Paste should be used in a fresh condition, otherwise it is liable to undergo an acid fermentation, and to favor the growth of injurious moulds and bacteria.
In all contracts and specifications for bookbinding, the use of East India-tanned goat and sheep, whether retanned or not, should be absolutely forbidden.
It appears to be the general opinion that leather, and especially Russia leather, lasts better on books that are in constant use. This is attributed to the slight amount of grease absorbed by the leather from the hand, and it is suggested that possibly a suitable dressing may be discovered which would have a similar effect to that produced by this grease.
While the leather now used for binding books is less durable than that employed 50 years and more ago, there ought to be no difficulty in providing leather at the present time as good as any previously made.
It is possible to test any leather in such a way as to guarantee its suitability for bookbinding.
A reissue of the report summarized above was published, in cloth, in 1905. It is entered in the list of books at the end of this volume. In this reissue the arrangement of the original report is somewhat modified; a paper on leather dyes and dyeing has been added; the report of the scientific sub-committee has been practically rewritten; many illustrations have been added, some of them colored; 12 samples of leather prepared in accordance with the committee’s conclusions are inserted; and the volume is handsomely printed, and bound in cloth. The reissue, however, does not make necessary any change in the above summary.
[CHAPTER XIV]
Paper and Paper Making
Much of the paper used in books today is made of wood. Wood is converted into paper-making material in three ways. In one, it is cut into convenient lengths, stripped of its bark and finely ground on grindstones, and bleached. The product is called ground wood pulp. The paper made from this pulp is hastily and cheaply put together, has little strength, and soon turns yellow and grows brittle. There is often added to ground wood before making it into paper, more or less sulphite or soda pulp, usually the latter, the product of another process of turning wood into paper-making material.