Arizona republican., 1922-06-14
BY Frederic J. Haskin


WASHINGTON, d. c., June IL
Rookbinding standards are changing
The old belief that leather is the
only worthy and durable binding for
a good book is now almost discount
ed. Libraries no longer add regularly
to their rows of old volumes bound
in aristocratic red and brown leath-
err Buckram, utilitarian and unro-
mantle, is supplanting morocco and
calf.
The library of congress, which binds
10000 volumes a year for it's own
shelves, says that this is the natural
development of our large scale of
civilization. When leather was pre-
pared by hand by European crafts
men it was undoubtedly material
of great lasting qualities. But now
factory methods prevail and leather
is efficiently tanned with acids. This
process does not affect shoes, purses,
and other articles that are expected
to last only a few years at most. But
when it comes to a valuable book
that counts its lifetime by decades
and centuries, an acid tanned leather
is in for an endurance test that 1t
cannot be expected to stand.
This development has contributed
to the rise of buckram. This mate
rial is said to outlast the modern
acid tanned leather, and 1t is even
contended that it will wear longer
than the old hand prepared acid free
feathers. 1t viii be some time before
this point is settled, because buck
ram has been in use only about 25
years, and fine grade of old leath-
er has been known to stand more
than two centuries of wear.
Enf. few wears the Hhra1.v nf con
gress has been able to get acid free
leather for some of it's valuable books
Strangely enough, it is not the latest
magic of science which is making thiA
possible. The leather is obtained from
savages of Africa who prepare the
skins of the Nigar goat by some
crude native process.
This leather is III demand for old
and heavy books. Buckram, however,
is being generally used to bind even
important collections of documents
in the library of congress. A trip
through the stacks in the manuscript
division shows long series of volumes
encased in olive green, brown or
gray buckra mowers, with panels OF
leather of the same color decorating
the backs and forming a dark back
ground for the gold lettering of the
titles.
Library Binds Books
This library, with the country S
largest collection of books to keep In
order, attempts to solve most of its
own bookbinding and repairing ques-
ttons. Old volumes, cracking with age
and new paper covered additions to
the shelves are bound in the big Ii
brary building by a force of work
ers detailed from the government
printing office.
Few visitors know of the existence
of the library's book bindery, hidden
away in the basement in long rooms
opening off red and white corridor.
Here 20 people work at an endless
job of bookbinding. There are nearly
100000 books in the governments $
library and about 100000 new books
and pamphlets come in every year.
Many of the new works have only
flimsy paper covers, and all OF these
must be either put in envelopes or
serviceably bound. Then there are 150
volumes of newspapers to be collect
ed in huge tones every month, and
besides all this there is a constant
stream of worn books to be re-
paired.
The bookbindery merely tries to
keep from being swamped. 1t cannot
SNS(OAa1PAASiA alNelA eLli lIiS WIN -
would like to do if appropriations per-
mitted. Some year the superintend-
ent of the division hopes to have
sufficiently large appropriation SO that
he can conduct a grand overhauling
and see that every book on the
shelves is in first class condition. But
that is only one Of the castles in the
air which government chiefs and
supervisors like to build. There is
scant prospect of any extra sized ap-
preparations from congress for patch
ing up books that are unobtrusiyely
disintegrating on library shelves.
The binders in the library shop do
thorough work. Cover boards are
laced into each volume, making the
binding part of the book and not
merely a glued on covering. The
bindings in heavy books are rein
forced with cloth joint.
The library workers can replace
a cheap, worn out cover by du-
rable one, but they are practically
helpless before the inferior grades
of paper on which the modern books
are printed. Some of the popular
novels 60 to pieces like the zone hoss
shay" of Holmes poem. Not only do
the covers wear out but the paper
edges tear, and the threads cut out
through the paper where the book is
sewed together. Books of this grade
and popularity have a short. intense