_REBINDING_
[Illustration: SOLANDER SLIP-CASE]
In Chapter Thirteen of his _Essai_, Bonnardot remarks:
"When one sees upon the table in a public shop, a rare book roughly sewn,
ignobly deteriorated and, especially, badly cut down, either too much or
unevenly, one may believe that it has passed, at some period, through the
hands of a provincial bookbinder or of one of our Parisian binders of the
lower order, who consider it proper to wrap up a typographical monument of
the Louis XII period in a way to strike off about nineteen-twentieths of
its value.
"I know of no species of vandals worse, more primitive or more
irresponsible than these botchers. But one can see how they are sometimes
impelled, in spite of a natural taste, to commit these ravages. After
considerable discussion, a person may offer them about 75 centimes
($0.15), more or less, for a piece of work which, if done with care,
should well be worth eight or ten times that amount. The natural and
inevitable punishment caused by this penny-pinching, is the almost total
depreciation of a book placed in the care of an easy-going bibliophile
who, with a light heart condemns his old friend to a binding limited in
price to 75 centimes.
"The provincial bookbinder whose work, with its dirty, warped boards,
simpers under a covering of sheep still hairy and spotted with patches of
ink, is in much the same class as a cheap glazer and gilder to whom an
amateur iconophile might naively send for restoration a rare Albert Durer;
and both these similar to an architect who, with blind decision, would be
sent to mutilate the flanks of some majestic cathedral. This redoubtable
trio, born enemies of souvenirs engraved in stone or upon paper, botch and
destroy, although perhaps without malice, at least three-fourths of
anything on which they operate. May these tardy remarks still save
something from the ruins!
"The most irremediable of the crimes which can be committed in rebinding a
small, old book, is the trimming of margins. The simple matter of a
centime's economy in the size of the boards, may direct the trimming of
some charming gothic quarto up to the very text. One may thrice exclaim
with joy when the text itself has not been cropped. Those who partly
realize, or divine by instinct, that margins are good for something,
sometimes take pains to preserve them, but trim them with an inequality so
shocking that the victim has only escaped Charybdis in order to fall upon
Scylla. Undoubtedly, the greatest merit of a rare book is to have
untrimmed margins or, at least, margins trimmed only slightly and evenly.
But to obtain evenness, it is not proper to cut huge slices in order to
square the edges; such zeal for symmetry easily might result in cutting
into the text. The best method for squaring a book which was unevenly cut
when previously bound, is to refold and equalize each sheet before any
further trimming is done; a long and detailed operation for which one
pays, not in centimes but in francs."
Bonnardot goes on from the above, very pointed remarks, to describe
various operations of rebinding, with an idea of assisting bibliophiles
who are too far from the centres of civilization to get in touch with a
good binder. For detailed information along these lines, which hardly come
within the scope of the present volume, books written especially on the
subject of binding should be consulted.
It is very difficult to execute a satisfactory binding without going
through a long period of practice and apprenticeship. And this work not
only includes several long and dreary operations, such as sewing, which
the average bibliophile would not have the time or patience to undertake,
but also requires a number of bulky tools and presses, out of place except
in a shop or work-room. Any book in serious need of rebinding is better
placed in the hands of an experienced binder, preferably one who
specializes in individual bindings. With the book, written directions may
be sent, when distance renders personal consultation impossible.
As nine-tenths of all binders, even today, still practice many careless
methods against which bibliophiles have protested for centuries, it is
desirable, in any case, both as a precaution and as a practical help and
reminder to the binder, to furnish, with each book to be bound, complete
written instructions for the work. With the written directions, a sketch
of the book may be furnished, giving details of the design of tooling
wanted, except in cases where it is known that this matter may safely be
left to the good taste of the binder. If many books are sent to the same
binder, however, suggestions on finish and tooling may very well be made.
Sometimes these may prove of interest to the binder himself. The reason
for such suggestions is that nearly every binder has certain set personal
conventions, especially in the matter of tooling construction, causing, in
all his bindings, a certain uniformity of design. Although this may be
varied by the different selection of the actual tools used and the colors
of the leather, it becomes monotonous in its general construction and
damages the visible personality of the individual volumes.
A form of direction sheet, which will, of course, vary with varying
requirements, follows.
TITLE. In gilt on back.
THE
ENEMIES
OF
BOOKS
----
William
Blades
DATE. In gilt at bottom of back. 1880
COVER. Full, dark brown pebbled morocco, best quality Turkey. Full
grain, not crushed.
TOP. Gilt top. Please trim as little as possible.
EDGES. Do not trim or cut bottom or fore edges.[27]
TOOLING. Gilt line borders on sides near edges, with corner
ornaments; use geometrical design ornaments if you have them, rather
than flowers. Panels on back.
SEWING. Sew flexible on flat bands with leather back glued direct to
the lining of signatures. Please do not saw into backs of signatures
for bands or cords.[28]
END PAPERS. Plain light brown or white.[29]
SPECIAL. Be sure and place clean sheets of paper over the etched
illustrations whenever the book is in press. The original wrappers
now on are considerably torn and are very brittle. Please mount these
as well as you can, on thin, strong paper, and bind them in at the
back.
The price for this work may be agreed on beforehand, but it is better left
to the binder, in order that he will not feel cramped, should the
necessity of a little unforeseen work develop. Whatever their other
failings may be, binders are generally honest in such matters and are not
likely to overcharge, especially on average work.
This may be a good place to remark, perhaps needlessly, that valuable
books, particularly first editions, should always be retained in their
original covers, whether cloth, boards or leather, whenever this is at all
practicable. Ancient books in their original calf or sheep, but with
broken backs or hinges, and requiring attention for their proper
preservation, should be rebacked rather than rebound.
The reasons for this are numerous. Principally, the fact that a book is
still in its original binding is a fair guarantee that it has not been
trimmed since it originally left the binder's hands. It often happens,
also, that books containing rare plates have the plates foxed or otherwise
damaged, and it is sometimes possible, in rebinding such books, to
substitute for the injured plates other perfect ones, in exact facsimile,
from some later edition of the same book. Suspicion of this, or of other
tampering, can generally be avoided when such books appear still in the
original binding.
There is, moreover, a sentimental attraction in early issues of books in
their original state, since, in most cases, they thus appear as they
formerly did to their author, perhaps even in some special color or design
of binding which he himself selected. Original bindings having a stamped
design possess a more or less individual decoration, perhaps from the hand
of some well-known artist. Aubrey Beardsley, for instance, prepared a
number of such book decorations; many of the volumes issued in 1894-95 by
John Lane of London, have cover designs by this artist and these,
especially when accompanied by a Frontispiece of Title design by the same
hand, are often equal in interest to the text of the book itself. Of
special interest from the standpoint of originality are the Japanese-like
fabrics used in binding some of the first editions of books by Lafcadio
Hearn. Whether specially decorated or not, however, the original binding
is part of the individuality of a book and cannot be removed without
destroying a certain part of its interest.
In the case of valuable books which are, for one reason or another, seldom
referred to, or unique or presentation copies, it is a good practice to
make slight essential repairs without disturbing the binding and to order,
from an experienced binder, a book-shaped slip-case in which the volume
may be preserved in its original covers without being subject to further
wear or to injury from dust.
A fairly valuable book which must be rebound, should never be bound in
calf or sheep, as these leathers, even when of the best quality, are very
perishable. Sheep bindings, sometimes three hundred years old, may still
be occasionally met with in remarkably solid condition. But the secret of
such leather tanning seems to have been lost, and the modern sheep or calf
binding cannot be counted on, even under the most favorable conditions,
for more than one-tenth that length of time. In certain climates,
parchment or vellum makes a durable binding which, with age, acquires a
beautiful, ivory-like surface tone; but these skins will warp the boards
unless the book is kept closely set in on the shelf. Turkey morocco is
durable when well tanned, as it usually is. The best leather, for
appearance and endurance, and also the most expensive, is red levant
morocco. For efficiency and richness, although this is a matter on which
tastes vary, it is best left "uncrushed" or, at least, only lightly
pressed.
The best moroccos are those tanned entirely "acid-free," or as nearly so
as possible. "Niger" morocco, native tanned on the banks of the Niger
River in Africa, and imported into England, is an acid-free leather used
for expensive bindings. This leather is rather hard to secure, but its
desirability is indicated by the fact that it is the only leather on which
the severe tests described in the Report of the Committee on Leather for
Bookbindings, elsewhere mentioned, had no effect.