CHAPTER XVI.
COLOURING
THE
EDGES.
The edges of every book must be in keeping with the
binding. A half roan book should not have an expensive
edge, neither a whole bound morocco book a sprinkled edge.
Still, no rule has been laid down in this particular, and
taste should regulate this as it must in other branches.
The taste of the public is so changeable that it is impossible
to lay down any rule, and I leave my reader to his own
discretion.
Here are various ways in which the edges may be
coloured.
Sprinkled Edges.—Most shops have a colour always ready,
usually a reddish brown, which they use for the whole of
their sprinkled edge books. The colour can be purchased
at any oil shop. A mixture of burnt umber and red ochre
is generally used. The two powders must be well mixed
together in a mortar with paste, a few drops of sweet oil,
and water. The colour may be tested by sprinkling some
on a piece of white paper, allowing it to dry, and then
burnishing it. If the colour powders or rubs, it is either
too thick, or has not enough paste in it. If the former,
some water must be added; if the latter, more paste: and
it will perhaps be better if the whole is passed through a
cloth to rid it of any coarse particles. The books may be
sprinkled so as to resemble a kind of marble by using two
or three different colours. For instance, the book is put in
the lying press and a little sand is strewn upon the edge in
small mounds. Then with a green colour a moderate |68|
sprinkle is given. After allowing it to dry, more sand is
put on in various places, a dark sprinkle of brown is put on,
and the whole allowed to dry. When the sand is shaken
off, the edge will be white where the first sand was dropped,
green where the second, and the rest brown.
A colour of two shades may be made by using sand, then
a moderately dark brown sprinkled, then more sand, and
lastly a deeper shade of same colour.
Sprinkling Brush and Sieve.
There are a few of the “Old Binders” who still use what
is called the “finger brush,” a small brush about the size of
a shaving brush, made of stiff bristles cut squarely. They
dip it into the colour, and then by drawing the finger across
it jerk the colour over the edge. Another method is to use
a larger brush, which being dipped in the colour is beaten
on a stick or press-pin until the desired amount of sprinkle
is obtained. But the best plan is to use a nail brush and a
common wire cinder sifter. Dip the brush in the colour
and rub it in a circular direction over the cinder sifter.
This mode has the satisfactory result of doing the work
quicker, finer, and more uniformly. The head, foredge and
tail must be of exactly the same shade, and one end must
not have more sprinkle on it than the other, and a set of
books should have their edges precisely alike in tone and
colour.
Colours for Sprinkling.—To give an account of how the
various colours are made that were formerly used would
be only waste of time, as so many dyes and colours that |69|
answer all purposes may be purchased ready for instant use.
I may with safety recommend Judson’s dyes diluted with
water.
Plain Colouring.—The colour having been well ground
is to be mixed with paste and a little oil, or what is perhaps
better, glaire and oil. Then with a sponge or with a
brush colour the whole of the edge. In colouring the
foredge the book should be drawn back so as to form a
slope of the edge, so that when the book is opened a certain
amount of colour will still be seen. It is often necessary
to give the edges two coats of colour, but the first must be
quite dry before the second is applied.
A very good effect may be produced by first colouring
the edge yellow, and when dry, after throwing on rice,
seeds, pieces of thread, fern leaves, or anything else according
to fancy, then sprinkling with some other dark colour.
For this class of work body sprinkling colour should always
be used. It may be varied in many different ways.
Marbled Edges.—The edges of marbled books should in
almost every instance correspond with their marbled ends.
In London very few binders marble their own work, but
send it out of the house to the Marblers, who do nothing
else but make marbled edges and paper. One cannot do
better than send one’s books to be marbled; it will cost
only a few pence, which will be well spent in avoiding the
trouble and dirt that marbling occasions; nevertheless I
will endeavour to explain; it is, however, a process that
may seem very easy, but is very difficult to execute
properly.
The requisites are a long square wooden or zinc trough
about 2 inches deep to hold the size for the colours to float
on; the dimensions to be regulated by the work to be
done. About 16 to 20 inches long and 6 to 8 inches wide
will probably be large enough. Various colours are used,
such as lake, rose, vermilion, king’s yellow, yellow ochre, |70|
Prussian blue, indigo, some green, flake white, and lamp
black. The brushes for the various colours should be of
moderate size, and each pot of colour must have its own
brush. Small stone jars are convenient for the colours,
and a slab of marble and muller to grind them must be
provided. The combs may be made with pieces of brass
wire about two inches long, inserted into a piece of wood;
several of these will be required with the teeth at different
distances, according to the width of the pattern required
to be produced. Several different sized burnishers, flat
and round, will be required for giving a gloss to the work.
The first process in marbling is the preparation of the
size on which the colours are to be floated. This is a solution
of gum tragacanth, or as it is commonly called, gum
dragon. If the gum is placed over night in the quantity
of water necessary it will generally be found dissolved by
the morning. The quantity of gum necessary to give
proper consistency to the size is simply to be learned by
experience, and cannot be described; and the solution
must always be filtered through muslin or a linen cloth
before use.
The colours must be ground on the marble slab with a
little water, as fine as possible; move the colour from time
to time into the centre of the marble with a palette knife,
and as the water evaporates add a little more. About
one oz. of colour will suffice to grind at once, and it will
take about two hours to do it properly.
Having everything at hand and ready, with the size in |71|
the trough, and water near, the top of the size is to be
carefully taken off with a piece of wood the exact width of
the trough, and the colour being well mixed with water
and a few drops of ox gall, a little is taken in the brush,
and a few very fine spots are thrown on.
If the colour does not spread out, but rather sinks down,
a few more drops of gall must be carefully added and well
mixed up. The top of the size must be taken off as before
described, and the colour again thrown on.
If it does not then spread out, the ground or size is of
too thick consistency, and some clean water must be added,
and the whole well mixed.
If the colour again thrown on spreads out, but looks
rather greyish or spotty, then the colour is too thick, and
a little water must be added, but very carefully, lest it
be made too thin. If the colour still assumes a greyish
appearance when thrown on, then the fault lies in the
grinding, and it must be dried and again ground.
When the colour, on being thrown on, spreads out in
very large spots, the ground or size is too thin and a little
thicker size should be added. Now, if the consistency or
the amount of gum water be noticed, by always using the
same quantity the marbler cannot fail to be right.
If the colours appear all right on the trough, and when
taken off on a slip of paper adhere to it, the size and
colours are in perfect working order.
The top of the size must always be taken off with the
piece of wood before commencing work, so that it be kept
clean, and the colours must always be well shaken out of
the brush into the pot before sprinkling, so that the spots
may not be too large. The marbler must always be guided
by the pattern he wishes to produce, and by a little thought
he will get over many difficulties that appear of greater
magnitude than they really are.
Spot Marble.—The size is first to be sprinkled with a |72|
dark colour, and this is always termed the “ground colour,”
then the other colours; bearing in mind that the colour
that has the most gall will spread or push the others away,
and this colour should in spot marbling be put on last.
With very little variation all the other kinds of marbling
are done; but in every case where there are more books or
sheets of paper to be done of the same pattern than the
trough will take at once, the same order of colours must
be kept, and the same proportion of each, or one book will
be of one colour and the second entirely different.
Comb or Nonpareil Marble.—The colours are to be thrown
on as before, but as fine as possible. Then if a piece of
wood or wire be drawn backwards and forwards across the
trough, the colours, through the disturbance of the size,
will follow the motion of the stick. A comb is then to be
drawn the whole length of the trough in a contrary direction.
The wire in the comb will draw the colour, and
thus will be produced what is termed comb or nonpareil
marble.
The size or width of the teeth of the comb will vary
the size of the marble.
Spanish Marble.—The ground colour is to be thrown on
rather heavily, the others lighter, and the wavy appearance
is caused by gently drawing the paper in jerks over the
marble, thus causing the colour to form small ripples.
A few drops of turpentine put in the colours will give
them a different effect, viz.,—causing the small white spots
that appear on the shell marble.
There are various patterns, each being known by name:
old Dutch, nonpareil, antique, curl, Spanish, shell. An
apprentice would do well to go to some respectable shop and
ask for a sheet or two of the various kinds mentioned, and
as each pattern is given to him, write the name on the
back, and always keep it as a pattern for future use and
reference. |73|
Edges are marbled, after making the desired pattern on
the trough by holding the book firmly, pressing the edge
on the colour and lifting it up sharply. The foredge must
be made flat by knocking the book on its back, but the
marbler had better tie his book between a pair of backing
boards, so that it may not slip, especially with large books.
Care must be taken with books that have many plates, or
if the paper is at all of a spongy nature or unsized. If a
little cold water be thrown on the edges it will cause the
colours to set better. In marbling writing paper, a sponge
with a little alum water should be used to take off the gloss
or shine from the edge, occasioned by the cutting knife,
and to assist the marbling colour to take better.
Paper is marbled in the same way by holding it at two
corners; then gently putting it on the colour and pressing
it evenly, but gently all over, so that the colour may take
on every part. It must be lifted carefully, as the least
shake by disturbing the size will spoil the regularity of the
pattern. Paper should be damped over night and left with
a weight on the top. When the paper has been marbled
and is dry, a rag with a little bee’s wax or soap should
be rubbed over it, so that the burnisher may not stick,
and may give a finer gloss; this applies also to the edges
in burnishing. Marble paper manufacturers burnish the
paper with a piece of polished flint or glass fixed in a long
pole working in a socket at the top, the other end resting
on a table which is slightly hollowed, so that the segment
of the circle which the flint takes is exactly that of the
hollow table. The paper is laid on the hollow table, and
the burnisher is worked backwards and forwards until
the desired gloss is attained. By the best and latest
method, the paper is passed between highly polished
cylinders. It is more expensive, on account of the cost
of the machinery, but insures superior effect.
A great deal of paper is now being made by means of a |74|
mechanical process. It has a very high gloss; it is used
on very cheap work.
Sizing.—Paper should be always sized after being marbled.
The size is made by dissolving one pound of best glue in
five gallons of water with half a pound of best white soap.
This is put into a copper over night, and on a low fire the
next morning, keeping it constantly stirred to prevent
burning. When quite dissolved and hot it is passed
through a cloth into a trough, and each sheet passed
through the liquor and hung up to dry; when dry, burnish
as above.
But it will be far cheaper to buy the paper, rather than
make it at the cost of more time than will be profitable.
The charge for demy size is at the rate of 20s. to 95s. per
ream, according to the quality and colour; but to those to
whom money is no object, and who would prefer to make
their own marbled paper, I hope the foregoing explanation
will be explicit enough.
The “English Mechanic,” March 17th, 1871, has the
following method of transferring the pattern from ordinary
marble paper to the edges of books:—
“Ring the book up tightly in the press, the edge to be
as flat as possible; cut strips of the best marble paper about
one inch longer than the edge, make a pad of old paper
larger than the edge of the book, and about a quarter inch
thick; then get a piece of blotting paper and a sponge with
a little water in; now pour on a plate sufficient spirits of
salts (muriatic acid) to saturate the paper, which must be
placed marble side downwards on the spirit (not dipped in
it); when soaked put it on the edge (which has been previously
damped with a sponge), lay your blot paper on it,
then your pad, now rap it smartly all over, take off the pad
and blot, and look if the work is right, if so, take the book
out and shake the marble paper off; when dry burnish.”
At a lecture delivered at the Society of Arts, January,
|75|
1878, by Mr. Woolnough, a practical marbler, the whole
process of marbling was explained. Mr. Woolnough has
since published an enlarged treatise on marbling,6
and one
that should command the attention of the trade. A copy
of the Society’s journal can be had, describing the process,
No. 1,314, vol.
XXVI., and will be of great service to any
reader, but his work is more exhaustive.
Leo’s Mechanical
Marblers.
Leo’s Mechanical
Marblers.
A transfer marble paper may now
be had, and from examples sent me the
process seems fairly workable. The
following is the method of working
sent by the importers of the paper:—
“Place the book in the press. The
book edge which is to be marbled has
to be rubbed with pure spirits of wine;
the dry strip of transfer marble is then to be put on
the edge. The white back or reverse side, whilst being
pressed hard against the book edge, is to be moistened
carefully with boiling water, by dabbing
a saturated sponge on it; this dabbing
process to be continued so long till the
colour will show through the white back—a
proof that it is loosened from the
paper. Then remove the white paper,
and let the edge dry slowly. When quite
dry burnish.”
Another invention is to marble the
edges by means of one or more rollers.
The top roller or rollers holds the colour,
which is distributed on the under rollers;
these, in turn, ink the edge on being
passed over it. The books are naturally
held in the press whilst this is being
done. |76|
From a book, the “School of Arts,” third edition, 1750,
which has a chapter on marbling, the following, with cut,
is taken:—
CHAPTER XVII.
GILT
EDGES.
A gilt edge
is the most elegant of all modes of ornamenting
edges, and this branch of bookbinding has from time
to time been so greatly extended, that at the present day
there are many ways in which a book may have the edges
gilt; but some methods are not pursued, either from ignorance
on the binder’s part, or with a view to save expense.
First we have the “plain gilt,” then “gilt in the round”;
then again some colour under the gold, for instance, “gilt
on red,” or whatever the colour may be, red being mostly
used, especially for religious books. Some edges are
“tooled,” and some have a gilt edge with landscape or
scene appropriate to the book painted on the edge, only
to be seen when the book is opened. “Marbling under
gilt” may also be used with good effect; but still better
“marbling on gilt.”
The room where gilt edge work is done should be neither
dirty nor draughty, and the necessary materials are:—
1st. The Gold Cushion.—This may be purchased ready
for use, or if the binder wishes to make one, it may be
done by covering a piece of wood, about 12 inches by 6,
with a piece of white calf, the rough side outwards,
and padding it with blotting paper and cloth. The pieces
underneath should be cut a little smaller than the upper
one, so that it will form a bevel at the edge, but quite flat
on the top. The calf to be neatly nailed all round the
edge. If the pile of the leather is too rough, it can be
reduced with a piece of pumice stone, by rubbing the stone
on the calf with a circular motion. |79|
2nd. Gold Knife.—This should be a long knife of thin
steel, the blade about one to one and a half inch wide.
3rd. Burnishers.—These are made of agate stone, and can
be purchased of any size. A flat one, and two or three
round ones, will be found sufficient. They should have a
very high polish.
4th. Glaire Water or Size.—The white of an egg and a
tea-cup full of water are well beaten together, until the
albumen is perfectly dissolved. It must then be allowed
to stand for some hours to settle, after which it should be
strained through a piece of linen which has been washed;
old linen is therefore preferred to new.
5th. Scrapers.—Pieces of steel with the edge or burr
made to turn up by rubbing the edge flat over a bodkin or
other steel instrument, so that when applied to the edge a
thin shaving of paper is taken off. The beauty of gilding
depends greatly on proper and even scraping.
6th. The Gold Leaf.—This is bought in books, the price
according to quality; most of the cheap gold comes from
Germany. I recommend the use of the best gold that can
be had; it being in the end the cheapest, as cheap gold
turns black by the action of the atmosphere in course of
time.
The method of preparing the gold7
is by making an
alloy: gold with silver or copper. It is drawn out into a
wire of about six inches in length, and by being passed
again between steel rollers is made into a ribbon. This
ribbon is then cut into squares and placed between vellum
leaves, about four or five inches square, and beaten with a
hammer somewhat like our beating hammer, until the gold
has expanded to the size of the vellum. The gold is again
cut up into squares of about one inch, and again |80|
interleaved; but gold-beaters’ skin is now used instead of
vellum; and so by continual beating and cutting up, the
proper thickness is arrived at. If the gold is held up to
the light, it will be found to be beaten so thin that it is
nearly transparent, although when laid on any object it is
of sufficient thickness to hide the surface underneath. It
has been estimated that the thickness of the gold leaf is
only
1 ⁄ 280000
of an inch.
To gild the edges, the book should be put into the press
straight and on a level with the cheeks of the press between
cutting boards, the boards of the book being thrown back.
The press should be screwed up very tightly, and any projection
of the cutting boards should be taken away with a
chisel. If the paper is unsized or at all spongy, the edge
should be sized and left to dry. This may be ascertained
by wetting a leaf with the tongue: if spongy, the moisture
will sink through as in blotting paper. The edge should
be scraped quite flat and perfectly even, care being taken
to scrape every part equally, or one part of the edge will
be hollow or perhaps one side scraped down, and this will
make one square larger than the other. When scraped quite
smoothly and evenly, a mixture of black lead and thin glaire
water is painted over the edge, and with a hard brush it is
well brushed until dry.
The gold should now be cut on the gold cushion. Lift
a leaf out of the book with the gold knife, lay it on the
gold cushion, and breathe gently on the centre of the leaf to
lay it flat; it can then be cut with perfect ease to any size.
The edge is now to be glaired evenly, and the gold taken
up with a piece of paper previously greased by drawing it
over the head. The gold is then gently laid on the edge,
which has been previously glaired. The whole edge or end
being done, it is allowed to get perfectly dry, which will
occupy some two hours.
Before using the burnisher on the gold itself, some gilders |81|
lay a piece of fine paper on the gold and gently flatten it
with the burnisher. Books are often treated in this manner,
they then become “dull gilt.” When intended to be bright,
a waxed cloth should be gently rubbed over the surface two
or three times before using the burnisher. The beauty of
burnishing depends upon the edge presenting a solid and
uniform metallic surface, without any marks of the burnisher.
The manner of burnishing is to hold a flat burnisher, where
the surface is flat, firmly in the right hand with the end of
the handle on the shoulder, to get better leverage. Work
the burnisher backwards and forwards with a perfectly
even pressure on every part. When both ends are finished,
the foredge is to be proceeded with, by making it perfectly
flat. It is better to tie the book, to prevent it slipping
back. The foredge is to be gilt exactly in the same manner
as the ends; it will of course return to its proper round
when released from the press. This is done with all books
in the ordinary way, but if the book is to have an extra
edge, it is done “solid” or “in the round.” For this way the
book must be put into the press with its proper round,
without flattening it, and scraped in that position with
scrapers corresponding with the rounding. The greatest
care must be taken in this kind of scraping that the sides |82|
are not scraped away, or the squares will be made either
too large or lop-sided.
Gilt on Red.—The edges are coloured by fanning them
out as explained in colouring edges, and when dry, gilt in
the usual way; not quite such a strong size will be wanted,
through there being a ground in the colour; nor must any
black lead be used. The edges should in this process be
scraped first, then coloured and gilt in the usual way.
Tooled Edges.—The book is to be gilt as usual, then
while in the press stamped or worked over with tools that
are of some open character; those of fine work being
preferable. Some design should be followed out according
to the fancy of the workman. The tools must be warmed
slightly so that the impression may be firm; the foredge
should be done first. Another method is to tool the edge
before burnishing, or the different portions of the tooling
may be so managed in burnishing that some parts will be
left bright and standing in relief on the unburnished or
dead surface.
Painted Edges.—The edge is to fanned out and tied
between boards, and whilst in that position some landscape
or other scene, either taken from the book itself or appropriate
to the subject of it, painted on the foredge, and
when quite dry it is gilt on the flat in the usual manner.
This work of course requires an artist well skilled in
water-colour drawing. The colours used must be more
of a stain than body colour, and the edges should be scraped
first.
After the edges have been gilt by any of the foregoing
methods, the rounding must be examined and corrected;
and the book should be put into the standing press for two
or three hours, to set it. The whole of the edges should
be wrapped up with paper to keep them clean during
the remainder of the process of binding. This is called
“capping up.”
CHAPTER XVIII.
HEAD-BANDING.
Few
binders work their own head-bands in these times of
competition and strikes for higher wages. It takes some
time and pains to teach a female hand the perfection of head-band
working, and but too often, since gratitude is not
universal, the opportunity of earning a few more pence per
week is seized without regard to those at whose expense
the power of earning anything was gained, and the baffled
employer is wearied by constant changes. Owing to this,
most bookbinders use the machine-made head-band. These
can be purchased of any size or colour, at a moderate
price.
Head-banding done by hand is really only a twist of
different coloured cotton or silk round a piece of vellum or
cat-gut fastened to the back every half dozen sections. If
the head-band is to be square or straight, the vellum should
be made by sticking with paste two or three pieces together.
Damp the vellum previously and put it under a weight for
a few hours to get soft. Vellum from old ledgers and
other vellum bound books is mostly used. The vellum
when quite dry and flat is to be cut into strips just a little
under the width of the squares of the books, so that when
the book is covered, the amount of leather above the head-band
and the head-band itself will be just the size or height
of the square.
If, however, a round head-band is chosen, cat-gut is
taken on the same principle with regard to size, and this is
further advanced by using two pieces of cat-gut, the one |84|
being generally smaller than the other, and making with the
beading three rows. The round head-band is the original
head-band, and cord was used instead of cat-gut. The cords
were fastened to lay-cords on the sewing press, and placed
at head and tail, and the head-band was worked at the
same time that the book was sewn. I am now speaking of
books bound about the 15th century; and in pulling one of
these old bindings to pieces, it will compensate for the
time occupied and the trouble taken, if the book be examined
to see how the head-band was worked, and how the
head-band then formed the catch-up stitch; the head-band
cords were drawn in through the boards, and thus gave
greater strength to the book than the method used at the
present day. To explain how the head-band is worked is
rather a difficult task; yet the process is a very simple one.
The great difficulty is to get the silks to lie close together,
which they will not do if the twist or beading is not evenly
worked. This requires time and patience to accomplish.
The hands must be clean or the silk will get soiled; fingers
must be smooth or the silk will be frayed.
Suppose, for instance, a book is to be done in two
colours, red and white. The head-band is cut to size, the |85|
book is, for convenience, held in a press, or a plough with
the knife taken out, so that the end to be head-banded is
raised to a convenient height. The ends of the silk or
cotton are to be joined together, and one, say the red,
threaded through a strong needle. This is then passed
through the back of the book, at about the centre of the
second section, commencing on the left of the book. This
must be passed through twice, and a loop left. The vellum
is put in this loop and the silk drawn tightly, the vellum
will then be held fast. The white is now to be twisted
round the red once, and round the head-band twice; the
red is now to be taken in hand and twisted round the
white once, and the head-band twice; and this is to be
done until the whole vellum is covered. The needle must
be passed through the back at about every eight sections
to secure the head-band. The beading is the effect of one
thread being twisted over the other, and the hand must be
kept exactly at the same tightness or tension, for if pulled
too tightly the beading will go underneath, or be irregular.
The fastening off is to be done by passing the needle
through the back twice, the white is then passed round
the red and under the vellum, and the ends are to be tied
together.
Three Colours Plain.—This is to be commenced in the
same way as with two, but great care must be taken that
the silks are worked in rotation so as not to mix or entangle
them. The silks must be kept in the left hand,
while the right twists the colour over or round, and as
each is twisted round the vellum it is passed to be twisted
round the other two. In fastening off, both colours must
be passed round under the vellum and fastened as with
the two colour pattern.
The head-bands may be worked intermixed with gold or
silver thread, or the one colour may be worked a number
of times round the vellum, before the second colour has |86|
been twisted, giving it the appearance of ribbons going
round the head-band.
With regard to stuck-on head-bands, the binder may
make them at little expense, by using striped calico for the
purpose. A narrow stripe is to be preferred of some bright
colour. The material must be cut into lengths of about
one-and-a-half inch wide, with the stripes across. Cords
of different thickness are then to be cut somewhat longer
than the calico, and a piece of the cord is to be fastened by
a nail at one end on a board of sufficient length. The
calico is then to be pasted and laid down on the board
under the cord, and the cord being held tightly may be
easily covered with the striped calico, and rubbed with a
folder into a groove.
When this is dry, the head and tail of the book is glued
and the proper piece of the head-band is put on. Or the
head-band may be purchased, as before stated, worked
with either silk or cotton ready for fastening on, from about
2s. 3d. to 4s. 6d. a piece of twelve yards,
according to the
size required: it has, however, the disadvantage of not
looking so even as a head-band worked on the book. I
have lately seen some specimens of as good imitations of
hand-worked ones as it is possible for machinery to manufacture.
After the head-band has been put on or worked, the
book is to be “lined up” or “made ready for covering.”