CHAPTER XX. COVERING.

Books are covered according to the fancy of the binder or customer. The materials used at the present day, are—leather of all sorts, parchment or vellum, bookbinder’s cloth, velvet, needle-work, and imitation leather, of which various kinds are manufactured, such as leatherette and feltine.

Each kind requires a different manner of working or manipulation. For instance, a calf book must not be covered in the same manner as a velvet one: I will take each in the above order and explain how they are managed.

Under the class of leather, we have moroccos of all kinds; russia; calf, coloured, smooth, and imitation; roan, sheep, and imitation morocco.

The morocco cover, indeed any leather cover, is to be cut out by laying the skin out on a flat board, and having chosen the part or piece of the skin to be used, the book is laid on it and the skin is cut with a sharp knife round the book, leaving a space of about 3 ⁄ 4 of an inch for an 8vo, and more or less according to the size of the book and thickness of board for turning in. The morocco |91| cover should now have marked upon it with a pencil the exact size of the book itself, by laying the book on the cover, and running the point of a black lead pencil all round it. The leather must then be “pared,” or shaved round the edges, using the pencil marks as a guide. This paring process is not so difficult, especially if a French knife is used, such as may now be purchased at most material dealers. The chief point being that a very sharp edge is to be kept on the knife, and that the burr is on the cutting edge. The knife is to be held in the right hand, placing two fingers on the top with the thumb underneath. The leather must be placed on a piece of marble, lithographic stone, or thick glass, and held tightly strained between finger and thumb of the left hand. Then by a series of pushes from the right hand, the knife takes off more or less according to the angle given. The burr causes the knife to enter the leather; if the burr is turned up the knife will not cut but run off. If the knife is held too much at an angle it will go right through the leather, a rather unpleasant experience, and one to be carefully avoided. The leather should from time to time be examined, by turning it over, to see if any unevenness appears, for every cut will show. Especial attention should be given to where the edges of the board go. The turning in at the head and tail should be pared off as thin as possible, as there will be twice as much thickness of leather on the back where turned in, the object of this care being, that it must not be seen. The morocco |92| cover should now be wetted well, and grained up by using either the hand or a flat piece of cork. This is to be done by gently curling it up in all directions; and when the grain has been brought up properly and sufficiently, the leather should be pasted on the flesh side with thin paste, and hung up to dry. Should the leather be “straight grain,” it must only be creased in the one direction of the grain, or if it is required to imitate any old book that has no grain, the leather should be wetted as much as possible, and the whole of the grain rubbed out by using a rolling pin with even pressure.

The Morocco leather first brought from that country, had a peculiar grain, and was dyed with very bright colours. It is now largely manufactured in London and Paris; the French manufacture is the finest. Russia and calf require no setting up of the grain, but russia should be well rolled out with the rolling pin.

When the cover (morocco) is dry, it is to be well pasted, the squares of the book set, so that each side has its proper portion of board projecting. The book is then laid down evenly on the cover, which must be gently drawn on; the back is drawn tight by placing the book on its foredge and drawing the skin well down over it. The sides are next drawn tight, and the bands pinched well up with a pair of band nippers. The four corners of the leather |93| are cut off with a sharp knife in a slanting direction, a little paste put on the cut edge, and the operation of turning in may be commenced. The book must be held on its edge, either head or tail, with a small piece of paper put close to the head-band to prevent any paste soiling the edge or head-band, and with the boards extended, the hollow is pulled a little away from the back and the leather neatly tucked in. The leather is next to be tightly brought over the boards and well rubbed down, both on the edge and inside, with a folding stick, but on no account must the outside be rubbed, or the grain will be taken away. The foredge is to be treated in like manner, by tucking the corners in for strength. The head-band is now to be set, by tying a piece of thread round the book between the back and the boards in the slots cut out from the corners of the boards; this thread must be tied in a knot. The book being held in the left hand, resting on its end, the leather is drawn with a pointed folding-stick, as it were, towards the foredge, and flattened on the top of the head-band. When this is done properly it should be exactly even with the boards, and yet cover the head-band, leaving that part of the head-band at right angles with the edge exposed. With a little practice the novice may be able to ascertain what amount of leather is to be left out from the turning-in, so that the head-band can be neatly covered. The perfection in covering a book depends upon the leather being worked sharp round the boards, but with the grain almost untouched.

Paste should be always used for morocco, calf, russia and vellum, in fact for all kinds of leather; but in my humble opinion, all leather with an artificial grain should be glued; the turning-in may be with paste. The glue gives more |94| body to the leather, and thus preserves the grain. White morocco should be covered with paste made without any alum, which causes it to turn yellow, and if the leather is washed with lemon juice instead of vinegar when finishing, the colour will be much improved.

Russia is to be pared in the same way as morocco. It should be damped, and rolled with a rolling-pin before covering, or stretched out with a thick folding-stick.

Calf, either coloured or white, need be pared only round the head-band. Calf should be covered with paste and the book washed when covered with a clean damp sponge. In putting two books together, when bound in calf of two different colours, a piece of paper should be placed between, as most colours stain each other, especially green. Care should be taken to handle calf as little as possible whilst wet, and touching it with iron tools, such as knives and band nippers, will cause a black stain. Morocco will bear as much handling as you like, but the more tenderly calf is treated the better.

Vellum or Parchment.—The boards should be covered with white paper, to avoid any darkness of the board showing through. The vellum or parchment should be pared head and tail, and the whole well pasted and allowed to stand for a short time so that it be well soaked and soft. The book should then be covered, but the vellum must not on any account be stretched much, or it will, when dry, draw the boards up to a most remarkable extent. It will perhaps be better if the book be pressed, to make the vellum adhere better. The old binders took great pains in covering their white vellum books. The vellum was lined carefully with white paper and dried before covering: this in some degree prevented the vellum from shrinking so much in drying, and enabled the workman to give the boards a thin and even coat of glue, which was allowed to dry before putting on the covering. |95|

Roan should be covered with glue and turned in with paste. Head and tail only need be pared round the head-band.

Cloth is covered by gluing the cover all over and turning in at once: gluing one cover at a time, and finishing the covering of each book before touching the next.

Smooth cloth, cloth with no grain, may be covered with paste: great care must be taken that no paste be on the fingers, or the cloth will be marked very badly when dry.

Velvet should be covered with clean glue not too thick; first glue the back of the book and let that set before the sides are put down. The sides of the book should next be glued, and the velvet laid down, and turned in with glue. The corners should be very carefully cut or they will not meet, or cover properly when dry. When the whole is dry the pile may be raised, should it be finger marked, by holding the book over steam, and if necessary by carefully using a brush.

Silk and Satin should be lined first with a piece of thin paper cut to the size of the book. The paper must be glued with thin clean glue, rubbed down well on to the silk, and allowed to get dry, before covering the book. When dry, cover it as with velvet.

Dr. Dibdin, whose knowledge of libraries and great book collectors must stamp him as an authority, says that:—

“The general appearance of one’s library is by no means a matter of mere foppery or indifference: it is a sort of cardinal point, to which the tasteful collector does well to attend. You have a right to consider books, as to their outsides, with the eye of a painter; because this does not militate against the proper use of the contents. . . . . Be sparing of red morocco or vellum, they have each so |96| distinct, or what painters call spotty, an appearance, that they should be introduced but circumspectly.”

I cannot agree entirely with the Doctor with regard to being sparing with the red morocco. A library without colour is dark, dreary, and repulsive. The library should be one of the most inviting and cheery rooms in a house, and even if one cannot aspire to a room entirely devoted to literature and study, let the bookcase, whatever its position or however humble, be made as cheerful and inviting as possible. What colour will do this so well as red? But it should be judiciously dispersed with other colours.

If some standard colour were chosen for each subject, one might recognize from some little distance the nature of the book by its colour. For instance, all books relating to Military matters might be in bright red; Naval affairs in blue; Botany in green; History in dark red; Poetry in some fancy colour, such as orange, light blue, light green, or olive, according to its subject; Divinity in dark brown; Archæology in dull red, and Law in white as at present. This would give a pleasing variety, and a light and cheerful appearance to a library.

An imitation russia leather is imported from America, of far greater strength than the real. It is made from buffalo skins, and tanned in the same way as the russia hides. This fact, combined with the price, has doubtless caused this material to be received with favour in the English market. It is to be had from nearly all leather sellers.

Half-bound Work.—The title speaks for itself, the book has its back, a part of the sides, and the corners covered with leather. The sides are, after the leather is perfectly dry, covered either with cloth or paper according to fancy, turned over the boards as with leather. The book is then to be pasted down. Before the paper is put on the sides, |97| all unevenness of the leather is to be pared away. This style has gained its reputation very much on account of its economy; the amount of leather required is less, and the work is as strong and serviceable as in a whole-bound book. It will be better if the back be finished before the corners are put on, as there is great likelihood that the corners may get damaged to some extent during the process of finishing. The outside paper may either match the colour of the leather, or be the same as the edge or end papers. This, like many other rules in bookbinding, is quite a matter of taste.

CHAPTER XXI. PASTING DOWN.

This is to cover up the inside board by pasting down the end papers to the boards.

The white or waste leaf, that has till this process protected the end papers, must now be taken away or torn out. The joint of the board must be cleaned of any paste or glue that may have accumulated there during the course of either gluing up or covering, by passing the point of a sharp knife along it, so that when the end is pasted down, the joint will be quite straight and perfectly square. Morocco books should be filled in with a smooth board or thick paper, the exact substance of the leather. This thickness must be carefully chosen, and one edge be cut off straight, and fastened to the inside of the board very slightly, in fact only touching it in the centre with a little glue or paste, just sufficient to hold it temporarily. It must be |98| flush with the back-edge of the board. When dry, this paper or board is to be marked with a compass about half an inch round, and both paper and leather cut through at the same cut with a sharp knife. The overplus board will fall off and the outside of the leather may be easily detached by lifting it up with a knife. The paper or board, which will now fit in exactly, should be glued and well rubbed down with a folding stick, or it may be pressed in the standing press if the grain of the morocco is to be polished, but not otherwise.

As morocco books only have morocco joints, I may as well explain at once how they are made. Morocco of the same colour is cut into strips the same length as the book, and about one inch and a half in breadth for 8vo.; a line is drawn or marked down each strip about half an inch from one edge, either with a pencil or folder, as a guide. The leather is now to be pared from the mark made to a thin edge on the half inch side, and the other side pared as thin as the leather turned in round the board, so that there will be two distinct thicknesses on each piece, the larger half going on the board to correspond with the leather round the three sides, and the smaller and thinly pared half going in the joint and edge on to the book. The end papers, only held in with a little paste, are to be lifted out from the book, and the leather well pasted is to be put on the board, so that the place where the division is made in the leather by paring will come exactly to the edge of the board; the thin part should then be well rubbed down in the joint, and the small thin feather edge allowed to go on the book.

Great care must be taken to rub the whole down well, that it may adhere properly; the grain need not be heeded. With regard to the overplus at the head and tail, there are two ways of disposing of it: first, by cutting both leathers slanting through at once, and making the two |99| meet; or, secondly, by cutting the cover away in a slant and doing the same to the joint, so that the two slant cuts cover each other exactly. This requires very nice paring, or it will be seen in the finishing. The book should be left till quite dry, which will take some five or six hours. The boards are then to be filled in by the same method as above described, and the end papers fastened in again properly.

Cloth Joints.—If the cloth has been fastened in when the ends were made, after cleaning all unevenness from the joints, the boards are to be filled in as above, and the cloth joint stuck down with thin glue, and rubbed down well. The marble paper may now be put on the board by cutting it to a size a little larger than the filling in of the board, so that it may be well covered. When cloth joints are put in, the board paper is generally brought up almost close to the joint; but with morocco joints, the space left all round should be even.

Calf, Russia, etc.—After having cleaned the joint, the leather must be marked all round a trifle larger than the size intended for the end papers to cover. Then with a knife, the leather is cut through in a slanting direction by holding the knife slanting. The boards should be thrown back to protect the leather, and the book placed on a board of proper size, so that both book and board may be moved together, when turning round. When the leather is cut, a piece of paper should be pasted on the board to fill up to the thickness of the leather, and to curve or swing the board back; the boards otherwise are sure to curve the contrary way, especially with calf. When this lining is dry, the end papers may be pasted down. As there are two methods of doing this, I give the most exact but longest first. The paper is to be pasted all over, and being held in the left hand, is to be well rubbed down, particularly in the joint. The paper is then marked all round—the head, foredge, |100| and tail, with a pair of compasses to the width required for finishing inside the board. With a very sharp knife the paper is to be cut through to the depth of the paper only, by laying the straight edge on the marks made by the compasses. This has the advantage of procuring an exact margin round the board, but it must be done quickly or the paper will stick to the leather round the board from the paste getting dry, the leather absorbing the watery particles in the paste.

The other way is to lay the paper back, and down on the board, and then to mark it. A tin is then to be placed between the book and paper, and the paper cut to the marks made. The paper is then pasted down as above. When pasted down, the book should be left standing on its end, with boards left open until thoroughly dry, which will be about six hours. A tin should be kept especially for cutting on, and the knife must be as sharp as possible. This latter method is used for all half bindings.

CHAPTER XXII. CALF COLOURING.

Although coloured calf-skins may be bought almost as cheaply as smooth calf (the term given to uncoloured ones), yet there are so many reasons why coloured calf should not be used, that I give such instructions as will enable any one to colour, sprinkle, and marble his own leather.

The skins may, however, be procured already sprinkled or marbled at most leather shops. This plan of sprinkling and marbling the whole skin is good enough for cheap or |101| half-bound work, but for extra work it is far better to sprinkle, marble, or otherwise colour the leather when on the book. Hand-colouring is coming again into use, and by degrees getting known more and more throughout the trade; but a great many secrets in the art have been lost. Before giving the names of the chemicals to be used, I must give a general caution, that if any acid be used on the leather, it is essential to wash as much as possible of it out with water immediately after it has done its work, or after a few months the surface of the leather will be found to be eaten away and destroyed. It is a fault of some of our binders at the present day, that if they use any chemical, either on their leather or on their paper, they are not satisfied to use their acid weak, and allow it to do its work slowly, and when the proper moment has arrived stop its further action, they frequently use the acids as strong as possible, and, either to save time or through ignorance of their chemical properties, do not wash out the residue. The consequence is, the leather or the paper rots. In order to avoid this, I will not recommend any chemicals that will destroy the leather, but give instructions for harmless preparations, by the use of which as great a variety of different styles may be executed as will, I trust, satisfy any reasonable expectation.

Black.—Sulphate of iron or copperas is the chief ingredient in colouring calf black. Used by itself, it gives a greyish tint, but if a coat of salts of tartar or other alkali be previously used it strikes immediately a rich purple black. The name copperas is probably from the old and mistaken idea that the crystals contain copper. They have a pale greenish blue colour. It can be purchased at the rate of one penny per pound from any drysalter.

1. Into a quart of boiling water, throw a 1 ⁄ 4-lb. of sulphate of iron, let it re-boil, and stand to settle, and then bottle the clear liquid for use. |102|

2. Boil a quart of vinegar with a quantity of old iron nails or steel filings for a few minutes. Keep this in a stone jar, and use the clear liquid. This can from time to time be boiled again with fresh vinegar. An old iron pot must be kept for boiling the black.

Brown.—1. Dissolve a 1 ⁄ 4-lb. of salts of tartar in a quart of boiling water, and bottle it for use.

This liquid is mostly used for colouring; it has a very mellow tone, and is always used before the black when a strong or deep colour is required. It is poisonous, and must not be used too strong on the calf or it will corrode it.

2. For a plain brown dye, the green shells of walnuts may be used. They should be broken as much as possible, mixed with water, and allowed to ferment. This liquid should then be strained and bottled for use. A pinch of salt thrown in will help to keep it. This does not in any way corrode the leather, and produces the best uniform tint.

Yellow.—1. Picric acid dissolved in water forms one of the sharpest yellows. It is a pale yellow of an intense bitter taste. It must not be mixed with any alkali in a dry state, as it forms a very powerful explosive compound. It is a dangerous chemical and should be carefully used. It may be bottled for use.

2. Into a bottle put some turmeric powder, and mix well with methylated spirit; the mixture must be shaken occasionally for a few days until the whole of the colour is extracted. This is a very warm yellow, and produces a very good shade when used after salts of tartar.

For all the following, a preparation or ground of paste-water must be put on the calf, that the liquids may not sink through too much. The calf must be paste-washed all over equally, and allowed to get thoroughly dry. It will then be ready for the various methods. Perhaps to wash it over night and let it stand till next morning will |103| be the best and surest plan. It matters very little whether the calf is on the book or in the skin.

Sprinkles.—There are so many sprinkles, that it would be useless for me to enumerate a number, they are all worked in the same manner, by throwing the colour on finely or coarsely, as it may be wanted light or dark.

Presuming that the paste or ground-wash be thoroughly dry, take liquid salts of tartar and dilute with cold water, one part salts to two of water, in a basin; wash the calf with this liquid evenly, using a soft sponge. The calf will require the wash to be applied two or three times, until a proper and uniform tint be obtained. Each successive wash must be allowed to get thoroughly dry before the next be applied.

The next process will be to sprinkle the book, with the boards extended or open. Two pieces of flat wood, about three feet long, four inches in width, and half an inch thick, will be found very useful for supporting the book. These rods must be supported at each end, so that the book may be suspended between them, with the boards resting on the rods nearly horizontally. Now put into a round pan some of the copperas fluid, and into another some of the solution of salts of tartar. Use a pretty large brush for each pan, which brush must be kept each for its own fluid. The sprinkling may be commenced. The brushes being well soaked in the fluids, should be well beaten out, using a piece of broomstick or a hand pin to beat on before beating over the book, unless a coarse sprinkle is desired. Whilst beating over the book, the hands should be held up high, and also moved about, so that a fine and equal spray may be distributed; and this should be continued until the desired depth of colour is attained.

This may be varied by putting some geometrical design, cut out of thin mill-board, on the cover; or if the book is on any special subject, the subject itself put on the cover |104| will have a very pretty effect, and may be made emblematical. A fern or other leaf for botanical work as an instance. The sprinkle must in these cases be very fine and dark for the better effect. The leaf or design being lifted from the cover when the sprinkle is dry, will leave the ground dark sprinkle with a light brown leaf or design. Cambridge calf is done in this way by cutting a square panel of mill-board out and laying it on the sides. The square on the cover may be left brown or may be dabbed with a sponge.

Marbles.—As the success of marbling depends upon the quickness with which it is executed, it is important that the colours, sponges, brushes and water, should be previously disposed in order and at hand, so that any of them can be taken up instantly. Another point to which attention must be directed is the amount of colour to be thrown on, and consequently the amount that each brush should contain. If too much colour (black) is thrown on, the result will be an invisible marble, or, as I once heard it expressed by a workman, “it could not be seen on account of the fog;” if too little, no matter how nicely the marble is formed, it will be weak and feeble.

Marbling on leather is produced by small drops of colouring liquids, drawn, by the flowing of water down an inclined plane, into veins and spread into fantastic forms resembling foliage—hence, often called tree-marble. It is a process that requires great dexterity of hand and perfect coolness and decision, as the least hurry or want of judgment will ruin the most elaborate preparation.

To prepare the book paste-wash it evenly all over, and to further equalize the paste-water, pass the palm of the hand over the board after washing it. When dry, wash over with a solution of salts of tartar two or three times to get the desired tint. When dry, glaire the whole as even as possible, and to diminish the froth that the sponge may |105| occasion, put a few drops of milk into the glaire. Again allow it to dry thoroughly. Put some fresh copperas into a pan, and some solution of salts of tartar into another, and soak each brush in its liquid. Place the book upon the rods, the boards extending over and the book hanging between. Should it be desired to let the marble run from back to foredge the back must be elevated a little, and the rods supporting the boards must be level from end to end. If the marble is to run from head to tail, elevate the ends of the rods nearest to the head of the book. The elevation must be very slight or the water will run off too quickly.

Place a pail of water close at hand, in it a sponge to wash off; and a bunch of birch to throw the water with. A little soda should be added to soften the water. Charge each brush well, and knock out the superfluous colour until a fine spray comes from it. A little oil rubbed in the palm of the hand, and the brush well rubbed into it, will greatly assist the flow of colour from the brush, and also prevent the black colour from frothing. Throw some water over the cover in blotches with the birch, just sufficient to make them unite and flow downwards together. Now sprinkle some black by beating the black brush on a press pin, as evenly and as finely as possible. When sufficient has been thrown on, beat the brown in like manner over the extended boards. When the veins are well struck into the leather, sponge the whole well with clean water. Have no fear in doing this as it will not wash off. Then set the book up to dry.

Tree-marbles.—The cover is to be prepared and sprinkled in the same manner as stated in marbling; the boards, however, must be bent a little, and a little water applied by a sponge in the centre of each board to give the necessary flow of water; when the water is thrown on, it will flow towards the centre or lowest part of the boards, and when the sprinkle is thrown on, a tree, as it were, will be |106| formed. The centre being white forms the stem, and from it branches will be formed by the gradual flow of the streams of water as they run down.

For marbling, every thing must be ready at hand before any water is thrown on, so that the water may not have time to run off before the colour is applied. The water must run at the same time that the spray is falling, or a failure will be the result.

It has been said that marbling was discovered by an accident; that a country bookbinder was sprinkling some books, when a bird, which was hung up in the shop, threw or splashed some water down on his books; the water running, took some of the colour with it and formed veins. Liking the form it gave, the workman improved upon it and thus invented marbling. There is, however, no doubt that it had its origin in Germany.

Tree calf seems to be coming into general use again, and to meet the demand for cheapness, a wood block has been cut resembling as closely as possible one done by the water process, and blocked in black on the calf; but, as might have been expected, it has not found much favour.

Dabs.—This is a process with a sponge, charged with the black or the brown liquid, dabbed on the calf either all over the cover or in successive order. Give the proper preparation to the calf, and be very careful that the ground tint of brown be very even. Take a sponge of an open nature, so that the grain is pleasant to the eye; fill it with black and squeeze out again, now dab it carefully over the calf. Repeat the operation with another sponge charged with brown. Cat’s paw, French dab, and other various named operations all emanate from the sponge. When done properly this has a very good effect, and gives great relief to the eye when placed with a number of other books.

All these marbles and sprinkles require practice, so that |107| a first failure must not be regarded with discouragement. When one’s hand has got into the method with these two or three colours it is astonishing how many different styles may be produced. In all this manipulation a better effect is obtained if a yellow tint be washed over the leather after the sprinkle or marble has been produced. Again, by taking coloured calf and treating it in the same manner as white, some very pleasant effects are brought out; and when the colours are well chosen the result is very good. Take for instance a green calf and marble a tree upon it, or take a light slate colour and dab it all over with black and brown.

In all operations with the copperas care must be taken that it does not get on the clothes, as it leaves an iron stain that cannot be easily got rid of. Keep a bason for each colour, and when done with wash it out with clean water. The same with the sponges: keep them as clean as possible; have a sponge for each colour, and use it only for that colour. A piece of glass to put the sponges on will be of great use, and prevent the work-table or board from catching any of the colour. A damp book or damp paper laid on a board that has been so stained will most probably be damaged, even though it has waste paper between the work-board and book. No amount of washing will ever take away such a stain.

When the book has been coloured, the edges and inside are to be blacked or browned according to taste, or in keeping with the outside. The book is then ready for finishing.

Some very good results may be obtained if the binder, using coloured calf of a light brown, treats it as if it were white calf, marbling with the usual colours; or a yellow calf, splashing it all over with salts of tartar only, the boards being placed in a slanting direction to allow the colour to gently run down. |108|

Or the whole of a cover may be blacked with tartar and copperas, then with a diluted solution of acid it may be sprinkled, this will give grey-white spots on black or slate ground: if, after washing, the cover be sponged over with some colouring liquid, such as analine dyes, the spots will be of the colour used.

I do not give many methods or receipts for producing colours for calf, because, as before stated, the introduction of fancy calf has rendered obsolete the old-fashioned way of boiling and preparing the different woods for making colours, and the above will be found useful for colouring calf in many different ways.