Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1895-07-14
I|0KS AND AUTHORS.
'wPrecious Old Tones May
Be Rehabilitated.
sCRETS OF BOoKBINDERS
4 So Difficult to Discover as One
Might Suppose.
sCRETS OF BOOKBINDERS
pw TO MAKE OLD BOOKS NEW
|rah Dcrnhardts Memoirs VIII
therfiy lie Publish ed--Brander
aIatthews' New Novel.

friends" and other equally afrec-
|nrte terms have been applied to
M. The man who loves books and
II Is able to have them dressed In
highest style of the bdoltmnker's
in costumes, as II were, to please
eye and satisfy the artistic sense,
TO be euvied by all men. The de-
ht one takes In favorite author is
rely augmented by having his works
'ered with a pleasing and elegant
ding. Yet 1t is only the rich who
Indulge in Golden Sanderson's and
fers By Otto zahn, Elegant bindings
aincng the expensive luXuries to
ease and delight the mind"
\. However, the lover Of books is
lbleto indulge in 'crushcd lnvants,"
shotld not overlook the fact that
h Very little trouble he can so
Ech and mend the old tones of his
10y Shelves that they may be made
sentable and able To further with
Ind the "gnawlng tooth of time"
ook-mending Is trade In itself,
Turing taste and some little &C.
iintance with the bookbinders art
the secrets of the craft are not
|lcuit to discover. There are many
bks on the subject of bookbinding
Il makes 1t simple matter for the
10 to put on n new back, and in
SO manuals may be found simple
eirts for cleaning old leather and
erwise rehnbllltating old tones.
book lovers have no doubt noticed
II in NEST cases when an old leather
ferrd volume came into their pos
sion the cover was more or less
BE. that the leather at the point
ERE II must bend when the book Is
ned was in a flimsy condition.
Ia the exception to secure leather
Tered volume printed in the
hteenth century that the cover at
polnt indicated is not so broken
h the volume Is In an unsatisfactory
dition. There is, of course, a reason
this In the old time the flexible
~ was unknown; the leather was
ened solldly to the back OF the
X. r'he result of binding In this
was that all of the wear was
pwn upon the leather at one point
Ice The broken condition of most
The bid books. The new "fexlble
~ obviates this trouble and makes
book more agreeable to hold.
" It is possible for anybody en-
Tad with the smallest amount Of
hanical skill to take off the back
In old tome, replace 1t with 'flex-
back" and leave the old covers,
m 10 artlstlcally fooled, intact.
ping put on the new back, which to
reQuires the use of sharp pocket
Re and little flour paste. the am
pr can take his job to the book
Hers to be lettered. And II the said |
|tlsinder Is at all communicative he |
point out to the ambitious amateur
Ire he can improve upon his work. |
lship II Ia not n difficult matter. |
rebacking OF old books. and will |
ound a most enjoyable pastlme
,uching upon this subject, 1 quote |
Iaragraph from the June number |
he american Bookmnker;
ome kinds OF restoration are In the |
degree reprehehslble, MS, for OK
ble,c The patching together of bits OF |
Ken marble and calling the result |
tatue of Venus restored. The re-
Ter of old paintings Is o valued |
nber of the guild art, provided,
curse, he does not harbor the vain
feit that he can improve on the ar
& Creation. An English contempo-
livery properly wants to know why
|c terrestrlal honor Is not accorded
be rcpairers of rare old books which
Entered from the ravages OF
and the chrelessness Of man. II
ndonbtedly TRUE that great many
he Volumes which delight MS at the
bttions Of old bindings owe their
bitipn possibilities 10 some quiet,
lure worker, whose efforts to efface
1e and repair rents are more a
: Of love than of pecuniary profit.
wesnever see his name. never hear
Thing about the quantity and
Iity of the labor which he gives SO
-udNingly. Our English friend says:
rms eulogizes the housewife who
a mnke old clothes look almost as
as new. Now. In the several print
paper and book exhibitions no Sec
has ever been set apart, even by
Iophiles or iconophiles, to the re-
rrs of damaged books, whose rarity
les such works next to priceless.
fine to bring to the front that
dictlne talent which labors to re-
b avolume TO a pristine greatness,
sh worm eaten, must covered, in
n by shipwreck, stains, pencil
KS. tobacco. etc; in n word TO give
Is and their Illustrations thus in
q fresh virginity and n new ar
, value. During the revolution
|y works with costly bindings and
INT ornamentations were officially
|zured, but thanks to accomplished
I and perfect patience, as exempli-
|py Nialald, Moreau, Michaud, Bis
liable volumes have been saved by
skill in the work. not so much OF
|ration as of restoration
% Old boolbinder Is a thing Of the
Machinery has come In and taken
1pnored place, In the old time
& we're bound entirely by hand in
porious fashion; now hundreds are
"a IN single day where a dozen
turned out In the good days OF
<r1 Mi 70 t1aars Xnt -. y |
btrad that nowadays compare
few books are bound in leather,
Moth Is now used almost exclu-
NJ Tor covering books, and II is a
INHERENT matter putting on n ,
Ter binding-a very laborlous and
a! undertaking. / visited the
RI In Harper Bros. lately and
not but marvel at the wonderful
|'rify OF the workmon. one OF {
Who occupies his whole time r
|nr on the covers on cloth covered I
\. told mo that he was able to put :
|acls and covers on eight hundred Z
I1W IN a single day. How the old
|tmders would stare could they :
n'f man a. work, covering a book
as quickly as q baker turns a
tlfl In the big bindories the work
tNided up that the workmen be- :
|1i duties
an with the machinery books can
ifned out by the thousand at S
~ cost, But IL Is not IN the book
|iif alone that there has been a
* made in the making OF books.
+ may now be had at 4 cost that
4seem extraordinary to the old
men, and the new fast running Z"
|ea nave reduced tho price OF press
9own 10 a trinlng figure, COM
~ what used to be charged. S
NJ nav bindings are chap, they