Cheap work is often pressed by laying the volumes crosswise upon each other and pressing in batches between boards. Books with a deep joint where the bands are either laid on the board or laced in are always pasted down open. Where cloth or leather jointed, this is done in a similar way to boarding in covers, except that the bands need not be considered here, as they have already been seen to. Working the leather well in the joint and firmly pressing back the board after turning in the head lighten this work and improve the appearance of the joint. Leather joints are always pasted down open with paste but must, of course, be left lying longer.

The so called double end papers, that is, without cloth or leather joint, are very effective. Only the best and strongest paper can be used for these. The double' sheet, folded in the middle, is narrowly pasted at the back and fixed in the joint of the book-not in the fold of the joint but in the joint made by pressing. This prevents the bend coming on the place where the paper has already become weakened by sharp creasing, but near it. The half for the fly leaf is at once pasted down; that to be pasted on the board must first be cut to size. The end paper is cut off at head and tail of the book, the book opened, the end paper laid over the board, and with the dividers is marked out on the paste down parallel with the edges, somewhat less than the book. At the fold marked by the edge of the board at the joint, nick in with the scissors up to the mark made, slip under this a zinc plate, and on this cut the end paper by the mark up to the nicks. It is understood that the end papers should not be cut off right round the book, otherwise they would become too scant at the fore edge.

A piece of waste paper is now laid under the paste down, thinly coated with glue, the leaf drawn tightly over the board and rubbed down; at the same time a piece of paper is laid over the joint as above. When pasting in the cover, the book is placed square and the joint strongly and briskly rubbed down with finger and thumb of both hands.

A paper having a design must, of course, be laid in the same direction as the book. Where paste down and fly leaf are to be pasted on separately, it must be so arranged that after the pasting, one leaf forms the counterpart of the other, that is to say, the design must run through and he broken only by the joint. To affect this it is necessary that the paste down should be first pasted on; when pasting on the fly leaf the work can be made right. Silk paste down and fly leaves are frequently used for extra work, the silk here being stretched over a piece of stout paper and pasted narrowly at the edges.

< Treatment of Sewn Books Part 4