FIG. 17.
FIG 18.
XIX.—HOW TO BIND MAGAZINES.
IT is often the case that in households where even several magazines are taken, that little money can be afforded for the purpose of binding them; and it follows that they are soon destroyed, or else stored away and never looked at. The pretty covers provided for most magazines by the publishers are of course preferable; but they also, of course, cost something. Therefore I have concluded to tell you of a durable, cheaper, and on the whole, pretty way of binding your yearly, or half-yearly volumes.
For several years we have made it a business to bind up our magazines every spring before cleaning house time; and we proudly exhibit to our friends our collections of neat, strong books which would look well in any library. We usually turn a corner of the living-room into a bindery, as we have no workshop.
We bring in the work-bench with vise attached, pile our magazines on it, sort them into volumes, remove the covers and advertising leaves, put the engravings in their proper places if they are not there, place each volume according to date or page, lay the title page and table of contents at the top of each pile, and there are our magazines ready to bind. We have meantime a little pot of good glue in readiness on the stove, which, after it is dissolved thoroughly, is better to be kept only warm. A little good twine, a few strips of strong cloth, about an inch wide, a handsaw, a pair of shears, and some of the old covers and leaves are also at hand on the bench. Also we have two bars of wood an inch thick, two or three inches wide, and about two feet long, fastened together at one or both ends (one end only is necessary if a vise is used) by a bolt five or six inches long—this is the press.