The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-10-09

80 said the committee IN 49, report
ana every lover ~ hooks determine
forthwith To- hani~h gas from his lih; airy
Excellent But the committee made
anothe experiment
Instead 81 East lndia leather piece
ri SumaCh tanned leather was treated
to the same thirty day sentence Co con
hnement with gas jets II had compa RI b
lively little effect. A. matter Of fact
the conditions IN the library are only
the wind up " IN" evils to which modern
books are heir
The beginning comes with the seleC
ton II animals Tor hides For instance
upland sheep FURNISH better skins for
u-a IN bindings than tho lowlsnd breeds
10. The -kinS of old animals are too
weak those NJ very Young animals not
mature enough.
F,KSkin. which - one ~ she most dura-
bla feathers now IN use. i supplied from
southern Europe. China aIni 81 her East
ern countries. his county has pTac-
tcallv unlimited -Ipply 81 these skins
aud ought to he sbl. To take first pla 90
IN quality But AZ present that plsce -
aid 20 belong to Scotia nd
Pigrkin and morocco were recon
msnd.d ~ the most durable binding hy
fully -tentha Of the librarians who
replied To the English committee But the
trick which will keep the book piIrchas.
busy - trying To guess whether he j.
buying real morocco or only tamIp..d
appeared from the ken 81 the modern
book world
About slIty years ago ~ occurred 10
some ingenious individual that u would
he an easy thing by means ~ the electro.
plate process to stamp she-p-kIn with
a reproduction - the surface grain ~
morocco and other higher priced feathers
The consequence - that there are many
bindings which look like morocco feel
like morocco. smell enough like morocco
-, hfs
80 laating lik" morocco us q foolish
dream from which on" wakes AZ soon.
The committee saws thAi books bound
in Fast Indian or Persian tanned sheep and
goat skins have shown Etgns ~ decay IN
less than twelve months And " adds
rs belief that no book bound IN these
feathers and exposed on y shelf o sinli gh'
~ gas fumes can be expected 10 last more
than five or SIX years
There IN only one bright spot IN the
situation. that II, 50 far ~ the man Who
hasn't many hooks and who loves them
all ~ CONCERNED The experts unite IN
saving that leather bound book which
= handled frequently lasts better than
an unused volume This ~ course IL
explained Nv the fact that the leather
receives certain amount OF natural oil
from the hands and this tends to supply
what ~ has lost For seldom used books
B,f tins cr,imh ~ comfort j. more than
prit - . gh..d by he verdct that 'obacco
sm0k" - ungue-tIonsbly injurious 20
leather bindings There can he no
doubt declares the relentless com
nlrtee. that ia. great deter Grafton Of
bindings ~ libraries where smoking was
r,"rmitt"d must hav" leon rarity due 20
'kl- cauS" The trouble seems to he due
10 tmmoutA which - an active ingTP-
don't ~ tobacco fumes
Auoth"r experiment showed results
which were somewhat surprising In
order 49, test 'he effects 81 ght various
Specimens - leather were exposed under
glass ~ different colOTs Whu- liRht
through clear glass. produced the great
ZIaS- gaNa very nearly ~ had results
Red gr'.al aud yellow glasses almost en-
tIr"ly projected m" feathers from the
.hec'- 81 exposure A. a cOnsequenC.
u - ad' iS.d that library windows be ~
pal" yellow or olive green glass Nher"ver
th.v ar. "ypus..d 20 direct sunl ght
Almost ",s.TYuOdV ShO has gone into
the SIhI'Dt - ~" decay IL leather bind
IrgS has = violent opinion one way or
the other. concerning tho use 81 pre~srva-
tiv'r NJ of them agree that something
- needed The only question ~ which
something - the best \ good many
I~'. yas"lIn". rIhbing ~ INTO tho leather
WIth q soft cloth or even rubbing the
book Nth tho hand itself vhich has been
creased With vaseline
tine hbiiTian saws he has used furniture
cam. Dhers recommend parRfine war
finish especially intended To- rolored
parts ~ @tsaTic acid EIth ona part ~