Bookbinding, and the Care of Books

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. It IS no exaggeration to say that ninety per cent. Of the books bound in leather during the last thirty years will need re binding during the next thirty. The immense expense involved must be a very serious drag on the usefulness of libra ries; and as rebinding is always to some extent damaging to the leaves of a book, it is not only on account of the expense that the necessity for it is to be regretted. The reasons that have led to the pro duction in modern times of bindings that fail to last for a reasonable time, are two fold. The materials are badly selected or prepared, and the method of binding is faulty. Another factor in the decay of bindings, both Old and new, is the bad conditions under which they are Often kept.