an 



BOOKBINDING. 



BOOKKEEPING. 



Ml 



the bonk open freely and evenly, and to prevent it from 



. ; 



There hare bean other recently-patented novelties in book-binding ; 

 but instead of dwelling upon them, we will make a few observations 

 on the condition of the art generally. 



The finest specimens of modern book -binding ever seen in this 

 country were probably those hi the Great Exhibition of 1851. The 

 Report of the Jury on " Paper and Books," noticed the attempts which 

 hare been made to adapt the style of book-binding to the subjects of 

 toe hooka. Those attempts hare in some case* been directed to par- 

 ticular ookmr* of the leather or cloth ; but more generally the style of 

 ornament has borne relation, real or supposed, to the subject-matter 

 treated in the volumes. For example: characteristic emblems or 

 symbols hare been adopted among the gilt or stamped adornments ; 

 and ornaments of Egyptian, Roman, Grecian, Gothic, or Saracenic 

 character hare been used in works relating to the history or geography 

 of those countries. It is generally admitted, however, that our book- 

 binders do not attend much to this subject The Jury gave the 

 following interesting notice of some of the steps whereby the rapid 

 book-binding of modern times has been rendered possible : " Mr. Burn, 

 of Hstton Garden, first introduced rolling-machines to supersede ham- 

 mering. The iron printing prtsees of Hopkinson and others were 

 altered to form arming-presses, by which block-gilding, blind-tooling, 

 and embossing can be effected with accuracy and rapidity. Leather 

 covers, embossed in elaborate and beautiful patterns by means of 

 powerful fly-presses, were introduced by M. Thouvenin, of Paris, about 

 twenty-five [now nearly thirty-five] years ago ; and almost simul- 

 taneously in this country by Messrs. Remnant t Co., and by Mr. De 

 la Rue, who were quickly followed by others. Embossed calico was 

 also introduced about the same period by Mr. De hi Rue. Hydraulic 

 prasvis, instead of the old wooden screw presses; Wilson's cutting- 

 machines, which superseded the old plough ; the cutting-tables with 

 shears, invented by Mr. Warren de la Rue, and now applied to squaring 

 and cutting millboards for book-covers, all these means and con- 

 trivances, indispensable to large establishments, prove that machinery 

 is one of the elements necessary to enable a binder on a large scale to 

 carry on that business successfully.'' 



Before closing this article, it will be desirable to notice briefly 

 some of the points treated in an interesting paper read before 

 the Society of Arts, in February, 1859, by Mr. John Leighton : 'On 

 the Library, Books, and Binding, particularly with regard to their 

 Restoration and Preservation.' Dust and dirt upon books in a library 

 affect the binding in a way that may easily be understood, and needs 

 DO comment Dampness occasions the frequent disfigurement of books, 

 l->tli in the paper and the binding, with spots like iron-moulds, which 

 will ruin the volume if left unremedicd. Dry heat is even worse than 

 damp for the leather of binding. In the library of the Atheuicum 

 Club, the calf and Russia bindings were found some years ago to have 

 suffered so severely, by the effect of a gas-lighted room, that in many 

 cases they crumbled under the touch, the backs fell away, all the oily 

 matter seemed as if dried out of the leather, and a general deteriora- 

 tion was visible. Mr. Faraday, to check the spread of the evil, intro- 

 duced a gas-burner with a chimney for conveying the deleterious fumes 

 to the outer air; but Mr. Leighton expresses an opinion that it is 

 better in all cases to use oil-lamps in a library so far as the books are 

 concerned. In old libraries, the ravages of a peculiar kind of book- 

 worm are well known to bookbinders and bibliopolists. An instance 

 has been recorded where, in a range of books very seldom consulted, 

 twenty-seven adjacent folio volumes were found perforated by a worm- 

 hole, so direct and thorough that a string could be passed through the 

 whole thickness of all the volumes, paper and binding included. 

 Home kinds of leather suffer more than others from insects and worms ; 

 and in hot countries, the paste and glue of ordinary bindings become 

 unfortunate sources of destruction. Mr. Leighton thinks that modern 

 ordinary mill-board, made of well-tarred rope, is as good a material as 

 can be found for the groundwork of book covers ; he makes some 

 uwful comments on the often-suggested use of corrosive sublimate, 

 colocynth, starch, alum, vitriol, salts of ammonia, orpiment, and other 

 substances, as preservatives of books against insect-visitations ; and he 

 hint* that an occasional atmosphere of tobacco-smoke may be useful in 

 this matter. Mr. Leighton made the following observations on the 

 t-hief kinds of leather used in bookbinding : " Many books of the 

 medisrral period are bourn) in vellum and leather, without milll>oards. 

 Formerly a pasteboard was used, made of the rudest materials paper, 

 1.1 vellum, or what not The earliest leather covers were prin- 

 ripally of a rich brown calf, undyed ; and so they remained until the 

 early part of the present century. All the stains then in vogue were 

 imparted to the akin by the bookbinders; who, by the judicious 

 application of them, produced very beautiful natural effect* tree 

 marbles, sponge dab*, sprinkled and spotted patterns innumerable, 

 though not always without injury to the leather, the surface of v In. 1, 

 the sUongei acids were a|it to bum after some years' action. The 

 plain dyes glren to calf hi the whole skins hare tended to supersede 

 the colouring of leather on the volume itself. The old, simple, un- 

 dyed calf was exceedingly good and strong ; being more durable than 

 many of th* fancy-hued hides of the present day, which seem to hare 

 the element* of decay therein before being put on the volume, and 

 which are even afterwards washed by the binder with oxalic acid, 



imparting a delicacy of surface most injurious to the akin. This 

 is clearly evidenced in the binding of law-books, uncoloured calf 

 being always used (which, in combination with tho white edges, is, 

 I believe, intended as typical of the purity of tlie profession); the 

 leather being washed up with spirit to a fictitious whiteness, rendering 

 it in a few years rotten, a* many law libraries will sadly testify. 

 Morocco, the earliest coloured old leather, is decidedly the strongest, 

 richest, and best for the binder's art ; it is surface-dyed goat's skin, and 

 no doubt first came to England on Venetian books, when that Republic 

 was in iU glory. It is the prince of leathers ; having received the 

 greatest and choicest amount of decoration, the most delicate and 

 boldest of hand-tooling. Hog-skin is a nice and durable material for 

 bookbinding, though not much used; it takes blind-tooling admirably. 

 Russia, unless used extremely thick, is a poor and rotten leather ; being 

 little stronger than paper if pared thin, and only to be prized on 

 account of its odour, and pleasant tint of colour. In bookbindings of 

 the present day, leathers are pared and h,-iv,-.l much too thin, especially 

 where strength is most required at the joints, near the head-bands; 

 thU is by no means necessary, if the leather be turned in the entire 

 thickness, space being cut for its reception in the board a plan I have 

 always adopted for heavy books. Vellum is extremely strong and 

 useful to the binder, though from its rigid nature hardly adapted to 

 book-joints at least, a* books are bound or forwarded (as it is termed) 

 at present ; unless it be those of account-books, where all strong 

 materials, from hard writing-paper to horny bands of leather, are 

 most prized. Vellum bookbinding for bankers, &c., is a >I 

 branch of trade, apart from bookbinding projx-r ; in the binding of 

 printed books it is somewhat difficult to get a whole vellum cover t" 

 net well, it being a material better suited to imuioveable parts, as 

 edges, corners, linings, and inlayinga." In a discussion hich followed 

 the reading of Mr. Leighton '* paper, it was stated that the bound 

 books of the London Institution, of the library of the Earl of 

 Tyrconnel at Kilpin, of a room in the ' Times ' office, of the Royal 

 College of Surgeons, of the Literary and Philosophical Soc-i. 

 Newcastle on Tyiie, of the Alfred Club, and of the libraries belonging 

 to other individuals and corporate bodies, had all suffered in the 

 same way as those at the Athentcum Club, by the use of gas-lights 

 or gas-stoves. 



BOOK-KEEPING. Book-keeping by double entry is the art of 

 keeping accounts in a scientific manner. 



So much obscurity surrounds the early history of the art that it is 

 impossible to discover either by whom, or at what period, it was invented. 

 Some are of opinion that it was known in Europe as early as the beginning 

 of the first century, but the passages in the classical authors are incon- 

 clusive on which this opinion is based. Others assert that it has been 

 practised by the Banians of India from time immemorial, and that it 

 was by them communicated to the Venetians in the 15th century; 

 while others again say that the Venetians learned it from the Arabians. 

 However this may be, it is certainly to the Venetians that we are 

 indebted for our knowledge of the art. The earliest known treatise 

 on the subject is that of Lucas de Burgo, which was published in the 

 Italian language in the year 1495, from which circumstance book- 

 keeping by double entry has acquired the designation of the It. Jim 



Italy at thU period the great centre of the world's commerce 

 evidenced its appreciation of the art, by producing several works on tlie 

 subject in quick succession. In the beginning of the Kith century the 

 art was introduced into France ; and in the year 1543 Hugh Oldcastle, 

 a schoolmaster, published the first treatise in this country. 



More than one hundred and fifty works on book-keeping have ln-en 

 pabHabsd in the English language since that l<y Hugh Oldcastle, but 

 the number of those which merit unqualified praise is not large. 

 The earlier works, indeed, were extremely crude and unsatisfactory ; 

 and it was not till the year 1789, when Mr. Benjamin Booth, a mer- 

 chant of intelligence and experience, published his ' Complete System 

 of Book-keeping,' that eoul.l be said to possess a thoroughly 

 practical exposition of the principles of the science. 



The theory of double entry has been repeatedly amulet) both in tlii-, 

 country arid on the continent, and by none more ably than by Mr. 

 Edward T. Jones, an accountant of Bristol, who first attacked it soon 

 after the appearance of the work by Mr. Booth, t" which we hav<- just 

 referred. Mr. Jones's object was two-fold first, to overthrow the Italian 

 system, which he contended was fallacious, and secondly to establish in 

 its stead a system of his own invention, whii-h he represented to be 

 infallible. The method recommended by Mr. Jones is known a the 

 English system of book-keeping. 



Mr. Jones's announcement excited considerable attention in UK 

 mercial world, and resulted in a large subscription being raised for his 

 encouragement. In the year 1798 a (intent was granted to him for his 

 invention. 



The expectations raiivtl by that invention, however, were not 

 fulfilled ; and although Mr. Jones has left us two greatly enlarged 

 and improved editions of his original work, the Italian method 

 has maintained its ground as the favourite method of book-keeping, 

 and is still employed by the first merchants of Europe and America. 



It is much to be regretted that in a country no renowned as this 

 is for its wealth and commerce, book-keeping should not be more 

 generally and intelligently studied. Unfortunately a notion prevails 



