The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1884-03-08
BOOKS.
Something in Reference to
Their Origin and Present
Position.

eval with the art Of composing
books, and is another illustration Of
the old adage that "Necessity is the
mother of invention" Naturally
the first thought was TO write
the book, and secondly to devise
some means whereby the different
parts could be held together for fu-
ture use and reference. The books
of the ancients being mostly COM
posed Of wood, slate, horn, plates of
horn and copper, and sometimes the
barks OF trees, one can imagine
there would be somewhat of diff
Guilty to be encountered in devising
means whereby they could be Sc
cured together. 1t is said that the
art probably first consiste d IN fasten-
ing together sheets of wood or metal
by means of hinges, and from this
rude methad the art improved, upon
the introduction Of pspyrus and
parchment, by the sheets being
fastened together at the edges, and
affixed at one end to scroll, around
which they were rolled. Didbin, on
the Authority Of .TrOtzius, asserts
that Pbillatius was the first dis
coverer of substance for making
the sheets adhere together, and that
for this simple Ito us) act the
Athenians erected a statue in his
honor. 1t is also on record that
King Attalus, OF Pergamus, was the
first to order the squaring of books,
and this gave rise to the folding into
|twos and tours, or folios and quartos
after the folding, gathering and
glueing of the book, the covers of
board, leather, or vellum, naturally
followed.
Book binding is an art, it cannot
be ranked among the mechanics;
for while requiring the incest of
mechanical skill, the touch Of the
artist must be ever present, or the
work becomes unsightly and re-
pulsive, and although the ancients
were wise in their day, it Is evident
that they possessed more love for
what We would now term "Vulgar
display" than for neatness and SUBJ
stantiability In their books. The
Cathedral of Milan contains, III its
treasury, the covering OF book
dated prior TO the twelf,h century,
measuring IA inches long and II
inches wide, AID being profusely
decorated with encrusted enamel,
and mounted with polished but I'M
cut precious stones of great value.
This mode of decoration, however,
was foreign to the book binders art,
and was the work of goldsmiths and
enamellers, although We opine it is
safe to say that from this ancient |
idsa of book ornamentalion comes
our present use of gold-leaf for let- |
Jering and finishing.
With the invention of printing
came revolution in the art; books |
multiplied and increased, and i'm
mense reductions in the price of |
them has materially followed. |
France, England and America have |
each contributed toward this i'm
while Germany, where |
printing was first invented, has |
Jagged behind. And even in this
mat ter is shown the characteristics
of the three nations. French books
excel in taste and finish; English |
in solidity and strength; while |
America. (ss indeed in nearly every
thing else) leads the van for speed
in their production, although the
books lack in a measure the good |
characteristics Of the work of the
two former nations.
Like every other art of late years |
the inventors brains have been as
siduously applied to the manufac-
ture of machinery to increase both |
the quickness in which it can be !
tarned out as well as the genel al ap- |
pearance of the work, until the
amount Of the machinery used in |
the manufacture of a single book is
simply astounding. Realizing the
fact that this country demands |
quicker snd-.. better work than it !
has been given ia the past THE
HERALD has lately added to its
bindery many hundreds of dollars
worth Of the latest improved and |
fastest power machinery,and is now |
in q condition to compete with the |
closest calcUlators, and to promise |!
the very best of work at very mod |
crate prices. You are respectfully in
vited 10 submit these statements to |
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