Books are now printed in large sheets from 4 to 64 pages at a time. In many cases paper is drawn from a roll (as it is in the printing of a newspaper), printed on both sides in large sections of 64 pages, and cut and folded as it leaves the press. These sheets, of several pages each, after being printed, are gathered into a complete book, sometimes by a machine, and are then sewn together by a machine. This machine for sewing is a comparatively recent invention. In most cases sewing done on a machine is not as strong as the old-fashioned hand sewing. The sections, or signatures, or folds of the book, as the several sets of several pages each are called, are caught together only by thread; strings or tapes are not used. This sewing is then reinforced by a piece of cloth, usually thin, cheap muslin, or poor super, which is pasted over the back and allowed to extend a little way down each side. But sewing on a machine can be done with strings added and made very strong.

Covers for books are now made by machines into which are fed pieces of cardboard and a roll of cloth. The machine cuts the cloth into the proper size, pastes it and folds it over the boards into a cover, leaving a loose place between the two boards to be filled by the body of the book. This cover is then printed in a machine much like a printing press; the gold of the title on the back or sides or both, and the colors or blank impressions, for ornament, all being impressed on it with great rapidity. The completed cover, called a case, is then pasted to the sides of the book. A book thus bound has nothing to hold cover and inside together save a strip of thin muslin, with a strip of paper which goes over it, passing from the back of the book to the inside of the board covers. This strip grows weak after a little use and frequently breaks, or pulls away from the cover, or from the back, or from both. Books printed on cheap paper and folded and sewed and bound by machinery in the manner thus very briefly outlined can be produced and sold at present for 10 cents each, or even less.

Books printed with more care, on better paper, with a better quality of cloth on the cover, and a more elaborate title in real gold instead of some cheaper imitation of it, books, that is, like the novels issued by the better class of publishers, can be produced in quantities of from one to three thousand, for from 15 to 30 cents each. Few of the novels put on the market today cost the publishers, for their making alone, as much as the latter price. To this must be added a royalty to the author, generally 10% of the retail price, the cost of the management of the business and the advertising. In the case of small editions, one or two thousand, this brings the original cost of the average work up to 50 or 75 cents. Suppose this book to be offered at retail at $1.25. There must then be deducted from this retail price the discount to the jobber, 25 to 40 +10%, and the royalty, and the advertising, and the cost of production, etc., leaving a profit to the publisher of from 5 to 20 cents on each volume. A well-made and widely advertised novel which does not sell more than a thousand copies is not a very profitable product for a publisher to put out.

The school text-books issued by the more reputable publishing houses are generally very well made. They are printed on good paper, usually rather highly calendered, with good ink, are bound with extra care, and have good material in their covers. The competition between school book publishers makes it necessary for them in self-defense to produce books which will wear well in the hands of the average pupil.

Up to a few years ago all books were sewn by hand, the covers were made by hand, and hand work was employed in putting book and cover together.

The process of sewing by hand may be briefly described as follows: Two or more strings or tapes are stretched between the edge of a board and a stick held horizontally above it by two uprights. The book folded and ready for sewing, after having been either pressed or beaten with a hammer to make it lie smooth, is held in a vise and two saw cuts are made in the back at about the same distance from each other and from the ends. Two smaller saw cuts are also made in the back of the book, one between each of the larger ones and the opposite ends of the back. The first signature—the fold or section made of a large sheet folded—of the book is laid on the board so that the larger saw cuts are opposite the two strings. A thread is passed through the small cut at one end, into the middle of the fold, then out again by the first string, around the string, and in again to the middle of the fold, then along the inside of the fold to the next string, around that string, along inside the fold, then out again at the other small cut. The second signature is then laid on top of the first. The thread is passed into the small cut, along and around the two strings, as with the first signature, and out at the other end, where it is tied to the end of the thread which has been left sticking out of the first saw cut for this purpose. This process is continued until the book is all fastened together and to the strings. As the sewing goes on, the several signatures are caught together at the smaller holes at each end by passing the thread, as it comes out of the hole, down and under the loop made by the passing of the thread between the two signatures previously sewn. In the case of a book containing a large number of signatures the thread does not extend the whole length of each fold, but passes from one to another as it goes the length of the book, gathering on two signatures at once. Sometimes, by using four strings instead of two, the string is made to pass through and to sew on three signatures at a time. Examples of this two-on and three-on method can be seen in almost any large book bound prior to 15 or 20 years ago. In very careful binding by hand in the early days of book-making, the strings were not set into saw cuts, but were simply laid across the back of the book. The thread came out of the signature and passed around the strings, and went in again. The strings, with the thread thus wrapped around them, made a welt across the back of the book. These welts, when covered by the leather of the binding, showed as raised bands. These raised bands are imitated by pasting bits of leather on the back in much so-called fine binding today. In some cases the old process is employed and the bands have a real reason for existence. Books are sometimes sewn on tapes or strips of vellum. These, laid across the back, sometimes make ridges which are treated as bands in the completed book.

In old bindings, to give the book a better appearance at top and bottom, what is called a headband was put on with thread, the thread passing through the signatures and from one signature to another in such a way as still more securely to hold these together. Today the headband is still used; but usually it is simply pasted in and is little more than an ornament. Sometimes the book’s back is still further reinforced by pasting or gluing to it a piece of vellum, leather or heavy cloth before the process of putting on the cover begins.

Set rules for sewing books should not be laid down. Each book is treated by the skillful binder, or should be, in accordance with the character of its paper, the number of inserts, the thickness of the paper, the size of the signatures, the size of the leaves, the use it is to receive, and other facts. The good binder binds each book well according to its kind.

After the book is properly sewn, the strings on which it is gathered are cut off a short distance from the sides. Pieces of cardboard are cut of the proper size for a cover. The ends of the strings are laced into them or fastened down upon them with paste or glue. The leather for the cover is then pasted or glued to the back and the outside of the boards. The ends are turned over the boards and at the top and bottom of the book are turned down and pasted to themselves, thus forming a roll or crown which lies up close to the headband. The sides are then covered, if the book is not to be bound in full leather, with cloth or paper or other material. The outside sheets of the books, called end-sheets, are then pasted to the inside of the cover and the book is practically complete.

The back of the book is always covered with glue after the sewing and before the leather or cloth is put on. This glue is thin and hot, and is put on to hold together the backs of the signatures. In rounding, the binder manipulates the book with the hands, and taps it with a hammer until the proper shape is secured. This is done after the coat of glue has been applied. In edition work this is done on a machine. In backing the book is held between two metal, or metal-edged, plates close up to the back, the back having been stiffened previously with a coat of glue which has not set very firmly; and with a hammer the backs of the signatures are pounded down and out, making a slight ledge or groove along the outer edges against which set later the boards of the covers.

If the book is to be tight back the cloth or leather is glued direct to the backs of the signatures thus rounded, though often a thin piece of cloth, super, is first glued on, extending over onto the sides. If it is to be loose back a double fold of paper is attached to the back, one sheet to the back and one to the cover material. The leather or cloth then stands out from the book, when it is open, being attached to it only at the joints. It is in loose back binding, as said above, that cloth or leather is sometimes glued fast and with great care to the back before the cover goes on, thus taking the place of the leather of the cover in the tight back book. In the best binding this backing extends over through or past the joint and onto the sides or covers; and is also firmly attached, at the joint, to the leather of the back. In the Newark library we use for this a thin soft muslin of the best quality.

This description of the process of binding is a suggestive outline only. Enough has been said, however, to show that the books sewn by hand and fastened carefully to the cover as described will, if properly made, wear much longer than a book bound by machinery, if bound as above described. But, just as a machine properly handled can produce paper of greater uniformity of thickness and of a quality superior in many respects to the best hand-made paper, so the machines used in binding can, if properly handled, bind books even more strongly than can any save the most careful workman. The possible differences between machine-made books can easily be noted in the cheap novels of the day, which are poorly bound, and well-made law books and encyclopÆdias. These latter are often faithfully put together and will stand almost as much wear as any books ever produced.