Page:The Art of Bookbinding, Zaehnsdorf, 1890.djvu/198

158 of a little alum, is all that is required. An important thing is to know the different kinds of stains when looking through the book; there may be many in one book, each from a different cause. In such a case it will be best to go for the majority, and to use the bath that will move them. Often the one bath is sufficient, but should there be any stains that are not touched, these leaves must be treated again.

When there are stains of different character in the one book, such as oil stains on a few leaves, and, say, coffee stains in other parts, the oil must be first removed; the one bath will not touch both stains. Often when the bath is used wrongly it will fix the stain in the paper, and not remove it, the chemical used acting as a mordant. It is impossible for me to describe the various stains, the intelligence of the workman must be brought to bear on the subject; and I advise a small memo, book be used to jot down the difficulties that may occur from time to time, and so to act as a guide for future work; to the use of such a book I am enabled to lay before my readers the methods of working with the various receipts collected in France and Germany, and used by me in my business. To wash a book it is absolutely necessary to pull it to pieces. Should there be much glue on the back, and difficulty arise in the pulling, the book may be treated as given in Chapter II.: or sections of six or eight sheets may be left together; the hot water and soaking to which the book will be subjected in the washing will dissolve the glue or paste that may be on the back, and the sheets will readily part whilst in the solution. Washing must be conducted with great care; the handling of the wet sheets will demand the most delicate touch, for one can reasonably understand that paper left in water for twelve or more hours is likely to be very tender. In nearly every case when a book has been washed it will be found necessary to size it: the size