Harper's indoor book for boys

by Joseph H. Adams

Nothing has been said about cutting the edges of the book, as that is usually done on a machine; but if you are able to trim them clean with a sharp knife, so much the better. To do this, place the book into the press before putting on the cover, bringing up each edge of the three exposed ones successively, and while held there firmly, cut them carefully with a sharp knife or shoemaker’s cutting-tool. Any little inequalities may afterwards be taken down with sand-paper. The edges when cut may be spattered with any color desired by using a common tooth-brush and water-colors.

Fig. 6. Fig. 10.

To put on the title in gilt letters, the binder applies a little of the white of an egg over the space where the letters are to be. When this is dry, rub the leather with a rag slightly greased, and then lay on the gold-leaf. Next take common type used by printers, heat them a little, and stamp on the letters. The heat makes the gold-leaf stick where it is wanted, and the rest is rubbed off with a rag. All the gilt ornamentation on book covers may be put on in a similar manner.

To get a clear understanding of these directions the boy craftsman should examine different kinds of books very closely; and if he has an old and valueless one he can take it to pieces and put it together again. Perhaps he can improve its condition. At least he will learn some of the minor details. He must remember that in bookbinding, as in all other arts, patience and repeated trials are requisite for acquiring the skill that produces neat and handsome work.

Rebinding Books

It is not always possible for a boy to purchase cloth-bound volumes of his favorite authors, as they cost quite a little money. But he may often procure them in paper covers, and if he is careful to select stitched books, rather than those simply caught together with wire or “wire sewed,” as they are termed, it will be possible for him to rebind them in cloth at a slight expense.

To begin with, strip off the paper cover, taking care not to tear the printed title on the cover, nor that at the back of the book, if it is possible to save it. Both of these will be useful in the rebound volume. With a penknife and sand-paper remove as much as possible of the paper cover that has been glued to the back of the book, taking care not to cut away any of the stitching; otherwise the book would fall apart. The book in this condition, ready for its “case” or cover, is shown in Fig. 6. If the signatures have been caught together with wire, remove the latter with a pair of pliers; then sew the pages as already described. Get two pieces of white paper the same thickness and quality of which the book is made, and fold them over once, as shown in Fig. 7. With paste or liquid glue attach one at each side of the book by running the paste along one side of the folded edge of paper for a quarter of an inch, as shown by the shaded line in Fig. 7. This is called “tipping,” and where a page or two have become detached or not properly bound in, this method is employed to reset it.

When these pages are in place, trim them so as to correspond to the size of the book; then glue the back of the book well and attach a piece of crash to the back as shown in Fig. 8. The crash should be a trifle shorter than the height of the book, or about half an inch at each end, and there should be at least an inch of the material on either side of the book, as shown in the illustration. This material is known as “crash” in the bookbinding trade, but it is nothing more than a coarse-thread cloth with open mesh, and it is sold in dry-goods stores under the name of crinoline.