The Art of Bookbinding: A practical treatise, with plates and diagrams

by Joseph William Zaehnsdorf

Royal folio.

T. Way, Photo Lith.

If interlacing bands are to be of various colours, the bands must be cut out. Pare the leather thin, and after working the pattern through the paper on to the sides of the book, lay it on the thinly pared leather; with a very sharp and pointed knife cut through the paper and leather together on a soft board. Or the design may be worked or drawn on a thin board, and the various bands cut out |135| of the board as patterns. Lay these on the thin leather and cut round them. Keep these board templates for any future use of the same patterns. The various pieces are to be well pasted, carefully adjusted in their places, and well rubbed down. The leather is then to be prepared and worked off in gold.

Another method is to work the pattern in blind on the sides. Pare the morocco thin, and while damp place it upon the portion of the pattern to be inlaid, and press it well with the fingers, so that the design is impressed into it. Lay the leather carefully on some soft board, and cut round the lines made visible by the pressure with a very sharp knife. When cut out, paste and lay them on the book and prepare as before, and finish in gold. I do not recommend this last method as being of much value; I give it only because it is sometimes chosen; but for any good work, where accuracy is required, either of the plans mentioned previously are to be preferred.

The Viennese work their calf in quite a different manner, in fact, in the same way that the cabinet-makers inlay their woodwork. With a very sharp and thin knife they cut right through two leathers laid the one on the other. The bottom one is then lifted out and replaced by the top one. By this method the one fits exactly into the other, so that, if properly done, the junctions are so neatly made that no finishing is required to cover the line where the two colours meet.

The frontispiece to this treatise is a copy of a book bound by my father for one of the Exhibitions. The ground is of red morocco, inlaid with green, brown, and black morocco. The pattern may be called “Renaissance.” The inside of the boards are “Grolier,” inlaid as elaborately as the outside. Seven months’ labour was expended on the outside decoration of this volume.

Porous.—Calf, as before described, requires more and |136| different preparation than morocco, on account of its soft and absorbing nature. As a foundation or groundwork, paste of different degrees of strength is used, according to the various work required.

Calf books have generally a morocco lettering piece of a different colour to the calf on the back for the title. This is, however, optional, and may or may not be used, according to taste. Leather lettering pieces have a great tendency to peel off, especially if the book be exposed to a hot atmosphere, or if the paste has been badly made, so that it is perhaps better if the calf itself be lettered. There is no doubt that a better effect is produced in a bookcase when a good assortment of coloured lettering pieces are placed on the variously coloured backs, and the titles can be more easily read than if they were upon light or sprinkled calf; but where wear and tear have to be studied, as in public libraries, a volume should not have any lettering pieces. All such books should be lettered on their natural ground.

For lettering pieces, take morocco[10] of any colour, according to fancy, and having wetted it to facilitate the work, pare it down as thin and as evenly as possible. Cut it to size of the panel or space it is intended to fit. When cut truly, pare the edges all round, paste it well, put it on the place and rub well down. Should the book require two pieces—or one for the title, and one for the volume or contents—it is better to vary the colours. I must caution the workman not to allow the leather to come over on to the joint, as by the frequent opening or moving of the boards the edge of the leather will become loose. A very good plan as a substitute for lettering pieces is to colour the calf either dark brown or black, thus saving the leather at the expense of a little more time. When the lettering |137| pieces are dry, mark the back, head and tail, for the pallets or other tools with a folding-stick. Apply with a brush paste all over the back. With a thick folding-stick, or with the handle of an old tooth brush, which is better, rub the paste into the back. Before it has time to dry, take the overplus off with rather a hard sponge, dipped in thin paste-water. The learner will perhaps wonder why paste of full strength should be used for the back, and only paste-water for the sides. The reason is, that through the stretching of the leather over the back in covering, the pores are more open, and consequently require more filling up to make a firm ground. Much depends upon the groundwork being properly applied; and a general caution with regard to the working in general may not be here amiss. Finishing, above all other departments, demands perfect cleanliness. A book may have the most graceful designs, the tools be worked perfectly and clearly, but be spoiled by having a dirty appearance. See that everything is clean—paste-water, size, glaire, sponges, and brushes. Do not lay any gold on until the preparation be perfectly dry, or the gold will adhere and cause a dirty yellow stain where wiped off.

[10] Other leathers are often used instead of morocco, even paper; in fact a specially prepared paper is largely sold in Germany for this purpose.