering that it is
much better to have the
boards a little too large,
and so have to reduce
them after the book is
cut, than to have them
too small, and either be
obliged to get out a new
pair of boards, or unduly
cut down the book.

Fig. 48.

Fig. 49.

The height of the boards
for a book that has been
trimmed, or is to remain
uncut, will be the height of the page with
a small allowance at each end for the
squares. When a pair of boards has been
cut all round, it can be tested for squareness
by reversing one board, when any
inequality that there may be will appear
doubled. If the boards are out of truth[132]
they should generally be put on one side,
to be used for a smaller book, and new
boards got out. To correct a badly cut
pair of boards, it is necessary to reduce
them in size, and the book consequently
suffers in proportion. If the boards have
been found to be truly cut, they are laid
on the book, and the position of the slips
marked on them by lines at right angles
to the back. A line is
then made parallel to the
back, about half an inch
in (see fig. 49). At
the points where the
lines cross, a series of
holes is punched from
the front with a binder’s
bodkin on a lead plate,
then the board is turned
over, and a second series is punched from
the back about half an inch from the first.
If the groove of the back is shallower than
the thickness of the board, the top back
edge of the board should be bevelled off
with a file. This will not be necessary if
the groove is the exact depth. When the
holes have been punched, it is well to cut
a series of V-shaped depressions from the
first series of holes to the back to receive[133]
the slips, or they may be too prominent
when the book is bound. It will now be
necessary to considerably reduce the slips
that were frayed out after sewing, and to
remove all glue or any other matter attached
to them. The extent to which
they may be reduced is a matter of nice
judgment. In the desire to ensure absolute
neatness in the covering, modern
binders often reduce the slips to almost
nothing. On the other hand, some go to
the other extreme, and leave the cord
entire, making great ridges on the sides
of the book where it is laced in. It
should be possible with the aid of the
depressions, cut as described, to use slips
with sufficient margin of strength, and yet
to have no undue projection on the cover.
A slight projection is not unsightly, as it
gives an assurance of sound construction
and strength, and, moreover, makes an
excellent starting-point for any pattern
that may be used. When the slips have
been scraped and reduced, the portion left
should consist of long straight silky fibres.
These must be well pasted, and the ends
very slightly twisted. The pointed ends
are then threaded through the first series
of holes in the front of the board, and[134]
back again through the second (fig. 50).
In lacing-in the slips must not be pulled
so tight as to prevent the board from
shutting freely, nor left so loose as to
make a perceptible interval in the joint of
the book. The pasted slips having been
laced in, their ends are cut off with a
sharp knife, flush with the surface of the
board. The laced-in slips are then well
hammered on a knocking-down iron (see
fig. 51), first from the front and then
from the back, care being taken that the
hammer face should fall squarely, or the
slips may be cut. This should rivet them
into the board, leaving little or no projection.[135]
If in lacing in the fibres should
get twisted, no amount of hammering will
make them flat, so that it is important in
pointing the ends for lacing in, that only
the points are twisted just sufficiently to
facilitate the threading through the holes,
and not enough to twist the whole slip.

Fig. 50.

Fig. 51.

To lace slips into wooden boards, holes
are made with a brace and fine twist bit,
and the ends of the frayed out slips may
be secured with a wooden plug (see fig. 52).

Old books were sometimes sewn on[136]
bands of leather, but as those sewn on
cord seem to have lasted on the whole
much better, and as, moreover, modern
cord is a far more trustworthy material
than modern leather, it is better to use
cord for any books bound now.

Fig. 52.

[137]

CLEANING OFF THE BACK AND
PRESSING

Fig. 53.

When the boards have been laced on
and the slips hammered down, the book
should be pressed. Before pressing, a tin
is put on each side of both boards, one
being pushed right up into the joint on
the inside, and the other up to the joint,
or a little over it, on the outside. While
in the press, the back should be
covered with paste and left to
soak for a few minutes. When
the glue is soft the surplus on
the surface can be scraped off
with a piece of wood shaped as
shown in fig. 53. For important
books it is best to do this in the
lying press, but some binders prefer
first to build up the books in the standing
press, and then to paste the backs
and clean them off there. This has the
advantage of being a quicker method, and
will, in many cases, answer quite well.
But for books that require nice adjustment
it will be found better to clean off each
volume separately in the lying press, and
afterwards to build up the books and[138]
boards in the standing press, putting the
larger books at the bottom. It must be
seen that the entire pile is exactly in the
centre under the screw, or the pressure will
be uneven. To ascertain if the books are
built up truly, the pile must be examined
from both the front and side of the press.
Each volume must also be looked at carefully
to see that it lies evenly, and that the
back is not twisted or out of shape. This
is important, as any form given to the
book when it is pressed at this stage will
be permanent.

Any coloured or newly printed plates
will need tissues, as in the former pressing;
and any folded plates or diagrams or
inserted letters will need a thin tin on each
side of them to prevent them from marking
the book.

Again, the pressure on hand-printed
books must not be excessive.

The books should be left in the press
at least a night. When taken out they
will be ready for headbanding, unless the
edges are to be cut in boards.

CHAPTER X[139]

Cutting in Boards—Gilding and Colouring Edges

CUTTING IN BOARDS

The knife for cutting edges may be ground
more acutely than for cutting boards, and
should be very sharp, or the paper may
be torn. The plough knife should never
be ground on the under side, as if the
under side is not quite flat, it will tend to
run up instead of cutting straight across.
Before beginning to cut edges, the position
of the knife should be tested carefully
by screwing the plough up, with the
press a little open, and noting whereabouts
on the left-hand cheek the point of the
knife comes. In a press that is true the
knife should just clear the edge of the
press. If there is too much packing the
knife will cut below the edge of the press,
and if too little, it will cut above.

“Packing” is paper inserted between
the knife and the metal plate on the
plough, to correct the position of the
knife. When by experiment the exact
thickness of paper necessary for any given[140]
knife is found, the packing should be
carefully kept when the knife is taken out
for grinding, and put back with it into
the plough.

The first edge to be cut is the top, and
the first thing to do is to place the boards
in the position they will hold when the
book is bound. The front board is then
dropped the depth of the square required,
care being taken that the back edge of the
board remains evenly in the joint. A piece
of cardboard, or two or three thicknesses
of paper, are then slipped in between the
end paper and the back board to prevent
the latter from being cut by the knife.
The book is then carefully lowered into
the press, with the back towards the workman,
until the top edge of the front board
is exactly even with the right-hand cheek,
and the press screwed up evenly. The
back board should show the depth of the
square above the left-hand cheek. It is
very important that the edge of the back
board should be exactly parallel with the
press, and if at first it is not so, the book
must be twisted until it is right.

The edges can now be cut with the
plough as in cutting mill-boards. The
tail of the book is cut in the same way,[141]
still keeping the back of the book towards
the workman, but cutting from the back
board.

Fig. 54.

Fig. 55.

Cutting the fore-edge is more difficult.
The waste sheets at each end of the book
should be cut off flush with the edge of
the board, and marks made on them below
the edge showing the amount of the square,
and consequently how much is to be cut
off. The curve of the
back, and consequent
curve of the fore-edge,
must first be got rid of,
by inserting a pair of
pieces of flat steel called
“trindles” (fig. 54)
across the back, from
the inside of the boards.
When these are inserted
the back must be knocked quite flat,
and, in the case of a heavy book, a
piece of tape may be tied round the
leaves (see fig. 55) to keep them in
position. A pair of cutting boards is
placed one on each side of the leaves, the
back one exactly up to the point that the
edge of the board came to, and the front
one as much below that point as it is
desired the square of the fore-edge should[142]
be. The trindles are removed while the
book is held firmly between the cutting
boards by the finger and thumb; book and
boards are then lowered very carefully into
the press. The top edge of the front
cutting board should be flush with the
right-hand cheek of
the press, and that of
the back a square above
the left-hand cheek (see
fig. 56). A further
test is to look along
the surface of the
right-hand cheek,
when, if the book has
been inserted truly, the
amount of the back
cutting board in sight
should exactly correspond
with the
amount of the paper
to be cut showing
above the front board.
It will also be necessary before cutting
to look at the back, and to see that
it has remained flat. If it has gone
back to its old curve, or the book
has been put into the press crookedly,
it must be taken right out again and the[143]
trindles inserted afresh, as it is usually a
waste of time to try to adjust the book
when it is in the press. The leaves are
cut in the same way as those of the head
and tail.

Fig. 56.

GILDING OR COLOURING THE EDGES
OF A CUT BOOK[144]

Gilding the edges of a book cut in
boards is much the same process as that
described for the trimmed book, excepting
that when gilt in boards the edges can be
scraped and slightly sand-papered. It is
the custom to admire a perfectly solid gilt
edge, looking more like a solid sheet of
metal, than the leaves of a book. As the
essential characteristic of a book is, that it
is composed of leaves, this fact is better
accepted and emphasised by leaving the
edges a little rough, so that even when
gilt they are evidently the edges of leaves
of paper, and not the sides of a block, or
of something solid.

To gild the edges of a cut book the
boards should be turned back, and cutting
boards put on each side of the book flush
with the edge to be gilt. For the fore-edge
the book must be thrown up with
trindles first, unless it is desired to gild in
the round, a process which gives the objectionable
solid metallic edge.

After the edges have been gilt they may
be decorated by tooling, called “gauffering.[145]”

This may be done, either by tooling
with hot tools directly on the gold while
the leaves are screwed up tightly in the
press, or by laying another coloured gold
on the top of the first and tooling over
that, leaving the pattern in the new gold
on the original colour. But, to my mind,
edges are best left undecorated, except for
plain gold or colour.

If the edges are to be coloured, they
should be slightly scraped, and the colour
put on with a sponge, commencing with
the fore-edge, which should be slightly
fanned out, and held firmly, by placing a
pressing-board above it, and pressing with
the hand on this. The colour must be
put on very thinly, commencing from the
centre of the fore-edge and working to
either end, and as many coats put on as
are necessary to get the depth of colour
required. The head and tail are treated
in the same way, excepting that they
cannot be fanned out, and the colour
should be applied from the back to the fore-edge.
If in the fore-edge an attempt is
made to colour from one end to the other,
and if in the head or tail from the fore-edge
to the back, the result will almost certainly
be that the sponge will leave a thick[146]
deposit of colour round the corner from
which it starts.

For colouring edges almost any stain
will answer, or ordinary water-colours may
be used if moistened with size.

When the colour is dry the edge should
be lightly rubbed over
with a little beeswax, and
burnished with a tooth
burnisher (see fig. 57).

Fig. 57.

In addition to plain colour and gilding,
the edges of a book may be decorated in a
variety of ways. The fore-edge may be
fanned out and painted in any device in
water-colour and afterwards gilded; the
painting will only show when the book is
open. The fore-edge for this must be cut
very solid, and if the paper is at all
absorbent, must be sized with vellum size
before being painted. The paints used
must be simple water-colour, and the edge
must not be touched with the hand before
gilding, as if there is any grease or finger-mark
on it, the gold will not stick evenly.
Painting on the fore-edge should only be
attempted when the paper of the book is
thin and of good quality. More common
methods of decorating edges are by marbling
and sprinkling, but they are both[147]
inferior to plain colouring. Some pleasant
effects are sometimes obtained by marbling
edges and then gilding over the
marbling.

CHAPTER XI

Headbanding

HEADBANDS

Modern headbands are small pieces of
vellum, gut, or cord sewn on to the head
and tail of a book with silk or thread.
They resist the strain on the book when
it is taken from the shelf. The vellum
slip or cord must be of such a depth, that
when covered with silk it will be slightly
lower than the square of the boards. The
cut edge of the vellum always slants, and
the slip must be placed in position so that
it tilts back rather than forward on the
book.

To start, ease the boards slightly on
the slips and pull them down with the
top edges flush with the top edge of the
leaves. If this is not done the silk catches
on the projecting edges as the band is
worked. Stand the book in a finishing[148]
press, fore-edge to the worker, and tilted
forward so as to give a good view of the
headband as it is worked. The light
must come from the left, and well on to
the work. A needle threaded with silk
is put in at the head of the book, and
through the centre of the first section
after the end papers, and drawn out at
the back below the kettle stitch with about
two-thirds of the silk. The needle is
again inserted in the same place, and drawn
through until a loop of silk is left. The
vellum slip is placed in the loop, with the
end projecting slightly to the left. It
must be held steady by a needle placed
vertically behind it, with its point between
the leaves of the first section. The needle
end of silk is then behind the headband,
and the shorter end in front. The needle
end is brought over from the back with
the right hand, passed into the left hand,
and held taut. The short end is picked
up with the right hand, brought over the
needle end under the vellum, and pulled
tight from the back. This is repeated;
the back thread is again drawn up and
over the band to the front, the needle end
crosses it, and is drawn behind under the
vellum slip, and so on. The crossing of[149]
the threads form a “bead,” which must
be watched, and kept as tight as possible,
and well down on the leaves of the book.
Whenever the vellum or string begins to
shift in position, it must be tied down.
This is done when the needle end of silk
is at the back. A finger of the left hand
is placed on the thread of silk at the back,
and holds it firmly just below the slip.
The needle end is then brought up and
over the slip, but instead of crossing it
with the front thread, the needle is passed
between the leaves and out at the back of
the book, below the kettle stitch, and the
thread gradually drawn tight, and from
under the left-hand finger. The loop so
made will hold the band firmly, and the
silk can then be brought up and over the
slip and crossed in the usual way. The
band should be worked as far as the end
papers, and should be finished with a
double “tie down,” after which the front
thread is drawn under the slip to the
back. Both the ends of silk are then cut
off to about half an inch, frayed out, and
pasted down as flatly as possible on the
back of the book.

The band should be tied down frequently.
It is not too much to tie down[150]
every third time the needle end of the
silk comes to the back. To make good
headbands the pull on the silk must be
even throughout.

When the ends of the silk are pasted
down, the ends of the vellum slip are cut
off as near the silk as possible. The correct
length of the headband is best judged by
pressing the boards together with thumb
and finger at the opposite ends of the
band, so as to compress the sections into
their final compass. If the band then
buckles in the least, it is too long and
must be shortened.

The mediæval headbands were sewn
with the other bands (see fig. 32), and
were very strong, as they were tied down
at every section. Modern worked headbands,
although not so strong, are, if frequently
tied down, strong enough to
resist any reasonable strain. There are
many other ways of headbanding, but if
the one described is mastered, the various
other patterns will suggest themselves if
variety is needed. For very large books a
double headband may be worked on two
pieces of gut or string—a thick piece with
a thin piece in front. The string should
first be soaked in thin glue and left to[151]
dry. Such a band is worked with a figure
of eight stitch. Headbands may also be
worked with two or three shades of silk.
As vellum is apt to get hard and to break
when it is used for headbanding, it is well
to paste two pieces together with linen in
between, and to cut into strips as required.

Machine-made headbands can be bought
by the yard. Such bands are merely glued
on, but as they have but little strength,
should not be used.

Where leather joints are used, the
headbands may be worked on pieces of
soft leather sized and screwed up. If the
ends are left long and tied in front while
the book is being covered, they may be
conveniently let into grooves in the boards
before the leather joint is pasted down.
This method, I think, has little constructive
value, but it certainly avoids the
rather unfinished look of the cut-off headband.

CHAPTER XII[152]

Preparing for Covering—Paring Leather—Covering—Mitring
Corners—Filling-in Boards

PREPARING FOR COVERING

After the headband is worked, a piece
of brown or other stout paper should be
well glued on at the head and tail, care
being taken that it is firmly attached to
the back and the headband. When dry,
the part projecting above the headband is
neatly cut off, and the part on the back
well sand-papered, to remove any irregularity
caused by the tie-downs attaching
the headband. For most books this will
be quite sufficient lining up, but very
heavy books are best further lined up
between the bands with linen, or thin
leather. This can be put on by pasting
the linen or leather and giving the back a
very thin coat of glue.

Fig. 58.

The only thing now left to do before
covering will be to set the squares and to
cut off a small piece of the back corner of
each board at the head and tail, to make
it possible for the boards to open and[153]
shut without dragging the head-cap out of
place. The form of the little piece to be
cut off varies with each individual binder,
but I have found for an octavo book that
a cut slightly sloping from the inside
cutting off the corner about
an eighth of an inch each way,
gives the best result (see fig.
58). When the corner has
been cut off, the boards should
be thrown back, and the slips
between the book and the board well
pasted. When these have soaked a
little, the squares of the boards are
set; that is, the boards are fixed so that
exactly the same square shows on each
board above head and tail. A little
larger square is sometimes an advantage
at the tail to keep the head-cap well off
the shelf, the essential thing being that
both head and both tail squares should be
the same. In the case of an old book
that has not been recut, the edges will
often be found to be uneven. In such
cases the boards must be made square, and
so set that the book stands up straight.

When the slips have been pasted and
the squares set, tins can be put inside and
outside the boards, and the book given a[154]
slight nip in the press to flatten the slips.
Only a comparatively light pressure should
be given, or the lining up of the headbands
or back will become cockled and
detached.

PARING LEATHER

While the slips are being set in the press
the cover can be got out. Judgment is
necessary in cutting out covers. One
workman will be able, by careful cutting,
to get six covers out of a skin where
another will only get four. The firm
part of the skin is the back and sides, and
this only should be used for the best
books. The fleshy parts on the flanks
and belly will not wear sufficiently well to
be suitable for good bookbinding.

The skin should be cut out leaving
about an inch all round for turning in
when the book is covered, and when cut
out it must be pared. If the leather is
of European manufacture most of the
paring will have been done before it is
sold, and the leather manufacturer will
have shaved it to any thickness required.
This is a convenience that is partly responsible
for the unduly thin leather that is[155]
commonly used. The better plan is to
get the leather rather thick, and for the
binder to pare it down where necessary.
For small books it is essential, in order
that the covers may open freely, and the
boards not look clumsy, that the leather
should be very thin at the joint and round
the edges of the boards. For such books
it is very important that a small, naturally
thin skin should be used that will not
have to be unduly pared down, and that
the large and thicker skins should be kept
for large books.

Binders like using large skins because
there is much less waste, but if these skins
are used for small books, so much of the
leather substance has to be pared away, that
only the comparatively brittle grained surface
remains. By the modern process of
dyeing this surface is often to some extent
injured, and its strength sometimes totally
destroyed.

When the cover has been cut to size the
book is laid on it with the boards open,
and a pencil line drawn round them, a
mark being made to show where the back
comes. The skin is then pared, making
it thin where the edge of the boards will
come. Great care must be taken that the[156]
thinning does not commence too abruptly,
or a ridge will be apparent when the
leather is on the book.

The paring must be done quite smoothly
and evenly. Every unevenness shows when
the cover is polished and pressed. Care is
needed in estimating the amount that will
have to be pared off that part of the leather
that covers the back and joints. The object
of the binder should be to leave these portions
as thick as he can consistently with
the free opening of the boards. The leather
at the head-caps must be pared quite thin,
as the double thickness on the top of the
headband is apt to make this part project
above the edges of the board. This is a
great trouble, especially at the tail, where,
if the head-cap projects beyond the boards,
the whole weight of the book rests on it,
and it is certain to be rubbed off when the
book is put on the shelf.

Fig. 59.

The method of paring with a French
knife (fig. 60, A)—the only form of knife[157]
in use by binders that gives sufficient control
over the leather—is shown at fig. 59.
To use this knife properly, practice is required.
The main thing to learn is that
the knife must be used quite flat, and
made to cut by having a very slight burr[158]
on the under side. This burr is got by rubbing
the knife on the lithographic stone
on which the paring is done. The handle
of the knife should never be raised to such
a height above the surface of the stone
that it is possible to get the under fingers
of the right hand over the edge of the
stone. Another form of knife suitable
for paring the edges of leather is shown
at fig. 60, B.

Fig. 60.

To test if the leather has been sufficiently
pared, fold it over where the edge
of the board will come, and run the finger
along the folded leather. If the paring
has been done properly it will feel quite
even the whole length of the fold; but if
there are any irregularities, they will be
very apparent, and the paring must be
gone over again till they have disappeared.[159]
When even, the book must be again laid
on the leather with the boards open, and a
pencil line drawn round as before. If there
are leather joints they will have been pared
before the book was sewn, and care must
be taken in paring the turn-in of the
cover that it is of the same thickness as
the leather joint, or it will be impossible
to make a neat mitre at the back
corners.

COVERING

Before covering, the book must be
looked at to see that the bands are quite
square and at equal distances apart. Any
slight errors in this respect can be corrected
by holding the book in the lying
press between backing boards and gently
tapping the bands from one side or the
other with a piece of wood struck with
a hammer. This is best done when the
back is cleaned off, but by damping the
bands slightly it may be done just before
covering. The squares must be looked
to, and the edges of the board well rubbed
with a folder, or tapped with a hammer,
to remove any burr that may have been
caused by the plough knife, or any chance[160]
blow. The back is then moistened with
paste, or, in the case of a very large book,
with thin glue, and left to soak. The
cover can then be well pasted with thickish
paste, that has been previously well
beaten up. When the cover is pasted, it
can be folded with the pasted sides together
and left to soak for a few minutes
while the back is again looked to, and
any roughness smoothed down with the
folder. Before covering, the bands should
be nipped up with band nippers (see fig.
61) to make sure that they are sharp.
The coverer should have ready before
covering a clean paring stone, one or two
folders, a pair of nickeled-band nippers,
a clean sponge, a little water in a saucer,
a piece of thread, and a strip of smooth
wood (boxwood for preference), called a
band stick, used for smoothing the leather
between the bands, a pair of scissors, and
a small sharp knife, a pair of waterproof
sheets the size of the book, and, if the[161]
book is a large one, a pair of tying up
boards, with tying up string, and two
strips of wood covered in blotting-paper
or leather. It is best to have the band
nippers for covering nickeled to prevent
the iron from staining the leather. The
waterproof sheets recommended are thin
sheets of celluloid, such as are used by
photographers.

Fig. 61.

When these things are ready, the pasted
cover should be examined and repasted if
it has dried in any place. The amount
of paste to be used for covering can only
be learned by experience. A thick leather
will take more than a thin one, but,
provided the cover sticks tight at every
point, the less paste used the better. If
there is too much, it will rub up and
make very ugly, uneven places under the
leather; and if there is too little, the
cover will not stick.

Fig. 62.

Take the pasted cover and look to see
which is the better side of the leather.
Lay the front of the book down on this
exactly up to the marks that show the
beginning of the turn-in. Then draw
the leather over the back and on to the
other side, pulling it slightly, but not
dragging it. Then stand the book on[162]
its fore-edge on a piece of waste paper,
with the leather turned out on either side,
as shown at fig. 62, and nip up the bands
with nickeled band nippers (see fig. 63).
After this is done there will probably be
a good deal of loose leather on the back.
This can be got rid of by dragging the
leather on to the side; but by far the
better plan, when the back is large enough
to allow it, is to work up the surplus
leather on to the back between the panels.
This requires a good deal of practice, and
is very seldom done; but it can be done
with most satisfactory results. The book
should now have the leather on the back[163]
stretched lengthways to make it cover
the bands, but not stretched the other
way, and the leather on the boards should
lie perfectly flat and not be stretched at
all. The leather on the fore-edge of the
board is then rubbed with the hand on
the outside, and then on to the edge,
and then on the inside. The edge and
the inside are smoothed down with a
folder, and any excessive paste on the[164]
inside squeezed out and removed. When
the fore-edge of both boards has been
turned in, the head and tail must also be
turned in. A little paste is put on to
that part of the leather that will turn in
below the headband, and this portion is
neatly tucked in between the boards and
the back. The turned-in edge must lie
quite evenly, or it will result in a ridge
on the back. The leather is turned in
on the two boards in the same way as
described for the fore-edge, and the edge
rubbed square with a folder. At fig. 64
is shown a convenient form of folder for
covering. At the corners the leather
must be pulled over as far as possible
with two folders meeting at the extreme
point, the object being to avoid a cut in
the leather at the corner of the board.
The folds so formed must be cut off
with the scissors (see fig. 65, A), then
one edge tucked neatly under the other,
(B). Care must be taken throughout not
to soil the edges of the leaves.

Fig. 63.

Fig. 64.

At the headband the fold of leather,[165]
pared thin for the purpose, must be
squeezed together with a folder and
pulled out a little to leave an even
projection that can be turned over to
form a head-cap. When both ends have
been turned in, in this way, the boards
must each be opened and pressed against
a straight-edge held in the joint (fig. 66)
to ensure that there is enough leather
in the turn-in of the joint to allow the
cover to open freely; and the leather of
the turn-in at the head and tail must[166]
be carefully smoothed down with a
folder.

Fig. 65.

Fig. 66.

Fig. 67.

The book may now be shut up if a
waterproof sheet is put at each end to
prevent the damp of the cover from cockling
the paper. It must then be stood on
its fore-edge and the bands
again nipped up with a
pair of nickeled band
nippers, and the panels
between the bands well
pressed down with the
band stick to cause the
leather to stick at every
point. A piece of thread
is tied round the back
from head to tail, squeezing
the leather in the gap
caused by the corners of the board having
been cut off. The book is then turned
up on end, resting the tail on a folder
or anything that will keep the projecting
leather for the head-cap from being prematurely
flattened. The head-caps (fig.
67) must now be set. To do this the
first finger of the left hand is placed
behind it, and a sharp folder is pressed
into the corners of the head-cap between
the headband and the thread. The leather[167]
is then tapped over the headband, and the
whole turned over on the stone and rubbed
at the back with a folder. This operation
requires great nicety. The shape of
head-cap is shown at fig. 67. The nice
adjustment of head-caps and corners, although
of no constructional value, are the
points by which the forwarding of a book
is generally valued.

Fig. 68.

If the book is a large one, it will be
best to tie it up. The method of tying
up is shown in fig. 68. The tying up
cords will make marks at the side of the
bands, that are not unpleasant on a large[168]
book. If they are objected to, it is best
to tie the book up for about half-an-hour,
and then to untie it, and smooth out the
marks with the band stick. Even with
small books, if the leather seems inclined
to give trouble, it is well to tie them up
for a short time, then to untie them,
to smooth out any marks or inequalities,
and to tie them up again.

MITRING CORNERS AND FILLING IN

A book that has been covered should
be left under a light weight until the
next day, with waterproof sheets between
the damp cover and the end paper
to prevent the sheets of the book from
cockling through the damp. When the
cover is thoroughly set the boards should
be carefully opened, pressing them slightly
to the joint to ensure a square and even
joint. If, as is sometimes the case, the
turn-in of the leather over the joint
seems to be inclined to bind, the cover
should be merely opened half-way, and
the leather of the turns-in of the joint
damped with a sponge, and left to soak
for a short time, and then the cover can[169]
usually be opened without any dragging.
A section of a good joint is shown at
fig. 69, A, and a bad one at B.

Fig. 69.

Fig. 70.

The next operation will be to fill in
the board and mitre the corners. To fill
in the boards, a piece of paper as thick as
the turn-in of the leather (engineer’s
cartridge paper answers very well) should
be cut a little smaller than the board,
with one edge cut straight; then with the
straight edge adjusted to the back of the
board, and a weight placed on the centre,
the paper is marked round with dividers
set to the intended width of the
turn-in of the leather. Then with a
sharp knife, paper and leather may be cut
through together. The paper should
then be marked to show its position on
the board, and the ragged edges of the
leather trimmed off. This will leave an
even margin of leather on three sides of
the inside of the board, and a piece of
paper that will exactly fit the remaining
space. The corners must next be mitred.[170]
To do this, both thicknesses of leather
are cut through from the corner of the
board to the corner of the inside margin.
The knife should be held slightly slanting
to make a cut, as shown at fig. 70. The
corners should then be thoroughly damped,
and the overlapping leather from both
sides removed, leaving what should be a
neat and straight join. If the leather at
the extreme corner should prove to be, as
is often the case, too thick to turn in
neatly, the corners should be opened out
and the leather pared against the thumb
nail, and then well pasted and turned back
again. The extreme corner may be
slightly tapped on the stone with a hammer,
and the sides rubbed with a folder,
to ensure squareness and sharpness. When
all four corners have been mitred, the filling
in papers can be pasted in. As they will
probably stretch a little with the paste, it
will be well to cut off a slight shaving, and
they should then fit exactly. When the
boards have been filled in and well rubbed[171]
down, the book should be left for some
hours with the boards standing open to
enable the filling-in papers to draw the
boards slightly inwards to overcome the
pull of the leather.

In cases where there are leather joints
the operation is as follows: The waste
end paper is removed, and the edge of the
board and joint carefully cleaned from
glue and all irregularities, and if, as is
most likely, it is curved from the pull of
the leather, the board must be tapped or
ironed down until it is perfectly straight.
If there is difficulty in making the board
lie straight along the joint before pasting
down, it will be well first to fill in with
a well pasted and stretched thin paper,
which, if the boards are left open, will
draw them inwards. If the leather joint
is pasted down while the board is curved,
the result will be a most unsightly projection
on the outside. When the joint
has been cleaned out, and the board made
to lie flat, the leather should be pasted
down and mitred. The whole depth of
the turn-in of the covering leather in the
joint must not be removed, or it will be
unduly weakened. The mitring line
should not come from the extreme corner,[172]
but rather farther down, and there it is
well to leave a certain amount of overlap
in the joint, for which purpose the edge
of the turn-in leather and the edge of the
leather joint should be pared thin. After
pasting down the leather joints the boards
should be left open till they are dry (see
fig. 71). The turn-in and leather joint are
then trimmed out, leaving an even margin
of leather all round the inside of the[173]
board, and the panel in the centre filled in
with a piece of thick paper.

Fig. 71.

When corners and filling in are dry, the
boards may be shut up, and the book is
ready for finishing.

It is a common practice to wash up the
covers of books that have become stained
with a solution of oxalic acid in water.
This is a dangerous thing to do, and is
likely to seriously injure the leather.
Leather, when damp, must not be brought
in contact with iron or steel tools, or it
may be badly stained.

CHAPTER XIII

Library Binding—Binding very Thin Books—Scrap-Books—Binding
on Vellum—Books covered with
Embroidery

LIBRARY BINDING

Specifications III and IV

To produce cheaper bindings, as must be
done in the case of large libraries, some
alteration of design is necessary. Appearance
must to some extent be sacrificed to
strength and durability, and not, as is too[174]
often the case, strength and durability
sacrificed to appearance. The essentials
of any good binding are, that the sections
should be sound in themselves, and that
there should be no plates or odd sheets
“pasted on,” or anything that would prevent
any leaf from opening right to the
back; the sewing must be thoroughly
sound; the sewing materials of good
quality; the slips firmly attached to the
boards; and the leather fairly thick and of
a durable kind, although for the sake of
cheapness it may be necessary to use skins
with flaws on the surface. Such flawed
skins cost half, or less than half, the price
of perfect skins, and surface flaws do not
injure the strength of the leather. By
sewing on tape, great flexibility of the
back is obtained, and much time, and consequent
expense, in covering is saved. By
using a French joint much thicker leather
than usual can be used, with corresponding
gain in strength.

To bind an octavo or smaller book according
to the specification given (III, page
307); first make all sections sound, and
guard all plates or maps. Make end papers
with zigzags. After the sections have been
thoroughly pressed, the book will be ready[175]
for marking up and sewing. In marking
up for sewing on tapes, two marks will be
necessary for each tape. When there are
several books of the same size to be sewn,
they may be placed one above the other
in the sewing press, and sewn on to the
same tapes. It will be found that the
volumes when sewn can easily be slid along
the tapes, which must be long enough to
provide sufficient for the slips of each.
The split boards may be “made” of a
thin black mill-board with a thicker straw-board.
To “make” a pair of split boards
the pieces of straw-and mill-board large
enough to make the two are got out, and
the straw-board well glued, except in the
centre, which should previously be covered
with a strip of thin mill-board or tin about
four inches wide. The strip is then removed,
and the thin black board laid on
the glued straw-board and nipped in the
press. When dry, the made board is cut
down the centre, which will leave two
boards glued together all over except for
two inches on one side of each. The
boards then are squared to the book in a
mill-board machine. The back of the
book is glued up, and in the ordinary way
rounded and backed. The edges may be[176]
cut with a guillotine. The ends of the
tapes are glued on the waste end paper,
which should be cut off about an inch and
a half from the back. The split boards
are then opened and glued, and the waste
end papers with slips attached are placed
in them (see fig. 72), and the book nipped
in the press. To form a “French joint”
the boards should be kept about an eighth
of an inch from the back of the book.
The book is then ready for covering.
The leather must not be pared too thin, as
the French joint will give plenty of play
and allow the use of much thicker leather
than usual. If time and money can be
spared, headbands can be worked, but
they are not absolutely necessary, and a
piece of string may be inserted into the
turning of the leather at head and tail in
the place of them. When the book is[177]
covered, a piece of string should be tied
round the joints, and the whole given a
nip in the press. The corners of the
boards should be protected by small tips
of vellum or parchment. The sides may
be covered with good paper, which will
wear quite as well as cloth, look better,
and cost less.

Fig. 72.

The lettering of library books is very
important (see Chapter XV).

BINDING VERY THIN BOOKS

Books consisting of only one section
may be bound as follows:—A sheet of
paper to match the book, and two coloured
sheets for end papers, are folded round
the section, and a “waste” paper put
over all. A strip of linen is pasted to
the back of the waste, and the whole sewn
together by stitching through the fold.
The waste may be cut off and inserted
with the linen in a split board, as for
library bindings. The back edges of the
board should be filed thin, and should not
be placed quite up to the back, to allow
for a little play in the joints.

The leather is put on in the ordinary[178]
way, except that the linen at the head and
tail must be slit a little to allow for the
turn in. If waterproof sheets are first
inserted, the ends may be pasted, the
boards shut, and the book nipped in the
press. By substituting a piece of thin
leather for the outside coloured paper, a
leather joint can be made.

SCRAP-BOOKS

Scrap-books, into which autograph letters,
sketches, or other papers can be
pasted, may be made as follows:—Enough
paper of good quality is folded up to the
size desired, and pieces of the same paper,
of the same height, and about two inches
wide, are folded down the centre and
inserted between the backs of the larger
sheets, as shown at fig. 73. It is best not
to insert these smaller pieces in the centre
of the section, as they would be troublesome
in sewing. If, after sewing, the
book is filled up with waste paper laid
between the leaves, it will make it manageable
while being forwarded.

It is best to use a rather darkly-toned
or coloured paper, as, if a quite white
paper is used, any letters or papers that[179]
have become soiled, will look unduly
dirty.

Fig. 73.

Autograph letters may be mounted in
the following ways:—If the letter is
written upon both sides of a single leaf,
it may be either “inlaid,” or guarded, as
shown at fig. 74, A. A letter on a folded
sheet of notepaper should have the folds
strengthened with a guard of strong thin
paper, and be attached by a guard made,
as shown at fig. 74, B; or if on very heavy
paper, by a double guard, as shown at
fig. 74, C. Torn edges of letters may be
strengthened with thin Japanese paper.

Fig. 74.

Thin paper, written or printed only on
one side, may be mounted on a page of
the book. It is better to attach these by[180]
their extreme edges only, as if pasted
down all over they may cause the leaves
to curl up.

Letters or any writing or drawing in
lead pencil should be fixed with size before
being inserted.

Silver prints of photographs are best
mounted with some very quick-drying
paste, such as that sold for the purpose
by the photographic dealers. If the leaf
on which they are mounted is slightly
damped before the photograph is pasted
down, it will be less likely to cockle. If
this is done, waterproof sheets should be
put on each side of the leaf while it dries.
If photographs are attached by the edges
only, they will not be so liable to draw
the paper on which they are mounted;
but sometimes they will not lie flat themselves.

In cases where very thick letters or
papers have to be pasted in, a few more
leaves of the book should be cut out, to
make a corresponding thickness at the
back.

VELLUM BINDINGS

Vellum covers may be limp without
boards, and merely held in place by the[181]
slips being laced through them, or they
may be pasted down on boards in much
the same way as leather.

If the edges of a book for limp vellum
binding are to be trimmed or gilt, that
should be done before sewing. For the
ends a folded piece of thin vellum may
replace the paste-down paper. The sewing
should be on strips of vellum. The back
is left square after glueing, and headbands
are worked as for leather binding, or may
be worked on strips of leather, with ends
left long enough to lace into the vellum
(see p. 151). The back and headbands
are lined with leather, and the book is
ready for the cover.

A piece of vellum should be cut out
large enough to cover the book, and to
leave a margin of an inch and a half all
round. This is marked with a folder on
the under side, as shown at fig. 75, A.
Spaces 1 and 2 are the size of the sides of
the book with surrounding squares; space
3 is the width of the back, and space 4
the width for the overlaps on the fore-edge.
The corners are cut, as shown at 5, and
the edges are folded over, as at B. The
overlap 4 is then turned over, and the
back folded, as at C. The slips are now[182]
laced through slits made in the vellum.

Fig. 75.

A piece of loose, toned paper may be put[183]
inside the cover to prevent any marks on
the book from showing through; and
pieces of silk ribbon of good quality are
laced in as shown, going through both
cover and vellum ends, if there are any,
and are left with ends long enough to tie
(see fig. 76).

Fig. 76.

If paper ends are used, the silk tape need
only be laced through the cover, and the
end paper pasted over it on the inside.

Another simple way of keeping a vellum
book shut is shown at fig. 77. A bead is
attached to a piece of gut laced into the
vellum, and a loop of catgut is laced in
the other side, and looped over the bead
as shown.

If the book is to have stiff boards, and[184]
the vellum is to be pasted to them, it is
best to sew the sections on tapes or vellum
slips, to back the book as for leather, and
to insert the ends of the slips in a split
board, leaving a French joint, as
described for library bindings.
Vellum is very stiff, and, if it is
pasted directly to the back, the
book would be hard to open.
It is best in this case to use what
is known as a hollow back.

Fig. 77.

To make a hollow back, a piece of stout
paper is taken which measures once the
length of the back and three times the
width. This is folded in three. The
centre portion is glued to the back and
well rubbed down, and the overlapping
edges turned back and glued one to the
other (fig. 78). This will leave a flat, hollow
casing, formed by the single paper glued to
the back of the book and the double paper
to which the vellum may be attached. Or
it is better to line up the back with leather,
and to place a piece of thick paper the size
of the back on to the pasted vellum where
the back will be when the book is covered.

Fig. 78.

When the book is ready for covering,
the vellum should be cut out and lined
with paper. In lining vellum the paste[185]
must be free from lumps, and great care
must be taken not to leave brush marks.
To avoid this, when the lining paper has
been pasted it can be laid, paste downwards,
on a piece of waste paper and quickly
pulled up again; this
should remove surplus
paste and get rid of
any marks left by the
brush. When the vellum
has been lined with paper,
it should be given a light
nip in the press between
blotting-paper, and while
still damp it is pasted, the
book covered, and the
corners mitred. A piece
of thin string is tied
round the head-caps and
pressed into the French
joint.

Waterproof sheets are placed inside the
covers, and the book then nipped in the
press and left to dry under a light weight.
If the vellum is very stiff and difficult to
turn in, it may be moistened with a little
warm water to soften it.

Books with raised bands have sometimes
been covered with vellum, but the back[186]
becomes so stiff and hard, that this method,
though it looks well enough, cannot be
recommended. Vellum is a durable
material, and can be had of good quality,
but it is so easily influenced by changes of
temperature, that it is rather an unsuitable
material for most bindings.

BOOKS COVERED WITH EMBROIDERY
AND WOVEN MATERIAL

To cover a book with embroidered
material bind it with split boards, a
French joint, and a hollow back, as described
for vellum (see fig. 78). Glue the
back of the book with thin glue well
worked up, and turning in the head and
tail of the embroidery, put the book down
on it so that the back will come exactly in
the right place. Press down the embroidery
with the hand to make sure that
it sticks. When it is firmly attached to
the back, first one board and then the other
should be glued, and the embroidery laid
down on it. Lastly, the edges are glued
and stuck down on the inside of the board,
and the corners mitred. Velvet or any
other thick material can be put down in
the same way. For very thin material[187]
that the glue would penetrate and soil,
the cover should be left loose, and only
attached where it turns in. A loose lining
of good paper may be put between the
book and the cover.

The inside corners where the cover has
been cut should be neatly sewn up. The
edges of the boards and head-caps may be
protected all round with some edging
worked in metal thread. It is well in
embroidering book covers to arrange for
some portion of the pattern to be of raised
metal stitches, forming bosses that will
protect the surface from wear.

Should any glue chance to get on the
surface, the cover should be held in the
steam of a kettle and the glue wiped off,
and the cover again steamed.

CHAPTER XIV[188]

Decoration—Tools—Finishing—Tooling on
Vellum—Inlaying on Leather

DECORATION OF BINDING—TOOLS

The most usual, and perhaps the most
characteristic, way of decorating book
covers is by “tooling.” Tooling is the
impression of heated (finishing) tools.
Finishing tools are stamps of metal that
have a device cut on the face, and are
held in wooden handles (fig. 79).

Fig. 79.

Tooling may either be blind tooling,
that is, a simple impression of the hot tools,
or gold tooling, in which the impression
of the tool is left in gold on the leather.

Tools for blind tooling are best “die-sunk,”
that is, cut like a seal. The
“sunk” part of the face of the tool,
which may be more or less modelled,
forms the pattern, and the higher part[189]
depresses the leather to form a ground.
In tools for gold tooling, the surface of
the tool gives the pattern.

Tools may be either complex or simple
in design, that is to say, each tool may
form a complete
design with enclosing
border, as
the lower ones on
page 323, or it may
be only one element
of a design, as at
fig. 100. Lines may
be run with a fillet
(see fig. 88), or
made with gouges
or pallets.

Gouges are
curved line tools.
They are made in
sets of arcs of concentric
circles (see fig. 80, A). The portion
of the curves cut off by the dotted line C
will make a second set with flatter curves.
Gouges are used for tooling curved lines.

Fig. 80.

A “pallet” may be described as a segment
of a roll or fillet set in a handle, and[190]
used chiefly for putting lines or other ornaments
across the backs of books (see fig.
81). A set of one-line pallets is shown at
fig. 80, B.

Fillets are cut with two or more lines
on the edge. Although the use of double-line
fillets saves time, I have found that a
few single-line fillets with edges of different
gauges are sufficient for running all straight
lines, and that the advantage
of being able to alter the distances
between any parallel
lines is ample compensation
for the extra trouble involved
by their use. In addition to
the rigid stamps, an endless
pattern for either blind or
gold tooling may be engraved
on the circumference of a roll,
and impressed on the leather
by wheeling.

Fig. 81.

The use of a roll in finishing dates from
the end of the fifteenth century, and some
satisfactory bindings were decorated with
its aid. The ease with which it can be
used has led in modern times to its abuse,
and I hardly know of a single instance of
a modern binding on which rolls have been
used for the decoration with satisfactory
results. The gain in time and trouble is
at the expense of freedom and life in the[191]
design; and for extra binding it is better
to build up a pattern out of small tools of
simple design, which can be arranged in
endless variety, than to use rolls.

Tools for hand-tooling must not be too
large, or it will be impossible to obtain
clear impressions. One inch square for
blind tools, or three-quarters of an inch
for gold tools, is about the maximum size
for use with any certainty and comfort.
Tools much larger than this have to be
worked with the aid of a press, and are
called blocks.

FINISHING

The first thing the finisher does to a
book is to go over the back with a
polisher and smooth out any irregularities.

Two forms of polisher are shown at
fig. 82. The lower one is suitable for
polishing backs and inside margins, and
the upper for sides. Polishers must be
used warm, but not too hot, or the
leather may be scorched, and they must
be kept moving on the leather. Before
using they should be rubbed bright on
a piece of the finest emery paper, and
polished on a piece of leather. New[192]
polishers often have sharp edges that
would mark the leather. These must
be rubbed down with files and emery-paper.

Leathers with a prominent grained surface,
such as morocco, seal or pig skin,
may either have the grain rough or
crushed flat. If there is to be much
finishing, the grain had better be crushed,
but for large books that are to have only
a small amount of finishing, the grain is
best left unflattened.

Fig. 82.

If the grain of the leather is to be
“crushed,” it may be done at this stage.
To do this, one board at a time is damped
with a sponge and put in the standing-press,
with a pressing plate on the grained
side, and a pad of blotting-paper, or some
such yielding substance, on the other
(see fig. 83). The press is then screwed
up tight, and the board left for a short[193]
time. For some leathers this operation is
best done after the binding has been
finished and varnished, in which case, of
course, the boards cannot be damped
before pressing. No flexibly sewn book
should be subject to great pressure after
it has been covered, or
the leather on the back
may crinkle up and
become detached.

The next thing will
be to decide what
lettering and what
decoration, if any, is
to be put on the volume.
The lettering
should be made out first (see page 215).
If the book is to be at all elaborately decorated,
paper patterns must be made out,
as described in Chapter XVI.

Fig. 83.

For tooling the back, the book is held
in the finishing press between a pair of
backing boards lined with leather (see
fig. 84), and the paper pattern put across
the back, with the ends either slightly
pasted to the backing boards, or caught
between them and the book.

For the sides, the pattern is very slightly
pasted on to the leather at the four[194]
corners. The book is then put in the
finishing press, with the board to be tooled
open and flat on the cheek of the press,
unless the book is a large one, when it is
easier to tool the sides out of the press.

Fig. 84.

The selected tools, which should be
ready on the stove (see fig. 85), are one
at a time cooled on a wet pad, and then
pressed in their former impressions upon
the paper. The degree of heat required
varies a good deal with the leather used,
and will only be learned by experience.
It is better to have the tool too cool than[195]
too hot, as it is easy to deepen impressions
after the paper is removed; but if they are
already too deep, or are burnt, it will be
impossible to finish clearly. Generally
speaking, tools should hiss very slightly
when put on the cooling pad. In cooling,
care must be taken to put the shank of
the tools on to the wet pad, as, if the end[196]
only is cooled, the heat is apt to run
down again, and the tool will still be too
hot.

Fig. 85.—Finishing Stove

Before removing the paper, one corner
at a time should be lifted up, and the
leather examined to see that no part of
the pattern has been missed.

In some patterns where the design is
close, or in which the background is
dotted in, it will not be necessary to blind
in every leaf and dot through the paper.
If the lines with perhaps the terminal
leaves are blinded in, the rest can be better
worked directly through the gold. This
method implies the “glairing in” of the
whole surface. It is not suitable for open
patterns, where the glaire might show on
the surface of the leather.

If the book is only to have lines, or
some simple straight line pattern, it is
often easier to mark it up without the
paper, with a straight-edge and folder. In
panelling a back, the side lines of all the
panels should be marked in at the same
time with a folder, working against the
straight-edge, held firmly at the side of
the back. If the panels are worked separately,
it is difficult to get the side lines
squarely above each other. The lines at[197]
the top and bottom of the panel may be
marked in with a folder, guided by a
piece of stiff vellum held squarely across
the back. If there are lines to be run
round the board, they can be marked in
with a pair of dividers guided by the edge
of the board, except those at the back.
These must be measured from the fore-edge
of the board and run in with straight-edge
and folder.

When straight lines occur in patterns
that are blinded through the paper, it will
be enough if the ends only are marked
through with a small piece of straight line,
and the lines completed with straight-edge
and folder, after the paper has been removed.

Unless the finisher has had considerable
experience, it is best to deepen all folder
lines by going over them in blind with a
fillet or piece of straight line.

When the pattern has been worked in
blind, either through a paper pattern or
directly on to the leather with the tools,
and any inlays stuck on (see page 213), the
cover should be well washed with clean
water. Some finishers prefer to use
common vinegar or diluted acetic acid for
washing up books. If vinegar is used it[198]
must be of the best quality, and must not
contain any sulphuric acid. Cheap, crude
vinegar is certain to be injurious to the
leather. Porous leather, such as calf or
sheep skin, will need to be washed over
with paste-water, and then sized.

Paste-water is paste and water well
beaten up to form a milky liquid, and is
applied to the leather as evenly as possible
with a sponge. When the paste-water is
dry, the leather should be washed with size.
Size can be made by boiling down vellum
cuttings, or by dissolving gelatine or isinglass
in warm water.

For the less porous leathers, such as
morocco, seal, or pig skin, no paste-water
or size is necessary, unless the skin happens
to be a specially open one, or the cover
has been cut from the flank or belly.
Then it is best to put a little paste in the
vinegar or water used for washing up.
When the leather is nearly, but not quite,
dry the impressions of the tools must be
painted with glaire. Finishers’ glaire may
be made from the white of eggs well beaten
up, diluted with about half as much vinegar,
and allowed to settle. Some finishers
prefer to use old, evil-smelling glaire, but
provided it is a day old, and has been well[199]
beaten up, fresh glaire will work quite
well.

The impressions of any heavy or solid
tools should be given a second coat of
glaire when the first has ceased to be
“tacky,” and if the leather is at all
porous, all impressions had better have a
second coat.

As glaire is apt to show and disfigure
the leather when dry, it is best to use it as
sparingly as possible, and, excepting where
the pattern is very close, to confine it to
the impressions of the tools. It is not at
all an uncommon thing to see the effect
of an otherwise admirably tooled binding
spoilt by a dark margin round the tools,
caused by the careless use of glaire. Glaire
should not be used unless it is quite liquid
and clean. Directly it begins to get thick
it should be strained or thrown away.

The finisher should not glaire in more
than he can tool the same day. When the
glaire has ceased to be “tacky,” the gold
is laid on.

Fig. 86.

At first it will be found difficult to
manage gold leaf. The essential conditions
are, that there should be no draught,
and that the cushion and knife should be
quite free from grease. The gold cushion[200]
and knife are shown at fig. 86. A little
powdered bath-brick rubbed into the
cushion will make it easier to cut the
gold cleanly. The blade of the gold knife
should never be touched with the hand,
and before using it, both sides should be
rubbed on the cushion. A book of gold
is laid open on the cushion, and a leaf of
gold is lifted up on the gold knife, which
is slipped under it, and turned over on to
the cushion. A light breath exactly in
the centre of the sheet should make it lie
flat, when it may be cut into pieces of any
size with a slightly sawing motion of the
knife. The book with the pattern ready
prepared, and the glaire sufficiently dry
(not sticky), is rubbed lightly with a small
piece of cotton-wool greased with a little
cocoanut oil. The back of the hand is
greased in the same way, and a pad of
clean cotton-wool is held in the right hand,
and having been made as flat as possible by[201]
being pressed on the table, is drawn over
the back of the hand. This should make
it just greasy enough to pick up the gold,
but not too greasy to part with it readily
when pressed on the book. As little grease
as possible should be used on the book, as
an excess is apt to stain the leather and to
make the gold dull. After experiment it
has been found that cocoanut oil stains the
leather less than any other grease in common
use by bookbinders, and is more
readily washed out by benzine.

Fig. 87.

If the gold cracks, or is not solid when
pressed on the book, a second thickness
should be used. This will stay down if
the under piece is lightly breathed upon.

For narrow strips of gold for lines, a
little pad covered with soft leather may
be made, as in fig. 87.

It will be found of advantage to first
use the bottom leaf of gold in the book[202]
and then to begin at the top and work
through, or else the bottom leaf will
almost certainly be found to be damaged
by the time it is reached. The gold used
should be as nearly pure as it can be got.
The gold-beaters say that they are unable
to beat pure gold as thin as is usual for
gold leaf; but the quite pure gold is a
better colour than when alloyed, and the
additional thickness, although costly, results
in a more solid impression of the
tools.

The cost of a book of twenty-four leaves
three and a half inches square of English gold
leaf of good ordinary quality is from 1s. 3d.
to 1s. 6d., whereas the cost of a book of
double thick pure gold leaf is 3s. to 3s. 6d.
For tooled work it is worth paying the increased
price for the sake of the advantages
in colour and solidity; but for lines and
edges, which use up an immense amount
of gold, the thinner and cheaper gold may
quite well be used.

Besides pure gold leaf, gold alloyed with
various metals to change its colour can be
had. None of the alloys keep their colour
as well as pure gold, and some of them,
such as those alloyed with copper for red
gold, and with silver for pale gold, tarnish[203]
very quickly. These last are not to be
recommended.

For silver tooling aluminium leaf may
be used, as silver leaf tarnishes very quickly.

When the gold is pressed into the impressions
of the tools with the pad of
cotton-wool, they should be plainly visible
through it.

The pattern must now be worked
through the gold with the hot tools.
The tools are taken from the stove, and
if too hot cooled on a pad as for blinding-in.
The heat required to leave the gold
tooling solid and bright and the impressions
clear will vary for different leathers,
and even for different skins of the same
leather. For trial a tool may be laid on
the pad until it ceases to hiss, and one or
two impressions worked with it. If the
gold fails to stick, the heat may be slightly
increased.

If the leather is slightly damp from the
preparation the tools will usually work
better, and less heat is required than if it
has been prepared for some time and has
got dry.

Before using, the faces of all tools must
be rubbed bright on the flesh side of a
piece of leather. It is impossible to tool[204]
brightly with dirty tools. A tool should
be held in the right hand, with the thumb
on the top of the handle, and steadied with
the thumb or first finger of the left hand.
The shoulder should be brought well
over the tool, and the upper part of the
body used as a press. If the weight of
the body is used in finishing, the tools
can be worked with far greater firmness
and certainty, and with less fatigue, than if
the whole work is done with the muscles
of the arms.

Large and solid tools will require all
the weight that can be put on them, and
even then the gold will often fail to stick
with one impression. Tools with small
surfaces, such as gouges and dots, must
not be worked too heavily, or the surface
of the leather may be cut.

To strike a large or solid tool, it should
first be put down flat, and then slightly
rocked from side to side and from top to
bottom, but must not be twisted on the
gold.

A tool may be struck from whichever
side the best “sight” can be got, and press
and book turned round to the most convenient
position.

It is difficult to impress some tools,[205]
such as circular flower tools, twice in
exactly the same place. Such tools should
have a mark on one side as a guide. This
should always be kept in the same position
when blinding-in and tooling, and so make
it possible to impress a second time without
“doubling.” An impression is said
to be “doubled” when the tool has been
twisted in striking, or one impression does
not fall exactly over the other.

The hot tool should not be held hovering
over the impression long, or the preparation
will be dried up before the tool
is struck. Tooling will generally be
brighter if the tools are struck fairly
sharply, and at once removed from the
leather, than if they are kept down a long
time.

To “strike” dots, the book should be
turned with the head to the worker, and
the tool held with the handle inclining
slightly towards him. This will make
them appear bright when the book is held
the right way up.

Gouges must be “sighted” from the
inside of the curve, and struck evenly,
or the points may cut into the leather.
Short straight lines may be put in with
pieces of line, and longer ones with a fillet.[206]

A one line fillet is shown at fig. 88;
the space filed out of the circumference
is to enable lines to be joined neatly at the
corners. That the lines may be clearly
visible through the gold, the book should
be placed so that the light comes from the
left hand of the worker and across the
line. It is well to have a basin of water
in which to cool fillets, as there is so
much metal in them, that the damp sponge
or cotton used for cooling tools would
very rapidly be dried up. When the fillet
has been cooled, the edge should be rubbed
on the cleaning pad, and the point exactly
adjusted to the corner of the line to be
run (see fig. 88). The fillet is then run
along the line with even pressure.

Fig. 88.

For slightly curved lines, a very small
fillet may be used.[207]

When all the prepared part of a pattern
has been tooled, it is well rubbed to remove
the loose gold with a slightly greasy
rag, or with a piece of bottle indiarubber
which has been softened in paraffin. After
a time the rubber or rag may be sold to
the gold-beater, who recovers the gold.
To prepare indiarubber for cleaning off
gold, a piece of bottle rubber is cut into
small pieces and soaked in paraffin for some
hours. This should cause the pieces to
reunite into a soft lump. This can be used
until it is yellow with gold throughout.

When all free gold is rubbed off,
the finisher can see where the tooling is
imperfect. Impressions which are not
“solid” must be reglaired, have fresh gold
laid on, and be retooled. But if, as will
sometimes happen with the best finishers,
the gold has failed to stick properly anywhere,
it is best to wash the whole with
water or vinegar, and prepare afresh.

As an excess of grease is apt to dull
the gold and soil the leather, it is better
to use it very sparingly when laying on
fresh gold for mending. For patching,
benzine may be used instead of grease.
When the gold is picked up on the
cotton-wool pad, rapidly go over the[208]
leather with wool soaked in benzine, and
at once lay down the gold. Benzine will
not hold the gold long enough for much
tooling, but it will answer for about half-an-hour,
and give plenty of time for
patching.

Imperfect tooling arises from a variety
of causes. If an impression is clear, but
the gold not solid, it is probably because
the tool was not hot enough, or was not put
down firmly. If only one side of an impression
fails to stick, it is usually because the
tool was unevenly impressed. If an impression
is blurred, and the gold has a
frosted look, it is because the leather has
been burned, either because the tool was
too hot, or kept down too long, or the
preparation was too fresh.

To mend double or burnt impressions
the leather should be wetted and left to
soak a short time, and the gold can be
picked out with a wooden point. When
nearly dry the impressions should be put
in again with a cool tool, reglaired and
retooled.

It is very difficult to mend neatly if the
leather is badly burnt. Sometimes it may
be advisable to paste a piece of new leather
over a burnt impression before retooling.[209]

If a tool is put down in the wrong
place by mistake, it is difficult to get the
impression out entirely. The best thing
to do is to damp the leather thoroughly,
leave it to soak for a little while, and
pick up the impression with the point of a
pin. It is best not to use an iron point for
this, as iron is apt to blacken the leather.

Leather is difficult to tool if it has not
a firm surface, or if it is too thin to give
a little when the tool is struck.

When the tooling is finished, and the
loose gold removed with the rubber, the
leather should be washed with benzine, to remove
any grease and any fragments of gold
that may be adhering by the grease only.

The inside margins of the boards are
next polished and varnished, and the end
papers pasted down. Or if there is a
leather joint, the panel left on the board
may be filled in (see Chapter XVII).

When the end papers are dry, the sides
and back may be polished and varnished.

It is important that the varnish should
be of good quality, and not too thick, or
it will in time turn brown and cause the
gold to look dirty. Some of the light
French spirit varnishes prepared for bookbinders
answer well. Varnish must be[210]
used sparingly, and is best applied with a
pad of cotton-wool. A little varnish is
poured on to the pad, which is rubbed on
a piece of paper until it is seen that the
varnish comes out thinly and evenly. It
is then rubbed on the book with a spiral
motion. The quicker the surface is gone
over, provided every part is covered, the
better. Varnish will not work well if it
is very cold, and in cold weather both the
book and varnish bottle should be slightly
warmed before use. Should an excess of
varnish be put on in error, or should it be
necessary to retool part of the book after
it has been varnished, the varnish can be
removed with spirits of wine. Varnish
acts as a preservative to the leather, but
has the disadvantage, if used in excess, of
making it rather brittle on the surface.
It must, therefore, be used very sparingly
at the joints. It is to be hoped that a
perfectly elastic varnish, that will not tarnish
the gold, will soon be discovered.

As soon as the varnish is dry the boards
may be pressed, one at a time, to give the
leather a smooth surface (see fig. 83), leaving
each board in the press for some hours.

Fig. 89.

After each board has been pressed separately
the book should be shut, and pressed[211]
again with pressing plates on each side of
it, and with tins covered with paper placed
inside each board. Light pressure should
be given to books with tight backs, or the
leather may become detached.

If, on removing from the press, the
boards will not keep shut, the book should[212]
be pressed again with a folded sheet of
blotting-paper in each end. The blotting-paper
should have the folded edge turned
up, and be placed so that this turned-up
edge will be in the joint behind the back
edge of the board when the book is shut.

A small nipping-press suitable for giving
comparatively light pressure, is shown
at fig. 89.

TOOLING ON VELLUM

Most covering vellum has a sticky
surface, that marks if it is handled. This
should be washed off with clean water
before tooling. The pattern is blinded in
through the paper as for leather, excepting
that the paper must not be pasted directly
to the vellum, but may be held with a
band going right round the board or book.
It is best to glaire twice, and to lay on
a small portion of gold at a time with[213]
benzine. As vellum burns very readily,
the tools must not be too hot, and some
skill is needed to prevent them from slipping
on the hard surface.

Vellum must not be polished or varnished.

INLAYING ON LEATHER

Inlaying or onlaying is adding a different
leather from that of the cover, as
decoration. Thus on a red book, a panel
or a border, or other portion, may be
covered with thin green leather, or only
flowers or leaves may be inlaid, while a
jewel-like effect may be obtained by dots,
leaves, and flowers, tooled over inlays of
various colours. Leather for inlaying
should be pared very thin. To do this
the leather is cut into strips, wetted, and
pared on a stone with a knife shaped
somewhat as at fig. 60, B. When the
thin leather is dry the inlays of the leaves
and flowers, &c., may be stamped out with
steel punches cut to the shape of the
tools; or if only a few inlays are needed,
the tools may be impressed on the thin
leather, and the inlays cut out with a
sharp knife. The edges of the larger[214]
inlays should be pared round carefully.
For inlaying a panel or other large surface,
the leather is pared very thin and
evenly with a French knife, and a piece
of paper pasted on to the grained side
and left to dry. When dry, the shape
of the panel, or other space to be inlaid,
is marked on it through the paper pattern,
and leather and paper cut through to the
shape required. The edges must then be
carefully pared, and the piece attached
with paste, and nipped in the press to
make it stick. When the paste is dry,
the paper may be damped and washed
off. The object of the paper is to prevent
the thin leather from stretching
when it is pasted.

For white inlays it is better to use
Japanese paper than leather, as white
leather, when pared very thin, will show
the colours of the under leather through,
and look dirty. If paper is used, it should
be sized with vellum size before tooling.

When many dots or leaves are to be
inlaid, the pieces of leather, cut out with
the punch, may be laid face downwards
on a paring stone, and a piece of paper,
thickly covered with paste, laid on it.
This, on being taken up, will carry with[215]
it the “inlays,” and they can be picked
up one at a time on the point of a fine
folder, and stuck on the book.

“Inlays” of tools are attached after
the pattern has been “blinded” in, and
must be again worked over with the
tool, in blind, when the paste is nearly
dry.

On vellum an effect, similar to that of
inlays on leather, can be obtained by the
use of stains.

CHAPTER XV

Lettering—Blind Tooling—Heraldic Ornament

LETTERING ON THE BACK

Lettering may be done either with
separate letters, each on its own handle,
or with type set in a type-holder and
worked across the back as a pallet. Although
by the use of type great regularity
is ensured, and some time saved, the use
of handle letters gives so much more
freedom of arrangement, that their use
is advocated for extra binding. Where
a great many copies of the same work[216]
have to be lettered, the use of type has
obvious advantages.

A great deal depends on the design of
the letters used. Nearly all bookbinders’
letters are made too narrow, and with too
great difference between the thick and
thin strokes. At fig. 90 is shown an
alphabet, for which I am indebted to the
kindness of Mr. Emery Walker. The
long tail of the Q is meant to go under
the U. It might be well to have a second
R cut, with a shorter tail, to avoid
the great space left when an A happens
to follow it. I have found that four sizes
of letters are sufficient for all books.

Fig. 90.

Fig. 91.

Fig. 92.

To make out a lettering paper for the
back of a book, cut a strip of good thin[217]
paper as wide as the height of the panel
to be lettered. Fold it near the centre,
and mark the fold with a pencil. This
should give a line exactly at right angles
to the top and bottom of the strip. Then
make another fold the distance from the
first of the width of the back; then bring
the two folds together, and make a third
fold in the exact centre. The paper
should then be as shown at fig. 91. Supposing
the lettering to be THE WORKS
OF ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON,
select the size of letter you desire to use,
and take an E and mark on a piece of
spare paper a line of E’s, and laying your
folded paper against it, see how many
letters will go in comfortably. Supposing
you find that four lines of five letters
of the selected size can be put in, you
must see if your title can be conveniently
cut up into four lines of five letters, or
less. It might be done as shown at fig.
93. But if you prefer not to split the[218]
name STEVENSON, a smaller letter
must be employed, and then the lettering
may be as at fig. 94.

To find out the position of the lines
of lettering on a panel, the letter E is
again taken and impressed five times at
the side of the panel, as shown at fig. 92,
leaving a little greater distance between
the lowest letter and the bottom of the
panel, than between the letters. The
paper is then folded on the centre fold,
and, with dividers set to the average
distance between the head of one letter
and the head of the next, five points are
made through the folded paper. The
paper is opened, turned over, and the
points joined with a fine folder worked
against the straight-edge. It should
leave on the front five raised lines, up
to which the head of the letters must
be put.

Fig. 93.

Fig. 94.

The letters in the top line are counted,[219]
and the centre letter marked. Spaces between
words are counted as a letter; thus
in “THE WORKS,” “W” will be the
centre letter, and should be put on the
paper first, and the others added on each
side of it. Some thought is needed in
judging where to put the centre, as the
difference in the width of such letters as
“M” and “W” and “I” and “J” have
to be taken into account.

As a general rule, lettering looks best
if it comfortably fills the panel, but of
course it cannot always be made to do
this. The greatest difficulty will be found
in making titles of books that consist of a
single word, look well. Thus if you have
“CORIOLANUS” to place on a back
which is not more than 5⁄8-inch wide, if it
is put across as one word, as at fig. 95 (1),
it will be illegible from the smallness of
the type, and will tell merely as a gold
line at a little distance. If a reasonably
large type is used, the word must be
broken up somewhat, as at (2), which is
perhaps better, but still not at all satisfactory.
The word may be put straight
along the back, as at fig. (3), but this
hardly looks well on a book with raised[220]
bands, and should be avoided unless
necessary.

Fig. 95.

The use of type of different sizes in
lettering a book should be avoided when
possible, and on no account whatever
should letters of different design be introduced.
Occasionally, when the reason for
it is obvious, it may be allowable to make
a word shorter by putting in a small
letter, supposing that only thus could
reasonably large type be used. It is
especially allowable in cases where, in a
set of volumes, there is one much thinner
than the others. It is generally better to
make some compromise with the lettering
of the thin volume, than to spoil the[221]
lettering of the whole set by using too
small a letter throughout (see fig. 115).

On very thin books it is sometimes
hardly possible to get any lettering at all
on the back. In such cases the lettering
is best put on the side.

In the case of some special books that
are to have elaborately decorated bindings,
and are on that account sufficiently distinct
from their neighbours, a certain
amount of freedom is permissible with
the lettering, and a little mystery is not
perhaps out of place. But in most cases
books have to be recognised by their titles,
and it is of the utmost importance that
the lettering should be as clear as possible,
and should fully identify the volume.

For lettering half-bindings and other
books on which much time cannot be
spared, it would take too long to make
out a paper, as described for extra bindings,
nor is there on such work much
occasion for it. For such books the lettering
should be written out carefully,
the whole panel prepared and glaired in,
and the gold laid on. Then with a piece
of fine silk or thread lines may be marked
across the gold as a guide to the finisher,
and the letters worked from the centre[222]
outward, as described for making out the
paper pattern. Of course this method
does not allow of such nice calculation
and adjustment as when a paper pattern
is made out; but if a general principle of
clear lettering is recognised and accepted,
very good results may be obtained.

BLIND TOOLING

Fig. 96.

At the end of the book characteristic
examples of blind-tooled books are given
(pages 321–25). It will be seen that most
of the tools form complete designs in themselves.
Although the use of detached die-sunk
tools was general, there were also
simple tools used, which, when combined,[223]
made up more or less organic designs,
and allowed more freedom to the finisher
(see figs. 96 and 97).

Fig. 97.

Some use may also be made of interlaced
strap-work designs, either worked
with gouges, or a small fillet. A book
bound in oaken boards, with a leather
back with knotted decoration, is shown at
page 330. I have found that such binding
and decoration is more satisfactory in
scheme for old books, than most forms of
modern binding.[224]

If a design is simple, the cover is marked
up with dividers, and the tools impressed
direct upon the leather; or, if it is elaborate,
a paper pattern is made out, and
the tools blinded through the paper, as
described for gold tooling. The leather is
then damped with water, and the impressions
retooled.

Fig. 98.

The panel lines on most of the bindings
before 1500 show evidence of having been
put in with a tool which has been pushed
along the leather, and not with a
wheel. I have found that a tool
guided by a straight-edge, and
“jiggered” backwards and forwards,
makes by far the best lines
for blind-tool work. It should be borne
in mind that the line is formed by the
raised portion of leather, and so the tool
should be cut somewhat as at fig. 98.
This should leave three ridges on the
leather. Blind tooling may be gone over
and over until it is deep enough, and may
be combined with various other methods
of working. For instance, in tooling such
a spray as is shown at fig. 99, the leaf
would be formed by five impressions of
the second tool, shown at A, the extremity
of the impressions could be joined with[225]
gouges, the stalk and veining could either
be run in with a fillet or worked with
gouges. The grapes would best be worked
with a tool cut for the purpose. One
edge of all gouge or fillet impressions can
be smoothed down with
some such tool as shown
in section at B. This
has to be worked round
the gouge lines with a
steady hand, and may
be fairly hot if it is
kept moving. At C is
shown a section of a
gouge impression before
and after the use of this
tool. The ground can
be dotted in, or otherwise
gone over with
some small tool to
throw up the pattern.

Blind tooling can
sometimes be used in
combination with gold
tooling.

Fig. 99.

In the fifteenth century the Venetian
binders used little roundels of some gesso-like
substance, that were brightly coloured
or gilt, in combination with blind tooling[226]
(see p. 325). This is a method that
might be revived.

What is known as “leather work” is
a further development of blind tooling.
This method of decoration has been revived
lately, but not generally with success.
“Leather work” may be divided into two
branches; in one the surface of the leather
is cut to outline the pattern, and in the
other the leather is embossed from the
back, while wet, and the pattern outlined
by an indented line. Sometimes the two
methods are combined. As embossing
from the back necessitates the work being
done before the leather is on the book, it
is not very suitable for decorating books.
Leather first decorated and then stuck on
the book, never looks as if it was an integral
part of the binding. The cut leather
work, which may be done after the book
is bound, and leaves the surface comparatively
flat, is a better method to employ
for books, provided the cuts are not too
deep, and are restricted to the boards, so
as not to weaken the leather at the back
and joints. Much of the leather used for
“leather work” is of very poor quality,
and will not last; for modelling it must
be thick on the side of the book, and for[227]
the book to open it must be pared thin at
the joint, thus making it necessary to use a
thick skin very much pared down, and consequently
weakened (see p. 155). Another
very common fault in modelled “leather
work” is, that the two sides and the back
are often worked separately and stuck
together on the book, necessitating a join,
and consequently a weak place in the
hinge, where strength is most wanted.
Again, in most modern “leather work,”
those who do the decoration do not, as a
rule, do the binding, and often do not
understand enough of the craft to do
suitable work.

All those engaged in leather work are
advised to learn to bind their own books,
and to only use such methods of decoration,
as can be carried out on the bound
book.

HERALDRY ON BOOK COVERS

It is an old and good custom to put
the arms of the owner of a library on the
covers of the books he has bound. The
traditional, and certainly one of the best
ways to do this, is to have an arms block
designed and cut. To design an arms[228]
block, knowledge of heraldry is needed,
and also some clear idea of the effect to
be aimed at. A very common mistake in
designing blocks is to try and get the
effect of hand tooling. Blocks should be
and look something entirely different. In
hand tooling much of the effect is got from
the impressions of small tools reflecting
the light at slightly different angles, giving
the work life and interest. Blocked
gold being all in one plane, has no such
lights in it, and depends entirely on its
design for its effect.

Provided the heraldry identifies the
owner, it should be as simply drawn as
it can be; the custom of indicating the
tinctures by lines and dots on the charges,
generally makes a design confused, obscuring
the coat it is intended to make clear.
In designing heraldic blocks it is well to
get a good deal of solid flat surface of
gold to make the blocked design stand
out from any gold-tooled work on the
cover.

Another way of putting armorial bearings
on covers, is to paint them in oil
paint. In the early sixteenth century the
Venetians copied the Eastern custom of
sinking panels in their book covers, and[229]
painted coats of arms on these sunk
portions very successfully. The groundwork
of the shield itself was usually
raised a little, either by something under
the leather, or by some gesso-like substance
on its surface.

Arms blocks should be placed a little
above the centre of the cover. Generally,
if the centre of the block is in a line with
the centre band of a book with five bands,
it will look right.

Blocks are struck with the aid of an
arming or blocking press. The block is
attached to the movable plate of the press
called the “platen.” To do this some
stout brown paper is first glued to the
platen, and the block glued to this, and
the platen fixed in its place at the bottom
of the heating-box. In blocking arms on
a number of books of different sizes, some
nice adjustment of the movable bed is
needed to get the blocks to fall in exactly
the right place.

For blocking, one coat of glaire will be
enough for most leathers. The gold is
laid on as for hand tooling. The block
should be brought down and up again
fairly sharply. The heat needed is about
the same as for hand tooling.

CHAPTER XVI[230]

Designing for Gold-Tooled Decoration

DESIGNING TOOLS

For gold tooling, such tools as gouges,
dots, pieces of straight line, and fillets are
to be had ready-made at most dealers.
Other tools are best designed and cut to
order. At first only a few simple forms
will be needed, such as one or two flowers
of different sizes, and one or two sets of
leaves (see fig. 100).

Fig. 100 (reduced)

In designing tools, it must be borne in
mind that they may appear on the book
many times repeated, and so must be
simple in outline and much conventionalised.
A more or less naturalistic drawing
of a flower, showing the natural
irregularities, may look charming, but if a[231]
tool is cut from it, any marked irregularity
becomes extremely annoying when repeated
several times on a cover. So with leaves,
unless they are perfectly symmetrical, there
should be three of each shape cut, two
curving in different directions, and the
third quite straight (see fig. 101). To have
only one leaf, and to have that curved, produces
very restless patterns. The essence
of gold-tool design, is that patterns are made
up of repeats of impressions of tools, and
that being so, the tools must be so designed
that they will repeat pleasantly,
and in practice it will be found that any
but simple forms will become aggressive
in repetition.

Fig. 101.

Designs for tools should be made out
with Indian ink on white paper, and they
may be larger than the size of the required
tool. The tool-cutter will reduce
any drawing to any desired size, and will,
from one drawing, cut any number of
tools of different sizes. Thus, if a set of[232]
five leaves of the same shape is wanted, it
will only be necessary to draw one, and to
indicate the sizes the others are to be in
some such way as shown at fig. 102.

It is not suggested that special tools
should be cut for each pattern, but the
need of new tools will naturally arise
from time to time, and so the stock be
gradually increased. It is better to begin
with a very few, and add a tool or two as
occasion arises, than to try to design a
complete set when starting.

Fig. 102.

Tools may be solid or in outline. If
in outline they may be used as “inlay”
tools, and in ordering them the tool-cutter
should be asked to provide steel punches
for cutting the inlays.

COMBINING TOOLS TO FORM PATTERNS

It is well for the student to begin with
patterns arranged on some very simple[233]
plan, making slight changes in each succeeding
pattern. In this way an individual
style may be established. The
usual plan of studying the perfected styles
of the old binders, and trying to begin
where they left off, in practice only leads
to the production of exact imitations, or
poor lifeless parodies, of the old designs.
Whereas a pattern developed by the student
by slow degrees, through a series of
designs, each slightly different from the
one before it, will, if eccentricities are
avoided, probably have life and individual
interest.

Perhaps the easiest way to decorate a
binding is to cover it with some small repeating
pattern. A simple form of diaper
as a beginning is shown at fig. 104. To
make such a pattern cut a piece of good,
thin paper to the size of the board of a
book, and with a pencil rule a line about
an eighth of an inch inside the margin all
round. Then with the point of a fine
folder that will indent, but not cut the
paper, mark up as shown in fig. 103.
The position of the lines A A and B B
are found by simply folding the paper,
first side to side, and then head to tail.
The other lines can be put in without any[234]
measurement by simply joining all points
where lines cross. By continual re-crossing,
the spaces into which the paper is
divided can be reduced to any desired size.
If the construction lines are accurately
put in, the spaces will all be of the same
size and shape. It is then evident that a
repeating design to fill any one of the spaces
can be made to cover the whole surface.

Fig. 103.

In fig. 104, it is the diagonal lines only
that are utilised for the pattern. To avoid
confusion, the cross lines that helped to
determine the position of the diagonals
are not shown.[235]

Fig. 104 (reduced)

The advantage of using the point of a[236]
folder to mark up the constructional
lines of a pattern instead of a pencil, is
that the lines so made are much finer, do
not rub out, and do not cause confusion
by interfering with the pattern. Any
lines that will appear on the book, such
as the marginal lines, may be put in with
a pencil to distinguish them.

Having marked up the paper, select a
flower tool and impress it at the points
where the diagonal lines cross, holding it
in the smoke of a candle between every
two or three impressions. When the
flower has been impressed all over, select
a small piece of straight line, and put a
stalk in below each flower; then a leaf put
in on each side of the straight line will
complete the pattern.

Fig. 105 (reduced)

A development of the same principle is
shown at fig. 105, in which some gouges
are introduced. Any number of other
combinations will occur to any one using
the tools. Frequently questions will arise
as to whether a tool is to be put this way
or that way, and whether a line is to curve
up or down. Whenever there is such an
alternative open, there is the germ of
another pattern. All-over diaper patterns[237]
may be varied in any number of ways.
One way is to vary the design in alternate
spaces. If this is done one of the designs
should be such that it will divide down
the centre both ways and so finish off the
pattern comfortably at the edges. The
pattern may be based on the upright and
the cross-lines of the marking up, or the
marking up may be on a different principle[238]
altogether. The designer, after a little
practice, will be bewildered by the infinite
number of combinations that occur to
him.

Fig. 106 (reduced)

The diaper is selected for a beginning,
because it is the easiest form of pattern
to make, as there is no question of getting
round corners, and very little of studying
proportion. It is selected also because it
teaches the student the decorative value of
simple forms repeated on some orderly
system. When he has grasped this, he
has grasped the underlying principle of
nearly all successful tooled ornament.
Diapers are good practice, because in a
close, all-over pattern the tools must be
put down in definite places, or an appalling
muddle will result. In tooling; a repeat
of the same few tools, is the best possible
practice, giving as it does the same work[239]
over and over again under precisely the
same conditions, and concentrating, on one
book cover, the practice that might be
spread over several backs and sides
more sparingly decorated, when variety[240]
of conditions would confuse the
student.

Fig. 107.

When the principles of the
diaper have been mastered, and
the student has become familiar
with the limitations of his
tools, other schemes of decoration
may be attempted,
such as borders, centres, or
panels.

A form of border connected with cross-lines
is shown at fig. 106. This is made
up of a repeat of the spray built up of
three tools and four gouges shown at
fig. 107, with slight modification at the
corners. Other schemes for borders are
those in which flowers grow inwards from
the edge of the boards, or outwards from
a panel at the centre, or on both sides of
a line about half an inch from the edge.
A pattern may also be made to grow all
round the centre panel. Borders will be
found more difficult to manage than
simple diapers, and at first, are best[241]
built up on the same principle—the repeat
of some simple element.

Fig. 108 (reduced)

The decoration may be concentrated on
parts of the cover, such as the centre or
corners. A design for a centre is shown
at fig. 108, and below is shown the way to
construct it. A piece of paper is folded,
as shown by the dotted lines, and an eighth
of the pattern drawn with a soft pencil
and folded over on the line A, and transferred
by being rubbed at the back with
a folder. This is lined in with a pencil,
and folded over on the line B and rubbed
off. This is lined in and folded over on
A and C, rubbed off as before, and the
whole lined in. The overs and unders of
the lines are then marked, and gouges
selected to fit. Of course it will take
several trials before the lines will interlace
pleasantly, and the tools fit in. Another
centre, in which a spray is repeated three
times, is shown at fig. 109, and any number
of others will occur to the student
after a little practice. A change of tools,
or the slight alteration of a line, will give
an entirely new aspect to a pattern. At
page 334 is shown an all-over pattern
growing from the bottom centre of the
board. In this design the leather was[242]
dark green, with a lighter green panel
in the centre. The berries were inlaid
in bright red. Although at first glance it
seems an intricate design, it is made up
like the others of repetitions of simple[243]
forms.

Fig. 109 (reduced)

When the student has become proficient
in the arrangement of tools in
combination with lines, a design consisting
entirely, or almost entirely, of lines
may be tried. This is more difficult,
because the limitations are not so obvious;
but here again the principle of repetition,
and even distribution, should be followed.
At fig. 110 is shown a design almost entirely
composed of lines, built up on the
same principle as the centre at fig. 108.

Fig. 110 (reduced)

The ends of the bands form a very[244]
pleasant starting-place for patterns. At
pp. 330, 332–6 are shown ways of utilising[245]
this method. To look right, a pattern
must be consistent throughout. The tools
and their arrangement must have about
the same amount of convention. Gold
tooling, dealing, as it does, with flat forms
in silhouette only, necessitates very considerable
formality in the design of the tools
and of their arrangement on the cover.
Modern finishers have become so skilful,
that they are able to produce in gold
tooling almost any design that can be
drawn in lines with a pencil, and some
truly marvellous results are obtained by
the use of inlays, and specially cut gouges.
As a rule, such patterns simply serve to
show the skill of the finisher, and to make
one wonder who could have been foolish
enough to select so limited and laborious
a method as gold tooling for carrying
them out.

Generally speaking, successful gold-tooled
patterns show evidence of having
been designed with the tools; of being, in
fact, mere arrangements of the tools, and
not of having been first designed with a
pencil, and then worked with tools cut to fit
the drawing. This does not of course apply
to patterns composed entirely of lines, or
to patterns composed of lines of dots.[246]

If artists wish to design for gold tooling
without first mastering the details,
probably the safest way will be for them
to design in lines of gold dots. Some
successful patterns carried out in this
way were shown at the Arts and Crafts
Exhibition some years ago.

Designs for gold-tooled binding should
always be constructed on some geometrical
plan, and whatever pattern there is,
symmetrically distributed over the cover.

If lettering can be introduced, it will
be found to be most useful when arranging
a pattern. It gives dignity and purpose
to a design, and is also highly
decorative. Lettering may be arranged
in panels, as at page 332, or in a border
round the edge of the board, and in many
other ways. It may either consist of the
title of the book, or some line or verse
from it or connected with it, or may
refer to its history, or to the owner.
Anything that gives a personal interest
to a book, such as the arms of the owner,
the initials or name of the giver or receiver
of a present, with perhaps the date of the
gift, is of value.

The use of the small fillet makes it
possible to employ long, slightly-curved[247]
lines. Gold-tooled lines have in themselves
such great beauty, that designers
are often tempted to make them meander
about the cover in a weak and aimless
way. As the limitations enforced by the
use of gouges tend to keep the curves
strong and small, and as the use of the
small fillet tends to the production of
long, weak curves, students are advised
at first to restrict the curved lines in their
patterns to such as can be readily worked
with gouges.

Fig. 111.

It must be remembered that a gouge
or fillet line is very thin, and will look
weak if it goes far without support. For
this reason interlaced lines are advocated.

Gouge lines are easier to work, and
look better, if a small space is left where
the gouges end. This is especially the[248]
case where lines bearing leaves or flowers
branch from the main stem (see fig. 111).

Gouges and fillets need not always be
of the same thickness of line, and two or
three sets of different gauges may be kept.
A finisher can always alter the thickness
of a gouge with emery paper.

One method of arranging gold-tooled
lines is to treat them in design as if they
were wires in tension, and knot and twist
them together. Provided the idea is consistently
adhered to throughout, such a
pattern is often very successful.

Fig. 112.

A simple arrangement of straight lines
will be sufficient ornamentation for most
books. Three schemes for such ornamentation
are shown. In fig. 112 the[249]
“tie-downs” may be in “blind” and
the lines in gold. The arrangement
shown at fig. 113 leaves a panel at the
top which may be utilised for lettering.[250]

Fig. 113.

[251]

Fig. 114.

Fig. 115.

DESIGNING FOR BACKS[252]

The decoration of the back of a book
is difficult owing to the very small space
usually available in the panels. The first
consideration must be the lettering, and
when that has been arranged, as described
in Chapter XV, a second paper is got out
for the pattern. The back panel should
generally be treated in the same style and,
if possible, with the same tools as the
sides, if they are decorated. It will often
be found far easier to design a full-gilt
side than a satisfactory back.

A design may be made to fit one panel
of the book and repeated on all those not
required for lettering (see pages 332–34),
or it may be made to grow up from panel
to panel (see fig. 115). In the case of sets
of books in which the volumes vary very
much in thickness, some pattern must be
made that can be contracted and expanded
without altering the general look of the
back (see fig. 115).[253]

DESIGNING FOR INSIDE OF BOARDS

The inside margins of the board permit
of a little delicate decoration. At fig. 116
are shown two ways of treating this part
of the binding. The inside of the board
is sometimes covered all over with leather,
and tooled as elaborately, or more elaborately,
than the outside. If there are
vellum ends, they may be enriched with
a little tooling.

Fig. 116.

The edges of the boards may have a
gold line run on them, and the head-cap
may be decorated with a few dots.

CHAPTER XVII[254]

Pasting down End Papers—Opening Books

PASTING DOWN END PAPERS

When the finishing is done, the end
papers should be pasted down on to the
board; or if there is a leather joint, the
panel left should be filled in to match the
end paper.

To paste down end papers, the book
is placed on the block with the board
open (see fig. 117, A), the waste sheets
are torn off, the joints cleared of any
glue or paste, and the boards flattened, as
described at page 171 for pasting down
leather joints. One of the paste-down
papers is then stretched over the board
and rubbed down in the joint, and the
amount to be cut off to make it fit into
the space left by the turn-in of the leather
is marked on it with dividers, measuring
from the edge of the board. A cutting
tin is then placed on the book, the paste-down
paper turned over it, and the edges
trimmed off to the divider points with a[255]
knife and straight-edge, leaving small
pieces to cover the ends of the joint
(fig. 117, A, c).

The cutting and pasting down of these
small pieces in the joint are rather difficult;
they should come exactly to the edges of
the board.

Fig. 117.

When both paste-down papers are
trimmed to size, one of them is well
pasted with thin paste in which there[256]
are no lumps, with a piece of waste paper
under it to protect the book. The joints
should also be pasted, and the paste rubbed
in with the finger and any surplus removed.

The pasted paper is then brought over
on to the board, the edges adjusted exactly
to their places, and rubbed down. The
joint must next be rubbed down through
paper. It is difficult to get the paper to
stick evenly in the joint, and great nicety
is needed here. All rubbing down must
be done through paper, or the “paste-down”
will be soiled or made shiny.

Some papers stretch very much when
pasted, and will need to be cut a little
smaller than needed, and put down
promptly after pasting. Thin vellum
may be put down with paste in which
there is a very little glue, but thicker
vellum is better put down with thin glue.
In pasting vellum, very great care is
needed to prevent the brush-marks from
showing through. If the vellum is thin,
the board must be lined with white or
toned paper with a smooth surface.
This paper must be quite clean, as any
marks will show through the vellum, and
make it look dirty.

When one side is pasted down the book[257]
can be turned over without shutting the
board, and the other board opened and
pasted down in the same way (see fig. 117,
B). In turning over a book, a piece of
white paper should be put under the newly-pasted
side, as, being damp, it will soil very
readily. When both ends have been pasted
down the joints should be examined and
rubbed down again, and the book stood up
on end with the boards open until the end
papers are dry. The boards may be held
open with a piece of cardboard cut as
shown at fig. 71.

If there are cloth joints they are put
down with glue, and the board paper is
placed nearly to the edge of the joint,
leaving very little cloth visible.

In the process of finishing, the boards
of a book will nearly always be warped a
little outward, but the pasted end papers
should draw the boards a little as they dry,
causing them to curve slightly towards the
book. With vellum ends there is a danger
that the boards will be warped too much.

OPENING NEWLY BOUND BOOKS

Before sending out a newly bound book
the binder should go through it, opening[258]
it here and there to ease the back. The
volume is laid on a table, and the leaves
opened a short distance from the front,
and then at an equal distance from the
back, and then in one or two places nearer
the centre of the book, the leaves being
pressed down with the hand at each opening.
If the book is a valuable one, every
leaf should then be turned over separately
and each opening pressed down, beginning
from the centre and working first one way
and then the other. In this way the back
will be bent evenly at all points. When
a book has been opened, it should be
lightly pressed for a short time without
anything in the joints.

If a book is sent out unopened, the first
person into whose hand it falls will probably
open it somewhere in the centre,
bending the covers back and “breaking”
the back; and if any leaves chance to
have been stuck together in edge-gilding,
they are likely to be torn if carelessly
opened. A book with a “broken” back
will always have a tendency to open in the
same place, and will not keep its shape.
It would be worth while for librarians to
have newly bound books carefully opened.
An assistant could “open” a large number[259]
of books in a day, and the benefit to the
bindings would amply compensate for the
small trouble and cost involved.

CHAPTER XVIII

Clasps and Ties—Metal on Bindings

CLASPS AND TIES

Some books need to be clasped to keep
the leaves flat. All books written or
printed on vellum should have clasps.
Vellum unless kept flat is apt to cockle,
and this in a book will force the leaves
apart and admit dust. If a book is
tightly wedged in a shelf the leaves will
be kept flat, but as the chance removal of
any other book from the row will remove
the pressure, it is much better to provide
clasps for vellum books.

Very thick books, and those with a great
many folded plates, are better for having
clasps to prevent the leaves from sagging.
As nearly all books are now kept in bookshelves,
and as any projection on the side
of a book is likely to injure the neighbouring[260]
volume, a form of clasp should
be used that has no raised parts on the
boards.

Fig. 118.

At fig. 118 is shown a simple clasp
suitable for small books with mill-board
sides, with details of the metal parts, made
of thick silver wire
below. Double boards
must be “made,” and the
flattened ends of the
silver catch inserted between
the two thicknesses,
and glued in place.
About one-eighth of an
inch of the end should
project. In covering, the
leather must be pierced
and carefully worked
round the catch. To
make the plait, three strips of thin
leather are slipped through the ring, and
the ends of each strip pasted together.
The three doubled strips are then plaited
and the end of the plait put through
a hole in the lower board of the
book about half an inch from the edge,
and glued down inside. A groove may be
cut in the mill-board from the hole to the
edge before covering, to make a depression[261]
in which the plait will lie, and a
depression may be scooped out of the
inner surface of the board to receive the
ends.

Fig. 119.

At fig. 119 is a somewhat similar clasp
with three plaits
suitable for
large books.
The metal end
and the method
of inserting it
into wooden
boards are shown
below. The
turned-down end
should go right
through the
board, and be
riveted on the
inside. When the three plaits are worked,
a little band of silver may be riveted on
just below the ring.

A very simple fastening that is sometimes
useful is shown at fig. 77. A very
small bead is threaded on to a piece of
catgut, and the two ends of the gut
brought together and put through a
larger bead. The ends of the gut with
the beads on them are laced into the top[262]
board of the book, with the bead projecting
over the edge, and a loop of gut
is laced into the bottom board. If the
loop can be made exactly the right length,
this is a serviceable method.

Silk or leather ties may be used to keep
books shut, but they are apt to be in
the way when the book is read, and as
hardly anybody troubles to tie them, they
are generally of very little use.

METAL ON BINDINGS

Metal corners and bosses are a great
protection to bindings, but if the books
are to go into shelves, the metal must
be quite smooth and flat. A metal shoe
on the lower edge of the boards is an
excellent thing for preserving the binding
of heavy books.

Bosses and other raised metal work
should be restricted to books that will
be used on lecterns or reading desks.
The frontispiece is from a drawing of an
early sixteenth-century book, bound in
white pigskin, and ornamented with brass
corners, centres, and clasps; and at page
323 is shown a fifteenth-century binding
with plain protecting bosses. On this book[263]
there were originally five bosses on each
board, but the centre ones have been lost.

Bindings may be entirely covered with
metal, but the connection between the
binding and the book is in that case
seldom quite satisfactory. The most
satisfactory metal-covered bindings that
I have seen are those in which the metal
is restricted to the boards. The book
is bound in wooden boards, with thick
leather at the back, and plaques of metal
nailed to the wood. The metal may be
set with jewels or decorated with enamel,
and embossed or chased in various ways.

Jewels are sometimes set in invisible
settings below the leather of bindings,
giving them the appearance of being set
in the leather. This gives them an insecure
look, and it is better to frankly
show the metal settings and make a decorative
feature of them.

CHAPTER XIX

Leather

LEATHER

Of all the materials used by the bookbinders,
leather is the most important[264]
and the most difficult to select wisely.
It is extremely difficult to judge a leather
by its appearance.

“We find now, that instead of leather
made from sheep, calf, goat, and pigskins,
each having, when finished, its own
characteristic surface, that sheepskins are
got up to look like calf, morocco, or
pigskin; that calf is grained to resemble
morocco, or so polished and flattened as
to have but little character left; while
goatskins are grained in any number of
ways, and pigskin is often grained like
levant morocco. So clever are some of
these imitations, that it takes a skilled
expert to identify a leather when it is
on a book.”

There have been complaints for a long
time of the want of durability of modern
bookbinding leather, but there has not
been until lately any systematic investigation
into the causes of its premature
decay.

By permission, I shall quote largely from
the report of the committee appointed by
the Society of Arts to inquire into the
subject. There are on this special committee
leather manufacturers, bookbinders,
librarians, and owners of libraries. The[265]
report issued is the result of an immense
amount of work done. Many libraries
were visited, and hundreds of experiments
and tests were carried out by the
sub-committees. There is much useful
information in the report that all bookbinders
and librarians should read. The
work of the committee is not yet finished,
but its findings may be accepted as conclusive
as far as they go.

The committee first set themselves to
ascertain if the complaints of the premature
decay of modern bookbinding
leather are justified by facts, and on this
point report that:—

“As regards the common belief that
modern binding leather does decay prematurely,
the sub-committee satisfied
themselves that books bound during the
last eighty or hundred years showed far
greater evidence of deterioration than
those of an earlier date. Many recent
bindings showed evidence of decay after so
short a period as ten, or even five years.
The sub-committee came to the conclusion
that there is ample justification for
the general complaint that modern leather
is not so durable as that formerly used.
To fix the date of the commencement[266]
of this deterioration was a difficult matter;
but they came to the conclusion that while
leather of all periods showed some signs
of decay, the deterioration becomes more
general on books bound after 1830, while
some leathers seem to be generally good
until about 1860, after which date nearly
all leathers seem to get worse. The
deterioration of calf bindings at the
latter end of the 19th century may be
attributed as much to the excessive thinness
as to the poor quality of the
material.”

The committee endeavoured to ascertain
the relative durability of the leathers used
for bookbinding, and after visiting many
libraries, and comparing bindings, they
report as follows:—

“As to the suitability of various
leathers, the sub-committee came to the
conclusion that of the old leathers (15th
and 16th century), white pigskin, probably
alum ‘tanned,’ is the most durable, but
its excessive hardness and want of flexibility
renders this leather unsuitable for most
modern work. Old brown calf has lasted
fairly well, but loses its flexibility, and
becomes stiff and brittle when exposed to
light and air. Some of the white tawed[267]
skins of the 15th and 16th century, other
than white pigskin, and probably deerskin,
have lasted very well. Some 15th and
16th century sheepskin bindings have
remained soft and flexible, but the surface
is soft, and usually much damaged by
friction. Vellum seems to have lasted
fairly well, but is easily influenced by
atmospheric changes, and is much affected
by light. Early specimens of red morocco
from the 16th to the end of the 18th
century were found in good condition, and
of all the leathers noticed, this seems to
be the least affected by the various conditions
to which it had been subjected. In
the opinion of the committee, most of this
leather has been tanned with sumach or
some closely allied tanning material.
Morocco bindings earlier than 1860 were
generally found to be in fairly good condition,
but morocco after that date seems
to be much less reliable, and in many cases
has become utterly rotten. During the
latter part of the 18th century it became
customary to pare down calf until it was
as thin as paper. Since about 1830 hardly
any really sound calf seems to have been
used, as, whether thick or thin, it appears
generally to have perished. Sheepskin[268]
bindings of the early part of the century
are many of them still in good condition.
Since about 1860 sheepskin as sheepskin
is hardly to be found. Sheepskins are
grained in imitation of other leathers, and
these imitation-grained leathers are generally
found to be in a worse condition than
any of the other bindings, except, perhaps,
some of the very thin calfskin. Undyed
modern pigskin seems to last well, but
some coloured pigskin bindings had entirely
perished. Modern leathers dyed with the
aid of sulphuric acid are all to be condemned.
In nearly every case Russia
leather was found to have become rotten,
at least in bindings of the last fifty
years.”

On the question of the causes of the
decay noticed and the best methods of
preparing leather in the future, I may
quote the following:—

“The work of a sub-committee, which
was composed of chemists specially conversant
with the treatment of leather, was
directed specially to the elucidation of the
following points: an investigation of the
nature of the decay of leather used for
bookbinding; an examination of the
causes which produced this decay; a research[269]
into the best methods of preparing
leather for bookbinding; and a consideration
of the points required to be dealt
with in the preservation of books.

“Taking these points in order, the
first one dealt with is the question of
the nature of the decay of leather. To
arrive at their conclusions on this subject,
the sub-committee made a number of
tests and analyses of samples of decayed
leather bookbindings, as well as of leathers
used for binding. The committee found
that the most prevalent decay was what
they term a red decay, and this they
think may be differentiated into old and
new, the old red decay being noticeable
up to about 1830, and the new decay
since that date. In the old decay, the
leather becomes hard and brittle, the surface
not being easily abraded by friction.
The older form is specially noticeable in
calf-bound books, tanned presumably with
oak bark. The new form affects nearly
all leathers, and in extreme cases seems
absolutely to destroy the fibres. Another
form of deterioration, more noticeable in
the newer books, renders the grain of the
leather liable to peel off when exposed to
the slightest friction. This is the most[270]
common form of decay noted in the more
recent leathers. In nearly all samples of
Russia leather a very violent form of red
decay was noticed. In many cases the
leather was found to be absolutely rotten
in all parts exposed to light and air, so
that on the very slightest rubbing with
a blunt instrument the leather fell into
fine dust….

“The second point is the cause of the
decay. An extensive series of experiments
was carried out with a view of determining
the causes of the decay of bindings. The
sub-committee find that this is caused by
both mechanical and by chemical influences.
Of the latter, some are due to
mistakes of the leather manufacturer and
the bookbinder, others to the want of
ventilation, and to improper heating and
lighting of libraries. In some cases inferior
leathers are finished (by methods
in themselves injurious) so as to imitate
the better class leathers, and of course
where these are used durability cannot
be expected. But in the main the injury
for which the manufacturer and bookbinder
are responsible must be attributed
rather to ignorance of the effect of the
means employed to give the leather the[271]
outward qualities required for binding,
than to the intentional production of an
inferior article…. Leathers produced
by different tanning materials, although
they may be equally sound and durable
mechanically, vary very much in their
resistance to other influences, such as
light, heat, and gas fumes.

“For bookbinding purposes, the sub-committee
generally condemn the use of
tanning materials belonging to the catechol
group, although the leathers produced
by the use of these materials are
for many purposes excellent, and indeed
superior. The class of tanning materials
which produce the most suitable leather
for this particular purpose belong to the
pyrogallol group, of which a well known
and important example is sumach. East
Indian or ‘Persian’ tanned sheep and
goat skins, which are suitable for many
purposes, and are now used largely for
cheap bookbinding purposes, are considered
extremely bad. Books bound in
these materials have been found to show
signs of decay in less than twelve months,
and the sub-committee are inclined to
believe that no book bound in these
leathers, exposed on a shelf to sunlight[272]
or gas fumes, can ever be expected to
last more than five or six years. Embossing
leather under heavy pressure to
imitate a grain has a very injurious effect,
while the shaving of thick skins greatly
reduces the strength of the leather
by cutting away the tough fibres of the
inner part of the skin. The use of
mineral acids in brightening the colour
of leather, and in the process of dyeing,
has a serious effect in lessening its resistance
to decay. A good deal yet remains
to be learned about the relative permanency
of the different dyes.”

On analysis free sulphuric acid was
found to be present in nearly all bookbinding
leather, and it is the opinion of
the committee that even a small quantity
of this acid materially lessens the durability
of the leather.

“It has been shown by careful experiment,
that even a minute quantity of
sulphuric acid used in the dye bath to
liberate the colour is at once absorbed
by the leather, and that no amount of
subsequent washing will remove it. In a
very large proportion of cases the decay
of modern sumach-tanned leather has been
due to the sulphuric acid used in the dye[273]
bath, and retained in the skin. We have
examined very many samples of leather
manufactured and sold specially for bookbinding
purposes, from different factories,
bought from different dealers, or kindly
supplied by bookbinders and by librarians,
and have found them to contain, in a
large number of cases, free sulphuric acid,
from 0.5 up to 1.6 per cent.”

The publication of the report should
tend to fix a standard for bookbinding
leather. Hitherto there has been no recognised
standard. Bookbinders have
selected leather almost entirely by its
appearance. It has now been shown that
appearance is no test of durability, and
the mechanical test of tearing the leather
is insufficient. Sound leather should tear
with difficulty, and the torn edges
should be fringed with long, silky fibres,
and any leather which tears very easily,
and shows short, curled-up fibres at the
torn edges, should be discarded. But
though good bookbinding leather will
tear with difficulty, and show long fibres
where torn, that is in itself not a sufficient
test; because it has been shown
that the leather that is mechanically the
strongest, is not necessarily the most[274]
durable and the best able to resist the
adverse influences to which books are
subject in libraries.

The report shows that bookbinders
and librarians are not, as a general rule,
qualified to select leather for bookbinding.
In the old days, when the manufacture
of leather was comparatively simple,
a bookbinder might reasonably be expected
to know enough of the processes employed
to be able to select his leather. But now
so complicated is the manufacture, and so
many are the factors to be considered, that
an expert should be employed.

“The committee have satisfied themselves
that it is possible to test any leather
in such a way as to guarantee its suitability
for bookbinding. They have not
come to any decision as to the desirability of
establishing any formal or official standard,
though they consider that this is a point
which well deserves future consideration.”

It is to be hoped that some system
of examining and hall-marking leather
by some recognised body, may be instituted.
If librarians will specify that the
leather to be employed must be certified
to be manufactured according to the
recommendations of the Society of Arts[275]
Committee, there is no reason why leathers
should not be obtained as durable as any
ever produced. This would necessitate
the examining and testing of batches of
leather by experts. At present this can
be done more or less privately at various
places, such as the Yorkshire College,
Leeds, or the Herolds’ Institute, Bermondsey.
In the near future it is to
be hoped that some recognised public
body, such as one of the great City
Companies interested in leather, may be
induced to establish a standard, and to test
such leathers as are submitted to them,
hall-marking those that come up to the
standard. This would enable bookbinders
and librarians, in ordering leather, to
be sure that it had not been injured
in its manufacture. The testing, if done
by batches, should not add greatly to the
cost of the leather.

On the question of the qualities of an
ideal bookbinding leather the committee
report:—

“It is the opinion of the committee,
that the ideal bookbinding leather must
have, and retain, great flexibility…. (It)
must have a firm grain surface, not easily
damaged by friction, and should not be[276]
artificially grained…. The committee is
of opinion that a pure sumach tannage
will answer all these conditions, and that
leather can, and will, be now produced
that will prove to be as durable as any
made in the past.”

The committee has so far only dealt
with vegetable-tanned leather. I have
used, with some success, chrome-tanned
calfskin. Chrome leather is difficult
to pare, and to work, as it does not
become soft when wet, like vegetable-tanned
leather. It will stand any reasonable
degree of heat, and so might perhaps
be useful for top-shelf bindings and for
shelf edging. It is extremely strong
mechanically, but without further tests
I cannot positively recommend it except
for trial.

While the strength and probable durability
of leather can only be judged by a
trained leather chemist, there remains for
the binders selection, the kind of leather
to use, and its colour.

Most of the leather prepared for bookbinding
is too highly finished. The
finishing processes add a good deal to the
cost of the leather, and are apt to be injurious
to it, and as much of the high[277]
finish is lost in covering, it would be
better for the bookbinder to get rougher
leather and finish it himself when it is on
the book.

The leathers in common use for bookbinding
are:—

• Goatskin, known as morocco.
• Calf, known as calf and russia.
• Sheepskin, known as roan, basil, skiver, &c.
• Pigskin, known as pigskin.
• Sealskin, known as seal.

Morocco is probably the best leather for
extra binding if properly prepared, but
experiment has shown that the expensive
Levant moroccos are nearly always ruined
in their manufacture. A great many
samples of the most expensive Levant
morocco were tested, with the result that
they were all found to contain free sulphuric
acid.

Calf.—Modern vegetable-tanned calf
has become a highly unsatisfactory material,
and until some radical changes
are made in the methods of manufacturing
it, it should not be used for bookbinding.

Sheepskin.—A properly tanned sheepskin
makes a very durable, though rather[278]
soft and woolly, leather. Much of the
bookbinding leather now made from sheepskin
is quite worthless. Bookbinders
should refuse to have anything to do
with any leather that has been artificially
grained, as the process is apt to be highly
injurious to the skin.

Pigskin.—Pigskin is a thoroughly good
leather naturally, and very strong, especially
the alumed skins; but many of the
dyed pigskins are found to be improperly
tanned and dyed, and worthless for bookbinding.

Sealskin is highly recommended by one
eminent librarian, but I have not yet had
any experience of its use for bookbinding.

The leather that I have found most
useful is the Niger goatskin, brought
from Africa by the Royal Niger Company;
it is a very beautiful colour and
texture, and has stood all the tests tried,
without serious deterioration. The difficulty
with this leather is that, being a
native production, it is somewhat carelessly
prepared, and is much spoiled by
flaws and stains on the surface, and many
skins are quite worthless. It is to be
hoped that before long some of the manufacturers[279]
interested will produce skins as
good in quality and colour as the best
Niger morocco, and with fewer flaws.

Much leather is ruined in order to
obtain an absolutely even colour. A
slight unevenness of colours is very pleasing,
and should rather be encouraged than
objected to. That the want of interest
in absolutely flat colours has been felt, is
shown by the frequency with which the
binders get rid of flat, even colours by
sprinkling and marbling.

On this point I may quote from the committee:
“The sprinkling of leather,
either for the production of ‘sprinkled’
calf or ‘tree’ calf, with ferrous sulphate
(green vitriol) must be most strongly
condemned, as the iron combines with and
destroys the tan in the leather, and free
sulphuric acid is liberated, which is still
more destructive. Iron acetate or lactate
is somewhat less objectionable, but probably
the same effects may be obtained
with aniline colours without risk to the
leather.”

CHAPTER XX[280]

Paper—Pastes—Glue

PAPER

Paper may be made by hand or machinery,
and either “laid” or “wove.” “Laid”
papers are distinguished by wire marks,
which are absent in “wove” paper.

A sheet of hand-made paper has all
round it a rough uneven edge called the
“deckle,” that is a necessary result of
its method of manufacture. The early
printers looked upon this ragged edge as
a defect, and almost invariably trimmed
most of it off before putting books into
permanent bindings. Book-lovers quite
rightly like to find traces of the “deckle”
edge, as evidence that a volume has not
been unduly reduced by the binder. But
it has now become the fashion to admire
the “deckle” for its own sake, and to
leave books on hand-made paper absolutely
untrimmed, with ragged edges
that collect the dirt, are unsightly, and
troublesome to turn over. So far has
this craze gone, that machine-made paper[281]
is often put through an extra process to
give it a sham deckle edge.

Roughly speaking, paper varies in quality
according to the proportion of fibrous
material, such as rag, used in the manufacture.
To make paper satisfactorily by
hand, a large proportion of such fibrous
material is necessary, so that the fact that
the paper is hand-made is to some extent
a guarantee of its quality. There are
various qualities of hand-made paper,
made from different materials, chiefly
linen and cotton rags. The best paper is
made from pure linen rag, and poorer
hand-made paper from cotton rag, while
other qualities contain a mixture of the
two or other substances.