COLLATING.
To collate, is to ensure that each sheet or leaf is in its proper
sequence. Putting the sheets together and placing plates or maps
requires great attention. The sheets must run in proper order by
the signatures: letters are mostly used, but numbers are sometimes
substituted. When letters are used, the alphabet is repeated as often
as necessary, doubling the letter as often as a new alphabet is used,
as B, C, with the first alphabet,[1] and AA, BB, CC or Aa, Bb, Cc, with
the second repetition, and three letters with the third, generally
leaving out J, V, W. Plates must be trimmed or cut to the proper size
before being placed in the book, and maps that are to be folded must be
put on guards. By mounting a map on a guard the size of the page, it
may be kept open on the table beside the book, which may be opened at
any part without concealing the map: by this method the map will remain
convenient for constant reference. This is technically called “throwing
out” a map.
[1] The text of a book always commences with B, the title and
preliminary matter being reckoned as A.
To collate a book, it is to be held in the right hand, at the right top
corner, then, with a turn of the wrist, the back must be brought to the
front. Fan the sections out, then with the left hand the sheets must be
brought back to an angle, which will cause them when released to spring
forward, so that the letter on the right bottom |14| corner of each
sheet is seen, and then released, and the next brought into view. When
a work is completed in more than one volume, the number of the volume
is indicated at the left hand bottom corner of each sheet. I need
hardly mention that the title should come first, then the dedication
(if one), preface, contents, then the text, and finally the index.
The number on the pages will, however, always direct the binder as to
the placing of the sheets. The book should always be beaten or rolled
before placing plates or maps, _especially coloured ones_.
[Illustration]
Presuming that we have a book with half a dozen plates, the first thing
after ascertaining that the letter-press is perfect, is to see that
all the plates are there, by looking to the “List of Plates,” printed
generally after the contents. The plates should then be squared or
cut truly, using a sharp knife and straight edge. When the plates are
printed on paper larger than the book, they must be cut down to the
proper size, leaving a somewhat less margin at the back than there will
be at the foredge when the book is cut. Some plates have to face to the
left, |15| some to the right, the frontispiece for instance; but as
a general rule, plates should be placed on the right hand, so that on
opening the book they all face upwards. When plates consist of subjects
that are at a right angle with the text, such as views and landscapes,
the inscription should always be placed to the right hand, whether
the plate face to the right or to the left page. If the plates are on
thick paper they should be _guarded_, either by adding a piece of paper
of the same thickness or by cutting a piece from the plate and then
joining the two again together with a piece of linen, so that the plate
moves on the linen hinge: the space between the guard and plate should
be more than equal to the thickness of the paper. If the plate is
almost a cardboard, it is better and stronger if linen be placed both
back and front. Should the book consist of plates only, sections may be
made by placing two plates and two guards together, and sewing through
the centre between the guards, leaving of course a space between the
two guards, which will form the back.
With regard to maps that have to be mounted, it is better to mount them
on the finest linen, as it takes up the least room in the thickness of
the book. The linen should be cut a little larger than the map itself,
with a further piece left, on which to mount the extra piece of paper,
so that the map may be thrown out as before described. The map should
first be trimmed at its back, then pasted with rather _thin paste_;
the linen should then be laid carefully on, and gently rubbed down and
turned over, so that the map comes uppermost; the pasted guard should
then be placed a little away from the map, and the whole _well rubbed
down_, and finally laid out flat to dry. To do this work, the paste
must be clean, free from all lumps, and used very evenly and not too
thickly, or when dry every mark of the brush will be visible. When the
map is dry it should be trimmed all round and folded to its proper
|16| size, viz.—a trifle smaller than the book will be when cut. If
it is left larger the folds will naturally be cut away, and the only
remedy will be a new map, which means a new copy of the work. For all
folded maps or plates a corresponding thickness must be placed in the
backs where the maps go, or the foredge will be thicker than the back.
Pieces of paper called guards, are folded from 1/4 inch to 1 inch in
width, according to the size of the book, and placed in the back,
and sewn through as a section. Great care must be taken that these
guards are not folded too large, so as to overlap the folds of the
map, if they do so, the object of their being placed there to make the
thickness of the back and foredge equal will be defeated.
[Illustration: Shewing Book with Map thrown out.]
In a great measure, the whole beauty of the inside work rests in
properly collating the book, in guarding maps, and in placing the
plates. When pasting in any single leaves or plates, a piece of waste
paper should always be placed on the leaf or plate the required
distance from the edge to be pasted, so that the leaf is pasted
straight. It takes no longer to lay the plate down upon the edge of
a board with a paper on the plate, than it does to hold the plate in
the left hand, and apply the paste with the right hand middle finger;
by the former method a proper amount of paste is deposited evenly on
the plate and it is pasted in a straight line; by the latter method,
it is pasted in some |17| places thickly, and in some places none
at all. I have often seen books with the plates fastened to the book
nearly half way up to its foredge, and thus spoilt, only through the
slovenly way of pasting. After having placed the plates, the collater
should go through them again when dry, to see if they adhere properly,
and break or fold them over up to the pasting, with a folding stick,
so that they will lie flat when the book is open. I must again call
attention to coloured plates. They should be looked to during the whole
of binding, especially after pressing. The amount of gum that is put
on the surface, which is very easily seen by the gloss, causes them to
stick to the letter-press: should they so stick, do not try to tear
them apart, but warm a polishing iron and pass it over the plate and
letter-press, placing a piece of paper between the iron and the book to
avoid dirt. The heat and moisture will soften the gum, and the surfaces
can then be very easily separated. By rubbing a little _powdered French
chalk_ over the coloured plates _before_ sticking them in, these _ill
effects will be avoided_.
It sometimes happens that the whole of a book is composed of single
leaves, as the “Art Journal.” Such a book should be collated properly,
and the plates placed to their respective places, squared and broken
over, by placing a straight edge or runner about half an inch from
its back edge, and running a folder under the plate, thus lifting it
to the edge of the runner. The whole book should then be pressed for
a few hours, taken out, and the back glued up; the back having been
previously roughed with the side edge of the saw. To glue such a back,
the book is placed in the lying press between boards, with the back
projecting about an eighth of an inch, the saw is then drawn over it,
with its side edge, so that the paper is as it were rasped. The back is
then sawn in properly, as explained in the next chapter, and the whole
back is glued. When dry, the |18| book is separated into divisions or
sections of four, six, or eight leaves, according to the thickness of
the paper, and each section is then overcast or over sewn along its
whole length, the thread being fastened at the head and tail (or top
and bottom); thus each section is made independent of its neighbour.
The sections should then be gently struck along the back edge with a
hammer against a knocking-down iron, so as to imbed the thread into the
paper, or the back will be too thick. The thread should not be struck
so hard as to cut the paper, or break the thread, but very gently. Two
or three sections may be taken at a time.
After having placed the plates, the book should be put into the press
(standing or otherwise) for a few hours. A standing press is used in
all good bookbinding shops.
The Paris houses have a curious way of pressing their books. The books
are placed in the standing press; the top and bottom boards are very
thick, having a groove cut in them in which a strong thin rope is
placed. The press is screwed down tightly, when, after some few minutes
has elapsed, the cord or rope is drawn together and fastened. The
pressure of the screw is released, the whole taken out en bloc, and
allowed to remain for some hours, during which time a number of other
batches are passed through the same press.
When taken out of the press the book is ready for “marking up” if for
flexible sewing, or for being sawn in if for ordinary work.
_Interleaving._—It is sometimes required to place a piece of writing
paper between each leaf of letter-press, either for notes or for a
translation: in such a case, the book must be properly beaten or
rolled, and each leaf cut up with a hand-knife, both head and foredge;
the writing paper having been chosen, must be folded to the size of the
book and pressed. A single leaf of writing paper is now to be fastened
in the centre of each section, and a folded leaf |19| placed to every
folded letter-press leaf, by inserting the one within the other, a
folded writing paper being left outside every other section, and all
being put level with the head; the whole book should then be well
pressed.
If by any chance there should be one sheet in duplicate and another
missing, by returning the one to the publisher of the book the missing
sheet is generally replaced; this, of course, has reference only to
books of a recent date.
[Illustration: Boomer Press.]
There is a new press of American invention that has come under my
notice. It will be seen that it acts on an entirely new principle,
having two horizontal screws instead of one perpendicular. The power is
first applied by hand and finally by a lever and ratchet-wheel in the
centre. A pressure guage is affixed to each press, so that the actual
power exerted may be ascertained as the operation proceeds. The press
can be had from Messrs. Ladd and Co., 116, Queen Victoria Street, E.C.;
and they claim that it gives a pressure equal to the hydraulic press,
without any of the hydraulic complications.
[Illustration]
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