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 volume, a form of
clasp should be used that has no raised parts on the boards.
[Illustration: 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 in
which the plait will lie, and a depression may be scooped out of the
inner surface of the board to receive the ends.
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.
[Illustration: FIG. 119.]
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 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 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.