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BOOK IV.

Chapter IV. Bookbinding.

Practical Deductions,

always suit its complexion. Pages venerably yel-
low should not be cased in military morocco, but
in sober brown russia. Glossy hot-pressed paper
looks best in vellum .... The costume should also
be in keeping with subject and .. author. How
absurd to see the works of William Penn in flam-
ing scarlet [it might be captiously retorted that
the only authentic portrait we have of Penn re-
presents him in armour] and George Fox's Jour-
nal in Bishops' purple! Theology should be so-
lemnly gorgeous. History should be ornamented
after the antique or gothic fashion. Works of
Science as plain as is consistent with dignity.
Poetry-simplex munditüs."1

2. An antique and not plainly inappropriate
binding should, if possible, be preserved by repair,
not destroyed by rebinding. If a new coat be in-
dispensable, it should be a careful restoration of
the old one, if that have been at all characteristic.

3. Autographs, MS. notes, former book-plates, should be religiously preserved, whatever may be their apparent value in the eyes of the present keeper of a Library. "Pencil notes upon absorbent paper may be rendered indelible by lightly damping with a soft sponge dipped in warm vellum size or milk, and portions of bibulous paper be made to bear ink after the application of size with a camel's hair brush. Common writing ink may be removed from paper without injury to the type by the application of oxalic acid and lime care 1 Lives of Northern Worthies, iii, 88, note.

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BOOK IV.

Chapter IV.

being taken to wash the leaf thoroughly in water before restoring it to the volume; paper may be Bookbinding. split, where both sides are required separate. In destroying old covers take care to examine their linings, for on some ancient boards are pasted rare leaves, woodcuts, and other matters, of little value in their day but worthy of preservation now."1 These are good cautions from a practical hand.

4. In making contracts for Binding, the scale of prices should invariably refer to sample volumes actually bound by the persons giving tenders; in no other way can it be shewn that apparent saving is not real loss. The besetting sin of "Committees" is to look at present cost without any true estimate of ultimate durability. The cheeseparing economy of this year is apt to be the spendthrift waste of a year to come. The honest tradesman's tender for honest work is too often rejected in favour of a dishonest tradesman's tender for sham performance, at prices which would make honest work, losing work.

5. If gas be used in the rooms containing books, some atmospheric deterioration is (as yet) inevitable. Russia leather suffers most of all from products of gas-combustion. Calf next; morocco least of all.

6. All maps and plates in the books of a Library which is extensively used should be mounted throughout on good calico. The cost of this will vary from a half-penny a plate up to three pence 2 Leighton, Notes on Books and Bindings (Notes and Queries).

BOOK IV.

Chapter IV. Bookbinding.

or more, according to size. But, in the long run, it is money saved. The practice of sticking on little bits of calico at the foldings is a delusion, if the plates are to be frequently opened. Maps and plans should be affixed to blank leaves at the end, so as to throw them quite out of the volume and make them entirely visible during perusal of the text. Guards for folding plates should stand well out from the back of the volume, and the foldings should be well balanced against each other, so as to keep the volume square and compact. Large maps should never be bound in small volumes, but be placed either in a separate case or in a pocket. Oblong plates should always be placed so that the inscriptions read from the bottom of the page to the top. Plate papers hould be thin, highly glazed, and of the full size of the book.

7. In binding pamphlets, separation is most durable, most convenient in use, and most facile for the quick supply to readers. But if this be, from its cost, impracticable, classification should be invariable, and the lettering ample and minute. In a Public Library, the money spent on long but accurate and well-arranged, letterings is time saved to readers; work facilitated for attendants; and credit gained for Librarians. Pamphlet volumes should have blank leaves at either end.

.

8. In binding great collective and serial works the full lettering of contents should for like reasons be invariable. In all cases imprint and date should appear.

BOOK IV.

Chapter IV.

9. The good old practice of registers (or silken strings) should be adhered to, but with discretion. Bookbinding. They are commonly made too long. Encyclopædias, Dictionaries and other works of daily reference should be indexed on the fore-edge, in the manner adopted for Directories.

10. Books with carved bindings or with clasps should be kept in trays, table-cases or drawers, not on shelves, for the sake of their neighbours.

11. The Binding-Book of a Library should be kept so as to register the actual letterings of the books to be bound, their press-marks, and the dates of delivery and return. To allow Binders too little time is an injury to the work; to allow them too much is an injury to Readers. New books should not go to the Binder too quickly. But to secure for fine books fine binding, they should be bound from sheets, if possible.

The following form may be found useful for a Register of Binding:

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CHAPTER V.

PUBLIC ACCESS.

[Ars typographica]...
.... libros cujuscunque fortuna
hominibus largâ manu suppeditans.

De Augmentis Scientiarum, viii.

It has long been a reproach to this Country that, with its immense resources, it has permitted itself to be surpassed by nearly every nation in Europe, with respect to Institutions for developing the scientific and artistic sentiments of the People.

The Athenæum (1852), 542.

BOOK IV.

Chapter V. Public Access.

THE cardinal points by which we are accustomed to judge of the accessibility of Libraries are the exaction, or the non-exaction, of preliminary forms; and the permission, or non-permission, of the loan of books beyond their walls.

These points are not of themselves absolutely conclusive. The treatment of students, when admitted, whether conditionally or without conditions, within a Library, may, by possibility, be far more liberal under the restrictive access than under the free access. The loan of books may be so conducted as to become a public injury instead of a public benefit. Nevertheless, when applied with discretion, 'the facts as to the imposition or non

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