Practical bookbinding : a text-book intended for those who take up the art of bookbinding, and designed to give sufficient help to enable handy persons to bind their books and periodicals

Front matter

MARSHflLL'S

PRACTICAL

BOOKBINDING

Chapter I

Sizes of printing paper — Folding printed sheets — Sections — Books or periodicals in parts — Technical names of the various parts of a book — ■ Wire staples — Forwarding tools — Separating the sections — Knocking up — The standing press — Pressing, and precautions to be taken.

Chapter II

Collating — Signatures — Guards and guarding — Cutting and pasting the guards — Single and double guards — Throwing out maps, etc. — Various styles of binding — End papers, two methods of preparing the same — Uncut books — Trimming.

Chapter III

Sewing — Ordinary, flexible on raised bands, on tapes or vellum — The sewing press — Marking up — The kettle stitch — Sawing in — Setting up the lay cords — Remedy for swollen back.

Chaptej^. * ,

Attaching the b#^d«* Jo <he |)ogilf-^Si^e^*Qj[ niifibcir<l«-— Squaring and testing the t^sdl-TrfJning and p4eKciifg^*t4ic bpfir*'l^—lJnr| veiling and scraping the* lay* tfcfi:d§ — L*k?;i1i'g' nf^ — ?'r*es*sing" Inis and boards — Fixing book in the standing press — Tape and vellum-sewn books — Joints, cloth, linen or leather, French joint.

Chapter VI . .

Cutting the edges — Cutting in-boards — The plough — Fixing book iu the lying press for cutting — Cutting boards — Cutting out-of-boards — Rounded corners.

Chapter VII

Treatment of book edges — Plain edges — Scraping, glasspapering, gilt edges- — Sprinkled edges — Plain colouring — Colours — Marbling — Transfer marbling — Burnishing — Headbanding — Capping.

Chapter VIII

Covering ^ — Whole-binding — Half-binding — Cloth, linen and vellum-bound books — Hollow backs^ — Flexible tight backs — Covering for whole-binding — Paring leather — Setting the bands — Formation of the head cap Mitreing the corners — Fitting in a panel.

Chapter IX (Finishing — Introduction) Chapter X (Finishing)

Finishing a Morocco bound book — Paste water — Vinegar — Washing the cover — Method of impressing designs in blind — Heating finishing tools — Lettering — Decorating the back — Lettering pieces — Gold tooling — Glaire — Blind tooling — Pasting down open — Pasting down shut.

Chapter XI (Miscellaneous)

Paste— Glue — Repairing torn leaves — Washing and cleaning — Stains — Grease marks — Sizing.

ER

THE GET^ Center

Preface

Probably you, good reader, have often experienced a thrill of pleasant satisfaction on taking up and handling a well-bound book. If so, the practice of the Art of Bookbinding will no doubt be a fascinating study for you.

As a lover of good binding, I venture to hope that this small volume may be serviceable and of practical assistance to you.

Originality is not claimed for the matter herein contained, but I trust that it has been arranged in such a form as to be easily understood by those who favour me with a perusal of the following pages.

The aim throughout the book has been to present the instructions in such a way as to make them of special service to beginners, whose many difficulties and failures I have gone through. With this knowledge and with the practical experience derived from many years of teaching, I feel confident that if beginners will only carefully read through these pages and follow the methods given, combining vi

PREFACE.

the same with continual practice, they will be able to steer through the shoals of difficulties which in the Art of Bookbinding, as in other crafts, are to be met with, and which must be cleared before skilful workmanship can be attained.

With the advancement of technical education, many art and craft classes have been started, and probably others will be opened throughout the countr^^ until every town and village is provided with the means of obtaining practical instruction in the different crafts ; for all must admit that, although in craft work much can be taught through books, it is always advisable that those who are anxious to perfect themselves should join a class where practical instruction can be obtained. I urge this, as many apparently insurmountable difficulties are cleared away, when the pupil has an opportunity of seeing the different processes executed by a skilled worker. It is, therefore, with the idea of helping, more particularly, those who are debarred from the privileges and assistance of such practical classes, that the various photographs from life of the many intricate manipulations have been taken. To the more advanced workers I also trust that many of the hints may prove of use.

The City and Guilds of London Institute has given

PREFACE.

vn much help towards advancing the Art of Bookbinding, by the institution of pubUc examinations for those who desire to follow this branch of work. Under the Institute's patronage many classes have been arranged, wherein an opportunity is given to the students of becoming not only skilful binders, but artists in their profession ; and in this respect the work done by the County Councils must also not be forgotten.

To those who wish for more extended and detailed information : " The Art of Bookbinding," by Joseph W. Zaehnsdorf, and Bookbinding and the Care of Books," by Douglas Cockerel are recommended — - both works being of the most practical value to any one studying this craft. They are without doubt the best books on this subject at present on the market, and should find a place on the shelves of every lover of books.

In conclusion, I would remind the reader that these pages have been written with the intention of appealing not only to those who are intending to pursue this craft for financial gain, but also to those who intend following bookbinding with the object of obtaining pleasure from their work, and from a desire to become possessed of well-bound books. If, then, by means of this small book more workers may viii.

PREFACE.

be induced to join the ranks of true craftsmanship, my efforts will not have been in vain.

I desire to place on record my indebtedness to Miss B. A. Lucking, teacher of bookbinding to the Middlesex County Council, for the assistance she has rendered in the preparation of the subject matter, and without whose help this book would not have been written.

To Mr. J. Livsey, for his kindness and help in revising and correcting the proof sheets, I beg to tender my sincere thanks.

William Bonner Pearce.

Bedford Park, London, W.

PRACTICAL BOOKBINDING.

CHAPTER 1. Preliminary Operations

Books leave the hands of the printer in the form of sheets, the text of the book and the illustrations being arranged in masses. These afterwards form the pages, which are interspersed with blank spaces of paper for the margins.

Sheets of paper for printing are made in various sizes, and are known by technical terms, according to their measurement in English inches. Among the many which were, or are, made, the following may be mentioned : —

Post . . . . measuring

• in inches

X i5h

Demy . .

J?

X i7i

Medium . .

J J

5>

Royal . .

J J

Super Royal . .

J>

X 20i

Imperial

?5

Double Foolscap

5 J

5?

Double Crown

7 J

J?

Sheet and Half Post

J J

J J

23-2-

X 19J

Double Post

5>

X 19I

Double Demy . .

Double Royal . .

>5

J>

X 25i

PRACTICAL BOOKBINDING.

The first process which the binder is called upon to perform is folding, i.e., folding the printed sheets in such a manner that when the edges are cut, each sheet will form one section of the book. As will be seen from a reference to the foregoing list of printing papers, books vary in size according to the paper used ; but the size of the book is again regulated by the number of times the particular sheet is folded. This, of course, is arranged for by the printer when spacing out the text, etc., into the aforementioned masses.

The following technical expressions are used to denote the number of leaves into which the sheet has been folded.

Folio — the sheet is folded once, making two leaves to the section.

Quarto — the sheet is folded twice, making four leaves to the section.

Octavo — the sheet is folded three times, making eight leaves to the section.

Sextodecimo — the sheet is folded four times, making sixteen leaves to the section.

The three latter expressions are usually abbreviated as follow : — Quarto = 4to ; octavo = 8vo ; sextodecimo = i6mo.

In order to explain more clearly this folding, we will assume that a sheet of demy paper, measuring 22 1 ins. by J.y^ ins., has been folded once. This will be termed demy folio, and will thus produce a section consisting of two leaves, i.e., four pages, and measuring approximately, when in book form and cut, 11 ins. by 17 ins. If the sheet were folded twice it would be

PRACTICAL BOOKBINDING.

II demy quarto, and a section would consist of four leaves, or eight pages ; and so on.

Folding is not a difficult operation, but it must be done with care, and vigilance must be exercised in order to keep each page in register, so that when the book has been collated the headlines (if any), or the edges of the printed matter, will all stand over each other quite vertically. The method usually adopted in folding is to place the flat sheet upon a board or table, and to fold it towards the worker. The upper part of the sheet should be turned over towards the worker, and the joint should be creased or flattened with either a bone folder or a flat strip of wood. This will then be a folio. If it is to be folded again into quarto, the worker should fold over from right to left, or vice versa. Before creasing or flattening too much, it is advisable to hold up the sheet to the light in order to ascertain whether the headlines and printed matter are actually in register on each of the pages. Thus, if the sheet be folded twice or more it becomes a section ; but if in folio and folded once, it is usual to arrange for two or more sheets to form the section. This is done by placing one within the other after folding.

Probably the beginner may experience some difficulty in obtaining from the printer, or publisher, a book in sheets, as generally they do not care to supply sheet copies for one book only. Therefore, we suggest that, instead of procuring freshly-printed sheets, the first attempt at binding should be made with a book that requires re-binding, or with some periodical or book which has been issued in parts. In re-binding

PRACTICAL BOOKBINDING.

it will be necessary to carefully remove the back or • cover, and to cut and pull out the old sewing thread. Thought and care must be exercised in order not to damage the leaves or to cut the sections. The latter are usually published unsewn, and are merely protected by a paper cover. In any case it is almost certain that a coating of glue has been put on the back, and this, of course, must be removed in the manner explained hereafter.

In order to prevent disappointment and to ensure success, it is advisable for beginners to make their early attempts at binding upon a small rather than a large book. For this purpose the size should not exceed 7 J ins. long, 5 ins. wide, and the total thickness should not be more than i in.

After stripping off the outside cover, remove any pages of advertisements that are printed on separate sheets from the leaves of the book itself. The novice is advised to note that in many modern publications there is a tendency among publishers to so arrange the advertisements on the sheets that, in binding, these sheets must either be included in the book or cut into two parts. If the latter method be resorted to, it is necessary to guard the divided sheets in the way described in the next chapter. It may be convenient here to explain the following technical expressions used to denote parts of the book.

Back — the outside of the folded section, or where the name of the book is lettered in after covering.

Head — the top of the sections.

Tail — the bottom of the sections.

PRACTICAL BOOKBINDING.

Fore-edge — the front edge of the sections parallel with the back.

Sides — the parts where the boards are placed : the front being called the obverse side, and the under side the reverse.

In addition to a coating of glue having been given to the back of periodicals, it is possible that the sections may also be held together by wire staples. It will be found that these staples have been driven right through the pages near to the back ; and before attempting to pull the sections apart, the staples should be carefully removed, in order that the pages may be damaged as little as possible. Proceed in the following method : — Find the ends of the wire, and lift them up by using an ordinary bradawl or small screwdriver. A small piece of fiat metal is useful to form a rest for the tool, when one is levering open the ends of the wire (see Fig. i). This operation is accomplished much in the same manner as one would raise a tack which had been driven into some hard substance. When both ends of the wire are opened, turn to the outside and lever up the middle of the staple in a similar way. After it is raised a little above the level of the paper, it is easily pulled out with small pliers, in the way depicted in Fig. 2. Occasionally through rust or other causes, the wire will break up. It is therefore necessary to separate the parts very carefully, as, when afterwards pulling the sections apart, the broken pieces of wire are very apt to cause a rent in the pages. An ordinary knife will serve to separate the sections. (Fig. 3.) Of course, one must be careful not to cut the paper.

PRACTICAL BOOKBINDING.

The glue on the back does not usuahy prevent the easy division of the sections. This old and useless glue may be picked off with the fingers or scraped away with a knife, as in Fig. 4. The former method is to be preferred, as there is less possibility of damaging either the back or the sides of the sections. Every particle of old glue must be removed. The sections are now ready for hammering, which is done to flatten out the old groove, and also to ensure that ah will lie close together when placed in correct position.

Fig. 4.

Hammering out the old groove formed in the sections is managed as follows : — The knocking-down iron, shown in Fig. 5, M, is placed in position (usually on the top of the lying press), where it may rest upon a firm and solid foundation. To keep the sections clean, place upon the iron a sheet of paper. A few of the sections are taken and knocked up d^i the head and back. The sections are held between the hands, and then allowed to drop by their own weight upon some hard and flat surface. This is done alternately at i6

PRACTICAL BOOKBINDING.

the head and the back, until both edges are quite level. These sections are then placed upon the knocking-down iron. Another sheet of paper laid on the top will prevent the hammer from bruising or damaging the surfaces. The whole are then beaten along the back edge with the backing hammer, shown in Fig. 5, D. A few more of the sections are taken

Fig. 5. — A, bone folder ; B, Sewing needle ; C, wing compasses ; D, Backing hammer ; E, Band nippers ; F, Bookbinder's knife ; G, German paring knife ; H, Bodkin ; K, A key ; L, French paring knife ; M, knocking down iron ; N, Spring dividers ; P, a pair of trindles.

and treated similarly until all are done. Fig. 6 makes this operation quite clear. The blows dealt by the hammer must be of such a character that the sections will not be cut or bruised. To obviate this.

PRACTICAL BOOKBINDING.

alter lifting, bring down the hammer quite flat and allow it to rest for a fraction of time before raising it for the next blow. A pounding blow, such as would be delivered when cracking up any hard substance, must be carefully avoided, as blows of this kind made upon paper would certainly bruise and cut it through. The sections will then be ready for pressing. If the book should be in sheets which have been folded by the work r, the hammering is dispensed with, and the sections need pressing only — this being suflicient to flatten them and cause them to lie close together.

Fig. 7.

Pressing. — To do this proceed as follows : — Place a pressing board flat on the bench and on

Fig. 6.

l8 PRACTICAL BOOKBINDING.

the top of this a pressing tin to protect the sections. Lay a sheet of clean paper over this tin ; next put a few sections on this, then another piece of paper, again a tin and another piece of paper, and more sections ;

Fig. 8.

and so on until all are in position. On the top of all place another pressing board. (Fig. 7.) The whole should then be put in the press, which is afterwards screwed down tightly. The size of the tins and

PRACTICAL BOOKBINDING.

pressing boards should be somewhat larger than the sections, and on no account smaller. A standingpress is illustrated in Fig. 8.

Precautions to be taken in pressing : —

(i) All the sections must be arranged exactly over each other; and (2) if the book be illustrated with coloured plates, or engravings, they must be protected with sheets of tissue paper ; or it is even better to remove them from the book altogether, and fix them in afterwards with guards after pressing. (For guards, see Chapter II.)

(3) Folded maps or similar illustrations must be specially protected, by the use of tins placed on each side between them and the printed matter.

(4) Should the letterpress be of such a character that it is likely to set off " — this meaning that the printed matter on one page marks, or is partly transferred to, the next page which is facing — it is advisable to omit the pressing, and in place of this to keep the sections as close together as possible when sewing. A small amount of powdered French chalk dusted over the plates, or illustrations, is of considerable assistance in preventing the danger of setting off."

PRACTICAL BOOKBINDING.

CHAPTER II. Preparation for Sewing

Collating. — At the bottom of certain pages in any printed book, letters from the alphabet, or numerals, will be found, these distinctive marks having been printed on the sheets before folding. This was done, of course, when the letterpress and pages of the book were arranged. These letters or numerals are technically called —

Signatures. — They are intended to assist the binder when folding, and afterwards in arranging the sections in correct sequence. The style and shape of the printed letters, or numerals, used, varies somewhat with different printers ; but as a general rule capital letters — as A, B, C — are employed.

When the sheets, or sections as they are termed after folding, exceed the letters of the alphabet in number, the letters are again doubled, as A A, B B, or they may be even trebled. It is usual to discard the letters J, V, and W. Signatures generally commence with the title-page, which is lettered A, and the first section of the text is marked by B, and should the work be in more than one volume, the number of the volume is also added. Therefore, to collate a book

PRACTICAL BOOKBINDING.

correctly the binder must examine the signatures, in order to be certain that each of the sections has been placed in correct sequence and position. This is also necessary as an assurance that the pages of the book will be found in their respective positions when it is finally bound. After first collating, to ensure that no mistakes have been made, go through them again in the manner shown in Fig. 9. As will be seen there, the whole of the sections to be bound are held in the right hand, and then allowed to fall one at

Fig, 9.

a time from between the thumb and fingers of the left hand. Should there be any loose leaves, maps, plates, or other illustrations, these will require guarding.

Guards may be single, double, or full-page, and they may be made from Whatman's bank-note paper, or from fine white linen. When guards are required for plates, engravings, or single leaves, single guards will be found sufficient. The material for these

PRACTICAL BOOKBINDING.

should be cut into strips, which may vary in width from, say, | in. to i in., according to the size of the book. In length they should be a little longer than the book when measured from head to tail. The plates which are to be guarded may be fanned out and arranged in steps, the distance between each edge being equal to half the width of the guard. A sheet of clean paper (marked A A in Fig. lo) is placed on the top, and the whole may then be pasted at one time. This is done by drawing the brush downwards from the paper marked A A to the bottom sheet. This method is adopted in order to prevent the paste from getting underneath, and thus damaging

Fig. io.

the other portion of the sheet. Fairly thick paste should be used (see recipe given in Chapter XI). The plates should now be fanned out still more, so as to separate the pasted portions. Commence at the bottom sheet, and work upwards till one after the other the guards are placed in position, allowing each to just cover the pasted portion. They are then well rubbed down, and as the sheets are removed, one half of the guard will project beyond the edge of the sheet, and the other half will be found firmly attached to the pasted portion. Wherever possible the guard should be fixed on the hack of illustrated sheets.

PRACTICAL BOOKBINDING.

In the case of loose leaves, if it be the outside pair of leaves of a section, the guard should be placed on the inside ; if a pair of inside leaves of a section, then on the outside. After pasting and fixing, place the whole of the plates under the pressure of a weight. When they are dry the projecting portion of the guard is similarly pasted, then folded over on to the leaf of the section to which it is to be attached, again rubbed down, and afterwards placed under pressure as before.

Double Guards. — Should the book consist of thick plates, or cardboard leaves, double guards will be required. Linen must be used for these. It must also be borne in mind that provision for a joint for the sewing must be made, and in addition, a hinge for the plate or leaf to work freely upon. To provide for this we may either cut off a portion of the plate on the inside edge, or make use of extra strips of similar thickness. The width of the cut-off or provided strips will vary according to the size of the book, and may be of any width, varying from J in. to | in. When plates, etc., and strips are cut and prepared, place the pair of leaves or plates side by side, with the cut-off or provided strips arranged between them, in such a position that there will be spaces of equal distance between the two strips and between the strips and the leaves. In deciding upon the distance between each, we may mention that the spaces will vary in width from i-i6th in. to | in., according to the thickness of the plates or cardboard leaves. When aU are arranged in position (see Fig. 11), measurements for the widths of the guards may be taken. The

PRACTICAL BOOKBINDING.

width required will be such as will completely cover the spaces and the cut-off or provided strips, and extend for a distance of about ^ in. on to the leaf or plate. Guards will be required for both sides of each pair of leaves. One guard should be pasted and attached first and then the strips which have been cut off the plates. Note carefuhy that all the spaces already mentioned are still kept quite parallel, as the least discrepancy in this respect will cause the leaves to

Cut off or provided por/'/or?

1 T T T r

Fig. II.

open badly. This pair may then be allowed to dry a little, before the whole is turned over in order to paste, and fix a guard on the reverse side. This must be carefully placed quite perpendicularly over the first guard. While the paste is still wet, and consequently the linen guard damp, the edge or end of the bone folder (see Fig. 5, A) is rubbed up and down each of the joints, until the linen guards are attached to

PRACTICAL BOOKBINDING.

each other, and thus the creases for the hinges and middle joint for sewing will be formed. The whole should then be placed under a weight, and in arranging for this it may be borne in mind that any number of prepared leaves — or sections, as they now have become — may be piled upon each other. The damp paste may cause them to adhere to each other, and to prevent this each pair of leaves should be protected with sheets of paper. A full-page guard should be as large as the leaves of the book, plus the amount that will be required to attach the same to the section. These guards are used when it is desired to throw out " a map or diagram — throw out " meaning that the whole map, or diagram, when unfolded, will entirely project beyond the fore edge of the book, in order that the reader may refer to the same while reading the text. Before sewing, maps are usually mounted on fine linen, and sufficient of this is left projecting on one edge in order to form these full-page guards. These may then, if desired, be pasted on to one of the blank leaves at the end of the book. When a folded map is to be sewn into the book, sufficient strips of paper must be included to make the back of an equal thickness with the folded map ; for, if this is not done, the book when bound will not close up properly. The style of binding to be adopted may have been fixed upon before commencing the folding ; but if not, it is absolutely necessary at this stage that the following details should be decided : —

(i) Is the book to be " cut in " or out of " boards, or is it to be merely trimmed ? The latter method is usually termed " uncut.''

PRACTICAL BOOKBINDING.

(2) Are joints to be put in, as is explained in Chapter V ?

(3) What kind of material shall be used to cover the outside — linen, vellum, or leather ?

(4) Is it to be half or whole binding ?

(5) Is the book to have a hollow or a tight back, as is described in Chapter VIII ?

When these questions have been settled, it may be said that the style of binding has been decided upon ; and we may proceed to prepare the end papers.

End Papers. — To the uninitiated we may explain that these are the coloured, or white, leaves found at the beginning and end of all books, and also those pasted down inside the boards. There is almost an unlimited choice of suitable papers for this purpose — plain, coloured, marbled, and figured paper being used. In elaborate books, silk, vellum, and leather form rich and suitable ends. We shall content ourselves with explanations of only two methods by which these end papers are made, though there are other methods which may be adopted with equal success ; but probably the beginner will find that the following answer all purposes.

Method No. i. — Take four sheets of paper — two white, or cream ; two coloured, marbled, or figured. Taste should be exercised in choosing the latter, in order that they may harmonise with the covering of the book. Fold all four sheets centrally, as is shown in Fig. 12, H. Proper allowances should be made in cutting out the paper, so that the sheets when folded will be somewhat larger than the sections of the book. Place one of the plain folded sheets flat upon the work-table. Lay a flat steel straight-edge upon the sheet, with its edge about

3-i6ths in. from and parallel with the folded edge of the paper. Then work a bone folder (Fig. 5, A) up and down the edge of the straight-edge to form a crease showing where the paper is to be folded. (Fig. 13.) The folded sheet is turned over on to the other side, and the process is repeated ; and thus the mark for another crease is formed vertically over

PRACTICAL BOOKBINDING.

the other. The sheet may now be turned round, with the folded edge to the worker's left hand, the straightedge also being placed on the left, lineable with the crease marks. The top sheet is lifted to a vertical position, and bent up squarely over the edge of the straight-edge, thus allowing the folder to form the crease required in the paper. (See Fig. 14.) The whole is turned over, and the operation is repeated ;