PREPARATION FOR THE SHELVES: BOOK PLATES, ETC.
When any lot of books is acquired, whether by purchase from book-dealers
or from auction, or by presentation, the first step to be taken, after
seeing that they agree with the bill, and have been collated, in
accordance with methods elsewhere given, should be to stamp and label
each volume, as the property of the library. These two processes are
quite distinct, and may be performed by one or two persons, according to
convenience, or to the library force employed. The stamp may be the
ordinary rubber one, inked by striking on a pad, and ink of any color may
be used, although black or blue ink has the neatest appearance. The stamp
should bear the name of the library, in clear, legible, plain type, with
year of acquisition of the book in the centre, followed by the month and
day if desired. A more permanent kind of stamp is the embossing stamp,
which is a steel die, the letters cut in relief, but it is very expensive
and slow, requiring the leaf to be inserted between the two parts of the
stamp, though the impression, once made, is practically indelible.
The size of the stamp (which is preferably oval in shape) should not
exceed 1¼ to 1½ inches in diameter, as a large, coarse stamp never
presents a neat appearance on a book. Indeed, many books are too small to
admit any but a stamp of very moderate dimensions. The books should be
stamped on the verso (reverse) of the title page, or if preferred, on the
widest unprinted portion of the title-page, preferably on the right hand
of the centre, or just below the centre on the right. This, because its
impression is far more legible on the plain white surface than on any
part of the printed title. In a circulating library, the stamps should be
impressed on one or more pages in the body of the book, as well as on the
last page, as a means of identification if the book is stolen or
otherwise lost; as it is very easy to erase the impression of a rubber
stamp from the title-page, and thereby commit a fraud by appropriating or
selling the book. In such a case, the duplicate or triplicate impression
of the stamp on some subsequent page (say page 5 or 16, many books having
but few pages) as fixed upon by the librarian, is quite likely to escape
notice of the thief, while it remains a safe-guard, enabling the
librarian to reclaim the book, wherever found. The law will enforce this
right of free reclamation in favor of a public library, in the case of
stolen books, no matter in what hands found, and even though the last
holder may be an innocent purchaser. All libraries are victimized at some
time by unscrupulous or dishonest readers, who will appropriate books,
thinking themselves safe from detection, and sometimes easing their
consciences, (if they have any) by the plea that the book is in a measure
public property.
In these cases, there is no absolute safe-guard, as it is easy to carry
off a book under one's coat, and the librarian and his few aids are far
too busy to act as detectives in watching readers. Still, a vigilant
librarian will almost always find out, by some suspicious
circumstance--such as the hiding of books away, or a certain furtive
action observed in a reader--who are the persons that should be watched,
and when it is advisable to call in the policeman.
The British Museum Library, which has no circulation or book lending,
enforces a rule that no one making his exit can have a book with him,
unless checked as his own property, all overcoats and other wraps being
of course checked at the door.
It is a melancholy fact, duly recorded in a Massachusetts paper, that no
less than two hundred and fifty volumes, duly labeled and stamped as
public library books, were stolen from a single library in a single year,
and sold to second-hand booksellers.
The impression of the stamp in the middle of a certain page, known to the
librarian, renders it less liable to detection by others, while if
stamped on the lower unprinted margin, it might be cut out by a designing
person.
Next to the stamping, comes the labeling of the books to be added to the
library. This is a mechanical process, and yet one of much importance.
Upon its being done neatly and properly, depends the good or bad
appearance of the library books, as labels with rough or ragged edges, or
put on askew, or trimmed irregularly at their margins, present an ugly
and unfinished aspect, offensive to the eye of good taste, and reflecting
discredit on the management. A librarian should take pride in seeing all
details of his work carefully and neatly carried out. If he cannot have
perfection, from want of time, he should always aim at it, at least, and
then only will he come near to achieving it.
The label, or book-plate (for they are one and the same thing) should be
of convenient size to go into books both small and large; and a good size
is approximately 2¼ inches wide by 1½ inches high when trimmed. As
comparatively few libraries care to go to the expense, which is about ten
times that of printing, of an engraved label (although such work adds to
the attractiveness of the books containing it) it should be printed in
clear, not ornamental type, with the name of the library, that of the
city or town in which it is located (unless forming a part of the title)
and the abbreviation No. for number, with such other spaces for section
marks or divisions, shelf-marks, etc., as the classification adopted may
require. The whole should be enclosed in an ornamental border--not too
ornate for good taste.
The labels, nicely trimmed to uniform size by a cutting machine, (if that
is not in the library equipment, any binder will do it for you) are next
to be pasted or gummed, as preferred. This process is a nice one,
requiring patience, care, and practice. Most libraries are full of books
imperfectly labelled, pasted on in crooked fashion, or perhaps damaging
the end-leaves by an over-use of paste, causing the leaves to adhere to
the page labelled--which should always be the inside left hand cover of
the book. This slovenly work is unworthy of a skilled librarian, who
should not suffer torn waste leaves, nor daubs of over-running paste in
any of his books. To prevent both these blunders in library economy, it
is only needful to instruct any intelligent assistant thoroughly, by
practical example how to do it--accompanied by a counter-example how not
to do it. The way to do it is to have your paste as thin as that used by
binders in pasting their fly-leaves, or their leather, or about the
consistency of porridge or pea soup. Then lay the label or book-plate
face downward on a board or table covered with blotting paper, dip your
paste brush (a half inch bristle brush is the best) in the paste, stroke
it (to remove too much adhering matter) on the inner side of your paste
cup, then apply it across the whole surface of the label, with light,
even strokes of the brush, until you see that it is all moistened with
paste. Next, take up the label and lay it evenly in the middle of the
left inner cover page of the book to be labelled, and with a small piece
of paper (not with the naked fingers) laid over it, stroke it down firmly
in its place, by rubbing over a few times the incumbent paper. This being
properly done (and it is done by an expert, once learned, very rapidly)
your book-plate will be firmly and smoothly pasted in, with no exuding
of paste at the edges, to spoil the fly-leaves, and no curling up of
edges because insufficiently pasted down.
So much for the book-plate--for the inside of the volumes; now let us
turn attention to the outside label. This is necessarily very much
smaller than the book-plate: in fact, it should not be larger than
three-quarters or seven-eighths of an inch in diameter, and even smaller
for the thinner volumes, while in the case of the very smallest, or
thinnest of books, it becomes necessary to paste the labels on the side,
instead of on the back. This label is to contain the section and
shelf-mark of the book, marked by plain figures, according to the plan of
classification adopted. When well done, it is an inexpressible comfort to
any librarian, because it shows at one glance of the eye, and without
opening the book at all, just where in the wide range of the
miscellaneous library it is to go. Thus the book service of every day is
incalculably aided, and the books are both found when sought on the
shelves, and replaced there, with no trouble of opening them.
This outer-label system once established, in strict correspondence with
the catalogue, the only part of the librarian's work remaining to be
prescribed in this field, concerns the kind of label to be selected, and
the method of affixing them to the books. The adhesive gummed labels
furnished by the Library Bureau, or those manufactured by the Dennison
Company of New York have the requisite qualities for practical use. They
may be purchased in sheets, or cut apart, as convenient handling may
dictate. Having first written in ink in plain figures, as large as the
labels will bear, the proper locality marks, take a label moistener (a
hollow tube filled with water, provided with a bit of sponge at the end
and sold by stationers) and wet the label throughout its surface, then
fix it on the back of the book, on the smooth part of the binding near
the lower end, and with a piece of paper (not the fingers) press it down
firmly to its place by repeated rubbings. If thoroughly done, the labels
will not peel off nor curl up at the edges for a long time. Under much
usage of the volumes, however, they must occasionally be renewed.
When the books being prepared for the shelves have all been duly
collated, labelled and stamped, processes which should precede
cataloguing them, they are next ready for the cataloguer. His functions
having been elsewhere described, it need only be said that the books when
catalogued and handed over to the reviser, (or whoever is to scrutinize
the titles and assign them their proper places in the library
classification) are to have the shelf-marks of the card-titles written on
the inside labels, as well as upon the outside.
When this is done, the title-cards can be withdrawn and alphabeted in the
catalogue drawers. Next, all the books thus catalogued, labelled, and
supposed to be ready for the shelves, should be examined with reference
to three points:
1st. Whether any of the volumes need re-lettering.
2nd. Whether any of them require re-binding.
3rd. If any of the bindings are in need of repair.
In any lot of books purchased or presented, are almost always to be found
some that are wrongly or imperfectly lettered on the back. Before these
are ready for the shelves, they should be carefully gone through with,
and all errors or shortcomings corrected. It is needful to send to the
binder
1st. All books which lack the name of the author on the back. This should
be stamped by the binder at the head, if there is room--if not, in the
middle panel on the back of the book.
2nd. All books lettered with mis-spelled words.
3rd. All volumes in sets, embracing several distinct works--to have the
name of each book in the contents plainly stamped on the outside.
4th. All books wholly without titles on the back, of which many are
published--the title being frequently given on the side only, or in the
interior alone.
5th. All periodicals having the volume on the back, without the year, to
have the year lettered; and periodicals having the year, but not the
volume, are to have the number of the volume added.
If these things, all essential to good management and prompt library
service, are not done before the books go to their shelves, the chances
are that they will not be done at all.
The second requisite to be attended to is to examine whether any of the
volumes catalogued require to be bound or re-bound. In any lot of books
of considerable extent, there will always be some (especially if from
auction sales) dilapidated and shaken, so as to unfit them for use. There
will be others so soiled in the bindings or the edges as to be positively
shabby, and they should be re-bound to render them presentable.
The third point demanding attention is to see what volumes need repair.
It very often happens that books otherwise pretty well bound have torn
corners, or rubbed or shop-worn backs, or shabby marbled paper frayed at
the sides, or some other defect, which may be cured by mending or
furbishing up, without re-binding. This a skilful binder is always
competent to take in charge; and as in the other cases, it should have
attention immediately upon the acquisition of the books.
All books coming into a library which contain autographs, book-plates of
former owners, coats of arms, presentation inscriptions from the author,
monograms, or other distinguishing features, should preserve them as of
interest to the present or the future.
And all printed paper covers should be carefully preserved by binding
them inside the new cover which the book receives, thus preserving
authentic evidence of the form in which the book was first issued to the
public, and often its original price. In like manner, when a cloth-bound
book comes to re-binding, its side and back covers may be bound in at the
end of the book, as showing the style in which it was originally issued,
frequently displaying much artistic beauty.
Whoever receives back any books which have been out in circulation,
whether it be the librarian or assistant, must examine each volume, to
see if it is in apparent good order. If it is found (as frequently
happens) that it is shaky and loose, or if leaves are ready to drop out,
or if the cover is nearly off, it should never be allowed to go back to
the shelves, but laid aside for re-binding or repair with the next lot
sent to the binder. Only prompt vigilance on this point, combined with
the requirement of speedy return by the binder, will save the loss or
injury beyond repair of many books. It will also save the patrons of the
library from the frequent inconvenience of having to do without books,
which should be on the shelves for their use. How frequent this sending
of books to repair should be, cannot be settled by any arbitrary rule;
but it would be wise, in the interest of all, to do it as often as two or
three dozen damaged books are accumulated.
If you find other injury to a book returned, than the natural wear and
tear that the library must assume, if a book, for example, is blotched
with ink, or soiled with grease, or has been so far wet as to be badly
stained in the leaves, or if it is found torn in any part on a hasty
inspection, or if a plate or a map is missing, or the binding is
violently broken (as sometimes happens) then the damage should be borne
by the reader, and not by the library. This will sometimes require the
purchase of a fresh copy of the book, which no fair-minded reader can
object to pay, who is favored with the privileges of free enjoyment of
the treasures of a public library. Indeed, it will be found in the
majority of cases that honest readers themselves call attention to such
injuries as books have accidentally received while in their possession,
with voluntary offer to make good the damage.
All unbound or paper covered volumes should be reserved from the shelves,
and not supplied to readers until bound. This rule may be relaxed (as
there is almost no rule without some valid exception) in the case of a
popular new book, issued only in paper covers, if it is desired to give
an opportunity of early perusal to readers frequenting the library. But
such books should not be permitted to circulate, as they would soon be
worn to pieces by handling. Only books dressed in a substantial covering
are fit to be loaned out of any library. In preparing for the bindery any
new books, or old ones to be re-bound or repaired, lists should be made
of any convenient number set apart for the purpose, prompt return should
be required, and all should be checked off on the list when returned.
No shelf in a well-regulated library should be unprovided with
book-supports, in order to prevent the volumes from sagging and straining
by falling against one another, in a long row of books. Numerous
different devices are in the market for this purpose, from the solid
brick to the light sheet-iron support; but it is important to protect the
end of every row from strain on the bindings, and the cost of book
supports is indefinitely less than that of the re-binding entailed by
neglecting to use them.
Some libraries of circulation make it a rule to cover all their books
with paper or thin muslin covers, before they are placed on the shelves
for use. This method has its advantages and its drawbacks. It doubtless
protects the bindings from soiling, and where books circulate widely and
long, no one who has seen how foul with dirt they become, can doubt the
expediency of at least trying the experiment of clean covers. They should
be of the firmest thin but tough Manila paper, and it is claimed that
twenty renewals of clean paper covers actually cost less than one
re-binding. On the other hand, it is not to be denied that books thus
covered look shabby, monotonous, and uninteresting. In the library used
for reference and reading only, without circulation, covers are quite out
of place.
Book-plates having been briefly referred to above, a few words as to
their styles and uses may here be pertinent. The name "book-plate" is a
clumsy and misleading title, suggesting to the uninitiated the
illustrations or plates which embellish the text of a book. The name _Ex
libris_, two latin words used for book-plate in all European languages,
is clearer, but still not exact, as a definition of the thing, signifying
simply "out of books." A book-plate is the owner's or the library's
distinctive mark of ownership, pasted upon the inside cover, whether it
be a simple name-label, or an elaborately engraved heraldic or pictorial
device. The earliest known book-plates date back to the fifteenth
century, and are of German origin, though English plates are known as
early as 1700. In France, specimens appear for the first time between
1600 and 1650.
Foreign book-plates are, as a rule, heraldic in design, as are also the
early American plates, representing the coat of arms or family crest of
the owner of the books, with a motto of some kind. The fashion of
collecting these owners' marks, as such, irrespective of the books
containing them, is a recent and very possibly a passing mania. Still,
there is something of interest in early American plates, and in those
used by distinguished men, aside from the collector's fad. Some of the
first American engravers showed their skill in these designs, and a
signed and dated plate engraved by Nathaniel Hurd, for example, of
Boston, is of some historic value as an example of early American art. He
engraved many plates about the middle of the last century, and died in
1777. Paul Revere, who was an engraver, designed and executed some few
plates, which are rare, and highly prized, more for his name than for his
skill, for, as generally known, he was a noted patriot of the
Revolutionary period, belonging by his acts to the heroic age of American
history.
A book of George Washington's containing his book-plate has an added
interest, though the plate itself is an armorial design, not at all well
executed. Its motto is "_exitus acta probat_"--the event justifies the
deed. From its rarity and the high price it commands, it has probably
been the only American book-plate ever counterfeited. At an auction sale
of books in Washington in 1863, this counterfeit plate had been placed in
many books to give a fictitious value, but the fraud was discovered and
announced by the present writer, just before the books were sold. Yet the
sale was attended by many attracted to bid upon books said to have been
owned by Washington, and among them the late Dr. W. F. Poole, then
librarian of the Boston Athenaeum, which possesses most of the library
authentically known to have been at Mount Vernon.
John Adams and John Quincy Adams used book-plates, and James Monroe and
John Tyler each had a plain name-label. These are all of our presidents
known to have used them, except General Garfield, who had a printed
book-plate of simple design, with the motto "_inter folia fructus_."
Eleven of the signers of the Declaration of Independence are known to
have had these signs of gentle birth--for in the early years of the
American Colonies, it was only the families of aristocratic connection
and scholarly tastes who indulged in what may be termed a superfluous
luxury.
The plates used among the Southern settlers were generally ordered from
England, and not at all American. The Northern plates were more
frequently of native design and execution, and therefore of much greater
value and interest, though far inferior in style of workmanship and
elaboration of ornament to the best European ones.
The ordinary library label is also a book-plate, and some of the early
libraries and small collections have elaborate designs. The early Harvard
College library plate was a large and fine piece of engraving by Hurd.
The Harvard Library had some few of this fine engraved label printed in
red ink, and placed in the rarer books of the library--as a reminder that
the works containing the rubricated book-plates were not to be drawn out
by students.
The learned bibliophile and librarian of Florence, Magliabecchi, who died
in 1714, devised for his library of thirty thousand volumes, which he
bequeathed to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, a book-plate representing his
own profile on a medal surrounded with books and oak boughs, with the
inscription--"Antonius Magliabecchius Florentinus."
Some book-plates embody designs of great beauty. The late George
Bancroft's, engraved on copper, represented a winged cherub (from
Raphael) gazing sun-ward, holding a tablet with the inscription "_Eis
phaos_," toward the light.
Some French book-plates aim at humor or caricature. One familiar example
represents an old book-worm mounted on a tall ladder in a library,
profoundly absorbed in reading, and utterly unconscious that the room
beneath him is on fire.
To those who ask of what possible utility it can be to cultivate so
unfruitful a pursuit as the devising or the collecting of book-plates, it
may be pertinent to state the claim made in behalf of the amateurs of
this art, by a connoisseur, namely, "Book-plates foster the study of art,
history, genealogy, and human character." On this theory, we may add, the
coat of arms or family crest teaches heraldry; the mottoes or
inscriptions chosen cultivate the taste for language and sententious
literature; the engraving appeals to the sense of the artistic; the names
of early or ancient families who are often thus commemorated teach
biography, history, or genealogy; while the great variety of sentiments
selected for the plates illustrate the character and taste of those
selecting them.
On the other hand, it must be said that the coat of arms fails to
indicate individual taste or genius, and might better be supplanted by
original and characteristic designs, especially such as relate to books,
libraries, and learning.