board sheet orpastedown
book block ortext block
F O L I O S
The word “folio,” from the Latin word for “fold,” is com- monly used in libraries to signify a large book. The term originally meant that the pages of the book had been
printed on sheets that were folded just once (fig. 5-2).
Figures 5-3A and 5-3B show both sides of a folio layout.
These were usually large books, and the term eventually came to refer to any large volume.
Fig. 5-3A
Fig. 5-3B Fig. 5-2 The folded sheet: a folio
BOOK CONSERVATION TECHNIQUES
Q U A RT O S
Figures 5-4A and 5-4B show both sides of a quarto lay- out, in which the sheet is folded twice, with the folds at right angles, producing four leaves or eight pages (fig. 5-5).
Note that some pages are printed upside down.
Fig. 5-4B
Fig. 5-5
BOOK CONSERVATION TECHNIQUES Fig. 5-4A
5
An octavo format is the result of folding the sheet three times, each fold at right angles to the preceding one, which produces eight leaves or sixteen pages. Booksellers’
catalogs often use the word “octavo” to indicate a book size, about eight to ten inches (20–25 cm) high.
The result of the folding is pairs of leaves, one on either side of the fold at the spine edge or gutter.A pair of folded leaves are said to be “conjugates.”
Each leaf consists of two pages, one in front (the recto) and one in back (the verso). When a book is open, the page on the right is the recto and has an odd page number, and the page on the left is the verso and has an even number.
Occasionally, you may see at the bottom of a page a small letter or number that is not the page number. The marks appear in sequential order, at regular intervals
every few pages. They are printed on the first page of each signature. The term “signature” originally referred to these marks, which were used to help the bookbinder assemble the book in correct order before sewing. Over the course of the twentieth century, the use of signature marks was replaced by graduated marks on the outside of the spine folds of each section. These marks are not visible when the book is bound.
C U T T I N G T H E F O L D S
After the signatures are sewn together, the folds at the top, fore edge, and bottom are cut off, leaving only the fold at the spine edge. The leaves of the book are now free to turn.
In the past, especially in Europe, the folds were not cut off after sewing, leaving this task to the purchaser of the book. The folds were slit with long knives in order to open the pages.
In the event that a book with uncut pages comes to the preservation department, check with the librarian to make sure that the value of the book will not be affected by opening the folds. If so, the librarian should deter- mine the best course of action. Place the book in an enclosure if it needs protection.
To open the pages of a book by hand, select a knife with a long blade with a rounded end. Place the blade in the fold and cut by pushing the blade out against the fold (figs. 5-6 and 5-7). Avoid a sawing motion, since this pro- duces a jagged cut and might tear the pages.
Sewn and Adhesive Bindings
The folded sections are sewn through the inner fold and linked one to the next. This is the meaning of the term
“sewn through the fold.” All books were originally sewn by hand. In the 1860s, machinery for sewing book sec- tions was invented by David Smyth, whose name has become synonymous for machine sewing through the fold. Books sewn through the fold open well.
The other common way of holding pages together is by stab sewingor side sewing.Unsewn, folded book sec- tions or loose single pages, or a combination of the two, are sewn together with thread that goes through the whole book, from front to back, near the binding edge. It is a very quick way of assembling pages and a very strong method. Books that are stab sewn do not open very well, however. Pages often crease and break off against the line of stitching, especially at the front and back. Pamphlets and children’s books are often sewn this way. Side sewing is also used in Japanese and other Asian books, but be- cause the pages are made of very soft, flexible paper, these books open well.
In side stitching,wire staples are used to fasten the leaves together, in a manner similar to side sewing. This is another very strong method that results in limited openabil- ity, in other words, side-stitched books don’t open very well.
“Saddle stitching” refers to holding together a pam- phlet, magazine, or other single section publication by stapling through the fold with wire staples.
Oversewing came into use in the late eighteenth century. It was a very common way of assembling large books with plates because the plates were printed on individual sheets separately from the text, so the books could not be sewn through the folds without special preparation of the plates. In the early twentieth century, over- sewing machines were invented and the method became the stan- dard of library binders until the later part of the century.
Whether by hand or by ma- chine, oversewing involves several steps. The original spine folds of the text pages are sometimes cut off for hand sewing and always for machine oversewing. This converts the sections into single leaves. Any plates or other sepa-
Fig. 5-6
Fig. 5-7
BOOK CONSERVATION TECHNIQUES
BOOK CONSERVATION TECHNIQUES
rately printed items are put in their correct locations and then the whole book is divided into small groups of leaves. Each group is sewn together with a type of over- cast stitch, producing individual sections. These sections are then connected with a complex zigzag stitch.
A good amount of inner margin is lost, between cutting off folds and oversewing. Oversewn (or overcast) books vary in openability. Some large books, with paper in good condition, open very well. But smaller books, especially if printed short grain, are very difficult to open well enough to see the inner margins. The large number of perforations needed for this method also weakens the paper and makes it more likely to break off.
After sewing a book with several sections, either through the fold or oversewn, adhesive is applied to the spine, to shape the spine.
During the last quarter of the twentieth century, new methods of holding pages together were developed to make the process faster. Among them was cleat sewing, also called Smyth-Cleat sewing, which is a combination of machine sewing and gluing. This process integrates the sewing and gluing operations.
Adhesive bindings do away with sewing altogether.
This method of holding pages together was first invented in the nineteenth century, using rubber adhesives (caoutchouc). These adhesives did not age well, and it was not until the development of plastic adhesives in the middle of the twentieth century that adhesive bindings started to become common. Many kinds of adhesives have been used over the last forty years, with varying success.
“Perfect binding” is the name for a type of adhesive binding commonly used by publishers of paperbacks and magazines in the second half of the twentieth century.
Today,double fanand other ingenious adhesive bindings are the norm for library binding and for some types of edition bindings as well. Books with good adhesive bind- ings open well; the leaves do not fall out even after repeated use.
H E A D B A N D S , E N D B A N D S
Originally, headbands were part of the structure of the book, serving to help anchor the boards to the text block.
Now they are a purely decorative element found at the top and bottom of the spine, usually made of a multicol- ored woven cloth tape. Occasionally the term “tailband”
is used to denote the bottom headband. The term
“endband” is gaining in popularity; it is used to denote both the headband and tailband.
B I N D I N G T Y P E S
Originally, a book’s cover was built onto the text block in a continuous series of steps. The boards were fastened to the sewn pages and then the covering material was glued to the boards and to the back of the signatures, resulting in a “tight” back. (See fig. 5-8.) This is the traditional way of binding a book; it is a sturdy method, but a time-con- suming one. With the great explosion of book publishing in the early nineteenth century, a quicker way to get books into the hands of readers was sought. The result was the development ofcase binding.
To make a typical case-bound book, the text block (sometimes referred to as the “book”) is prepared as one operation while the case is being made separately. After the pages are sewn, the spine of the text block is rounded and backed. “Shoulders” are formed at the front and back of the book when a few of the outer pages bend outward in the backing process. The boards of the cover fit into the space created by the shoulders, when the text block is attached to the cover. Folded endpapers are tipped onto the shoulders of the text block (see fig. 5-43, p. 114), and fabric linings are applied over the spine and hinge area.
Meanwhile, the covers, or case, are made by gluing the covering material, normally cloth, paper, or leather, to pieces of binder’s board of the correct size, with a piece of card stock in the space between the boards to accom- modate the spine of the text block.
Next, the case and the book are connected by gluing the joints of the case to the shoulder area of the text
Fig. 5-8
block. This results in a hollow spine (see fig. 5-9), in con- trast to the tight backs of earlier times when the covering material was glued directly to the back of the sewn sig- natures. Finally, the board sheets are pasted down to the inside of the boards.
Most books made from the mid-nineteenth century to the present have hollow spines and case bindings of some type. The repair techniques in this section are intended for use on such books. If the book seems differ-
ent from the above description, it may be prudent to consult a conservator before proceeding with repairs.
Fig. 5-9
BOOK CONSERVATION TECHNIQUES