MENDING
It is very desirable that mending should not be done by inexperienced assistants, for an uninstructed beginner may do as much harm as good.
Torn Pages
Torn pages may be mended in any one of the following ways:
1. If the tear does not affect the printing, cut a strip of thin, tough bond paper one-half inch wide, a little longer than the tear to be covered, put through pasting-machine and cover the tear, trimming the overhang even with the page.
2. If the page is torn into the text, and the book is not valuable commercially, use ungummed onion skin about one-half inch wide and apply as above. If onion skin is not available a very thin, tough bond paper will do very well. Use a thin coating of paste, first putting a piece of white paper under the page to absorb extra paste.
3. If torn in the text and it is desirable to make as good a job as possible, use the following method:
Rub a very little paste on the torn edges, and place them together. Then take a rather large piece of ordinary tissue paper and rub it gently along the tear so that the tissue paper will adhere to the torn edges. Put under the press; when dry the superfluous tissue paper should be torn off, taking care to pull always toward the tear and from both sides at the same time. The delicate fibre of the tissue paper acts as an adhesive in such a way that it is almost impossible to discern how the mending was done.
4. If the margin of the leaf of a valuable book is torn in several places, take two sheets of paper the size of the leaf, cut out from the middle of each a piece a little larger than the letter-press of the book; trim the torn leaf so that it remains somewhat larger than the space cut out of the blank leaves; place it between these two leaves and paste down, thus forming new margins.
Books that have torn leaves mended may be put into the press, but it is not strictly necessary. When very much of this mending is done pressing is impossible unless a standing press is at hand.
A few books such as Granger's Index and some of the Poole's Index volumes should have the first few pages entirely reinforced with cloth. The best cloth for this purpose is crepeline, through which the text can be easily read. When applying it put a thin layer of paste on the leaf and then put on the cloth. The book should then be pressed, first protecting adjoining pages with paper.
Loose Leaves
Loose leaves may be inserted in several ways:
1. Lay a piece of white paper over the leaf, allowing one-eighth of an inch of back margin of the leaf to project. Paste this exposed surface and attach it to the adjoining leaf in the book, pressing down firmly. This can be done only when adjoining leaves are firm.
2. Sometimes the leaf when inserted will extend beyond the fore edge of the book. Trimming of either back margin or fore edge is inadvisable. It is possible to turn over about one-eighth of an inch of back margin, using some kind of straight edge for this purpose. Apply paste to turned over part and press the fold well down into the book. This will give more freedom to the leaf than if one-eighth of an inch has been cut off and another eighth of an inch pasted.
3. Fold strips of thin bond paper cut with the grain, three-fourths of an inch in width, through the center. Paste the outside. Attach the loose leaf to one side and attach the other side to the adjoining leaf in the book. It will be necessary to work quickly because the paper strips when wet will cause a wrinkling of the leaf. This method can be used only if adjoining leaf is firm, but can never be employed with overcasting.
4. If necessary to use as little paste as possible, apply paste to a piece of common soft string by drawing it over a board covered with paste. Then draw the string through the book at the back. The leaf may then be inserted.
Loose Signatures
Ordinarily when one signature becomes loose others speedily follow, and the book must be sent to the bindery unless it is withdrawn absolutely. Sometimes, however, one section will become loose when the rest of the book is firm and solid, sometimes also the use a book will receive does not warrant binding. In such cases, if the book has a loose back, open the section in the middle and place it in its proper place in the book. Thread a darning-needle with Hayes' No. 25 thread (or Barbour No. 40), pass the needle through the hole at top of the section (the kettlestitch hole) in such a way as to bring it out at the top of the book between the book and the loose back. Draw thread through, allowing a few inches to remain inside the section. Drop needle through the loose back, insert it from the back through the kettlestitch hole at tail of the book. The thread can then be tied to the thread projecting at the upper kettlestitch hole. This is a makeshift, but may answer if the book is not to receive hard usage. If the back of the signature is badly worn, mend it by guarding with jaconet on the outside, or by pasting a strip of bond paper down through the center of the fold.
Tight Backs
For tight backs cut a guard of firm, thin cloth, such as cambric or jaconet, about three-fourths of an inch wide and as long as the book. Sew the section to the middle of the guard, and paste the guard to the book, one-half to each of the adjoining leaves. Press this guard well back into the book. This can be done only when the adjoining pages are securely held.
It frequently happens that a book in the original publisher's cover becomes loose at the joint, because the super used as back-lining cannot stand the strain put upon it. Ordinarily, a book defective in this manner should be bound at once; but if it is deemed best to attempt mending it, a strip of jaconet should be cut 1-1/4 inches wide and the length of the book. Paste one-half of this to the cover and the other to the adjoining fly-leaf, thus transferring the strain from the super to the fly-leaf. This method can also be used to mend a break in the middle of a book, but should never be used if the book must eventually be rebound.
Another method of mending a loose joint is to remove the book entirely from the cover, sew on new end papers guarded with muslin, and cover the back of the book with canton flannel which extends three-fourths of an inch on each side. When dry, paste the entire back of book and sides and put the book back into the cover, pasting down the new end paper. This is, in effect, recasing. (See page 184.)
Sometimes books which are loose at the joints and have loose signatures may be mended by applying paste with a long-handled paste brush to the backs of the signatures. This must never be done if it is possible that the book will need to be rebound later.
Fly-Leaves
To add new fly-leaves, cut paper suitable for this purpose the same length as the old fly-leaves and one-half inch wider. Fold over this one-half inch, paste it on the outside and attach it to the old fly-leaf. If necessary, this may be used as a new end paper and pasted to the cover over the old end paper. If used as an end paper, the book should be pressed promptly to prevent it from warping.
Repair of Maps
All old or mutilated maps or charts must be flattened out by placing the maps between large millboards with heavy weights over them, before they can be inserted in books. Repairs may be made with onion skin paper or any other thin, tough paper, the same as is done with torn leaves in books. If the map is very old and valuable, it may be advisable to use paper which resembles in a way the texture and color of the map itself.
It is advisable to mount all maps on some kind of cloth. It is best to have this done by a regular binder, but it may be done in the library if there is sufficient room.
If the map is to go on rollers, a piece of cotton cloth is tacked to a large table, the top of the cloth pasted, and the map placed on top, back down, all wrinkles having been removed. Millboards or strawboards are then placed on the map and weights placed on top until it is dry. This may take some time, after which it may be tacked to the rollers.
If it is a folding map or chart, it may be necessary to cut the map into sections before mounting. When mounted there will be one-eighth of an inch space between sections, so that the map itself will not be defaced through constant folding. The mounting of such maps is a difficult task and should be done only by an expert.