Page:The Art of Bookbinding, Zaehnsdorf, 1890.djvu/202

162 press. The sections are then carefully opened, and hung upon lines or cords stretched across the workshop to dry. When dry, should the paper require it, pass the whole book, section by section, or leaf by leaf, through a size, press, and again hang up to dry. When dry, it will be ready for rebinding. It may happen that only a single leaf is stained; do not cut this out as is usually done, but wet a piece of fine string, which lay on the leaf as far in the back as possible; close the book and allow to remain a few minutes; the leaf may then be readily drawn out, the moisture of the string having made the paper soft where it was placed. It may then be cleaned, and when dry and pressed, replaced.

Damp stains may be treated as for water stains, but, as a rule, a book damaged by damp has little or no chance of being made good again. A book so damaged can only be strengthened by re-sizing or some artificial means. To re-size leaves that cannot be plunged into the solution, the sizing may be done with a soft brush. Place the leaf on a piece of glass or marble, and use the brush to the leaf as one would do in pasting; when sized, lift the leaf up very gently and lay it out on paper to dry; when dry, the reverse side is treated in like manner; or a thin paper of a transparent character may be pasted over the pages, either on one or both sides.

Mud.—Luckily a book stained with mud is not of frequent occurrence. Mud seems to be a combination of all that is objectionable, generally it is a mixture of iron and grease. Wash the leaf well in cold water, then in a weak solution of muriatic acid, after which, plunge in a weak solution of chloride of lime. Rinse well, dry, and size. Sometimes it will be necessary to wash the leaf with soap water. Make a soap solution, and gently go over the whole sheet with a soft brush, a shaving brush for instance; this may be done by laying the leaf on a slab of glass: use great care with