Paul Adam

“ In order to secure a good impression from a die it is necessary to apply it promptly, and press without hesitating as to where to begin. To ensure all parts of the tool being well impressed, its surface is slightly curved lengthwise, and according to this curve the die must be rocked to and fro whilst impressing. If too much time is wasted before the die is applied the impression will turn out lighter. By allowing the heated die to remain long on the surface of the leather, the latter loses its moisture at that place and the die could not produce any further deepening of the colour. ”

“ Gold tooling has evolved from the blind tooling of the 15th century, which up to that time had been the only method of decoration for the exterior of books, excepting where gold or jewels were used. The first application of this method was in drawn lines made by running the heated fillet alongside the rule, and even to-day the fillet, although improved in make, still retains its place as a suitable tool for the decoration of leather backs and sides. Speaking generally, blind tooling is not sufficiently appreciated by finishers, especially in shops doing much hand tooling ”

“ It is better to lay the gold leaf on one side and to remove it exactly at the corner and then tool; the side next to it is now treated in exactly the same way, giving special attention to the removal of the leaf at the corner. The design is thus made to join together at the corners without crossing, because the roll will only leave its impression as far as the gold goes. For extra work, however, a die suiting the roll in width and design should be chosen, and leaving as much of the corners as the die will cover free from gold, the remainder of the surface is covered with the leaf and tooled. ”

“ For whole-leather bindings a narrow margin is pared down all round the edges, the turn-in at the back is pared just as much as is necessary, and also at the corners. The leather corners are cut slant-wise at the outset, and the paring is done so that the thinning begins exactly at the edge of the board.
In leather bindings the board, as well as the back packing, is glued on, rubbed down, and the edges then pasted and turned in, the leather is rubbed down sharply in the joint, the back, and on the edges; but a folder must never be used on the leather covering the board itself. ”

“ To whatever height of perfection the latter may still reach, it only begins where the practical bookbinder has completed his work faultless in every detail. A bad binding does not become a work of art when it has had its exterior artistically decorated, it rather calls forth condemnation on its bad forwarding and wasted skill in finishing. ”

“ The fore-edge of the burnisher is not to be held parallel to the sheets, but must be at a slight angle; it thus slips better over the paper and there is less danger of making rills and furrows, and the polish is obtained more rapidly. Flat edges are always burnished crosswise, but at the end a broad burnisher may be used for going over the edges lengthwise with a few slow, firm strokes, so as to ensure a very level surface.
Quick burnishing must always be avoided; it heats the gold, which rubs off under the burnisher, and causes holes which can never be remedied. ”

“ Thinner volumes in cloth have likewise tight backs. The cloth for the backs is cut into strips of handy length as wide as the length of the backs must be, is glued and cut a suitable width with a knife upon the cutting board, measuring with the eye. Recently, the so-called "taking off," as practised in fancy goods work, has been adopted for the sake of its cleaner and neater results in pasting and glueing covers. A large zinc plate is coated with glue, neither too thick nor too thin, the cover is laid face downwards and taken up, so that it is evenly coated all over with the glue or paste. ”

“ Rounding can be done either by rubbing the middle part round with a proper wooden tool in a rounding board having several hollows of various degrees of convexity, or by drawing the back with a rocking motion under a broad folder. Such a made-up back must fit perfectly true to the groove and on the back. This is the hollow back. Before fastening it to the book, the latter must have a piece of stout paper pasted over the back; good packing-paper is the best. Newspapers and loose advertisements out of magazines are not at all satisfactory and must not be used. ”

“ For convenience of working, the press with the screws is laid flat upon the table, so that the nuts are against the table edge. The press is propped up at the back by the press-jack. The divisions for the cords are marked on the back with a lead pencil after measuring with the dividers, and the cuts made according to the markings. If several volumes of the same size are to be sawn-in, the top sheet of the first batch sawn is used as a guide for marking the others, thus saving the work of measuring each one with the dividers. Where much sawing-in is done, a sawing-in machine is employed. ”

“ The effectiveness of a leather back can be considerably heightened by evenly smoothing and polishing the title panel with a burnisher. Such a back with the title panel enclosed within a square with only a fine double line at the head and tail and also a fine line close to the head is perhaps the best that an ordinary bookbindery can produce. It is essential, however, that every detail should be faultlessly executed, especially the title.
Tooling a square is frequently done. The beginner should always use the roll for this, although tool makers produce line pieces for the work. ”

“ The gauges thus made are fixed with wax at convenient places, best on the middle line above and below the table but in such a way that they themselves are not touched by the plate. To prevent their falling off, a larger piece of cloth is pasted over them, always leaving the points visible. The surest preventive against falling off is to have screw-on gauges. A strip of metal having a slit in the middle can be screwed tightly to the table by means of a screw passed through the slit. At the end a steel point about 1/2 cm. long is riveted on. ”

“ The simplest way of laying on for flat edges is by means of strips of paper. This has the advantage of allowing a larger number of gold strips being made ready for laying on at one time. Select a piece of stiff and not too thin paper, cut into strips about the width of the strips of the gold-leaf, draw one side of the paper across the hair, and then take up the leaf so as to allow it to project a little over the edge of the paper strip. After glairing, strip by strip is laid on.
For very cheap work it is often necessary to gild edges with alloyed gold. ”

“ It is necessary that the press should have been previously regulated to the thickness of the article being blocked, and to begin with a light pressure at first, as heavier pressure can be applied afterwards if required. Cloth requires sharper pressure than leather. Large heavy covers are always blocked with the press quite closed, whilst small things like single titles, hat linings, ties, &c., are finished with only a short pull of the lever. The correct regulation of the pressure rests with the worker. [Pg 110]
We distinguish between blocking in blind, gold, colour, and relief. ”

“ Folding, sewing, board cutting, trimming, and lettering are all done exclusively by machinery. All finishing work, pressing, headbanding, decorating the paper covers, have fallen off. The cover is always made in advance and the book fixed into it. A good goat-skin is seldom used for the back, almost always split sheep-skin, thereby also saving paring, or the so-called split horse-hide. These latter are put on the market in various colours and grains and are well suited for the work. A third-rate marbled paper is used for covering, as prices are not given for better kinds. ”

“ One may generally take it that a leather pares best in the direction in which it stretches least. The grain runs from the back to the sides. The Offenbach knife is narrower and ground more to a square point than the Berlin knife, the edge of which forms a sort of half right-angle to the blade. See manner of holding the knife in Fig. 62.
Quick working is an advantage of the Offenbach knife, which is due to the fact that less attention need be given to holding the leather on the stone, and paring proceeds from left to right, the left hand at the same time helping to push the knife. ”

“ It is best to select a piece of board exactly the size of the covers to be printed and at the two places to be taken by the guide points pieces of vellum are firmly pasted, being already pierced for the guide points, these vellum additions being further secured by pasting over them a strip of paper or cloth. For every block to be used a similar board with its vellum additions is prepared. Upon the ground of this first matrix the other auxiliary matrices are likewise first impressed with the block—all of them black, of course, so that it would be possible at any time to fit in the blocks. ”

“ The machines worked by a lever are very suitable for small shops and small books. Rotary action is for heavier work and is more suitable where both heavy and light work have to be done.
The fore-edge is generally trimmed first; the back of the book is carefully adjusted to the "back gauge," the back gauge is so adjusted by moving backwards and forwards that the knife comes exactly upon the point marked beforehand. The first principle to be observed in trimming is that as little as ever possible should be taken off the book. Measuring and marking for trimming are done with the dividers ”

“ The first leaf is then pasted down on the end-paper sheet so as to leave a margin of about 2 mm.; the second leaf is pasted level with the back. All end papers are proceeded with in the same way.
If these are to have a cloth joint it must be pasted on the outside also only 2 mm. wide. When the end papers are dry, they must be stitched down along the back, 2 mm. from the edge, with the sewing-machine adjusted to its longest stitch. It is unnecessary to knot the ends of the thread—they are cut clean off. When there is no sewing-machine, the volumes must be overcast by hand. ”

“ The experienced worker can trace the progress of drying with more certainty by breathing on the edges; the slowness or rapidity with which the breath disappears points to the dry or moist state of the edges.
When it is believed that the proper degree of dryness has been obtained, the edge is polished with a burnisher. A piece of tracing paper which has been waxed on the upper side—that is, the side next the burnisher—is laid on the fresh edge to protect it from injury. ”

“ One end is carefully lowered until the glair has run to one side and dripped off. As soon as the greater part of the moisture has been removed, the press is either placed upright with the edge to the wall and head downwards or it is laid across the table where it will not be disturbed, with the head of one screw on the table edge. In this way the moisture runs off quicker, as the whole length of the edge drains together. When dry, the edges are burnished, and it is in seizing the right moment to do this that the clever finisher shows his skill. ”

“ Before laying on the gold, the bolused edge is brushed down with a hard clothes-brush to remove all hair, dust, &c. Glair is now liberally applied with a thick hair brush, laying it on separately for each strip. The gold is now lifted from the cushion with the gilder's tip so that it very slightly projects over the end of the brush and is transferred to the wet edges. The tip is brought to within 1 cm. of the surface of the edges and with a quick motion the whole surface of the gold is at once brought into contact with the glaired edges, which will instantly take it up quite greedily. ”

“ The best of all means is glue or gelatine; the former turns the paper somewhat yellow. A thin solution is made, which is laid on warm with a large sponge in long quick strokes. Where colour or ink is to be dealt with, no parts should be touched twice or the colours will be effaced. A second coating, however, may be given after the first has dried. The spirit varnish to be used—called map or photo varnish—is still too thick as sold. It is thinned with 90% spirit of wine to the required consistency until it runs easily from the brush. ”

“ A paper having a design must, of course, be laid in the same direction as the book. Where paste-down and fly leaf are to be pasted on separately, it must be so arranged that, after [Pg 128] the pasting, one leaf forms the counterpart of the other, that is to say, the design must run through and be broken only by the joint. To effect this it is necessary that the paste-down should be first pasted on; when pasting on the fly leaf the work can be made right. ”

“ Sewing [1] with us is invariably begun with the last sheet at the right, working on to the left, and reversing the process with the following sheet, and so to the end, so that the thread one way passes from and the other to the worker. With all other sheets, excepting the end sections, the thread is inserted at the kettle stitch and brought out at the next cord, round the cord, and inserted at the same hole, to be brought out again at the next cord, and so on till the thread comes out at the other kettle stitch and is inserted in the next sheet to go through the same process. ”