:i;54. ^WEUNIVER% Z7\ o "^^mm •CAllFOff^ ^OFCAllFOi?^ mWi^ ^omwc^ <rii]ONvsoi^ "^AaiAi ;UNIVERS//j ^lOSANCEl^^ ^^•IIBRARYO^, ^:^UIBR- 8 ^ ^ f |]0NYS01^ "^/^aaAiNrtjwv '^(!/Ojnvj'jo>' ':\mmih ^lOSANCElfj^. ^.OFCAllFOftj^ o f I30NVS01^ "^/sajAiNrt-iwv >t?Aavji9ii-^^ '^om^ IIBRARYQ^, -^HIBRARYOc^ aWEUNIVERS"/^ iC tij . , ^ o %il3Ali ^WE•UNIVERy//^ ^lOSAl FCALIFO% ^OFCALIFO/?^ ^ S \-<r .vS-> ^TilJDNVSOl^ "^AaaAINIimv* -^^^AJlVaSlHS^ ^HIBRARYQc. A\^EUNIVER%. 5 ^•yOJlWDJO^ ^OJITVDJO^ ^fJHONVSOl^ ^OFCAIIFO% ^OPCAIIFO/?^^ ^^WEUNIVERJ/^ "^^Aavaani^ ^TilJONVSOl^ .^WEIINIVER% ^vWSANCElf;f^ ^tllBRARY(7/^ ^ ^Aa3AiNn-3\\v ^«»0JI1V3J0'^ ' ^^WEUNIVERS/A ^lOSANCElfx. ^0FCA11F0% 4 ^J'ilJDNVSOl^ %a3AINn-3WV ^<?Aavaaii-^^ ,-5^tllBRARYG^ -^sMUBRARYO/-, .^«[UNIVfl!J/A . _ o ^<!/0JnV>JO^ ^d/OJITVDJO^ ^OFCAIIFO% BOOKBINDING VITH NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS AND DIAGRAMS EDITED BY PAUL K HASLUOK BUITOR OF "WORK" ASD " nCILDIXQ WORLD," AUTHOU OF "HASDVBOOKS FOB HANDICRAFTS," BTC. KTa CASSELL AND COMPANY, LIMITED LONDON, PARIS, NEW YORK, TORONTO AND MELBOURNE MCMVII ALL RIGHTS RESERVED First Edition November 1902. BepriiUed 1903, 1907. LOS ANGELES ^? 'W^ STATE NORMAL SCHOOL "^ ^ PREFACE. This Handbook contains, in a form convenient for everyday use, a comprehensive digest of the infor- mation on Bookbinding, scattered over nearly twenty thousand columns of Work—one of the weekly journals it is my fortune to edit—and supplies concise in- formation on the details of the subjects of vi'hich it treats. In preparing for publication in book form the mass of relevant matter contained in the volumes of Work, much had to be arranged anew, altered, and largelj'' rewritten. The contributions of many are so blended that the writings of individuals cannot be dis- tinguished for acknowledgment. A large part of the contents was written by the Foreman Bookbinder in a London firm, and the substance of a series of articles written by Mr. Wm. Norman Brown has also been incorporated. Readers who may desire additional information respecting special details of the matters dealt with in this Handbook, or instructions on kindred subjects, should address a question to Work, so that it may be answered in the columns of that journal. P. N. HASLUCK. Ija Belle Sauvage, Loudon. CONTENTS. CHAP. PAGE I. —Bookbinders' Appliances . : . 9 II.—Folding' Printed Book Sheets .... 33 III. —Beating and Sewinj^ 38 IV. —Rounding, Backing, and Cover Cutting . 48 v.—Cutting Book Edges 55 VI. —Covering Books ..;.... 58 VII. —Cloth-bound Books, Pamphlets, etc. 66 VIII. —Account Books, Ledgers, etc. .. ... 72 IX. —Colouring, Sprinkling, and Marbling Book Edges 79 X. —Marbling Book Papers 92 XI.—Gilding Book Edges 101 XII.—Sprinkling and Tree Marbling Book Covers . 110 XIII.—Lettering, Gilding, and Finishing Book Covers 115 Indez ......... 156 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. via. Bookbinding. 1 Ki. BOOKBINDING. CHAPTER I. BOOKBINDEES' APPLIANCES. Bookbinding is a term that is popularly applied to any process for making a book by fastening together printed or unprinted sheets of paper, and provid- ing them in this compact form with a suitable covering. The term, used in this sense, covers such widely different productions as a cheap cloth- or paper-covered novel and a costly volume bound in leather. These two books are representative pro- du3ts of the two great divisions of the bookbinding industry as carried on at the present day. Each division may, indeed, almost be called a distinct industry ; for, though the means employed Eind the results obtained in both cases bear on the surface a certain resemblance to each other, the manner in which the work is carried out, and the result aimed at, are in both cases fundamentally different. A bound book is, technically, a book bound in leather. It is more solid in appearance, is better sewn, the leaves lie more compactly together, and the book opens more readily than a cloth-boarded book. Even a person without any technical know- ledge is struck with the difference between a leather-bound volume and a cloth-boarded book. While the former will last for years and resist hard usage, the latter serves a temporary purpose only, and rough usage soon reduces it to a collection of loose leaves, scarcely held together by a few tangled threads. Belonging also to the division of bound 10 /yOOKBlAD.'NC books are half-bound books, of which the back ma^ be of leather, or of cloth or other material used in plac3 of leather, and the sides of cloth or paper. Other minor but not unimportant differences that distinguish bound books fi'om cloth-boarded books will be explained in due course. The tools used in bookbinding first will be described. A cloth-boarded book can be produced with the same tools (though less in number) that are emploj^ed for a leather-bound volume, but the latter cannot be produced with the appliances used for the former. Before beginning the study of this subject, the amateur is advised to obtain two old leather-bound Fig. 1.—Beating- Hammer. books. Take one of these books to pieces carefully, bit by bit ; and whilst doing so note every contriv- ance used for holding the book together, and fre- quently compare the partially dissected book with the other volume, which should be kept intact. The value of this object lesson will be realised when making the first attempt at binding a book. A book may be bound by the amateur with the aid of comparatively few and simple tools. It has not, therefore, been thought necessary to describe here the many more or less expensive machines and appliances at present used in bookbinding. Leather binding is largely done by hand, the material em- Bookbinders' Appliances. It ployed, the manner in which the work is done, and the limited demand for leather compared with cloth books, precluding the use of machinery to any con- riiderable extent. On the other hand, the binding of cloth-boarded books is considerably helped, and, in some cases, almost wholly done, by machinery ; because cloth books must be produced rapidly, and in large numbers (often tens of thousands, all of one size and pattern), and at a comparatively low cost. The following are some of the tools that will be required for leather binding: — Fig. 2. —Standing Press. The folder or folding-stick is a piece of flat bone, about 6 in. long and rather more than 1 in. wide, with rounded ends. The folder, as its name implies, is used for folding into page size the printed sheets received from the printer. The beating hammer and stone are adjuncts of an old-fashioned bookbinder's shop, and have been replaced by the rolling machine. The amateur, however, unless he can get his work rolled for him, must use tiie beating hammer, and he should en- deavour to obtain one that has been specially made 12 BoOR'JUNPJNG. for the purpose. The beating hammer Aveighs from 10 lb. to 12 lb., is more or less bell-shaped, and has a short handle (see Fig. 1, p. 10). A stone or iron slab will also be required. The slab must be level and perfectly smooth, and it should be firmly bedded. When not in use the surface of the slab should be kept covered. It will be found convenient to bed the slab in a box of sand, and to provide the box with a cover. The standing press is used to compress books during the process of binding, and there are several Fig-, 3.—Simple fress. different forms of it. The typical standing press (Fig. 2, p. 11) consists of vertical pillars, a long stout screw, a platen, and the bed. A letter-copying press represents, roughly and on a small scale, a bookbinder's standing press, but in the bookbinder's press the power is applied by a long iron bar that is inserted in holes drilled in a ball of iron that forms the bottom of the screw. The folded sections of the book are piled upon the bed of the press, and the platen is screwed down as tightly as possible by the combined strength of two or more men. A stout copying press, however, can be used Bookbinders' Appliances. 13 for bookbinding on a small scale, smooth slabs of iron or hard wood called pressing boards, not less thaji the size of the book, being placed between each three or four sections. Or, if a copying press or similar contrivance is not available, heavy weights may be laid on the folded sheets, and the pressure continued for twenty-four hours, or longer if necessary. A small press, like that shown by Fig. 4. —Sewing Press. Fig. 3, sometimes may be bought second-hand, and would be a valuable acquisition. The pressing boards should be of some hard wood, generally beech, planed perfectly smooth on both surfaces, and rectangular in shape. Iron plates sometimes are used. The sewing press is not a press in the modern sense of the term, as it is not used for purposes of compression ; it is a contrivance by which the bands 14 Bookbinding. or cords upon which a book is sewn ai-e kept at tension and in their proper places, while the sections or sheets of a book are sewn to them. The usual form of the sewing press is shown by Fig. 4, p. 13, and its use will be described later. In Fig. 4 are shown the keys employed to hold down the cords. A home-made sewing press is illustj-ated by Fig. 5. The bottom board A may be made of 1-in. stuff, 1 ft. 9 in. long by 1 ft. broad, with uprights C, 10 in. high by \\ in. by | in. The top piece B, shown separately in Fig. 6, should be of ]-in. oak, 2 ft. 3 in. long, 1 in.