Bookbinding, and the Care of Books Part 3

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 13.]

In order to be sure that the pages of a book to be guarded throughout will come in their proper order, it is well to make a plan of the sections as follows, and to check each pair of leaves by it, as they are guarded:--

Thus, if the book is to be made up into sections of eight leaves, the pairs of leaves to be guarded together can be seen at once if the number of the pages are written out--

1, 3, 5, 7,--9, 11, 13, 15.

First the inside pair, 7 and 9, are guarded together with the guard outside, then the next pair, 5 and 11, then 3 and 13, and then the outside pair, 1 and 15, which should have the guard outside. A plan for the whole book would be more conveniently written thus--

1-15 17-31 33-47 3-13 19-29 35-45 5-11 21-27 37-43 7-9 23-25 39-41, and so on.

To arrange a book of single leaves for guarding, it is convenient to take as many leaves as you intend to go to a section, and opening them in the centre, take a pair at a time as they come.

The number of leaves it is advisable to put into a section will depend on the thickness of the paper and the size and thickness of the book.

If the paper is thick, and the backs of the leaves have been pared, four leaves to a section will be found to answer. But if the paper is thin, and does not allow of much paring, it is better to have a larger section, in order to have as little thread in the back as possible.

The sheets of any guarded book should be pressed before sewing, in order to reduce the swelling of the back caused by the guards.

THROWING OUT

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 14.]

Maps or diagrams that are frequently referred to in the text of a book, should be "thrown out" on a guard as wide as the sheet of the book. Such maps, &c., should be placed at the end, so that they may lie open for reference while the book is being read (see fig. 14).

Large folded maps or diagrams should be mounted on linen. To do this take a piece of jaconet and pin it out flat on the board, then evenly paste the back of the map with thin paste in which there are no lumps, and lay it on the linen, rub down through blotting-paper, and leave to dry. Unless the pasting is done evenly the marks of the paste-brush will show through the linen. If a folded map is printed on very thick paper each fold must be cut up, and the separate pieces mounted on the linen, with a slight s.p.a.ce between them to form a flexible joint.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 15.]

A folded map must have in the back of the book sufficient guards to equal it in thickness at its thickest part when folded, or the book will not shut properly (see fig. 15).

PARING PAPER

For paring the edge of paper for mending or guarding, take a very sharp knife, and holding the blade at right angles to the covering-board, draw the edge once or twice along it from left to right. This should turn up enough of the edge to form a "burr," which causes the knife to cut while being held almost flat on the paper. The plate or paper should be laid face downwards on the gla.s.s with the edge to be pared away from the workman, the knife held in the right hand, with the burr downwards. The angle at which to hold the knife will depend on its shape and on the thickness and character of the paper to be pared, and can only be learned by practice. If the knife is in order, and is held at the proper angle, the shaving removed from a straight edge of paper should come off in a long spiral. If the knife is not in proper order, the paper may be badly jagged or creased.

SOAKING OFF INDIA PROOFS

Place a piece of well-sized paper in a pan of warm water, then lay the mounted India proof, face downwards, upon it and leave it to soak until the proof floats off. Then carefully take out the old mount, and the India proof can be readily removed from the water on the under paper, and dried between sheets of blotting-paper.

MOUNTING VERY THIN PAPER

Very thin paper, such as that of some "India" proofs, may be safely mounted as follows:--The mount, ready for use, is laid on a pad of blotting-paper. The thin paper to be mounted is laid face downwards on a piece of gla.s.s and very carefully pasted with thin, white paste. Any paste on the gla.s.s beyond the edges of the paper is carefully wiped off with a clean cloth. The gla.s.s may then be turned over, and the pasted plate laid on the mount, its exact position being seen through the gla.s.s.

SPLITTING PAPER

It is sometimes desirable to split pieces of paper when the matter on one side only is needed, or when the matter printed on each side is to be used in different places. The paper to be split should be well pasted on both sides with a thickish paste, and fine linen or jaconet placed on each side. It is then nipped in the press to make the linen stick all over, and left to dry.

If the two pieces of jaconet are carefully pulled apart when dry, half the paper should be attached to each, unless at any point the paste has failed to stick, when the paper will tear. The jaconet and paper attached must be put into warm water until the split paper floats off.

INLAYING LEAVES OR PLATES

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 16.]

When a small plate or leaf has to be inserted into a larger book, it is best to "inlay it"; that is to say, the plate or leaf is let into a sheet of paper the size of the page of the book. To do this, a piece of paper as thick as the plate to be inlaid, or a little thicker, is selected, and on this is laid the plate, which should have been previously squared, and the positions of the corners marked with a folder. A point is made about an eighth of an inch inside each corner mark, and the paper within these points is cut out (see fig. 16). This leaves a frame of paper, the inner edges of which will slightly overlap the edges of the plate. The under edge of the plate, and the upper edge of the mount, should then be pared and pasted, and the plate laid in its place (with the corners corresponding to the folder marks). If the edges have been properly pared, the thickness where they overlap should not exceed the thickness of the frame paper. If an irregular fragment is to be inlaid, it is done in the same way, except that the entire outline is traced on the new paper with a folder, and the paper cut away, allowing one eighth of an inch inside the indented line.

FLATTENING VELLUM

The leaves of a vellum book that have become c.o.c.kled from damp or other causes may be flattened by damping them, pulling them out straight, and allowing them to dry under pressure. To do this take the book to pieces, clean out any dirt there may be in the folds of the leaves, and spread out each pair of leaves as flatly as possible.

Damp some white blotting-paper by interleaving it with common white paper that has been wetted with a sponge. One sheet of wet paper to two of blotting-paper will be enough. The pile of blotting-paper and wet paper is put in the press and left for an hour or two under pressure, then taken out and the common paper removed.

The blotting-paper should now be slightly and evenly damp. To flatten the vellum the open pairs of leaves are interleaved with the slightly damp blotting-paper, and are left for an hour under the weight of a pressing-board. After this time the vellum will have become quite soft, and can with care be flattened out and lightly pressed between the blotting-paper, and left for a night. The next day the vellum leaves should be looked at to see that they lie quite flat, and the blotting-paper changed for some that is dry. The vellum must remain under pressure until it is quite dry, or it will c.o.c.kle up worse than ever when exposed to the air. The blotting-paper should be changed every day or two. The length of time that vellum leaves take to dry will vary with the state of the atmosphere, and the thickness of the vellum, from one to six weeks.

Almost any ma.n.u.script or printed book on vellum can be successfully flattened in this way; miniatures should have pieces of waxed paper laid over them to prevent the chance of any of the fibres of the blotting-paper sticking. The pressure must not be great; only enough is needed to keep the vellum flat as it dries.

This process of flattening, although so simple, requires the utmost care. If the blotting-paper is used too damp, a ma.n.u.script may be ruined; and if not damp enough, the pressing will have no effect.

CHAPTER IV

Sizing--Washing--Mending

SIZING

The paper in old books is sometimes soft and woolly. This is generally because the size has perished, and such paper can often be made perfectly sound by resizing.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 17.]

For size, an ounce of isingla.s.s or good gelatine is dissolved in a quart of water. This should make a clear solution when gently warmed, and should be used at about a temperature of 120 F. Care must be taken not to heat too quickly, or the solution may burn and turn brown. If the size is not quite clear, it should be strained through fine muslin or linen before being used. When it is ready it should be poured into an open pan (fig. 17), so arranged that it can be kept warm by a gas flame or spirit lamp underneath. When this is ready the sheets to be sized can be put in one after another and taken out at once. The hot size will be found to take out a great many stains, and especially those deep brown stains that come from water. If there are only a few sheets, they can be placed between blotting-paper as they are removed from the size; but if there is a whole book, it is best to lay them in a pile one on the other, and when all have been sized to squeeze them in the "lying press" between pressing-boards, a pan being put underneath to catch the liquid squeezed out. When the sheets have been squeezed they can be readily handled, and should be spread out to dry on a table upon clean paper. When they are getting dry and firm they can be hung on strings stretched across the room, slightly overlapping one another. The strings must first be covered with slips of clean paper, and the sized sheets should have more paper over them to keep them clean.

Before sizing it will be necessary to go through a book and take out any pencil or dust marks that can be removed with indiarubber or bread crumbs, or the size will fix them, and it will be found exceedingly difficult to remove them afterwards.

When the sheets are dry they should be carefully mended in any places that may be torn, and folded up into sections and pressed. A long, comparatively light pressure will be found to flatten them better and with less injury to the surface of the paper than a short, very heavy pressure, such as that of the rolling-machine.

In some cases it will be found that sheets of old books are so far damaged as to be hardly strong enough to handle. Such sheets must be sized in rather a stronger size in the following way:--Take a sheet of heavily-sized paper, such as notepaper, and carefully lay your damaged sheet on that. Then put another sheet of strong paper on the top, and put all three sheets into the size. It will be found that the top sheet can then be easily lifted off, and the size be made to flow over the face of the damaged sheet. Then, if the top sheet be put on again, the three sheets, if handled as one, can be turned over and the operation repeated, and size induced to cover the back of the damaged leaf. The three sheets must then be taken out and laid between blotting-paper to take up the surplus moisture. The top sheet must then be carefully peeled off, and the damaged page laid face downwards on clean blotting-paper. Then the back sheet can be peeled off as well, leaving the damaged sheet to dry.

The following is quoted from "Chambers' Encyclopaedia" on Gelatine:--

"Gelatine should never be judged by the eye alone.

"Its purity may be very easily tested thus: Soak it in cold water, then pour upon it a small quant.i.ty of boiling water. If pure, it will form a thickish, clear straw-coloured solution, free from smell; but if made of impure materials, it will give off a very offensive odour, and have a yellow, gluey consistency."