3. Beating out the joint. In books which have been rounded and backed, the first and last few sections especially have a decided bend near the backs caused by the hammering. This is removed by laying the sections down on a solid block and hammering them along the joints.
4. Mending, cleaning and guarding. Guards are strips of tough paper about one-fourth of an inch wide which are used to paste together the leaves of a folio that have been torn apart, and to fasten plates into the book. In case of the torn folio, the leaves are laid side by side in the proper position and a guard, covered with paste, is placed over the joint where the leaves come together. The leaves are then folded together creasing the guard in the middle. This general rule as to the placing of the guards is given in the form of a bull:—“If it is to be guarded on the outside, put the guard on the inside; but if it is to be guarded on the inside, put the guard on the outside.” That is, if it is the outside folio of the section to be guarded, put the guard on the inside of the folio, so that the ragged edges of the tear may be gathered up by the glue on the back and that it may not interfere with the sewing. But if it is an inside folio to be guarded, put the guard or the outside of the folio. When guarding in a plate, a folio is opened out, the plate placed on the proper leaf, and the guard put on as in the case of a torn folio.
5. Cutting new end papers.
After all the foregoing steps, the book is ready to be pressed, placing the sections upon each other and inserting tins and boards as described in Case Binding.
When it comes to re-sewing the book and putting on new covers, the practice is to use any method or any combination of methods that seems to be demanded by the conditions and size of the book, and the character of usage which it will probably meet. It is not unusual in commercial binderies to sew books especially large, heavy books, on tapes or on sunken cords without regard to the style of cover. This is done especially where the book has large, thick sections that are difficult to hold in place. Thus it is seen how far, under some conditions, we depart from the standard types.
It sometimes happens that the folios are so badly torn at the folds that to guard them would make the back unusually thick. In such cases, the overcasting method is used. The back of the book is cut if it is in very bad condition, and then instead of sewing through punctures over cords or tapes, several of the leaves are taken and placed in the same position as a section, and sewed through, whipping over and over, and going around tapes or cords in the usual manner. It frequently happens however, that a book is in good condition with the exception of the cover, in which case, simply a new cover is put on. This necessitates re-gluing of the back and putting on new super and end papers. Then the question arises how to fasten in the end papers so that they may be strong. One method, especially in the case of heavy books, is to put in a cloth joint. This is a folded strip of cloth about one inch wide, at each end of the book, with one side of the fold pasted to the outside leaf. Then when the cover is put on, the other side of the cloth fold is pasted to the board, Fig. 34. A folio of cover paper is then tipped against the cloth and the outside leaf pasted to the board; or in many cases, a separate sheet is used for the pastedown, leaving both leaves of the end folio free.
Fig. 34.
Fig. 35.
a, Cloth joints b, End sheets