“2. The use of hollow backs throws all the strain of opening and shutting on the joints, and renders the back liable to come right off if the book is much used.
“3. The leather of the back is apt to become torn through the use of insufficiently strong headbands, which are unable to stand the strain of the book being taken from the shelf.
“4. It is a common practice to use far too thin leather; especially to use large thick skins very much pared down for small books.
“5. The leather is often made very wet and stretched a great deal in covering, with the result that on drying it is further strained, almost to breaking point, by contraction, leaving a very small margin of strength to meet the accidents of use.”
The history of the general introduction of hollow backs is probably somewhat as follows: Leather was doubtless first chosen for covering the backs of books because of its toughness and flexibility; because, while protecting the back, it would bend when the book was opened and allow the back to “throw up” (see [fig. 1], A). When gold tooling became common, and the backs of books were elaborately decorated, it was found that the creasing of the leather injured the brightness or the gold and caused it to crack. To avoid this the binders lined up the back until it was as stiff as a block of wood. The back would then not “throw up” as the book was opened, the leather would not be creased, and the gold would remain uninjured (see [fig. 1], B). This was all very well for the gold, but a book so treated does not open fully, and indeed, if the paper is stiff, can hardly be got to open at all. To overcome both difficulties the hollow back was introduced, and as projecting bands would have been in the way, the sewing cord was sunk in saw cuts made across the back of the book.
Fig. 1.
The use of hollow backs was a very ingenious way out of the difficulty, as with them the backs could be made to “throw up,” and at the same time the leather was not disturbed (see [fig. 1], C). The method of “sawing in” bands was known for a long time before the general use of hollow backs. It has been used to avoid the raised bands on books covered with embroidered material.
If a book is sewn on tapes, and the back lined with leather, there is no serious objection to a carefully-made hollow back without bands. The vellum binders use hollow backs made in this way for great account books that stand an immense amount of wear. They make the “hollow” very stiff, so that it acts as a spring to throw the back up.