I need hardly say that the better the paper used the more easy will be the working of it. Old writing or copy-book paper will be found to be as good as any, but good brown paper is, as I have said before, mostly used.
The book is now ready for putting the bands on. These are prepared beforehand by sticking with glue two or three pieces of leather together or on a piece of paper, well pressing it, and then allowing it to dry under pressure. The paper must then be glued twice, allowing each coat to dry before gluing again. It should then be put on one side for future use, and when wanted, the proper thickness is chosen and cut into strips of a width to correspond with the size of the book. The book is now to be marked up, five bands being the number generally used, leaving the tail a little longer than the other portions. The strips of band are then to be moistened with a little hot water to cause the glue upon the paper to melt. Each piece is then to be fixed upon the back just under the holes made with the compasses in marking-up. This will be found to be a far better plan than to first cut the strips and then to glue them. By the latter plan the glue is liable to spread upon the side, where it is not wanted, and if the book has to be covered with light calf, it will certainly be stained black: |89| so the coverer must be careful that _all glue is removed_ from the back and sides before he attempts to cover any of his books with calf. It is rather provoking to find some favourite colour when dry, having a tortoiseshell appearance, which no amount of washing will take out. When dry the ends of the bands are to be cut off with a _bevel_, and a little piece of the boards from the corners nearest the back also taken off on the bevel, that there may not be a sharp point to fret through the leather when the book is opened. This is also necessary so that the head-band may be properly set. A sharp knife should be inserted between the hollow and should separate it from the back at head and tail on each side so far as to allow the leather to be turned in. Morocco may have the back glued, as it will not show through, and will facilitate the adhesion of the leather.
_Flexible Work._—This class of work is not lined up. The leather is fastened directly upon the book; the head-band is set as before explained, and held tight by gluing a piece of fine linen against it, and when quite dry, the overplus is to be cut away, and the back made quite smooth. The bands are then knocked up gently with a blunt chisel to make them perfectly straight, being first damped and made soft with a little paste to facilitate the working and to prevent the thread from being cut. Any holes caused by sawing-in, in previous binding, must be filled up with a piece of frayed cord, pasted. Any holes thus filled up must be made quite smooth when dry, as the least unevenness will show when the book is covered.