Books have lately been bound without any sewing, by “Hancock’s
Patent” process. This consists in having all the sheets folded into
double leaves, and the folded parts all brought evenly to a curved
form for the back of the book by means of a mould or hollow cut in
the edges of two upright boards (fig. 5); they are then removed to a
press which holds the book tightly together, leaving this curved back
just projecting in front of the press-boards. The back is smeared
with India-rubber dissolved in naptha, which when dry is several
times repeated, till a coating of sufficient thickness is produced,
when it is covered with cloth or linen and the book is ready to be
finished in the usual way; thus the sewing is quite dispensed with,
for the folded edge of each sheet is held to the next one by a thin
coating of India-rubber. This plan allows great freedom in opening,
and for thick books produces a level surface much superior to those
bound in the old way (figs. 6 and 7).