Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-04-12
BOOK BINDING.
DETAILS OF THE WORK OF BIsIDING
A BOOK.
The Center of the Trade-In a First Glass
Bindery-Modern Bindings-Tool-
ing and Lettering Faults to
BE Observed.


New York Paperl
New York is the great center of the book
binding trade for this continent There are
On this island about thirty-five bin ieries,
employing about LIDO men and many
women and boys Many of these binderies
are, however, occupied only with cloth or
paper-covered volumes, or with account
books and other work that is done in great
quantities. In this class of work everything
that is possible is done with machinery, and
wages average from 81 per day to s.. 80. In
good job biniery. where small eiitions or
single volumes are put into fine bindings,
nothing that can be called machine work is
done, and wages average about 81 20 per
day. The girl, for instance, who takes the
sheets as they come from the printer and
collates them--that is, puts them in proper
order for biniing-receives from so to Sl2
week; the tini,her, who does the fine tool
ing, and who often designs his own stamps
and always the figures which are made with
them, earns from $50 to $35 a week.
In first-class bindery book passes
through many hands. After all the sheet,
required in making a book are properly
folded and collated, and the plates, if any,
are pasted into their places, the volume is
handed to the man who makes the saw cut
ess sAAo ooSA bAiou8u ulCh pass tu0 nerves
or coarse strings which hold it together.
These saw cuts are now made, except in the
case of very small volumes, at one time by
number Of small circular saws, which can
be set at any required distance apart
Strings of coarse twine are inserted into
these cuts and the sewing is done by other
girls. The edges are trimmed by q work
man who uses heavy knife moving OBJ.
N fro AnA tharx arl-
man prepares the boards, the beveling, if
any, being done by hand with sharp knife.
Another pastes on the mar bled binding pa
per. Still another makes the paper or mus
lin back and fixes it on to welts Of papers or
leather where. in old-style bindings, the
strings or nerves pass through.
All modern bindings are in the style which
was first introduced by Greek workmen into
Venice, and hence is known as "a la Greaue.,
In this style, the strings being sunk into the
saw-cuts, the back of the book might be alb.
solutely smooth, and the ridges or welts that
are usually found there are made simply for
ornamentation. The long ends of the strings
are next s5ed through the boards for the
sides, and the book il ready to receive it,
coat of leather This is pasted to and turner
over the edges Of both back and sides, and,
with the strings and the lining paper, holds
the book together A great deal, therefore,
depends on its quality, and it is a mistake to
put up valuable book in leather Of a course
fiber like calfskin, or an easily-torn leather
like Russia The tooling and lettering is
done with a great variety of hand-cut
stamps. A well-equipped establishment will
have several thousand dollars worth Of
them The leather Is given a thin coat Of
Claire of egg, which serves as sizing, this
gold leaf is laid on this, and the heated too
is pressed or rolled over it, fixing the gold in
the pattern engraved on it The rest Of ths
gold leaf is brushed or rubbed Off Much
experience is required to produce the sharp,
clear impressions which are the pride of
modern bookbinding
The faults to be observed in the better sort
Of bindings in our booksellers windows are
an inattention to details, inartistic tooling,
and the abuse Of varnish. Varnish should
be sparingly used, if at all Tooling is of no
service whatever, and If it is not to be arts
tic it might well be dispensed with. In
France and Germany, where comparatively
few books are bound at all, being sold in
their paper wrappers, a much higher aver
age of workmanship is maintained than here
Yet it is pretty costly vanity to send books
across the ocean to be bound Some men ex-
pend more money in that manner than 9TH
ers would pay for house rent We should
produce good binders here. The diffusion of
taste and knowledge Of the subject will
make it certain that we shall, especially if
the country perseveres little longer in the
policy of importing the best European work
men here rather than their work