Bookbinding and The Care of Books
Douglas Cockerell with Drawings by Noel Rooke and other
Illustrations New York 1902
FLATTENING VELLUM
Bookbinding Chapter III Part 4
causes may be flattened by damping them, puling them out straight, and
allowing them to dry under pressure. To do this take the book to pieces,
clean out any dirt there may be in the folds of the leaves, and spread out each
pair of leaves as flatly as possible.
Damp some white blotting-paper by interleaving it with common white paper
that has been wetted with a sponge. One sheet of wet paper to two of
blotting paper will be enough. The pile of blotting-paper and wet paper is
put in the press and left for an hour or tow under pressure, then taken out
and the common paper removed.
The blotting-paper should now be slightly and evenly damp. To flatten the
vellum the open pairs of leaves are interleaved with the slightly damp blotting
paper, and are left for an hour under the weight of a pressing-board. After
this time the vellum will have become quite soft, and can with care be
flattened out and lightly pressed between the blotting-paper, and left for a
night. The next day the vellum leaves should be looked at to see that they lie
quite flat, and the blotting-paper changed for some that is dry. The vellum
must remain under pressure until it is quite dry, or it will cockle up worse
than ever when exposed to the air. The blotting-paper should be changed
every day or two. The length of time that vellum leaves take to dry will vary
with the state of the atmosphere, and the thickness of the vellum, form one to
six weeks.
Almost any manuscript or printed book on vellum can be successfully
flattened in this way; miniatures should have pieces of waxed paper laid over
them to prevent the chance of any of the fibres of the blotting-paper sticking.
The pressure must not be great; only enough is needed to keep the vellum flat
as it dries.
This process of flattening, although so simple, requires the utmost care. If
the blotting-paper is used too damp, a manuscript may be ruined; and if not
damp enough, the pressing will have no effect.
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