When a volume consists of maps, plates, or single leaves, it should be "knocked up" on the laying-press, held between a pail' of pressing boards of the propel' size, until every leaf is up true at the head and back, the pressing boards being also level with the leaves. The lot is then lowered into the laying press, and screwed up moderately tight, back

upwards. The entire back is then lightly but well glued over with thin glue. When the glue is dry (but not hard), the back is sawed as usual. The volume is then divided into three 01' foul' portions, according to thickness; each of these is pierced on each side of the kerf (kettle-stitch only one side), as at Fig. 48. This may either be done by a fine bradawl, wriggled first a little one way, then a little on the other, 01' by the ordinary bookbinder's bodkin (Fig. 49), which will require to be assisted by a smart tap or two of the backing hammer.

They may then be pulled into sections of eight or ten leaves, according to size of .thread, and sewed as the section at Fig. 47 is, each following section in the same manner, and each section being well pasted.

Music may be "overcast" in the way just described.
There is another way of overcastting more used in London.

Suppose it is a volume of music: Cut away as much of the book with the plough as will make a good surface; then screw it up and glue it. Saw, and divide into such thicknesses as you think suitable, say ten leaves. When divided, take a small needle, threaded with fine thread, make a knot at one end, pass it through the first section, close to a kettle-stitch kerf, and draw it through till the knot rests against the paper; then whip the section over and over, as at Fig. 50; finish off safely

at the end. Now take the next ten leaves or so, and whip them over in the same way. These leaves are thus formed into sections by the stitching, and can now be sewed along the middle of the section exactly as if it were a folded sheet, and will not need pasting, although some binders never omit to run a bit of paste along.

When the skein of whitey brown thread (which is the kind used in bookbinding) is undone, each of the little knots is cut with the scissors, which leaves the thread in needlefuls. The usual knot ,for connecting these, as the work goes on, is the well-known Weaver's Knot (Fig. 51), one manner of doing which

is to turn the end of the first needleful over the first two fingers and thumb of the left hand, so as to form a loop, as at Fig. 51. Thus, loop B is then passed over the end of A of the used-up thread projecting from the last section, and the knot pulled tight, taking care that the end B is meanwhile kept taut or extended. This is a good and safe knot.

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