by Florence O. Bean - Assistant in Manual Arts - Boston Public Schools
Published by School Arts Publishing Company 1914
Signatures for sewing may be obtained by taking apart some good
paper covered book. Foreign books frequently come in this shape,
and are much less expensive than in any other binding.
Carefully remove the cover and the sewing threads, if any, and
scrape the glue from the back. Then proceed with the sewing and
binding as already described.
It may be desired to have fly-leaves of lithographed or lining paper.
In this case have two rather heavy sheets of such paper folded
once with the plain side out, and two folded sheets of white paper.
When pasting these onto the book, place a white sheet first, and
then place a figured sheet inside it. When completed, each cover
will have a lining of figured paper faced by a fly-leaf of the same,
and a plain second fly-leaf next to the printed pages.
BINDING NEW PRINTED SHEETS
sheets, using great care to observe the correct order. Sew and bind by one of the methods already given.
REBINDING AN OLD BOOK
A school book whose leaves are still in good condition, but with broken cover or loose binding, may often be
preserved for much longer service by rebinding. Sometimes one has a worn book which has personal value, and a
new cover is desired. First remove the old covers, being careful not to injure the leaves, pull out the sewing threads
and remove glue, "super," and fly-leaves. Some repairing may also be necessary. Torn edges may be pasted
together or faced with gummed tissue, or, if the tears are not too deep, the edges may be trimmed off.
Broken places in the folds may be mended if necessary by using strips of paper about 1 inch in width and as long as
the leaves. If many strips are pasted onto the folds, the back of the book will be thick and bulky. For this reason, a
thin tough paper should be used. Paste the fold of two adjoining leaves lengthwise on the center of one of these
strips, so placed that, however badly torn, the leaves will assume their proper position, and the extra piece will be on
the outside of the fold.
Illustrations are usually printed on a single sheet, often of paper different from the leaves of the book. To insert
these, cover the back with a piece of waste paper, leaving a margin along one edge as in the case of the fly-leaf.
Cover this margin with paste and insert the leaf in its proper place, pasting it down to the adjacent leaf. The
illustration should usually be on the right of the book. When all repairing has been done, re-assemble the signatures
and bind as a new book.
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