The Art of Bookbinding. a Practical Treatise
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Handbooks I — ^—.-™—. ^1 fjfji^.^'j^'A'.'AA'''.' .' >'»IWl>l ' "; I ' ifornia nal ty OOKBINDING t ZAMifNSmyJiF qj MMMMWMMm i^iiia^itt^^ iM^^M^^ UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES IN MEMORIAM BERNARD MOSES Digitized by tine Internet Arcliive in 2007 witli funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation littp://www.arcliive.org/details/artofbookbindingOOzaeliiala /l(^^ /7v \>n. juiaJ^ TECH-NOLOGICAL HANDBOOKS. ART OF BOOKBINDING. TECHNOLOGICAL HANDBOOKS. 1. DVEINQ AND TISSUE-PEINTINO. By Wflliam Crookes, F.R.8., V.P.C.S. 5«. 2. GLASS MANUFACTURE. Introductory Essay, by H. J. Powell. B.A. (Whitefriars Glass Works) ; Crown and Sheet Glass, by Henry Chance, M.A. (Chance Bros., Birmingham); Plate Glass, by H. O. Harris, Assoc. Memb. Inst. C.E. 3*. 6rf. 3. COTTON SPINNING ; Its Development, Principles, and Practice. By R. Marsden, Editor of the " Textile Mercury." With an Appendix on Steam Engines and Boilers. 3rd edition, revbed, 6s. 6rf. 4. COAL-TAR COLOURS, The Chemistry of. With special reference to their application to Dyeing, &c. By Dr. R. Benedikt. Translated from the German by E. Knecht, Ph.D. 2nd edition, enlarged, 6s. 6d. 8. WOOLLEN AND WORSTED CLOTH MANUFACTURE. By Professor Roberts Beanmont. 2nd edition, revised. 7s. 6d. 6. PRINTING. By C. T. Jacobi, Manager of the Chiswick Press. 5s. 7. BOOKBINDING. By J. W. Zaehusdorf. 9. COTTON WEAVING. By R. Marsden. In preparation. FLORENTINE Small fclio. TECHNOLOGICAL HANDBOOKS. THE ART OP BOOKBINDING. A PRACTICAL TREATISE. BY JOSEPH W. ZAEHNSDORF. With Plates and Diagrams. 8EC0AD EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED. LONDON: GEORGE BELL AND SONS, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 1890. — COURT, CHISWICK PRESS : C. WHITTINGHAM AND CO., TOOKS CHANCERY LANE. Art Library -z. \^^ DEDICATED TO HUGH OWEN, ESQ., P.S.A., AS A SLIGHT ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF HIS COUNSEL AND FRIENDSHIP, AND IN ADMIRATION OF HIS KNOWLEDGE OF BOOKBINDING. 213154: PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. THE first edition of this book was written for the use of amateurs, but I found that amongst the members of the trade my little volume had a large sale, and in a short time the edition became exhausted. Repeated applications for the book have induced me to issue this second edition. I have adhered to the arrangement of the first, but a great deal of fresh matter has been added, which I trust will be found useful. Should any of my fellow- workmen find anything new to them I shall be satisfied, knowing that I have done my duty in spreading such knowledge as may contribute towards the advancement of the beautiful art of bookbinding. I have to record my obligations to those gentlemen who have assisted me by courteously describing the various machines of their invention with which the book is illus- trated. The object, however, of illustrating this work with engravings of machines is simply to recognize the fact that books are bound by machinery. To a mechanical worker must be left the task of describing the processes used in this method. LIST OF PLATES. Florentine Frontispiece Grolier xiv Gascon xvi Renaissance 110 Antique with gold line 112 Derome 114 Grolier . 132 Maioli 134 —— CONTENTS. PART I.—FORWARDING. PAGE Chapter I. Folding : Refolding—Machines—Gathering . 3-8 Chapter II. Beating and Rolling : Machines . 9-12 Chapter III. Collating : Interleaving .... 13-19 Chapter IV. Marking up and Sawing in . 20-23 Chapter V. Sewing : Flexible—Ordinary .... 23-32 Chapter VI. Forwarding : End Papers—Cobb Paper Surface Paper—Marbled Paper—Printed and other Fancy Paper—Coloured Paste Paper 33-36 Chapter VII. Pasting up 36-37 Chapter VIII. Putting on the End Papers . 38-41 Chapter IX. Trimming 41-44 Chapter X. Gluing up 45-46 Chapter XI. Rounding 46-48 Chapter XII. Backing 48-51 Chapter XIII. Mill-boards 51-57 Chapter XIV. Drawing-in and Pressing .... 57-59 Chapter XV. Cutting 59-66 Chapter XVI. Colouring the Edges : Sprinkled Edges- Colours for Sprinkling—Plain Colouring—Marbled Edges —Spot Marble—Comb or Nonpareil Marble—Spanish Marble—Edges—Sizing 67-77 Chapter XVII. Gilt Edges : The Gold Cushion—Gold Knife — Burnishers — Glaire Water or Size—Scrai>ers The Gold Leaf—Gilt on Red—Tooled Edges—Painted Edges 78-83 — X CONTENTS. PASE Chapter XVIII. Head-Banding 83-86 Chapter XIX. Preparing for Covering : lining up . 87-90 Chapter XX, Covering : Rus.sia—Calf—Vellum or Parch- ment— Roan — Cloth — Velvet — Silk and Satin — Half- bound Work 90-97 Chapter XXI. Pa.sting Down : Joints—Calf, Russia, etc. 97-100 Chapter XXII. Calf Colouring : Black—Brown—Yellow —Sprinkles—Marbles—Tree-marbles—Dabs . 100-108 PART IL—FINISHING. Chapter XXIII. Finishing : Tools and Materials required for Finishing—Polishing Irons—Gold-rag—India-rubber —Gold-cushion — Gold Leaf — Sponges — Glaire— Cotton Wool — Varnish — Finishing — Morocco — Gold AVork Inlaid Work—Porous—Full Gilt Back—Run-up—Mitred Back—Pressing—Graining—Finishing with Dry Prepara- tion—Velvet—Silk—Vellum—Blocking . 111-153 GENERAL INFORMATION. Chapter XXIV. Washing and Cleaning : Requisites Manipulation — Dust — Water Stains — Damp Stains Mud — Fox - marks — Finger - marks, commonly called " Thumb-marks "—Blood Stains—Ink Stains (writing) Ink Stains (Marking Ink, Silver) —Fat Stains— Ink Reviving Old Writings—To Restore Writing effaced by Chlorine—To Restore MSS. faded by time—To Preserve Drawings or Manuscripts—To fix Drawings or Pencil Marks—To render Paper Waterproof—To render Paper Incombustible—Deciphering Burnt Documents—Insects —Glue—Rice Glue or Paste—Paste—Photographs—Albu- men—To Prevent Tools, Machines, etc., from Rusting To Clean Silver Mountings—To Clean Sponges . 157-172 Glossary 173 Index 181 INTRODUCTION. BOOKBINDING- carries us back to the time when leaden tablets with inscribed hieroglyphics were fastened together with rings, which formed what to us would be the binding of the volumes. We might go even still further back, when tiles of baked clay with cuneiform characters were incased one within the other, so that if the cover of one were broken or otherwise damaged there still remained another, and yet another covering ; by which care history has been handed down from generation to genera- tion. The binding in the former would consist of the rings which bound the leaden tablets together, and in the latter, the simple covering formed the binding which preserved the contents. We must pass on from these, and make another pause, when vellum strips were attached together in one con- tinuous length with a roller at each end. The reader unrolled the one, and rolled the other as he perused the work. Books, prized either for their rarity, sacred character, or costliness, would be kept in a round box or case, so that the appearance of a library in Ancient Jeru- salem would seem to us as if it were a collection of canisters. The next step was the fastening of separate leaves together, thus making a back, and covering the whole as a protection in a most simple form ; the only object being to keep the several leaves in connected sequence. I believe the most ancient form of books Xll INTRODUCTION. formed of separate leaves, will be found in the sacred books of Ceylon which were formed of palm leaves, written on with a metal style, and the binding was merely a silken string tied through one end so loosely as to admit of each leaf being laid down flat when turned over. When the mode of preserving MS. on animal membrane or vellum in separate leaves came into use, the binding was at first only a simple piece of leather wrapped round the book and tied with a thong. These books were not kept on their edges, but were laid down flat on the shelves, and had small cedar tablets hanging from them upon which their titles were inscribed. The ordinary books for general use were only fastened strongly at the back, with wooden boards for the sides, and simply a piece of leather np the back. In the sixth century, bookbinding had already taken its place as an " Art," for we have the " Byzantine coatings," as they are called. They are of metal, gold, silver or copper gilt, and sometimes they are enriched with precious stones. The monks, during this century, took advantage of the immense thickness of the wooden boards and fre- quently hollowed them out to secrete their relics in the cavities. Bookbinding was then confined entirely to the monks who were the literati of the period. Then the art was neglected for some centuries, owing to the plunder and pillage that overran Europe, and books were destroyed to get at the jewels that were supposed to be hidden in the different parts of the covering, so that few now remain to show how bookbinding was then accomplished and to what extent. We must now pass on to the middle ages, when samples of binding were brought from the East by the crusaders, and these may well be prized by their owners for their delicacy of finish. The monks, who still held the Art of Bookbinding in their hands, improved upon these Eastern : INTRODUCTION. XUl specimens. Each one devoted himself to a different branch one planed the oaken boards to a proper size, another stretched and coloured the leather ; and the work was thus divided into branches, as it is now. The task was one of great difficulty, seeing how rude were the implements then in use. The art of printing gave new life to our trade, and, during the fifteenth century bookbinding made great Monastic. progress on account of the greater facility and cheapness with which books were produced. The printer was then his own binder ; but as books increased in number, book- binding became a separate art-trade of itself. This was a step decidedly in the right direction.