By Henry Blackwell.
Much has been written about the art of special binding, and many
lengthy treatises have been written on the various methods of early
and modern "extra," or fine binders. It will be my province to
describe the stages through which a book passes, from the time it is
received in the bindery until it is shipped out of the establishment.
I will take for my subject a rare old book that is to be rebound in a
half-levant morocco binding. In a good shop, all books, no matter what
the binding is to be, are treated alike in regard to workmanship,
care, and materials. If a binder puts his name in the completed book,
it is a sign that the book has been to the best of his ability
honestly and well bound.
When the customer brings the book to the binder, the style of binding,
color of the leather, amount and kind of ornamentation, and all the
other details are determined upon and entered carefully in a numbered
order book, and the number of the order is marked in pencil on an
inside leaf of the book itself, so that the original instructions may
be referred to from time to time. This number is usually left in the
book after it has been finished and delivered to the owner, and not
infrequently has been the means of identifying a lost or stolen
volume.
The book is then given to the first operator, usually a girl, who
removes the cover, if there is any, and takes the book apart,
separating carefully each of the "signatures," or sections, and
removing the threads of the old binding. If any of the pages are
loose, they are pasted neatly in their proper places and the "insert
plates" (illustrations, maps, etc.), which had been printed separately
from the text and pasted in the volume, are examined to make sure that
they are firmly fixed. Another operator goes over the entire volume
and cleans any of the pages that have become soiled.
The book is then prepared for the sewing by a man who hammers the back
until it is flat and all the edges of the signatures lie evenly. He
then divides it into sections of half a dozen or more signatures,
places each of these between smooth wooden boards, and puts the whole
into an upright iron press, in which it is subjected to a great
pressure, and where it ought to remain over night in order to make it
entirely flat and solid. A better way of pressing a book at this stage
of the operation is to pass it several times through a rolling
machine, which is made for this special purpose with two heavy iron
rollers, say twenty inches long and ten inches in diameter. These
machines are seldom used in America, but are invariably found in the
equipment of binders' workshops abroad, which is perhaps one reason
why English books are so solidly bound.
Following the pressing, or the rolling, the book is placed, back
uppermost, in another press, something like a wooden vise. By means of
a handsaw, several cuts, just deep enough to cut entirely through the
fold of each signature, are made across the back of the book. Seven of
these saw marks are usually made, the five in the middle being for the
cords on which the book is sewed, and the two at the ends for threads
which help to make the sewing more secure. If the book is to have a
binding with raised bands across the back, no actual cuts are made,
the back being simply scratched to guide the girl in sewing, so that
the heavy twine on which she sews will stand out on the back, forcing
the leather up in the five middle places and forming the raised bands.
After it has been sawed, or scratched, the book goes to a girl who
collates it--that is, examines it thoroughly, signature by signature,
and makes sure that everything is in its right place. If the volume is
old or especially valuable, it is gone over page by page. The first
and last signatures are then whip-stitched, or sewed over and over
along the back edges, and then put in their places.
The book is then sewn on a "sewing frame." This is a small wooden
table about twelve by eighteen inches, with legs only one inch high.
At two corners there are upright wooden screws, some fifteen inches
long with movable collars which support a crosspiece. To this
crosspiece are fastened three stout cords, their other ends being
attached to the table. The position of these cords are regulated to
fit the saw marks on the back of the book, then they are tightened by
means of the screw collars. The sections of the book are then placed
against these cords, one by one, and the threads passed through the
saw cuts and outside the cords, thus sewing them firmly to the back of
the book. When several books of the same size are being bound at one
time, the operator goes right on sewing book after book, one signature
after the other, until she has finished a pile of books a foot or more
high. When the sewing is finished the cords are cut so as to leave a
free end of an inch and a half on each side of the book, and to these
ends are fastened the boards, as described later.
Linen or silk thread is used in sewing, the heaviness of which depends
upon the size of the book and the thickness of the paper of the book.
If the book has many single leaves, or illustrations, it is sometimes
necessary to whip-stitch each signature before sewing.
The book, or the pile of books, then passes to the "forwarder," who
"draws off" or separates each book from the others in the pile, and
again hammers the book, to flatten out any "swell" which may be
present after the sewing. He then pastes, or "tacks," the first and
last whip-stitched signatures to the signatures next them, this
pasting being only, say, an eighth of an inch wide along the back
edge.
The paper is then chosen for the "end papers," usually matching
closely the paper of the book. They are cut a little larger than the
paper page of the book, and pasted along the edge to the outside and
whip-stitched signatures. Marble paper in suitable harmony or contrast
with the leather to be used on the book is then selected for lining
the inside of the covers cut to the same size as the "end papers," and
pasted to them, after having been folded so that the colored sides
come face to face.
When all this pasting has dried thoroughly, the back of the book is
covered with a thin coating of glue, to preserve its shape and then,
while the back is quite flat, the front edges of the leaves are
trimmed off evenly in a cutting machine. If this edge is to be gilded,
special care is taken to have the edges cut smoothly.
The back is then "rounded" by use of a hammer; if the book is to be a
"flat back" one, the rounding is very slight. It is necessary even in
the case of a flat back book to round it somewhat so that it will
retain its shape when the finished book is placed on the shelf. After
the rounding, the top, or "head," and the bottom, or "tail," of the
book are trimmed evenly in the cutting machine.
The book is then ready for the gilder, who places it, with the edge
which is to be gilded uppermost, in a press. This edge is covered with
red chalk, which shows all the uneven places, which are then scraped
with a steel scraper. This operation is repeated until the edge is
very smooth, and it is then treated with a sizing made of white of egg
and water, which is to hold the gold leaf to the edges of the leaves.
The gold leaf is laid on the still wet edge, and when slightly dry is
covered with a sheet of paper and rubbed down with a burnisher, and
when entirely dry is burnished again with a smooth piece of agate or
bloodstone.
The boards, pieces of strong and durable binders' "boards" made of
paper or tarred rope, are then selected and cut to fit the book,
extending about one-eighth of an inch over the head, tail, and front
edges of the leaves. Each of the cords, on which the book has been
sewed, is moistened with paste, and put through two holes which are
punched side by side in the board and within a quarter of an inch of
the inside edge. The cord is carried down through one hole, and up
through the other, and the remaining end is cut off and hammered down
smooth where it stays firmly fastened by the paste. This is called
"lacing on the boards" and when finished makes, so far as strength
is concerned, the cover-boards and the inside of the book practically
one piece. The book is then given another long pressing.
The coverer then takes the volume. He first wraps the edges with paper
to keep them clean and then puts on the headbands. These are either
sewn directly on to the book or may be bought ready-made, when they
are put on with glue.
The back is covered with a strip of coarsely woven crash lined with
several pieces of paper. This is glued to the back to make it hard and
solid and to prevent it from cracking, or "breaking," when the book is
opened.
The leather is then cut out for the corners and for the back, in the
latter case allowance being made for its extension over and on to the
boards to the proper distance. The back lining is trimmed off to the
top of the headbands, and the leather is pasted on the rough side in
position and turned in at the "head" and "tail" of the back. The five
raised bands are then "pinched up" and the whole back is polished, or
"crushed," with a hot polisher until the leather is smoothed down to
the desired surface.
In decorating the cover, or "tooling" it, as it is called, the design
is first pressed into the leather of the back with heated tools. These
designs, appearing "blank," or sunken, in the leather, are washed over
with a thin coat of paste and water, followed by a sizing of albumen,
and finally with vaseline, to make the gold stick. Gold leaf is laid
over the "blank" designs and the same heated tools used to press the
gold into the leather. As many as three layers of gold are frequently
put on in this way until the design is full and clear. The waste edges
of the pieces of gold leaf are removed with a piece of soft rubber and
the whole back washed with benzine to remove the grease of the
vaseline and that of the natural leather.
The part of the leather which projects over the sides is pasted to the
boards, trimmed off straight, and pared down until the edges are very
thin. Another piece of plain paper is then cut out and pasted on the
board, covering it right up to the edges of the leather. This makes
the side board and the leather even in height and prevents the outside
marbled paper from showing ridges made by the edges of the leather.
When the outside has dried, a piece of paper is pasted on the inside
of each board. This paper has a tendency to shrink a little and to
warp the boards, so that they will hold tightly to the inside of the
book. If this paper were not put on the inside of the covers, the
marbled paper on the outside might cause the boards to warp away from
the book itself.
The end papers are then pasted down on to the board, and when
thoroughly dry all the leather along the inside and the outside edges
of the cover sides is carefully washed and polished with an iron
polisher. The book is then placed between plates made of steel, either
nickel or silver plated, and placed in the press to remain a day or
two, after which the back is polished again and the sides are finished
with gilt lines along the edges of the leather next to the marbled
paper. Then the book is finally inspected, a silk marker inserted, and
the volume is done and ready for delivery.