Bookbinding and The Care of Books
Librarians by Douglas Cockerell with Drawings
by Noel Rooke and other Illustrations
New York
1902
Book binding Chapter XIX
Part 1
Of all the materials used by the book- Leather
binders, leather is the most important and the
most difficult to select wisely. It is extremely
difficult to judge leather by its appearance.
"We find now, that instead of leather made from
sheep, calf, goat, and pigskins, each having, when
finished, its own characteristic surface, that
sheepskins are got up to look like calf, morocco, or
pigskin; that calf is grained to resemble morocco,
or so polished and flattened as to have but little
character left; while goatskins are grained
these imitations that it takes a skilled expert to identify leather when it is on a book."
There have been complaints for a long time of the want of durability of modern bookbinding
leather, but there has not been until lately any systematic investigation into the causes of its
premature decay. By permission, I shall quote largely from the report of the committee
appointed by the Society of Arts to inquire into the subject. There are on this special committee
leather manufacturers, bookbinders, librarians, and owners of libraries. The report issued is the
result of an immense amount of work done. Many libraries were visited, and hundreds of
experiments and tests were carried out by the sub-committees. There is much useful information
in the report that all bookbinders and librarians should read. The work of the committee is not
yet finished, but its findings may be accepted as conclusive as far as they go.
The committee first set themselves to ascertain if the complaints of the premature decay of
modern bookbinding leather are justified by facts, and on this point report that:
The committee endeavored to ascertain the relative durability of the leathers used for
bookbinding, and after visiting many libraries, and comparing bindings, they report as follows :
"As regards the common belief that modern binding leather does decay prematurely, the sub -
committee satisfied themselves that books bound during the last eighty or hundred years
showed far greater evidence of deterioration than those of an earlier date. Many recent bindings
showed evidence of decay after so short a period as ten, or even five years. The sub-committee
came to the conclusion that there is ample justification for the general complaint that modern
leather is not so durable as that formerly used. To fix the date of the commencement of this
deterioration was a difficult matter; but they came to the conclusion that while leather of all
periods showed some signs of decay, the deterioration becomes more general on books bound
after 1830, while some leathers seem to be generally good until about 1860, after which date
nearly all leathers seem to get worse. The deterioration of calf bindings at the latter end of the
19th century may be attributed as much to the excessive thinness as to the poor quality of the
material."
email: info@aboutbookbinding.com