CHAPTER IV.
What with bad paper and bad leather, the librarian of the present is confronted with two serious problems. In spite of the Society of Arts’ adverse criticism in 1898, much paper is still made of mechanical wood pulp, and more badly overloaded with clay, in both cases causing much anxiety and expenditure to the librarian who attempts to cope successfully with the defect. The soft, spongy leaves, like blotting-paper, that are chiefly composed of wood pulp, can best be dealt with in the very expensive way of inlaying each page in a surround of sound, true paper. But there is another expedient, which I have not tried, which may to some extent be useful; it is to enclose each leaf within a network of fine open silk net, made on purpose. In either case re-sewing and re-binding is necessary.
With regard to the clay-laden paper on which many books are printed, the case is equally serious and equally costly. Fine monotone illustrations produced by the half-tone method, and colour illustrations produced by the three-colour process, are now always made on this sort of paper, which has a beautifully fine and even surface. The paper, however, will not allow any stitching to keep it in place, so it rapidly falls out. Then it has either to be inlaid in a sound paper surround or else entirely mounted on a sound piece of paper or jaconet; and if there are many plates this involves re-binding and an ugly thickening of the book. There is, however, a new method, which may prove of real value: the actual print is made on a very thin paper, which is at once laid down on a sound sheet.
All these operations are expensive as at present provided for in most libraries. They require great care and skill, and take a long time; and it may safely be said that any trustworthy binder entrusted with such work, which is quite out of the ordinary schedule, is fully justified in charging highly for it. The necessary materials are, however, quite simple, so that if there should be a skilled binder on the staff, all such work can practically be done and counted at the cost of time-work only—an immense saving.
There are numerous other small accidents which befall books in all public libraries about which the same things may be said—accidental ink-spots, leaves crushed from a fall, torn places, cut places, damp or wet marks found out in time; all these are expensive to send out and cheap to do on the premises. Besides this, in many cases such as ink-stains or wet an immediate treatment is often quite successful, whereas a delayed treatment can rarely be so.
All this comes under the category of small repairs; but there are other matters which rank a little higher in the bookbinding world which can also be easily and effectively done by a resident binder with few appliances. In all libraries there are a number of pamphlets and thin books which come under the usual binder’s schedule at a fair price, but which, if dealt with by the “stabbed” method on the premises, will be equally strong at about one-third the cost. An ordinary octavo periodical, measuring 10 by 7 inches, and 1-1/4 inches thick, can, with the help of a cheap stabbing machine, be strongly and effectively bound for about 10d., with boards, cloth back, paper sides, and lettered in hand type on a paper label. I showed a specimen to the Library Association on Dec. 18, 1902, when I read a paper on the subject, and it was much approved. I do not advise the stabbing for a book of value, but it does admirably for unimportant books, and is quick and easy to do.
It might be worth pointing out that in binding in this way a collection of pamphlets of the same size, the collection can easily be taken to pieces for insertion of a new piece, if required, without further injury to the pamphlets already stabbed.