Setting the head. Covering the headband neatly with the leather to form over it a kind of cap.
Sewer. The person who sews together on a sewing bench the sheets, called when folded sections or signatures, to form a book.
Sewing Bench
Sewing bench. A board from one side of which rise two sticks across which is a bar, which can be moved up and down and fixed in any desired position. Strings, bands, or tapes are stretched vertically between the edge of the board and the cross bar; against these the signatures of a book are successively placed and to them sewed.
Sheepskin. The commonest leather used for binding. When unsplit it is called Roan. When split in two, the upper half is called Skiver, the under or fleshy half a Flesher. This leather is easy to work, takes gold lettering easily, and looks fairly well on a book. But it is not strong, and most kinds dry out and break within three to five years, even if much handled. The leather made from the skin of the sheep is not all alike. The remark already made, that a given piece of leather is not to be condemned for its name, applies to all the other leathers in this list. The skin from some mountain-bred sheep, for example, if well tanned, makes a good leather.
“Sheepskin bindings of the early part of the century are many of them still in good condition. Sheepskin, in a fairly natural state, seems to keep its flexibility, but it is very easily damaged by friction. Since about 1860 sheepskin as sheepskin is hardly to be found. We have instead sheepskins grained in imitation of various other leathers, and these imitation grained leathers are, generally speaking, in a worse condition than any others, excepting, perhaps, some of the very thin calf bindings.”—Report ’01.
Shelf-back. The back of the book, showing the title, bands, decorations, etc.
Signature. The letter or figure under the foot-line of the first page of each sheet or signature to indicate the order of its arrangement in the book; often applied to the sheet itself.