An Essay in the History of Gold-Tooled
Bindings by Herbert P. Horne
London 1894
15
great importance, requiring both skill and care. To cut a book with correctness, it is necessary
that the knife should be sharp and true, that the book should be placed accurately in the press,
and that both the screws of the press should exercise an equal amount of pressure upon it. The
first series of holes by which the boards are laced to the book, having been made at a distance
from the back edge of the boards, equal to twice the projection of the squares; either board can
be moved up, or down, until its head, or tail, edge is at the level to which the head, or tail, edges
of the book are to be cut. The upper board having been moved down in this manner, and a thin
millboard having been inserted between the last section and the lower board to act as a
cut-against, the book is lowered into the press, with the back towards the workman; until the
head of the upper board, which indicates the level to which the upper edges of the book are to
be cut, is flush with the cheek of the press. The book having been secured in the press, the
plough is gently drawn backwards and forwards; the screw of the plough being slightly turned
each time, that it is thrust from the workman; until the knife has cut through the whole thickness
of the edges. The head having thus been cut, the book is taken out of the press, and the tail is
the n cut in a similar manner.
In cutting the fore edge, the projection of the boards is first marked upon the protruding edges
of the first and last sections, and a couple of trindles, flat pieces of steel in the shape of an
elongated U, about I! inches wide, and 4 inches long, with a slot extending nearly their entire
length, are then placed between the boards and the back of the book. This is done by holding
the book, with its fore edge uppermost, so that the boards fall back from it, and by inserting the
trindles in such a manner, that the slips at the head and tail of the book pass through the slots
of the trindles. The back of the book is next forced perfectly flat, upon the cheek of the press;
and a piece of string having been tied round the sections to keep them in position, the trindles
are removed. Two cutting boards, or wooden rules, are now placed on either side of the book;
one of which acts as the runner, the other as the cut against. The runner having been placed at
the level, to which the fore edge is to be cut, that is, at the projection of the boards, less the
height of the squares; the book is lowered into the press, with the head towards the workman,
until the runner is flush with one cheek of the press; and the cut against is above the other
cheek, by the height of the squares. If the book has been placed with accuracy in the press, it
will now be perfectly square: in which case, it is to be properly screwed up in the press, and the
fore edge ploughed in the same manner, as were the other edges. When the book is taken out
of the press, and the string removed, the back will resume its original form.