From report of the Committee on Leather for Bookbinding. Edited for Society of Arts. London: Bell & Sons, 1905.
After the book is properly sewn, the strings on which it is gathered are cut off a short distance from the sides. Pieces of cardboard are cut of the proper size for a cover. The ends of the strings are laced into them or fastened down upon them with paste or glue. The leather for the cover is then pasted or glued to the back and the outside of the boards. The ends are turned over the boards and at the top and bottom of the book are turned down and pasted to themselves, thus forming a roll or crown which lies up close to the headband. The sides are then covered, if the book is not to be bound in full leather, with cloth or paper or other material. The outside sheets of the books, called end-sheets, are then pasted to the inside of the cover and the book is practically complete.
The back of the book is always covered with glue after the sewing and before the leather or cloth is put on. This glue is thin and hot, and is put on to hold together the backs of the signatures. In rounding, the binder manipulates the book with the hands, and taps it with a hammer until the proper shape is secured. This is done after the coat of glue has been applied. In edition work this is done on a machine. In backing the book is held between two metal, or metal-edged, plates close up to the back, the back having been stiffened previously with a coat of glue which has not set very firmly; and with a hammer the backs of the signatures are pounded down and out, making a slight ledge or groove along the outer edges against which set later the boards of the covers.
If the book is to be tight back the cloth or leather is glued direct to the backs of the signatures thus rounded, though often a thin piece of cloth, super, is first glued on, extending over onto the sides. If it is to be loose back a double fold of paper is attached to the back, one sheet to the back and one to the cover material. The leather or cloth then stands out from the book, when it is open, being attached to it only at the joints. It is in loose back binding, as said above, that cloth or leather is sometimes glued fast and with great care to the back before the cover goes on, thus taking the place of the leather of the cover in the tight back book. In the best binding this backing extends over through or past the joint and onto the sides or covers; and is also firmly attached, at the joint, to the leather of the back. In the Newark library we use for this a thin soft muslin of the best quality.
Showing Method of Attaching Tape Slips or Ends of Bands to a Split Board Leaving a “French Joint”
From report of the Committee on Leather for Bookbinding. Edited for Society of Arts. London: Bell & Sons, 1905.
This description of the process of binding is a suggestive outline only. Enough has been said, however, to show that the books sewn by hand and fastened carefully to the cover as described will, if properly made, wear much longer than a book bound by machinery, if bound as above described. But, just as a machine properly handled can produce paper of greater uniformity of thickness and of a quality superior in many respects to the best hand-made paper, so the machines used in binding can, if properly handled, bind books even more strongly than can any save the most careful workman. The possible differences between machine-made books can easily be noted in the cheap novels of the day, which are poorly bound, and well-made law books and encyclopædias. These latter are often faithfully put together and will stand almost as much wear as any books ever produced.