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668 



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-bid- and arranged in ppoper order, they are beaten on a 

 '" stone with a heavy hammer, to make them solid and 

 ' V"* smooth, and then they are pressed. After this pre- 

 paration, they are sewed in a sewing press, upon 

 cords or packthreads called bands, which are kept at 

 a proper distance from each other, by drawing a 

 thread through the middle of each sheet, and turning 

 it round each band, beginning with the first and pro- 

 ceeding to the last. The number of bands is gene- 

 rally six for folios, and five for quartos, or any small- 

 er size. The backs are now glued, and the ends of 

 the bands are opened, and scraped with a knife, that 

 the pasteboard sides may be more conveniently fixed ; 

 after which the back is turned with a hammer, the 

 book being fixed in a press between boards, called 

 backing boards, in order to make a groove for admit- 

 ting the pasteboard sides. When these sides are ap- 

 plied, holes are made in them for drawing the bands 

 through ; the superfluous ends are cut oft, and the 

 parts are hammered smooth. The book is next press- 

 ed for cutting ; which is done by a particular ma- 

 chine called the plough, to which is attached a knife. 

 It is then put into a press called the cutting press, 

 betwixt two boards, one of which lies even with the 

 press, for the knife to run upon ; and the other above, 

 for the knife to cut against. After this, the paste- 

 boards are cut square with a pair of iron shears; and, 

 last of all, the colours are sprinkled on the edges of 

 the leaves with a brush made of hog's bristles ; the 

 brush being held in one hand, and the hair moved 

 with the other. 



Different kinds of binding are distinguished by 

 different names, such as law binding, marble binding, 

 French binding, Dutch binding, &c. In Dutch bind- 

 ing, the backs arc of vellum. In French binding, a 

 slip of parchment is applied over the back between 

 each band, and the ends arc pasted on the inside of 

 each pasteboard. This indorsing, as it is called, is 

 peculiar to the French binders ; wha are enjoined, 

 by special ordonnance, to back their books with 

 parchment. The parchment is applied in the press, 

 after the back has been grated to make the paste 

 take hold. The Italians still bind in a coarse thick 

 paper, and this they call binding alia rustica. It is 

 c xtremely inconvenient, as it is liable to wear without 

 particular care. 



- A patent was obtained in 1799, by Messrs John 

 and Joseph Williams, stationers in London, for an 

 improved method of binding books of every descrip- 

 tion. The improvement consists of a back, in any 

 curved form, turned a little at the edges, and made 

 of iron, steel, copper, brass, tin, or of ivory, bone, 

 wood, vellum, or in short of any material of sufficient 

 firmness. This back is put on the book before it is 

 bound, so as just to cover without pressing the edges ; 

 and the advantage of it is, that it prevents the book, 

 when opened, from spreading on either side, and 

 causes it to rise in any part to nearly a level surface. 

 In this method of binding, the sheets are prepared in 

 the usual manner, then sewed on vellum slips, glued, 

 cut, clothed, and boarded, or half boarded ; the firm 

 back is then fastened to the sides by vellum drawn 

 through holes, or secured by inclosing it in vellum 

 or ferret wrappers, or other materials pasted down 

 upon the boards, or drawn through them. 



A patent was likewise obtained in 1 800, by Mr 



Ebenezcr Palmer, a London stationer, for an impro- Book-bind 

 ved way of binding books, particularly merchants ,n 8- 

 account books. This improvement has been describ- *-" v 

 ed as follows : Let several small bars of metal be pro- 

 vided about the thickness of a shilling or more, ac- 

 cording to the size and thickness of the book j the 

 length of each bar being from half an inch to several 

 inches long, in proportion to the strength required in 

 the back of the book. At each end of every bar let 

 a pivot be made of different lengths, to correspond to 

 the thickness of two links which they are to receive. 

 Each link must be made in an oval form, and contain 

 two holes proportioned to the size of the pivots ; 

 these links to be of the same metal as the hinge ; and 

 each of them nearly equal in length to the width of 

 two bars. The links are then to be rivetted on the 

 pivots, each pivot receiving two of them, and thus 

 holding the hinge together, on the principle of a 

 link-chain or hinge. There must be two holes or 

 more of different sizes, as may be required, on each 

 bar of the hinge or chain ; by means of these holes, 

 each section of the book is strongly fastened to the 

 hinge, which operates with the back of the book, 

 when bound, in such a manner as to make the differ- 

 ent sections on a parallel with each other, and thus 

 admit writing without inconvenience on the ruled 

 lines, close to the back. 



The leather used in covering books is prepared 

 and applied as follows : Being first moistened in wa- 

 ter, it is cut to the size of the book, and the thick- 

 ness of the edge is pared off on a marble stone. It 

 is next smeared over with paste, made of wheat flour ; 

 stretched over the pasteboard on the outside, and 

 doubled over the edges within. The book is then 

 corded, that is, bound firmly betwixt two boards, to 

 make the cover stick strongly to the pasteboard and 

 the back ; on the exact performance of which, the 

 neatness of the book in a great measure depends. The 

 back is then warmed at the fire to soften the glue, 

 and the leather is rubbed down with a bodkin or 

 folding stick, to set and fix it close to the back of 

 the book. It is now set to dry, and when dry the 

 boards are removed ; the book is then washed or 

 sprinkled over with a little paste and water, the edges 

 and squares blacked with ink, and then sprinkled fine 

 with a brush, by striking it against the hand, or a 

 stick ; or with large spots, by being mixed with 

 vitriol, which is called marbling. Two blank leaves 

 are then pasted down to the cover, and the leaves, 

 when dry, are burnished in the press, and the cover 

 rolled on the edges. The cover is then glazed twice 

 with the white of an egg ; then filleted, and last of all 

 polished by passing a hot iron over the glazed colour. 

 For farther information on book-binding, see Dudin, 

 Art du relieur doreur de litres. Encyclopedic Metho- 

 dit/ue, art. Relieur. Williams's Patent for Bool- 

 binding, in the Repertory of Arts, vol. xiv. p. 89. 

 Palmer's Patent for binding Books with Hinges of' 

 Metal, in the Repertory of Arts, vol. xiv. p. 305 ; 

 and Hardy's new Cutting Press for Bookbinders, in 

 the Transactions of the Society for the Encourage- 

 ment of Arts, &c. vol. xxiv. p. 116. (k) 



BOOK. Cases. An account of a new and im- 

 proved bolt for book-cases, invented by Mr Herbert, 

 will be found in the Transactions of the. Society for 

 the Encouragement of Arts, vol. xxiii. p. 313. ("'} 



