Tears in the back (if outside) leaves are mended by pasting them down on to the following inner leaf; afterwards the glue makes this place still stronger. If the middle leaf is likewise torn, a narrow strip is pasted into the back. This may be cut true by the straight edge if a very narrow strip suffices, but if the tear is here also sideways a piece of torn paper must be pasted on. If there are backs, torn off corners, or the like to be put in, a suitable paper is selected, a piece a little larger than the missing piece cut off the edge of the damaged leaf neatly pasted, the patch laid on slightly overlapping, and well rubbed down under a piece of waste paper. When thoroughly dry, the loose edges of the patch should be carefully torn off so as to slope and taper off nicely.

When all parts are repaired and the sheets again in proper order, the book is pressed for a while between boards. It is thus that good books are treated, and although it would be better to return books of no special value as not worth the labor still it does happen that cheap books mostly school books and periodicals have to be repaired. A quick way of getting through such work is as follows:
A larger piece of similar paper is well pasted and laid upon a clean cutting-board, and from this piece strips of the required width are cut, laid down in their place, and cut to length with the shears, and well rubbed down under waste paper. If the pasted piece becomes dry before it is used it must be coated again.

All repaired sheets must be laid between mill-boards to dry.

Worn and damaged periodicals are repaired in the same way. Generally the numbers are curled towards the fore edge. Before commencing to pull to pieces they should be rolled towards the back, especially close to the back, to straighten them. The leaves must all be well pushed into the back, turned down corners (so called dogs' ears) must be turned up, and two page illustrations must be pasted away from the back. There are generally single or double leaves at the end of each copy or sheet these must be pasted on. This work is not done singly, but the whole volume is at once laid open from back to front for pasting. All parts of the sheets to be pasted are placed at the front edge of the table, the edges fanned out, the other sheets wherein they are to be placed being meanwhile pushed further back so that they are not touched during pasting. The fanned out sheets are pasted and each is rubbed down on to the sheet following.

It has already been said that in pulling to pieces the wire or thread sewing must be removed; this is not always easy. To begin with, the wires must be first bent upwards; if they are firmly glued to the outside of the back, the latter has first to be softened by smearing it very thickly with paste, and after leaving it some little time the glue may be scraped off and the wires loosened. Not until then can the wires inside the sheets be removed and the sheets separated. The backs of books that have been bound are softened in the same way.

Even today Heaven help us! well-got-up books, even illustrated works, are sewn through sideways with coarse wire staples. Great care must be used in removing these and in separating the sheets, so that the bookbinder may at least try to undo the harm caused by barbarous methods practiced either in thoughtlessness or ignorance.

It sometimes happens that the back of a book is so bad that it is necessary to cut it clean off. The leaves are then made up into sections of 6 to 8, leveled at the back, and overcast with a fine needle and fine thread. This work can be done quicker with an ordinary sewing-machine, adjusting it for the longest stitch.

New works consisting of thin single sheets are done in the same way.

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