TOOLING. Gilt line borders on sides near edges, with corner ornaments; use geometrical design ornaments if you have them, rather than flowers. Panels on back.
SEWING. Sew flexible on flat bands with leather back glued direct to the lining of signatures. Please do not saw into backs of signatures for bands or cords.[28]
END PAPERS. Plain light brown or white.[29]
SPECIAL. Be sure and place clean sheets of paper over the etched illustrations whenever the book is in press. The original wrappers now on are considerably torn and are very brittle. Please mount these as well as you can, on thin, strong paper, and bind them in at the back.
The price for this work may be agreed on beforehand, but it is better left to the binder, in order that he will not feel cramped, should the necessity of a little unforeseen work develop. Whatever their other failings may be, binders are generally honest in such matters and are not likely to overcharge, especially on average work.
This may be a good place to remark, perhaps needlessly, that valuable books, particularly first editions, should always be retained in their original covers, whether cloth, boards or leather, whenever this is at all practicable. Ancient books in their original calf or sheep, but with broken backs or hinges, and requiring attention for their proper preservation, should be rebacked rather than rebound.
The reasons for this are numerous. Principally, the fact that a book is still in its original binding is a fair guarantee that it has not been trimmed since it originally left the binder’s hands. It often happens, also, that books containing rare plates have the plates foxed or otherwise damaged, and it is sometimes possible, in rebinding such books, to substitute for the injured plates other perfect ones, in exact facsimile, from some later edition of the same book. Suspicion of this, or of other tampering, can generally be avoided when such books appear still in the original binding.
There is, moreover, a sentimental attraction in early issues of books in their original state, since, in most cases, they thus appear as they formerly did to their author, perhaps even in some special color or design of binding which he himself selected. Original bindings having a stamped design possess a more or less individual decoration, perhaps from the hand of some well-known artist. Aubrey Beardsley, for instance, prepared a number of such book decorations; many of the volumes issued in 1894-95 by John Lane of London, have cover designs by this artist and these, especially when accompanied by a Frontispiece of Title design by the same hand, are often equal in interest to the text of the book itself. Of special interest from the standpoint of originality are the Japanese-like fabrics used in binding some of the first editions of books by Lafcadio Hearn. Whether specially decorated or not, however, the original binding is part of the individuality of a book and cannot be removed without destroying a certain part of its interest.
In the case of valuable books which are, for one reason or another, seldom referred to, or unique or presentation copies, it is a good practice to make slight essential repairs without disturbing the binding and to order, from an experienced binder, a book-shaped slip-case in which the volume may be preserved in its original covers without being subject to further wear or to injury from dust.
A fairly valuable book which must be rebound, should never be bound in calf or sheep, as these leathers, even when of the best quality, are very perishable. Sheep bindings, sometimes three hundred years old, may still be occasionally met with in remarkably solid condition. But the secret of such leather tanning seems to have been lost, and the modern sheep or calf binding cannot be counted on, even under the most favorable conditions, for more than one-tenth that length of time. In certain climates, parchment or vellum makes a durable binding which, with age, acquires a beautiful, ivory-like surface tone; but these skins will warp the boards unless the book is kept closely set in on the shelf. Turkey morocco is durable when well tanned, as it usually is. The best leather, for appearance and endurance, and also the most expensive, is red levant morocco. For efficiency and richness, although this is a matter on which tastes vary, it is best left “uncrushed” or, at least, only lightly pressed.