REINFORCED BOOKS
For those who wish strong bindings, but who wish them attractive also, reinforced bindings can be recommended. Reinforced books are those which have been strengthened either by the publishers in the regular course of manufacture, or by some binder who takes the book as it comes from the publisher, removes the cover, strengthens the book and puts it back into the same cover. A reinforced book generally appears in the attractive publisher's cover, and it always appears in some form of cloth, never in leather.
Owing to the small number of times which books in the original publishers' binding were issued, the committee on binding of the American Library Association made an effort in 1906 to induce the publishers to issue a special edition for library use. As it was recognized that the publishers would not take kindly to elaborate specifications for stronger bindings, the improvements asked for were made as few in number as possible. They were the following:
1. Sewed on three tapes (very small books sewed on two tapes).
2. First and last signatures reinforced with muslin.
3. Cloth strip in joints pasted on fly leaf and sewed through.
4. Thin strong muslin over backs.
An attempt to demand hand-sewed books was abandoned when it was discovered that this stipulation added greatly to the cost of the binding without noticeably increasing its strength. The main strength of a book bound according to these specifications lay in the guarding of the first and last signatures.
The honor of issuing the first reinforced book for library use belongs to Charles Scribner's Sons Co., who in the summer of 1906 bound 1500 copies of F. Hopkinson Smith's "Tides of Barnegat." Their specifications, based on those submitted by the A. L. A. committee on binding, required that:
1. Signatures contain not more than sixteen pages;
2. First and last signatures be guarded with muslin before sewing;
3. First and last signatures be oversewed (actually they were run through a sewing machine);
4. Lining papers be guarded with strong drill and sewed through;
5. The book be sewed on two tapes;
6. Highest grade super be used for back-lining;
7. Books be glued to the back of the cover; making a tight back book;
8. Buckram be used for the covers instead of the regular publisher's cover.
The extra cost of the book was ten cents, and it was an excellent piece of work. In actual wear the books far exceeded the hopes of those who favored the plan, for they all went through the period of greatest popularity without being withdrawn from circulation. When they came to the point where they could no longer be circulated, most of them were discarded instead of being sent to the bindery.
The initial success of the plan induced other publishers to try the experiment. In 1908 one hundred and twenty different books could be obtained in reinforced bindings from seventeen publishers. Among these publishers were the firms of Century Company, Harper, Houghton, Little Brown & Company, McClurg, Putnam, Scribner's, Stokes, and Warne. Some of these books were well-bound, the publishers evidently making a conscientious effort to meet the demands of the committee; others were makeshifts not worth one-half the extra cost.
The success of "Tides of Barnegat" encouraged Charles Scribner's Sons to give the experiment further trial, and from time to time during a period of several months this firm issued books bound in this way. In no case, however, was the initial success repeated. After the experiments had been tried by the different publishers for several months the obstacles to the plan, several of which had been foreseen, grew greater rather than less, and in the end the publishers gave up the plan of providing special editions of new fiction and juvenile books for library use.
The main obstacle to the successful culmination of the plan lay in the inability of librarians to order books before publication, and in the inability of publishers to make special editions after the book had been published. The success of "Tides of Barnegat" was due largely to the fact that the author and book were well known in advance of publication. Librarians knew at once that they wanted the book and the orders were filed promptly. In the case of nearly every other book which Scribner published in this way librarians could not decide until they had actually seen the book, or at least had seen reviews of it. Quite naturally they sent in few orders for the books. On the other hand Scribner did not care to bind a large number of books in special binding unless they had some assurance that the books would be sold; and they could not at any time afford to manufacture a very small number. It seemed impossible to bridge this gap which existed between the publisher and the librarian.
Other reasons which worked against the success of the plan were:
(a) The apathy of the library world in general. In spite of efforts made both by publishers and by those librarians specially interested; in spite of the proved success and economy of the best reinforced bindings, librarians in general paid little attention to them.
(b) The opposition of booksellers. This opposition was not violent at any time; but a special edition for one class of buyers inevitably entailed more labor upon jobbers and booksellers with no financial return, since there was no discount on the 10c. extra cost. It followed that orders from librarians for the special library editions were filled by some jobbers with regular editions; and the time required to exchange the copy of a regular edition for one of a special edition was generally sufficient to prevent the librarian from returning the books. Had it been possible to have one central bureau to bunch orders and to distribute them, greater success might have resulted.
While the effort to induce publishers to issue special library editions and to keep them in stock was a failure, there were nevertheless good results from the venture. While most of the commercial bindings are no better to-day than they were ten years ago, yet the publishers know that something better is needed for library use. Small books which are used by children and receive hard usage are as a rule much stronger bound than formerly, and will last as long as they are needed. As one direct result of the agitation, the well-known Everyman's set can now be obtained in a library binding. Certain large reference books, such as Webster's and the Century dictionaries, U. S. Catalog, etc., have been put into the strongest possible binding. In these cases the publishers have tried to meet the demands of librarians.
When the publishers ceased to make special editions for libraries several library binders undertook to supply books in this form. Their method was to buy the books from the publishers, remove the covers, resew the books in the most approved library style and replace the books in the publisher's covers. When this cover wears out the sewing is so good that it is only necessary to recover either with a regular leather-back binder's cover, or with a home-made cloth cover. By this method the librarian is assured of a book in the same cover as the regular edition, the necessity of sending orders in advance of publication is obviated, and the publishers, jobbers and booksellers do not have to keep a stock of a special edition. In practice the plan works well.
Librarians for years have been annoyed because certain books, such as the Brownie books, have given such poor service no matter how they were bound. In the original boards they went to pieces very quickly and the paper was of such a character that they were hard to rebind. The strong leather bindings bound from the sheets were too strong because the paper wore out long before the binding. In 1912 books of this character, through the initiative of Mr. H. R. Huntting in Springfield, Massachusetts, were sewed by the Samson-back method, a strong machine sewing; they were then covered with cloth and the paper covers, so attractive to children, pasted on the outside. The cost of the books was much less than that of the leather-back binding and they were much more attractive. The Samson-back method of reinforcement therefore practically solved the problem of binding large thin books with wide margins at the back, precisely the books that had given librarians the most trouble.