Bookbinding and The Care of Books
Librarians by Douglas Cockerell with Drawings
by Noel Rooke and other Illustrations
New York
1902
Book binding Chapter XIII
Part 5
should be cut out and lined with paper. In lining
vellum the paste must be free from lumps, and
great care must be taken not to leave brush marks.
To avoid this, when the lining paper has been
pasted it can be laid, paste downwards, on a piece
of waste paper and quickly pulled up again; this
should remove surplus paste and get rid of any
marks left by the brush. When the vellum has been
lined with paper, it should be given a light nip in
the press between blotting-paper, and while still
damp it is pasted, the book covered, and the
joint.
Waterproof sheets are placed inside the covers and the book then nipped in the press and left to
dry under a light weight. If the vellum is very stiff and difficult to turn in, it may be moistened
with a little warm water to soften it. Books with raised bands have sometimes been covered
with vellum, but the back becomes so stiff and hard, that this method, though it looks well
enough, cannot be recommended. Vellum is a durable material, and can be had of good quality,
but it is so easily influenced by changes of temperature, that it is rather an unsuitable material
for most bindings.
BOOKS COVERED WITH EMBROIDERY AND WOVEN MATERIAL
Covered material bind it with split boards, a French joint, and a hollow back, as described for
vellum (see fig. 78). Glue the material back of the book with thin glue well worked up, and
turning in the head and tail of the embroidery, put the book down on it so that the back will
come exactly in the right place. Press down the embroidery with the hand to make sure that it
sticks. When it is firmly attached to the back, first one board and then the other should be
glued, and the embroidery laid down on it. Lastly, the edges are glued and stuck down on the
inside of the board, and the corners mitered. Velvet or any other thick material can be put down
in the same way. For very thin material that the glue would penetrate and soil, Books the cover
should be left loose, and only covered attached where it turns in. A loose lining of good paper
may e put between the and woven book and the cover material.
The inside corners where the cover has been cut should be neatly sewn up. The edges of the
boards and head-caps may be protected all round with some edging worked in metal thread. I t
is well in embroidering book covers to arrange for some portion of the pattern to be of raised
metal stitches, forming bosses that will protect the surface from wear.
Should any glue chance to get on the surface, the cover should be held in the steam of a kettle
and the glue wiped off, and the cover again steamed.
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