stout flat board bb containing an upright screw s at | through the kettle-stitch of the lower sheet; and each end supporting a top rail r which rises and falls lastly, this lower sheet is secured to the previous sheet by passing the thread round its lower kettlestitch. Two more sheets are then taken, and in this way the sewing is continued with great rapidity. When one length of thread is nearly exhausted, another is taken, and joined to the former by a knot. This kind of sewing is called up and down work, and presents the following arrangement in the sheets of the book,

Fig. 168.

on the screws by means of nuts n n. Attached to this rail are several cords corresponding with the grooves sawed in the back, and these cords are secured by being fastened to brass keys, one of which is shown in Fig. 169, passed through the aperture in the bed of the press, while they are tightened by turning the nuts n n, so as to raise the top rail. The book to be sewed being placed on the board b with the title uppermost, the sewer first takes the fly-leaf or end paper if such there be, or sheet A of the book, and turning it over so that the title page may lie with its face on the board, she Fig. 169. places the grooves in it so as to correspond with the stretched strings or bands. She then passes the left hand into the opening of the sheet, and with the right pushes the needle through the right hand kettle-stitch; the left hand receives the needle and returns it out through the first groove above the stretched string; the right hand draws the needle completely through, and passes it through the same groove below the stretched string; the left nand takes the needle and passes it through the second groove above the string, and the right hand returns it below the second string; and lastly, the left hand returns the needle through the bottom kettle-stitch. The thread is then drawn so as to lie evenly in the angle of the sheet, a small piece being left projecting through the back at the top kettle-stitch. The sewer then takes the second sheet, and turning it over upon the first, inserts the stretched strings into the sawed grooves at the back. She passes the needle through the bottom kettle-stitch, and proceeds as before, passing the needle in and out round the bands, only proceeding up the sheet instead of down. When the needle comes out through the top kettlestitch, the thread is drawn tight and secured by tying it into a knot with the end projecting from the first sheet. These two sheets form a sort of foundation for the subsequent sheets, which require a less elaborate sewing. Two sheets are taken at a time, and the thread is drawn through the grooves of each alternately. Passing the needle through the top kettle-stitch of the lower sheet, then out above the first band; then into the upper sheet below the first band; then out above the second band; then below this band into the lower sheet; then out

the sheets showing two threads and one thread alternately, as the reader will find by examining any boarded book, or a book bound in cloth. When the sewing of one book is completed, the thread is secured at the kettle-stitch, and cut off. A second book is sewed upon the first, upon the same bands, until the press is full. The bands are then loosened by slipping off the keys, and the books are separated from each other by severing the bands, care being taken, for some descriptions of binding, to be noticed hereafter, to leave a sufficient portion of the bands projecting on each side of each book for the purpose of securing the boards.

There are various kinds of sewing, depending on the size of the book and the style of the binding.

cause the book to wear out much faster, (for the | economise labour, the pile, which constantly varies in holes thus made gradually enlarge in size until the size, is made to rest upon a number of boards, which book falls to pieces,) a method of sewing is adopted diminishes the distance between the upper and lower without any grooves, tapes being used instead of beds of the press. There the books are left for strings. The only holes made in the sheets by this some hours to undergo the requisite compression. method are those of the needle, which is passed in and out above and below the tapes, and the sewer forms her own kettle-stitch with the needle. This kind of sewing is shown in Fig. 170. It requires more care than the former to keep the sheets even, and when well done the effect is excellent, for by this plan the book opens flat at any part, the fold of the sheet starting up fully to view when the book is opened.

When the books are folded and sewed, they pass from the female to the male department of the establishment. The first thing that is done is to secure the sewing by brushing a layer of glue over the back of each book, and covering the glue with a shred of paper or coarse thin canvass cut to the size of the back. If the book is to be boarded or bound in cloth, canvass is used of the same length as the back, but about half or three-quarters of an inch wider on each side, the projecting pieces serving to secure the side boards, as will be noticed presently. When the glue

is dry, the book is laid flat between a couple of

boards, and the projecting side and bottom edges are cut off tolerably true with a large knife kept sharp by frequent whetting on a dry stone. The folds of the sheets are not cut through; the only object of this trimming being to give the book a neat appearance. Then comes the operation of rounding the back, which is done by placing the book on its flat surface, and drawing the back on one side, gently tapping it with a broad-faced hammer: the book is then turned over upon its other surface, and the operation repeated, by which means the back is brought into a convex form. Each book is then placed separately between a couple of boards, with the back projecting, and is thus lowered into a screw-press, which is screwed up tight. The workman then, by a succession of blows, applied somewhat obliquely up and down one side of the back, depresses that side, and causes a ridge to project over the board. He then repeats the operation on the other side, by which means the back is depressed at the two sides, and is raised in the middle; a few gentle taps in the middle and some finishing blows at the sides complete the rounding, and its effect is to form the side edges into a concave groove, the concavity of which corresponds with the convexity of the back, and the grooves formed at the two boundary lines of the back allow the boards or side covers of the book to fall in so as to present an even surface at the sides.

The books are now to be placed in thin cases, and the outside fly-leaf being pasted to the boards, the books are built up between wooden boards, the backs of the books outwards, and projecting; and this pile is placed in what is called a standing press, (Fig. 171,) consisting of a well-oiled iron screw working in a nut, and the upper bed of the press is screwed down with great force by means of an iron bar inserted into the inverted head of the screw.

To

Fig. 172. BOARD CUTTING MACHINE. is covered with a horizontal plate, or table, for holding the board. At the inner edge of this table is a holdfast, or bar of metal, extending across the frame, moving on a hinge at the opposite side, and connected by a hinged lever on the near side with a treadle. The lower surface of this bar is furnished with file teeth, for holding the board fast. Just beyond this holdfast is a straight, fixed bar, with a square cutting edge, and by the side of this is a curved bar, or knife, mounted on an axis, and balanced by a weight at the further side and furnished with a handle at the near

a

b

leather pieces cut to the proper size for covering the
book. In order that he may place the leather evenly
in the press, so as to receive the impression in the
exact spot required, the lower die is furnished with a
millboard collar (Fig. 173), so that all he has to do is
to place the leather, face downwards, on the square,
or whatever figure it may be, which is the exact size
of the leather, making the two upper corners of the
leather coincide with the
corners ab of the collar.
This being done, the em-
bosser, who is seated in a
pit before the frame, directs
the man on the floor above
to work the press. This
man swings round the pon-
derous arm, furnished with
two huge balls at its ex-
Fig. 173.
tremities, and by the weight as well as the centri-
fugal force of this arm, the upper bed is jerked down
upon the lower one, and the leather, in an instant,
takes the impression of the die. Every piece of

side. The edge of this curved bar forms, with the | fied with his arrangement, he proceeds to emboss the fixed bar, a pair of shears, for cutting the boards. The gauge being set at the proper distance, the board is placed flat on the table, and its rough edge is first cut off. This is done by sliding the board along until the edge just projects beyond the shears. The man then puts his foot on the treadle, which brings the holdfast down, and secures the board; he next forces the curved blade down against the fixed blade, which cuts the board to a clean, smooth edge. Then, releasing the board, by lifting his foot off the treadle, and raising the knife, he passes the board up to the gauge, which is furnished with an edge or chamfer, and stops its further progress: the board is cut through as before, the piece falling into the bin beneath. In this way the board is cut up into three or four long strips, the other long edge, nearer the left hand, being cut off while it rests on the table. A number of boards being thus cut up, each strip being sufficient for two, three, four, or more boards, the strips are again passed through the shears, and cut to the proper size of the books they are intended to cover. Such is the precision of this machine, that when all the pieces thus cut are piled up and knocked together, they appear to form a solid parallelopipedon, with perfectly sharp edges, in consequence of all the pieces being of the same size.

The cover of the book may be of leather or of cloth; but in either case it is ornamented at the back and sides with a pattern enclosed within a figured or flowered border, with different toolings and devices for the back, and blank borders for the gilt lettering or other ornaments. These are stamped, by means of certain presses, varying in power, with the material to be embossed. The largest press which is used for embossing leather, is a ponderous fly-press, Fig. 174, situated in the cellar of the establishment. It consists of a solid iron frame, resting on a brick foundation, and well secured by iron ties. The lower bed of the press (also of iron) is perforated with two openings, into which a gas-pipe, formed like a fork with two prongs, and connected with a flexible tube, is inserted, for the purpose of heating the lower bed, upon which the metal die containing the pattern is placed, and by this means the die is kept at a tolerably steady high temperature, which is found most favourable for embossing. The dies are formed either of steel or brass, the latter being the more common. The dies are cut or chased by hand; but, for some patterns, consisting of regular curves, they can be more economically turned in the lathe, in which case brass must be used. The counter die, which is attached to the upper bed of the press, is formed by the man who manages the press, by glueing a number of pieces of millboard together, and glueing them to the surface of the upper bed. By swinging the arms of the press round, the lower surface of the millboard is brought down with amazing force upon the metal die, and the softer material takes the impression of the harder. The man then cuts and trims and adjusts the counter die, every now and then taking impressions on paper; and when he is satis

|

leather requires to be passed three times through the press,-once for the back, which is, of course, of a different pattern to the sides, and once for each of the sides. If the two sides are of the same pattern, the man embosses all the leathers on one side,-say the left,-and, in order to save the necessity of turning round and re-adjusting the die, he carries the leathers to the other side of the press, and then works all the right hand sides.

Cloth covers are embossed after the boards are inserted. The cloth which is now consumed in such enormous quantities in bookbinding, is manufactured for the purpose in Manchester, and is sent up to the London dealers in the article, who dye it of various colours, and glaze or calender it, and send it to the binders in rolls or pieces, each forty yards long and thirty-six inches wide. The cloth is cut up to the

proper size of the cover, an extra quantity being | cover the parts intended to be gilt with a thin layer allowed for the overlap within the boards. The cases of ovalbumen or white of egg, called glaire, and then are then made up, with great rapidity, by two men, with a film of leaf-gold. [See GILDING.] The covers one of whom covers the inside with a layer of glue; are then passed to a gold-blocking press, (Fig. 175,) then places two mill-boards in their proper position containing a plate or block, in which are set up the on the cover, so as to form the stiff sides, the space lettering and other ornaments intended to be gilt. between the two depending, of course, on the thick- The letters may either be set up in movable type, or ness of the book. He then turns the cover over, cut out of one solid piece of brass. For the orna and rubs the cloth firmly down with a cloth rubber ments, the latter course is adopted. The block is shaped something like the stone muller used in heated by jets of gas playing in a cavity of the colour-grinding. He then tosses the cover to a man, upper bed, and the cover being carefully introduced who places a strip of paper or canvass along the into a gauged bed, the man moves a handle round, inside of the back between the two boards, and then which brings the heated plate with a gentle and folds down the projecting edges of the cloth over equable pressure down upon the cover, and permathe boards, smoothing them down with the edge of a nently fixes the letters or device. As the covers are flat piece of stick with a blunt point at each end, removed, they are taken by a boy, who wipes off the and then drawing the point of the stick down the superfluous gold with a piece of thick rag, which boundary lines between the back and the sides. The thus gradually absorbs the fragile leaf, and in the two men complete about 100 covers in an hour. course of two or three months this rag is so valuable When the covers thus formed are perfectly dry, that it is sold for perhaps 20s. or 30s. to the gold rethey are embossed and gilt. The ornaments which finer, who burns it in a covered crucible, and thus are simply produced by pressure are called blind- recovers the precious metal. blocking, and when done by hand blind-tooling;

while the gilt ornaments or lettering are called goldblocking or gold-tooling. The machines employed in both descriptions of ornament are called blockingpresses, and they do not greatly differ except in power from the fly-press already described. The ornamental pattern for the back or sides is cut out in a thick plate or block of brass, and is fixed in the upper bed of the press by means of a dove-tail joint. This upper bed is furnished with a cavity containing a gas-pipe with a row of jets for heating the die by conduction of heat from the upper bed. The cloth covers are inserted within metal rules, which serve as a gauge, by a man who sits before the press, while another man swings round with all his strength a long lever, whereby the upper bed is brought down a few inches upon the case in the lower bed, and embosses the impression. When the cases are completed in this way, they are taken to the gilders, who

The covers thus formed are next adjusted to the books, which we left in the standing-press. The covers are secured to the books by glueing the canvass strips which project on each side of the back to the boards, and to conceal this arrangement as well as the uncovered parts of the boards, and also to give a neat finish to the book, some coloured paper called lining paper is glued in. The books are lastly put into the standing-press for a few hours, and may then be said to be finished.

We have thus traced the various processes concerned in binding a cloth-boarded book. They consist of gathering, folding, and sewing the sheets; glueing and rounding the backs; cutting the edges; making, embossing, and gilding the covers; and lastly, securing the covers to the books. In a large establishment, such as Messrs. Remnant's, the whole impression of an octavo work, consisting of 1,000 copies, can be done up in cloth in the course of about six hours; in which case, however, the cloth covers are prepared a day or two before, all the information required for the purpose being the thickness of the book, which is known by stating the number of sheets contained in it.

The title and the style of ornament, colour of the cloth, &c., are also determined. A thousand covers or cases can be prepared in one or two days. The book itself can be folded, stitched, glued, and rounded, the edges trimmed, and the book mounted in cases and pressed, all within six hours. This is indeed an extraordinary example of the power of numbers of skilful workpeople, and the effect of a refined system of division of labour.

The method of binding thus far described applies chiefly to those books which are issued in large numbers, and whether the covers be leather or cloth, there is no very great difference in the methods adopted. In leather bindings, such as in Bibles and Prayer Books, the edges, instead of being trimmed with a knife, as before described, are cut through with a plough, so that there is no necessity for cutting

open the book before reading it. The bookbinder's | by six strings, three on each side, and each board is plough consists of two upright cheeks of wood, cc, (Fig. 176,) connected together by a wooden screw s, and a couple of guides, bb, fixed into one cheek, and moving in square holes in the other. The screw passes through both cheeks, so that by turning it