Special value is enhanced if the book is specially prepared

Subjects —containing the proper names and dates, and only

the special psalms, hymns, prayers, homilies, &c.,
which will be used. Dated pages may be provided
at the end of the book for the signatures of the
“friends and neighbours” of the principals.

BINDING MSS.

MSS. should be bound without delay in order to
complete and protect them.

To bind books in stiff boards, in leather, requires
considerable practice and skill, but a very effective
limp vellum cover can be made by the scribe himself,
who, in binding his own books, will learn to think
of the binding as a part of the book, and to allow for
it in the writing and planning (see p. 72).

The following note1 on covering books in limp
vellum is specially contributed by Mr. Douglas
Cockerell :—

“How to cover a book in a limp vellum cover without
using special appliances.

“Cut four strips of stiff vellum f inch wide and about
four inches long. On these slips you will sew the sections
of your book.

“Add to your book a plain section at either end;®
vellum for a vellum book, paper for a paper book.
Knock up the backs of the sections squarely, keeping
the heads level, and across the back mark with a soft
pencil guided by a square, lines to show the position of
the slips. The positions of the four slips should leave
the space between the slips the same as that between the

1 Figs. 195 and 196 are from Mr. Cockerell’s “Bookbinding
and the Care of Books,” in this Series.
z These form the fly-leaves (p. 77).

310

top slip and the head of the book; the
space between the bottom slip and the
tail should be a little longer than the
spaces between the slips. At about £
inch from either end make an additional
line across the back for the ‘kettle’ or
catch stitch. These lines will show
as dots on the back of single sections.
Each individual section should now
have at the back a dot at either end
for the kettle stitches, and four pairs
of dots § inch apart to show the position
of the slips, ten dots in all.

“To sew the book, fold the vellum
slips about i J inch from one end and
bend to a right angle. Place your front
end-paper outside downwards, with the
back even with the edge of a table or
board, and place your folded slips with
their shorter ends under it. Then insert
your needle from the outside, at the
head ‘kettle stitch’ mark, into the centre
of the section and bring it out at the
first band mark; put the slip in position
and reinsert your needle at the mark on
the other side of the slip, and so on to
the end of the section, coming out at the
tail kettle stitch. This should leave
your section with a thread,1 passing
alternately along the centre fold inside
and across the slips outside, with a
loose end hanging from the kettle stitch
mark where you began, and a thread
with the needle hanging from the other
kettle stitch mark (fig 193).

\

Г

'Head

Kettle

Stàdi

V

к

1Tail
Kettle
Stitch

1 Thread should be unbleached. Silk of
the best quality is better than thread.

Fig. 193.

Special

Subjects

3”