Moreover, some dyes seem to hasten decay, some to retard it. Red seems least hurtful, black the most so; though this difference is probably due more to chemicals used in the preparation of the skin for the dye than to the dye itself. Brown generally stands well; most other colors, except red as stated, do not.
With all these, and other, factors to be taken into consideration it is evident that full knowledge of leather is not given to anyone. In a general way it may be said that good leather cannot be told by name, or looks, or feel; but only by trial. Dealers, even, cannot tell the good from the best.
The sum of all advice is, having found, by your own or others’ tests, that a certain leather is good, use it as long as you can get it. The British museum sets a good example in this. It has in recent years bound many thousands of volumes in morocco made by Meredith-Jones & Sons, Wrexham, Wales, which experience thus far shows to be very good. We have tried it and in the brief trial we have given it, found it excellent.
Dr. J. Gordon Parker, Herold’s Institute, Drummond Road, Bermondsey, England, has made an arrangement with the council of the Library Association of England by which he has become their official examiner of leather and he will test samples for acids, nature of tannage, etc., at reasonable rates.
John Muir & Son, tanners and curriers, Beith, Scotland, offices: 3 Arundel St., Strand, London, W. C., England, prepare pigskin for bookbinding; so do Edw. & Jas. Richardson, Elswick Leather Works, Newcastle-on-Tyne, England.
J. Meredith-Jones & Sons, Ltd., Cambrian Leather Works, Wrexham, Wales, make bookbinders’ leathers guaranteed to be dressed on the lines recommended by the Society of Arts Report, and free from mineral acids. Specialty: Welsh sheep.
Much has been written on the wearing and lasting qualities of leather. The best discussion of the subject is the Report of the committee on leather for bookbinding, made to the Society of Arts, England, and published in its Journal, July 5, 1901. I allude to this report frequently, and for convenience speak of it as “Report ’01.” The committee who made this report found that the leather made today does not last as long as that made 75 years ago. They found that the heat and fumes of gas help to hasten the decay of the leather on books. These factors are more effective in American superheated libraries than in English ones. If books bound in leather are much handled they last longer than if they stand undisturbed on the shelves, because the oil from the hand helps to keep leather soft, pliable, and alive. The committee concluded that no leather, with the sole exception of Niger goat, made by the natives on the river Niger in Africa, and imported just as it leaves their hands, can be fully recommended as free from elements which lead to its early decay. Since this report was published imitations of this leather have been put on the market, and it can no longer be relied upon. We have found it beautiful in color and texture, easy to work and wearing admirably on large and much-used books. But it does not keep clean as well as a good morocco of coarse grain. It is very expensive, and first-class morocco is probably better where strong, enduring leather is advisable which is only on books which are to be much used.
The most important points made in the report of the Society of Arts committee on leather for bookbinding, referred to above, are the following:
Books bound during the last 80 or 100 years show far greater evidence of deterioration than those of an earlier date. Many recent bindings show evidence of decay after so short a period as ten or even five, years. Modern leather is certainly far less durable than old leather.
The most prevalent decay is a red decay, and this may be differentiated into old and new, the old red decay being noticeable up to about 1830, and the new decay since that date.