When the books have been bound they are generally ornamented in gold or in some other way. Although the more elaborate finishing in gold is not done in the ordinary bindery, but is confined to the art binderies, sufficient instruction will be given here for the simpler finishing on back and side. Gold finishing is only learned at the cost of much patience and long, painstaking practice. Although the technical schools teach finishing in a comparatively short time—usually in a few months—only the ground-work can thus be acquired, for it takes years of practice to teach all the technicalities and to make an expert finisher, equal to any calls made upon him. It may also be mentioned here that in most technical schools the work is executed with the very best and most suitable tools and, furthermore, the whole interior arrangement of the workshop is as favourable to the work as can be conceived, and thus all conditions for good work prevail. When young workers come from such an institution to work under strange conditions, where they have to struggle along with unfamiliar and perhaps unsuitable and antiquated tools, bad light, and other drawbacks, it is not to be wondered at if they—at the outset, at least—do not answer all expectations. Similar inconveniences have less effect upon old and experienced workers, as they have the steadiness Gold tooling has evolved from the blind tooling of the 15th century, which up to that time had been the only method of decoration for the exterior of books, excepting where gold or jewels were used. The first application of this method was in drawn lines made by running the heated fillet alongside the rule, and even to-day the fillet, although improved in make, still retains its place as a suitable tool for the decoration of leather backs and sides. Speaking generally, blind tooling is not sufficiently appreciated by finishers, especially in shops doing much hand tooling; to many it is almost unknown, and they would be at a loss if there were any demand for it, and yet it is eminently suitable for simple finishing with slender resources, to obtain a result at once chaste and striking without excessive ornament, and this without a costly assortment of tools and other special appliances. Before proceeding to the details in the work of finishing, a few preliminary observations may be made. Blind tooling is the ornamenting of leather with tools without the application of gold. It might also be correctly described as matt tooling. Its peculiarity and beauty consist in its rendering the tooling on the leather in a darker tone. Blind tooling may be executed upon leathers of any colour, but its full decorative effect is seen only upon light colours, especially upon undyed calf and pig-skin and also upon coloured unpolished calf. To produce the deepest and most uniform tone it is necessary to damp the leather previous to tooling. As it is well that the whole surface to be tooled should retain some moisture The simplest tools are, as already mentioned, the fillets, which may be single, double, or triple, with lines of equal or different thickness. The design is carefully traced with dividers, folder, and rule, and the heated tools run along the rule. Before applying the tool, which should be only moderately heated, the line previously marked out should be damped with a suitable brush. The instant the moisture has been absorbed by the leather, the tool should be applied. There should be no hissing, as the tool should be only lukewarm for the first application. The roll must touch the leather at the beginning without any uncertainty and the line made at once and without stopping, as otherwise a darker shade would appear in places. Figs. 73 and 74—Simple line designs. Each time before using the roll it is passed over a well-greased piece of leather. The impression should appear uniformly brown; if it is lighter at any part, it has not been sufficiently damped; if darker at another place from the beginning, then that part was too damp. Success depends before everything else upon uniform damping of the leather and correct heating of the tool. With ordinary cleanliness and care, complete success is assured in this method of finishing. After the surface of the leather has again become dry in all places, the whole design is again gone over, but this time with the roll a little hotter, at the same time rubbing the roll well with the greased cloth. If there had been unevenness in the depth of colour before, it will hardly be possible to remedy it now, for the light places remain so and the dark ones become even darker. Where blind filleting is done it is usual to do die tooling at the same time. It is advisable—especially for novices—to apply the die without heat to the damp leather, then to damp specially and apply the die lukewarm as in filleting. Tooling with dies is essentially different from filleting in the method of execution. The fillet polishes whilst running on, the die remains on the one place, and yet every part must receive an equally good impression. In order to secure a good impression from a die it is necessary to apply it promptly, and press without hesitating as to where to begin. To ensure all parts of the tool being well impressed, its surface is slightly curved lengthwise, and according to this curve the die must be rocked to and fro whilst impressing. If too much time is wasted before the die is applied the impression will turn out lighter. By allowing the heated die to remain long on the surface of the leather, the latter loses its moisture at that place and the die could not produce any further deepening of the colour. Such places must be again damped and tooled until a uniform tone is attained. Care must be taken that this repetition does not produce "doubling," that is, a blurred appearance of the design, and also that it does not lead to indistinctness of outline. Blind tooling upon light leathers is to-day called upon to satisfy the needs of the less wealthy just as it was 300 years ago, for in such a style of decoration the utmost durability and moderate cost are combined, and its very simplicity enhances its beauty. Fig. 75—Half-calf extra tooled in blind. Fig. 76—Leather binding with simple design in blind. Now for the hand finishing. It is first of all necessary that we should be able to letter straight, at first upon a board. For the tooling of long straight lines, dotted lines, or other style of lines upon the sides, rolls are required, upon the circumference of which the design is engraved, whilst for tooling upon the back the so-called fillets are generally used, which likewise are used only for lines or patterns. Besides, certain kinds of ornaments are here printed with dies—the rows of letters with the type-holder in which these are set. Fig. 77—Simple gold tooling on sides. Lines are made along the sides and at corners of the boards, especially on paper-covered boards; this is called "running a line up" or "filleting." The line to be gilded is clearly marked with a sharp folder, picked out with glair, and the gold, which is taken up on the roll, is printed in. Fig. 78—Tooled cover. The gold leaf is cut on the cushion into narrow strips about 1 cm. wide, and the warm (each time wiped clean) and slightly greased roll is lightly passed over it so that the strip of gold adheres to the circumference of the roll, and then rolled This is now gone over with a wool rag (or gold rag), and only the printed line is left; the surplus gold remains in the rag. Fig. 79—Specimen of tooling done in the DÜsseldorf Technical School. Near the finishing stove should stand—as also for blind tooling—a shallow saucer containing water and also a common brush similar to those sold with bottles of gum. A drop of water is thrown from this brush on to the hot tool in order to test its heat. Cloth is printed with fairly hot tools; they should hiss a little when tested. Goat-skin requires a heat almost sufficient to produce hissing, whilst hissing Fig. 80—Leather binding by Oswald Kob, Bozen. A line around a cover is marked out correctly with dividers and folder, picked out with size, and printed in gold in the same way. The rolls have a notch, which is for starting and ending at the corners; these must always be joined exactly. Rolls for two or more lines must print the corners perfectly diagonal, and for this purpose such rolls are cut so as to print a true diagonal corner; one corner being made for the beginning and the other for the end. Of course it is impossible to print long lines with only one revolution of the roll. The roll is run along the line from starting point until Fig. 81—Cover with laurel motive done in the DÜsseldorf Technical School. For single lines, the gold is generally taken up on the previously Places where the gold did not stick or which look gritty must be sized afresh and once more tooled. The beginner generally finds that the gold does not stick at the point where he begins, a sure sign that he hesitated too long on commencing. It has already been said that white of egg is used for making the gold adhere, and there are, indeed, very few materials requiring any other treatment, yet we know of a number of cases where white of egg alone is insufficient to fulfil this purpose—not, indeed, because it is unsuitable, but because the quality of the leather is such that the white of egg would be absorbed too quickly (calf, tanned sheep) or that it would take badly and unequally. Just as certain kinds of leather are difficult to treat, so also are old, long-stocked skins. If the finisher knows that such a piece of leather lies before him, he ought to rub it down on the raw side with best olive oil; it will thus receive a substitute for the lost natural fatty matter and become more supple. This oiling, of course, is only practicable with dark leathers, as light leathers nearly always become darker. A skin so treated should be rolled up and laid aside for a few days. At any rate, such a defective leather is improved by a previous washing with size, no matter whether it be made from vellum, gelatine, or glue. It must not, however, be made from the commonest kinds of glue, as these make the leather dull. Vellum cuttings, or gelatine, are soaked overnight in water sufficient to cover, and next day dissolved in a sort of glue-pot. This sizing must be used very thin and should not be quite cold. In using ordinary glue, two drops of medium Many finishers prefer thin paste water as a size, with which they coat the whole surface; personally, however, I would only recommend it for unpolished calf—but here there is a real necessity for it. In this case it is liberally laid on in large sweeps with a sponge—not new, and free from grit—and then well rubbed into the pores of the leather with the ball of the hand. The surplus is quickly washed off with clean water. Large surfaces left plain are also washed with gum tragacanth, because this sizing leaves no lines behind. About 10 grammes of tragacanth to 1/4 litre water are soaked in a vessel, and after swelling it is well stirred. This solution is also laid on with a sponge, but is not rubbed in, neither is it subsequently washed off. These two methods of sizing will be found sufficient to meet all cases. There are certain materials that do not allow the use of a liquid sizing, particularly silk and velvet. The latter is no longer finished by hand, and even blocking velvet is now considered bad style. For gold tooling on such materials gilding powder is used; it is to be had either white or yellow, but for hand tooling the white only is required. Although no exact rules can be given for determining the temperature of the tools used upon the various materials, yet we must try to give a general rule for each kind. We will use the following terms to distinguish the different degrees of heat: Lukewarm, i.e., not the slightest hissing when tested; medium, i.e., just on the border of hissing; hot, slightly hissing. In the following group the method of sizing is repeated, and a scheme for the approximately exact temperature of the tools is given. Cloth, goat-skin, and marbled leather (without previous sizing, white of egg): medium heat. Sheep-skin and lamb-skin (glue size, white of egg): medium heat. Calf (white of egg): hot. Morocco goat (without sizing, white of egg): medium heat. Morocco, Levant morocco, crushed morocco (glue size—painted in, white of egg): lukewarm. Pig-skin, Russia, seal (without sizing, white of egg): lukewarm. Mention has already been made of a wash of paste water for matt calf. As a rule, the whole surface is washed with this preparation, as it is thereby rendered less liable to finger marks. In the very best shops there is still another method. The leather is washed down with tragacanth and the previously impressed design picked out with white of egg and quickly tooled with tools medium to hot. Vellum requires a special treatment. On the day before it is to be finished in gold it is washed with alum solution and, for gold tooling, sized with undiluted white of egg and tooled lukewarm. When tooling is done with powder it is dusted on by means of a powder-box, over which is stretched some thin material, and tooled lukewarm. The great convenience in the use of powder induces many binders to adopt it for leather and cloth also. This practice is objectionable, and the conscientious finisher will always avoid it. It may be excused when a name has to be printed on a Prayer-book or similar article in a hurry, or when an article is already varnished, as powder in such a case is very convenient and satisfactory, but under any other conditions it is a sign of incompetence. Tooling upon powder on leather looks very gritty and unsightly after having undergone many changes of temperature, as the latter greatly affects this material. Its brightness vanishes It must still be observed that tooling with lukewarm tools must be done slowly, and with hot tools quickly. Nearly all inexperienced finishers use too hot tools. So far, we have dealt with the preparation for finishing and tooling with a roll. Besides this tool there are fillets, gouges, and dies, all nearly the same, being dies, and only differing in shape. Nearly all beginners are unreasonably afraid to use the Every single gouge of the complete set (it should contain at least 20 pieces) forms the quarter of a circle. The gouges are chosen according to the design, so that the tools placed thereon cover the outlined design exactly, and the tool numbers are noted on the designs so that they may be quickly and surely picked up when required for use. The tyro is apt to select sizes too large and to print the curve sloping instead of perpendicular; this must be guarded against. Double gouges are not easily used in the same way, as the joinings cannot be concealed; they may be used for making first outlines, which must be finished with single curves. Fig. 83—Simple gold tooling on squares. Faulty places must be done over and over again until the whole is perfect and brilliant and all the gold adhering. Fillets are nothing more than long narrow dies of either simple or ornamental lines. It is the practice of the old school to widen the impression of narrow fillets by continuous rocking of the hand to right and left, as they are fond of doing when lettering with a type-holder. This practice is fundamentally wrong. Work finished in this way will never show the quiet and uniform brilliance in the gold to be seen in work where the movement was only in the direction of the dies and fillets. Besides tooling the front sides, the inside edges or squares are generally ornamented in extra work. A simple but very effective decoration for the edge consists of a line close to the edge Fig. 84—Design in gold for squares. Tools by F. Clement, Leipzig. Figs. 85 and 86—Two designs in gold for squares. With the help of rolls and dies, even richer decoration may be produced, and really artistic ornament designed and executed on the inside as well as on the outside cover. Such work, however, does not come within the limits of this treatise. We must be satisfied with giving a few illustrations of the less elaborate designs. Rolls are very often used in finishing the edges, so as to fill up at once the whole width of the space, and about this we must say a few words. Rolls with a Figs. 87, 88, and 89—Three simple backs. T, d, B = Title; N, T = Sub Title. Gold tooling on the back is more difficult on account of its convexity. For this work the volume is placed in a little wooden press which finds a place upon the bench, or in a special contrivance which can be screwed to the bench. To ensure good results in tooling the back, it is necessary that the work to be done should be accurately marked out beforehand. The bands are measured out by means of the dividers if they do not already show as raised bands. With a pointed folder draw this traced design accurately upon a strip of cardboard. Blind lines are made upon cloth before the latter has become quite dry; in other cases tool the first impression hot and vigorously, pick out the impression with white of egg, and then tool with lukewarm fillets. In making lines, the fillets may be drawn to and fro, whereby a great brilliancy will be produced. Gold lines or ornamental fillets are picked out with white of egg and then tooled in gold. For simple lines the gold is taken up from the cushion; for ornamental fillets the gold is carried to the back. Lettering the back is an art in itself as regards the arrangement of the lines, but besides this it requires considerable practical experience. The letters are composed and screwed up in the type-holder for printing. The type-holder, with the letters, must never be placed over the heating stove, for in Germany letters made of lead are still most generally used, and these would melt very quickly if placed over the stove. Moreover, the letters should be screwed up just tight enough to prevent their falling out. The heat expands them and they are then locked quite firmly enough in the type-holder. In arranging the letters the following general rules should be observed:—
Figs. 91, 92, 93, and 94—Four backs tooled in the DÜsseldorf Technical School. As regards the length of line and choice of types, the following should be observed:—
Fig. 95—Group of backs tooled in Carlsruhe Technical School. Figs. 96 and 97—Two richly decorated insides done in the DÜsseldorf Technical School. 2.—The oftener a short conjunction or article (for, the, and, or, &c.) is placed between the lines, the more effective will the title be; such words must be set in smaller type. 3.—Two lines of equal length should not come together; long and short alternating as much as possible. 4.—The author's name is set in type a little smaller than the principal catch-word. Figs. 98, 99, 100, and 101—Four richly tooled backs. 5.—The lettering is most effective when the type is selected and arranged so that it rises in size towards the middle line and then decreases. 6.—Unnecessary length tends to indistinctness; the best title tells what the book is in very few words, and should be easily read at a little distance. Fig. 102—Rich half-calf extra binding. It is impossible to mark out the whole of the title with the dividers unless a specimen copy is at hand from which the spaces can be measured. The best guide is the eye. The distance between the lines should be equal; a plain line is reckoned as a line of type and must not be placed at half the distance between the lines. If a line with letters having long upstrokes (literature, hostile, latter, &c.) follows one without long downstrokes (never, miner, memoir, &c.) the lines must come a little closer than when a line having long downstrokes (poppy, Ganges, &c.) comes over one having long upstrokes. In this respect the binder is in a more difficult position than the printer, as the latter need give no attention to this, his title never being so cramped into little space. The effectiveness of a leather back can be considerably heightened by evenly smoothing and polishing the title panel with a burnisher. Such a back with the title panel enclosed within a square with only a fine double line at the head and tail and also a fine line close to the head is perhaps the best that an ordinary bookbindery can produce. It is essential, however, that every detail should be faultlessly executed, especially the title. Tooling a square is frequently done. The beginner should always use the roll for this, although tool makers produce line pieces for the work. It is easier to print straight with the roll than with the line pieces, which require skill to use. Special attention should be given to joinings at corners, so that neither gaps nor overlapping are seen. For the rest we have given a number of different designs of backs (pp. 149, 150, 151) as well as a few richly tooled half-calf bindings, and also two specimens of highly ornamented insides (p. 150). Figs. 103 and 104—Tooling on heads. The head and tail and edges are often decorated in higher class work. Of course the style of finishing is very limited on account of the smallness of the surface. Fillets and rolls are generally used for this work, being worked on The accompanying illustrations give suggestions for the gilding of edges. Figs. 105, 106, and 107—Tooling on the edges of the boards. Fig. 108—Motive executed in the DÜsseldorf Technical School. Lining is done on almost all books. For this the "jigger" is used. It is heated so that it hisses slightly, and with one quick and sure movement is drawn along the straight edge. Many of the more costly books take a case to protect them from injury. For trade purposes this is simply cut from plain boards and remains uncovered. Fig. 109—Case to protect book. The parts A overlap and are either pasted together or wired with the machine. Fig. 110—Cut-out case. Similar cases of thinner boards—but covered—are made for hymn and prayer books. They are always pasted, covered with a dark pressed paper; and the edge at the centre is cut with a gouge as seen in the adjoining illustration (Fig. 110). Hymn and prayer books may at times have a cover; this Covers made in case form entail more work (Fig. 112). The centre piece has a joint at each side; this part is, therefore, covered with cloth, which extends over the parts B and C, all the rest being covered with dark pressed paper. |