Leather Bookbinding - An Update

There is a Tandy Leather store near where I work. I
obtained a calf skin there for a little over $20. It has far
more surface area than I need, but that is fine. I am sure
I will find more use for it. I was amazed at the
stretchability of the skin.

At an art supply store, I purchased acid-free boards for
bookbinding (Lineco brand - $13 for four of them, each .067"
thick, 13"x19" ). I will be using them for other books I
have in need of covers. I already have a pH Neutral
Adhesive (also from Lineco) but I am going to get some hide
glue for the leather-to-board glue up. The other I will use
on the end papers.

I purchased an acid-free sheet of mottled paper suitable for
end paper use, as well ($2.30 for a very large sheet).

I found on-line a 19th C book on Bookbinding:
The Art of Bookbinding
by Joseph W. Zaehnsdorf
3rd Edition Published in London 1897

This has been most helpful,e.g., the section on pasting down
which recommends gluing in paper on the inside of the board
to the thickness of the leather before gluing in the end
papers, the reasons being (1) to level the end papers, and
(2) to resist the warping that the calf would otherwise
exert on the board. Before doing anything, I have a lot
more reading to do.

I have decided for now to leave the title alone for now. I
am going to follow Jerry's advice. If I do it myself, it
will be on skiver leather. But for now, I cannot find a
small enough, or cheap enough, piece of skiver to warrant
it. Also, the lettering is an issue. I could purchase a
hot stamp letter set on eBay reasonably enough, though the
small fonts (I would want 8 pt.) are less common. But then
either I would have to buy a stamp press - very expensive,
or a manual holder (which I could however make, since I have
metalworking equipment in my basement). A further
alternative may be to go to a print shop and have them print
the label on skiver leather and I will glue it on. But that
removes part of the fun of it.

Incidentally, the publisher of this book was Didot and Didot
(Paris, 1800 - also shown on the title page as year VIII, in
the Calendar of the Revolution). Pierre Didot, the father,
standardized the definition of a point for typography about
25 years earlier, and the definition stood until electronic
type appeared. Firmin Didot, the son, invented the
stereotype printing process, which was used to make my book.


Francis A. Miniter