Page:The Art of Bookbinding, Zaehnsdorf, 1890.djvu/69

Rh size of the book and folding it, it is cut to the size of the book and pasted all over. It will be better if the marble paper be pasted and the white put on and well rubbed down, and then the whole laid between mill-boards to dry. A piece of waste or brown paper should be slightly fastened at the back over the whole, (turning the cloth down on the book) to keep it clean and prevent it from getting damaged.

The strongest manner is to overcast the ends and cloth joint to the first and last section of the book, as it is then almost impossible either for the cloth or ends to pull away from the book.

If, however, the cloth joint is to be put on after the book is covered, the flys and ends are only edged on with paste to the book just sufficient to hold them while it is being bound; and when the book is to be pasted down, the ends are lifted from the book by placing a thin folding-stick between the ends and book and running it along, when they will come away quite easily. The cloth is then cut and folded as before and fastened on, and the ends and flys properly pasted in the back.

Morocco joints are usually put in after the book is covered, but I prefer that if joints of any kind are to go in the book they should be put in at the same time as the ends. Take great care that the ends are quite dry after being made before attaching them, or the dampness will affect the beginning and end of the book and cause the first few leaves to wrinkle.

When the ends are quite dry the slips should be unravelled and scraped, a bodkin being used for the unravelling, and the back of a knife for the scraping. The object of this is, that they may with greater ease be passed through the holes in the mill-board, and the bulk of the cord be more evenly distributed and beaten down, so as not to be seen after the book has been covered.