At the beginning and end of almost any book is a leaf of plain or plain and colored paper popularly known as fly leaves, but by the bookbinders called end papers. These end papers generally consist of a couple of stout leaves of colored paper, one of which is pasted down to the cover of the book, and' the other is a loose or fly-leaf; there may also be another fly leaf of white paper. End papers are made by pasting sheets of white and colored paper together. The colored paper, which is specially made for this purpose, may be purchased with other bookbinding materials. The colour of the end paper is governed by the binding and by the colour of the edges of the book. The ends of the bands on which the book is sewn should be untwisted to separate the fibers by the aid of a bodkin and dull knife; an end paper is then affixed to each side of the book by pasting the back for a short way in. When the end papers are dry, the books should be knocked up perfectly square at the head and back by striking them on the cheek of the lying press, the backs being lightly but completely glued over. The glue should not be too thick, and the brush should be worked well in between the sections. The glue should then be allowed to set.

In the process of rounding the binder takes a book on which the glue has set, but is still plastic, and gently tapping each side of the back alternately with the backing hammer, aided by a drawing movement of the fingers of his left hand, which holds the book, upon the upper end paper, and a pressure of his left thumb against the centre of the fore edge the binder deftly gives a slight regular curvature to the back. It is upon this curvature of the back that the beauty of a well bound book depends. For example, it is the convexity of the back that causes the agreeable concavity of the fore edge, and adds much to the effect of the finishing or gilded ornamentation of the volume.

Backing is the next operation, and is intended to render the rounding of the back more regular, and generally to consolidate it. The book, with a backing board on each side, is placed in the lying press, the highest part of the thick edge of the board being within a short distance of the folded edge of the end paper, just enough space being left to form the joint or groove in which the board of the cover works. The size of this groove depends on the thickness of the cover board, which is, of course, governed by the size of the book. The book, with its boards, is carefully lowered into the press, level with the upper surface of the cheeks, and screwed up tightly. The book is then struck along the back in order to spread it, and afterwards carefully hammered up and down each side with the pene or face of the hammer (see Fig. 35) until the back has become solid, smooth, and well curved; it must also overhang the backing boards so as to form a well defined groove on each side for the reception of the cover boards. At this stage of the operations the book should present in section the appearance shown in Fig. 36, where, however, for clearness the grooves are somewhat exaggerated.

Cutting the boards or side covers of the book is the next step. The early bookbinders used wood for the side covers of their books, and the name has survived, though the material has changed. These wooden covers were often elaborately carved, and many specimens are still in existence. Deer's hide, silk, velvet, and, later on, leather, were afterwards used to cover up the wood. The material employed for ordinary leather binding at the present day is millboard.

The better qualities of millboard are made of sound old rope or cordage, and the boards are manufactured of different thicknesses, and are very tough. The darker the colour of the boards the better is the quality. Cheap millboards are adul­terated with clay, which gives substance and weight to the boards, but does not impart tenacity. Millboards improve by keeping, and should not be used fresh from the mill. They are made in a variety of sizes and thicknesses, much in the way that printing papers are. What is termed "tip" is the thinnest variety, and is scarcely thicker than stout brown paper. This kind is useful for flexible bindings. The largest and stoutest millboards are principally employed by the portmanteau makers.

< Sewing Cords