LITERARY PROPERTY

The Libraries which are entitled to claim copies of new publications under the act of 6 & 7 W. 4. c. 110. are—

1. The King’s Library, since transferred to the British Museum.

2. The Library of the University of Oxford, commonly called the Bodleian.

3. The Library of the University of Cambridge.

4. The Library of the Faculty of Advocates at Edinburgh.

5. The Library of the College of the Holy Trinity in Dublin.

The two English Universities have the following privileges:—

1. The copyright in all works bequeathed to, or acquired by them, is vested in them in perpetuity, so long as the works are printed at their own presses.

2. They have (in common with the King’s Printers in England, Scotland, and Ireland,) the exclusive privilege of printing Bibles and Prayer Books; and an exemption from the duty on paper used for them.

[The Bibles and Prayer Books printed in Scotland and Ireland, are not allowed to be sold in England.]

3. They have the same privilege (in common with the King’s Printer in England) of printing the Statutes of the Realm.

4. They have an exemption from the duty on paper used in books for the purposes of classical instruction, and in all works in the learned languages, printed at their presses.

5. They have 500l. per annum paid to each of them by the nation, for the purpose of enabling them to assist poor scholars and fellows in printing their works.

The four Universities of Scotland, and Trinity College, Dublin, have the same advantage with respect to the perpetuity of their copyrights as the English Universities have.—(The printing of Bibles and Prayer Books, in both these countries, appears to be exclusively the right of the King’s Printer.) They have also an exemption from the duty on paper used in all works of classical instruction, and in the learned languages, printed at their presses.—The Scotch Universities do not appear to have ever made use of this privilege in the manner that Oxford and Cambridge have done; but by naming some individual as Printer to the University, have communicated to him the advantage derived from it.


lithograph paper

A paper made for use in lithography. It is produced from bleached chemical wood pulps, or a combination of chemical and mechanical pulps. In England it is produced mainly from ESPARTO (GRASS). The principal characteristics required of this paper relate to the printing process to be used, and include, water resistance, pick strength, curl resistance, and the like. Both coated and uncoated lithograph paper are produced, in basis weights of 45 to 0 pounds (uncoated) and 50 to 100 pounds (coated) (25 X 38—500). Because any stretch of the sheet to be printed must be along the narrow dimension, lithograph papers are usually positioned the narrow way across the printing press.

Bookbinding and the Conservation of Books: A Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology

US Government publication (Library of Congress), published openly in electronic edition by CoOL. Not a Gutenberg/pre-1930 public-domain text -- verify rights before reprinting rather than quoting.

American Library Association. American libraries. Chicago. American Library Association.

British Federation of Master Printers. Preliminary technical course in printing. London. British Federation of Master Printers. 1967. 7 vol.


lithopone

See textual note

A white pigment consisting of a mixture of zinc sulfide (ZnS), barium sulfate (BaSO4) and some zinc oxide (ZnO), and prepared by the cross precipitation of zinc sulfate (ZnSO4) and barium sulfide (BaS), plus the addition of heat. It is used in the manufacture of ink, paint, etc., and as a pigment filler in paper. See also: ZINC SULFIDE.


Little Gidding bindings

Early 17th century bookbindings produced by the members of the Anglican community founded by NICHOLAS FERRAR and his nieces, in Huntingdonshire, England, in 1625. The bindings they produced included albums (concordances) of Biblical texts taken from printed texts, to which the Ferrars added illustrations. The bindings themselves were of gold tooled velvet, vellum or morocco. Ferrar died in 1636, but the community continued on for another 20 years.

Little Gidding was an abused term among dealers and historians of bookbinding, just as with Mearne and Ève, and at one time virtually any English embroidered binding of the early 17th century was called Little Gidding.

Fletcher, William Younger. Bookbinding in England and France. London. Seeley. 1897.

Hobson, Geoffrey Dudley. Bindings in Cambridge libraries… Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1929.


lizard skin

A leather made from the skins of various lizards, usually those found in India and Indonesia. The skins are tanned by various processes, including vegetable (sumac), alum and salt (tawing), and chrome tannages. The resultant leather has a pleasant color and a grain pattern produced by tiny scales. While usually fawn or gray, they are sometimes dyed. Lizard skin has been used from time to time in decorating book covers.

Waterer, John William. A guide to the conservation and restoration of objects made wholly or in part of leather. 2nd ed. London. Bell. 1973.


lizarding

A technique employed in embroidering bindings which involves the cutting of strips of flat metal into shapes which are held in place by small stitches at regular intervals.

Davenport, Cyril James Humphries. English embroidered bookbindings. London. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner. 1899.


load

1. The total physical force applied to a specimen of a material when measuring a certain property, such as the compression resistance of paper, the tensile strength of leather, etc. 2. A maximum handling unit, e.g., a full platform of sheets, sections of books, etc.

American Paper and Pulp Association. The dictionary of paper, including pulp, paperboard, paper properties and related papermaking terms. 3rd ed. New York. American Paper and Pulp Association. 1965.

Palmer, Elbridge Woodman. A course in bookbinding for vocational training. New York. Employing bookbinders of America. 1927.


loading

1. The operation of incorporating finely divided, relatively insoluble, white powders into a papermaking stock, either directly or by chemical processes, so as to improve the printing surface and ink absorption, to give a higher finish and greater opacity, to improve formation and flatness, and to improve dimensional stability. Loading is usually done prior to sheet formation. Loading was first used in the 19th century, apparently surreptitiously, to save pulp and reduce the cost to the papermaker; however, it was then discovered that restricted quantities of loading improved the paper. 2. Mineral matter, such as clay, barium sulfate, calcium carbonate, china clay, calcium sulfite, magnesium silicate, titanium oxide, etc., used as filler materials in paper.

Grant, Julius. Books & documents; dating, permanence and preservation. London. Grafton. 1937.

Winans, Leonard G. The book from manuscript to market. New 370. York. Grosset 8 Dunlap. 1941.


localized watermark

A WATERMARK so arranged that it is impressed at definite intervals on a sheet of paper. See also: CUT TO REGISTER.


lock stitch

1. Any method of sewing with thread whereby the stitching at each operation is "locked" and cannot unravel if cut on either side of the completed stitch. 2. See: KETTLE STITCH.

Hitchcock, Frederick H. The building of a book…2nd ed. New York. Bowker. 1929.


LOCKING UP

The tightening of the quoins round a form with the mallet and shooting stick, to enable the compositor to lift it from the imposing stone, and that it may be moved about without the types or the furniture being displaced by such moving; as also that the form may be secure when working at press, so that the types do not draw out with beating. See Imposing.

Public domain (Project Gutenberg, pre-1930 text)


LOCKING UP

Tightening up a form by means of quoins.

The American Printer: A Manual of Typography


locks

Locking devices placed on books whose contents are considered to be confidential or private, such as personal accounts, confidential credit ratings, diaries, etc. Book locks are made in several sizes and are adjustable over the distances between sizes. They are riveted to the covers after binding.

U.S. Government Printing Office. Theory and practice of bookbinding. Rev. ed. Washington, D.C. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1962.


Lofton-Merritt stain

A test used to determine the presence of unbleached sulfate or sulfite fiber in paper. The stain consists of two grams of malachite green in 100 ml. of water, plus one gram of basic fuchsin in 100 ml. of water, 50 ml. of the former being mixed with 100 ml. of the latter. The specimen is treated with a drop of the mixture and then with a 0.1% solution of hydrochloric acid, followed by the application of distilled water. A blue or blue-green stain indicates the presence of unbleached sulfate fiber, while purple or lavender indicates unbleached sulfite.


LOGOTYPE

Two, or more, letters cast in one piece. There have been several attempts to introduce such short words, terminations, and prefixes, as are of frequent occurrence, cast in one piece, but they have never succeeded. See Ligatures.


Logotypes

The same as ligatures.


logwood

An aqueous extract obtained from the heartwood of the logwood tree, Haematoxylon campechisnum, of Central America and the West Indies. Logwood contains approximately 50% haematoxylin (C16H14O6 . 3H2O), a colorless crystalline material when pure, but which turns blood red when exposed to air. It is only slightly soluble in water, but dissolves in aqueous solution of alkalis to give a range of colors from violet to black. It was taken to Europe soon after the discovery of America, and was one of the most important of the natural coloring matters until the 19th century, when it was superseded by synthetic dyestuffs of greater brilliance. Logwood dye was used in producing black ink, marbling colors, including purple and violet, and is still used in dyeing leather and textiles black.

Mayer, Ralph. A dictionary of art terms and techniques. New York. Crowell. 1969.


LONG CROSS

The cross that divides the chase the longest way; it is also the narrowest.


LONG CROSS

The bar that divides a chase the longest way.


long fold

A sheet of paper, which, if folded lengthwise, will be folded with the machine (grain) direction of the paper. See also: BROAD (1).


LONG PRIMER

The name of a type, one size larger than Bourgeois, and one smaller than Small Pica. See Types.

Long Pull. See Easy Pull.—M.


Long pull

When the bar is brought close to the cheek of a press.


long way

See: PORTRAIT.


long-fibered Japanese tissue

See: JAPANESE COPYING PAPER.


Longepierre, Hilaire Bernard de Requeleyne, Baron de

longepierre, hilaire bernard de requeleyne, baron de

A book collector who had his books elaborately hound and embellished with the Golden Fleece, in commemoration, it is said, of the success of one of his dramas. This device, which formed the sole decoration of his bindings, was usually located in the center and at the corner of the covers, as well as in the panels on the spine. The books were bound in morocco, the edges were marbled under gilt, and some of the volumes had finely tooled doublures decorated with the same motif as the covers. The superior craftsmanship of these bindings has prompted some authorities to conjecture that they were bound by Luc Antoinne Boyet.

Coutts, Henry T., and George A. Stephen. Manual of library bookbinding; practical and historical. London. Libraco. 1911.

Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. The history of bookbinding 525-1950 A.D. Compiled by Dorothy Miner. Baltimore. Trustees of the Walters Art Gallery. 1957.


look-through

A term describing what a paper looks like when viewed by means of transmitted light. This type of examination gives an indication of the formation and texture of the paper, its watermark, whether paper is laid or wove, and whether it is marred by impurities. shives, and the like.


looping machine

A machine used to attach looped cord to hangers, calendars, etc. The machine punches the hole. inserts the cord, draws it to the desired length, ties the loop, cuts it off, and delivers the finished product—all in one continuous operation. Looping machines are used by the job binder.

O'Conor, John Francis Xavier. Facts about bookworms; their history in literature and work in libraries. New York. Harper. 1878.


loose back

See: HOLLOW BACK.


loose back

See Back, tight and loose.


LOOSE JUSTIFYING.—M

To space a line or lines in a composing stick so that they shall not be tight; also to place wood cuts, or any other matter, in a page, so that they shall not be fast when locked up.   Lord’s Day, Public Meeting on the. See Public Meetings.   Lost Property. See Stolen Property.   LOTTERIES

To space a line or lines in a composing stick so that they shall not be tight; also to place wood cuts, or any other matter, in a page, so that they shall not be fast when locked up.

Lord’s Day, Public Meeting on the. See Public Meetings.

Lost Property. See Stolen Property.


loose section

One or more sections of a book which have become loosened in the binding, usually because of breakage of the sewing thread. See also: START.


loose-leaf binding

The business of binding individual sheets of paper in an exchangeable form, for leaves to be added, removed, or relocated in the book. Loose-leaf bindings are used wherever records of repeatedly changing information must be kept. Instruction manuals, catalogs, and accounting forms are often loose-leaf bound. Loose-leaf binding includes the construction of the covers (although not the manufacture of the binding mechanism, which is, in general, purchased from companies specializing in its manufacture), the punching or drilling of the paper, as well as the assembly of the various parts. Loose-leaf binding, which is classed as miscellaneous binding, is a part of STATIONERY BINDING.

Strauss, Victor. The printing industry…Washington, D.C. Printing Industries in America. 1967.

Vaughan, Alexander J. Modern bookbinding; a treatise covering both letterpress and stationery branches of the trade…New ed. London. Skilton. 1960.


lop-sided

Any section or part of a book that is folded or backed with one side out of true with the other.


LOTTERIES

6 & 7 Will. 4. c. 66. “An Act to prevent the advertising of Foreign and other illegal Lotteries.

“Whereas the Laws in force are insufficient to prevent the advertising of Foreign and other illegal Lotteries in this Kingdom, and it is expedient to make further Provision for that Purpose: Be it therefore enacted by the King’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That from and after the passing of this Act, if any Person shall print or publish, or cause to be printed or published, any Advertisement or other Notice of or relating to the drawing or intended drawing of any Foreign Lottery, or of any Lottery or Lotteries not authorized by some Act or Acts of Parliament, or if any Person shall print or publish, or cause to be printed or published, any Advertisement or other Notice of or for the Sale of any Ticket or Tickets, Chance or Chances, or of any Share or Shares of any Ticket or Tickets, Chance or Chances of or in any such Lottery or Lotteries as aforesaid, or any Advertisement or Notice concerning or in any Manner relating to any such Lottery or Lotteries, or any Ticket, Chance, or Share, Tickets, Chances, or Shares thereof or therein, every Person so offending shall for every such Offence forfeit the Sum of Fifty Pounds, to be recovered, with full Costs of Suit, by Action of Debt, Bill, Plaint, or Information in any of His Majesty’s Courts of Record in Westminster or Dublin respectively, or in the Court of Session in Scotland; one Moiety thereof to the use of His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors, and the other Moiety thereof to the Use of the Person who shall inform or sue for the same.”


LOW CASE

When the compositor has composed almost all his letters out of his case, he says his <i>Case is Low</i>.—M.


LOW CASE

When the compositor has set almost all the letters out of his case.


Low-line

Applied to a type that ranges lower than the rest in a line.


LOWER CASE

The case in which the small letters of an alphabet, the spaces, and quadrats are laid; it is placed upon the frame immediately below the fore edge of the upper case. See Case.


LOWER CASE

The case containing the small letters of the alphabet, figures, points, &c.


lower cover

The back or under cover of a book, or the cover nearest to the last leaf of the book. Also called "back cover," "reverse cover," or "end board."


lower edge

The TAIL of a book. Also called "bottom edge" or "tail edge."


lozenge

A diamond-shaped stamp, or a square stamp turned 45° on its axis, and used in decorating bookbindings.

Harrod, Leonard Montague. The librarians' glossary of terms used in librarianship and the book crafts, and reference book. 3rd ed. London. Deutsch. 1971.


Ludlow

A machine designed by the Ludlow Typograph Co., and used for casting entire lines of type in a range of sizes from 4 to 90 point, and, for special purposes, even up to 240 point. Ludlow composition is actually hand composition, except that the compositor sets matrices (molds) instead of actual type and casts the line from these matrices. Ludlow machines are used in library binderies for casting the type used for lettering books.

Melcher, Daniel, and Nancy Larrick. Printing and promotion handbook …3rd ed. New York. McGraw-Hill. 1966.


LUG

When balls stick together in distributing they are said to lug; they then diffuse the ink more equally and thinly on the surface, and make better work: they also retain on their surface particles of dust, or other small substances, and do not part with them to the letter in the form, which is a great advantage. Composition Balls, when too soft, will lug so much in distributing as to tear the composition and spoil the ball; when this is the case, they require to be placed in a dry situation for a short time, and exposed to a draught of air, which evaporates the superfluous moisture, and brings them into good condition; when time cannot be allowed for this mode of cure, sponging the surface with spirits of turpentine will promote the evaporation, and be of great service. See Flaring Balls.


lump

1. A defect in a paper caused by an agglomeration of fiber or other materials. 2. A small, hard, pill-like substance in paste or glue, caused by imperfect mixing, lack of proper dissolution, or screening.


Lumspecs

Specifications for the binding of library materials that are expected to receive little use and need not, therefore, be bound according to Class "A" specifications, but which are expected to be used to the extent that they require greater protection than that afforded by a pamphlet box. Essentially, Lumspec binding differs from Class "A" in three respects: 1) the Lumspec book is side sewn instead of oversewn or sewn through the folds; 2) only the spine and a small part of the sides are covered in buckram, with the remainder of the boards not being covered at all; and 3) the volumes are not lettered. The bindings so produced are called Lumbindings. Lumspecs were devised in 1957 by a subcommittee of the American Library Association's bookbinding committee and were approved that same year by the Library Binding Institute.

American Library Association. American libraries. Chicago. American Library Association.

Library journal. New York. R. R. Bowker.


lw pattern

The code name for a "linen weave" applied to a book cloth embossed to give the coarse appearance of linen cloth.


LYE

The lye used for the purpose of cleaning a form is a solution of alkali in water; it ought to be made of the best pearl ash. The usual proportion is one pound of pearl ash to a gallon of soft water; it should be stirred up with a stick till the alkali dissolves, which soon takes place. It is generally kept in a large jar, with a cover to it, which some master printers lock; but more frequently the cover is loose for the pressmen to have free access to it; the cover should however be kept on, to prevent dust and dirt getting into the jar.

If hard water be used, it will require a greater quantity of pearl ash; as the acid in the water will combine with some of the alkali to neutralise it, which of course will have the effect of making the lye weaker than if soft water, with which there is no such combination, had been used.

An intelligent pressman once informed me, that in the country he had frequently made lye, by boiling together a peck of wood ashes and nearly a quarter of a peck of quicklime, in a pailful and a half of soft water, and afterwards straining the decoction for use.

This is, in fact, soap lye, which is made caustic by the quicklime: lye from the soap boilers has indeed of late years been used by many master printers in the metropolis; but it requires to be kept constantly covered in order to exclude the air, which, when the lye is exposed, combines with it and renders it mild, thus destroying its power. I have always found that this lye affects the hands and makes them sore, as if chapped, when washed in it to take off ink.

In the choice of pearl ash the following table, from Vauquelin, may be found useful, which shows all the substances contained in six kinds of potash.

There is evidently an error in this statement as to the component parts of the last article, the Vosges potash, which appears to be with respect to the quantity of the muriate of potash; but the table shows that the American potash is by far the best, and the Dantzic potash the worst of the six analysed.

The following observations from Kirwan on Manures, may also be serviceable, particularly to printers who are so situated as to find it necessary to make their lye from the ashes of vegetables.

“Alkaline salts are of great importance in several arts, the proportion of ashes afforded by different vegetables, and that of alkali by the ashes of each sort of vegetable, has been accurately attended to: the following are the best authenticated results of the experiments made with this view.

“One thousand pounds of the following vegetables, perfectly dry, and burned in a clean chimney and open fire, afforded the quantity of ashes, and saline matter, exhibited in the annexed tables.

Table of the Saline Products from one thousand Pounds of the Ashes of the following Vegetables.

Thus though fumitory gives the greatest weight of saline product from a given weight of the dry vegetable, yet from a given weight of ashes wormwood produces above double the weight of saline matter.

In Yorkshire the women use the ashes of the ash tree to make a lye to scour their pewter dishes and plates, in preference to the ashes of any other wood; as this is the result of experience, I should be led to suppose that they contain a great proportional quantity of pearl ash.


LYE BRUSH

The brush used with lye to remove the ink that adheres to the types, the furniture, and the chase, after a form has been worked off, as also after proofs have been pulled. It is about nine or ten inches long by three inches broad, and the hairs are nearly two inches long.


LYE TROUGH

The lye trough is square and shallow, lined with lead, and its upper edge is bound with iron to preserve it from injury, which would otherwise arise from concussion when a form is lifted into it; there is also a loose board laid in it for the protection of the bottom. It is suspended on a frame by two centres, as here represented.

There is always some lye kept in this trough; and when a form has been worked off, it is laid in it, and the ink is brushed from the face of the letter, the furniture, and chase with the lye, previous to rinsing it with water. It is usually made capable of containing a royal chase.

Lye trough

William Savage, A Dictionary of the Art of Printing, 1841


lying flat

That characteristic of a binding that enables the leaves of the book to lie more or less perfectly flat when the book is opened in its center. It is a particularly necessary characteristic for music scores, books which are to be photocopied, and books which are to be written in. See: SPRING-BACK (1). Lying flat is generally associated with the HOLLOW BACK, which permits a greater degree of throw up in the spine.


lying press

A small, portable press. usually made of wood, with two steel or wooden screws operating through bronze chucks, in which books to be hacked by hand, trimmed with the plow, lettered or decorated, etc., are clamped. The lower face of the block on the bookbinder's left has a groove in which the plow runs. It is not known when the lying press was introduced into bookbinding, but since it was unusual for the edges of books to be cut and spines backed before the last part of the 15th century, it was probably invented sometime after 1500.

Hewitt-Bates, James Samuel. Bookbinding. 8th ed. Leicester. Dryad. 1967.

Middleton, Bernard C. A history of English craft bookbinding technique. New York. Hafner. 1963.


lying press

the term applied to the under side of the cutting press used for backing, usually ungrammatically called “laying press.”


lying press

The term applied to the under side of the cutting press when used for backing. Usually called laying press.


Lyonnaise  style

A 16th century style of book decoration featuring broad interlaced geometrical strapwork, usually gold tooled and then painted, lacquered, or enamelled in different colors. Lyonnaise was also a style in which the binding was decorated by blocking the cover with large corner ornaments and a predominant center design, roughly lozenge shaped. the all-over background being filled in with dots. The name is misleading, as neither style had any connection with Lyons.

<!-- BEGIN M -->

Carter, John. A B C for book collectors. 5th ed. London. Hart Davis. 1972.


M

1. A thousand sheets of paper or hoard. 2. The Roman equivalent of 1,000. See: ROMAN NUMERALS.


m.e

Abbreviation for MARBLED EDGES.


m.m. system

A method of computing the basis weights of all grades of paper on a sheet size of 25 by 40 inches (1,000 square inches) and a 1,000 sheet count, i.e., the 1,000, 1,000 or m.m. system. The traditional writing paper basis weight of 20 pounds (17 X 22—500) becomes 107 pounds on an m.m. basis (25 X 40—1000), while regular 60-pound book paper (25 X 38—500) becomes 126 pounds, and so on. The m.m. system, which originated in the 1920s, is not in general use but printers, paper buyers, as well as others, often find it advantageous to use. In applying the m.m. system, a conversion chart is used which lists various grades with their traditional basis weights and corresponding m.m. factors.

American Paper and Pulp Association. The dictionary of paper, including pulp, paperboard, paper properties and related papermaking terms. 3rd ed. New York. American Paper and Pulp Association. 1965.

Teigen, Kit. Graphic arts, an introduction…Wayne, Pa. Management Development Institute. 1968.


M.V.T

See: MOISTURE VAPOR TRANSMISSION.


machine binding

A term sometimes applied to the type of bookbinding in which equipment is employed extensively, as contrasted with the type in which relatively little machinery is employed. Machine binding would include mainly edition and pamphlet bindings, and possibly library bindings.


machine direction

The direction in which the greater number of the fibers of a sheet of paper tend to be oriented as a result of the forward motion of the wire of the papermaking machine. The paper so produced is stronger in the machine direction, and also experiences less dimensional variation in the machine direction due to changes in humidity. The direction at right angles to the machine direction is known as the CROSS DIRECTION. Also called grain or "grain direction."

Clowes, William Beaufoy. A guide to printing. London. Heineman. 1963.


machine ruling

The process of applying faint blue, red, or blue and red lines to paper that is to be used for blankbooks, note books, check books, etc., by means of RULING MACHINES, as distinguished from that produced by printing

British Federation of Master Printers. Preliminary technical course in printing. London. British Federation of Master Printers. 1967. 7 vol.


machine sewing

The operation of sewing a book by mechanical means rather than by hand. Although in its broadest sense machine sewing includes OVERSEWING and SINGER SEWING, as well as some forms of SIDE SEWING, it is commonly accepted that the term refers specifically to the various methods of sewing through the folds of the sections by means of sewing machines. Machine sewing is a product of edition binding, and reaches its greatest efficiency (economy) in the sewing of relatively long runs of books of identical size.

The basic principal of machine sewing is that one needle does not go "all along" the length of the section, taking its thread with it, as in hand sewing; instead, a series of needles operate, each with its own kettle stitches.

In the usual type of sewing machine, one section after another is placed on a feeding arm which brings each to the part of the book already sewn. Fully automatic machines feed sections by means of vacuum suckers and/or mechanical grippers which are electronically programmed to reject imperfect sections. The feeding arm forms a saddle with a pronounced ridge over which the half-open section is so placed that the fold is immediately above the edge of the saddle. The saddle has a row of holes through which punches rise and puncture the section. Immediately thereafter, threaded needles descend from above and pass through the holes created by the punches. The thread is then gripped by the side needles of the feeding beam and drawn double for a set space along the back fold to the hook-needles descending from above. The hook-needle grips the loop of thread, and draws it up through the paper and also through the corresponding loop of the preceding section. The feeding arm then swings out to pick up the next section, repeating this process until the sewing is completed.

Sewing with thread alone is sometimes referred to as "ordinary French sewing." Most machine sewing can be done on spine lining material or tapes fed from reels across the spine of the book. The sewing is accomplished in the same manner, but the thread passes through the lining material or tapes. Some machines are so designed that the thread passes around the tape. In addition, some machines work with an off-and-on stitch, which is suitable for books made up of thin paper and/or sections, and corresponds to the two on method used in sewing by hand. While ordinary sewing is done with two needles for each stitch, the off-and-on method requires three needles working in combination, the thread being drawn alternately to one or the other of the outer needles. In the "staggered stitch" method the needle changes its position for each section, so that the thread forms a zig-zag pattern across the tapes which are thus more solidly secured to the sections.

In ordinary French sewing, the books are sewn to each other until the machine is filled, whereupon the books forming a span are taken out and separated by cutting, a process carried out automatically on some models and by a second operator on others. In sewing on linings or tapes, the width of the cloth for each book must be greater than the thickness of the book. This is accomplished by inserting a split after each book, i.e., a wooden strip of a suitable width, usually with a metal gutter to facilitate cutting. In order to allow the sewn book to move forward with the necessary thread corresponding to the width of the split, a free stroke is made after each book, or the spare tape or lining is dropped in a fold between the books. See also: DAVID MCCONNELL SMYTH.

Comparato, Frank E. Books for the millions; a history of the men whose methods and machines packaged the printed word. Harrisburg, Pa. Stackpole. 1971.

Leighton, Douglas. Modern bookbinding: a survey and a prospect. New York. Oxford University Press. 1935.

Perry, Kenneth Frederick, and Clarence T. Babb. The binding of books. Rev. ed. Bloomington, 111. McKnight & McKnight. 1967.

Stephen, George Arthur. Machine book-sewing with remarks on publishers' binding. Aberdeen. Aberdeen University Press. (Reprinted from the Library Association Record. June 1908). 1908.

Strauss, Victor. The printing industry…Washington, D.C. Printing Industries in America. 1967.


machine stitching

A variation of SIDE SEWING, in which holes are drilled or punched through the gathered leaves and the book is then sewn twice, up and down through the thickness of the book. See also: JAPANESE SEWING.