4.—The right hand creases from top to bottom.
5.—Left hand turns sheet over to other side, both hands take hold as before, nip together last fold, and adjust pages and fold.
6.—Crease from top to bottom, laying aside sheet to left, fold lying to right.
The whole process, which demands considerable dexterity, is only to be thoroughly learned by example and imitation; but study the illustrations, which are correctly drawn from life.
This is the way sheets are folded when they come direct from the press; but if they had already been folded in quires, as is usually the case with school and hymn books, the sheets would simply be folded in the middle for convenience of storage and despatch.
In this case the quires must first be opened, the crease taken out, and the sheets laid open. This work is called "breaking the backs." The unfolded sheets are folded in exactly the same manner, but before the last crease the sheet is turned, creased from bottom to top, and put aside in such a way that the sheet is turned over, that is face downwards. If this precaution is not observed, the folded sheets would afterwards be found in wrong order.
At this point we might remark that the top, both of the book and the single page, is called the head, the bottom the tail. These commonly used terms will very frequently crop up.
The folding of a 4to sheet is exactly the same, excepting that the last fold is omitted; the second signature lies face upwards at top on the right, the first signature lies downwards at top left hand.
Folios are made up but rarely nowadays, except in artistic éditions de luxe, Bibles, and missals; they are simply folded in the middle; the signatures appear as in 8vo format.
Duodecimo format, that is, a sheet printed to make 12 pages on each side, is so printed that the third part of the sheet has to be cut off with a knife or machine. This work is done in various ways: the sheet may be folded without regard to the one-sided elongation; after folding the part is cut off with a knife or machine at the proper place and the detached portion inserted in the middle of the main section; the small section is therefore called "the inset." On the other hand, the inset may be cut off before folding and then separately folded and inserted. This is the more usual method.
The cutting off of the inset prior to folding can be done in such a way with the modern quick-printing presses that the sheets are adjusted and cut off in the machine, or they may be folded in sections of six—eight sheets and cut open in the fold. For cutting open such sections a very sharp knife is required, either the usual bookbinder's knife or, better still, a somewhat longer two-edged paper-knife rounded at the end.
Formerly, when printing was not done with such accuracy as now, the sheets were folded into sections by means of points. The compositor made a point on both sides between main sheet and inset in the furniture where the division had to be made; if pins were stuck into the table through these points each of the sheets following could be placed on the pins.
Thus all sheets are brought to perfect register and may be cut with knife and rule or machine exactly through the points. This work is called "working to points."
The detached portion appears as a long printed slip upon which are four pages or columns side by side. They are folded in a very simple manner.
The page on the right is brought over to lie on the page to the left, registered, and creased in the middle, and the double sheet is now folded once more in exactly the same way.
Inserting is done as follows: The sheets for insertion are placed to the right, the main sheets at the left side of them; the right hand takes a sheet to be inserted at about the middle of the fore-edge, the left hand at the same time taking a main sheet in such a way that thumb, middle, and index finger open the sheet about the middle of the upper fold, and raise it so that the right hand can easily slip in the insertion. Whilst doing this, the left hand slips to the back, where the forefinger manages the adjustment of the sheet inserted. The insertion is nicely fitted into the back and must lie close to it. This work is also very easy, but it also is much easier to learn it from example and imitation than by written instruction.
If the insets were already arranged before folding, that is to say, had the sheets been arranged according to page numbers immediately after printing as before mentioned, strict attention must be given to see that each main sheet has its insertion, otherwise the page sequence would be thrown into confusion in binding.
In folding, every fold must be sharply creased down; but a firmness of body in the sheets, a smoothness of the single sheet, and a proper sharpness in each separate fold can only be obtained by pressing the sheets. For this purpose the sheets must first be "knocked up," that is, they must first be adjusted at head and back by knocking them together on the table. Sheets are never pressed without being counted at the same time; this is done both for convenience in pressing and for checking the work.
Knocking-up can only be done upon a firm level surface; the beginner had better not take too many sheets at one time, say from 20 to 25: these are moved to and fro between the palms of the hands so that the back fold and upper fold are worked in turn, and at these sides the sheets are brought into line.
Knocking-up proceeds quickly if the sheets are handled lightly and freely. The single batches thus levelled are brought together and they in turn knocked up in the same way. Care must be taken that single sheets do not hang back, i.e., that all sheets come up to the levelled edge.
The knocked-up sheets are counted off—thin paper in hundreds, thick paper in fifties. To do this any big lot is taken hold of with the right hand—one soon learns to judge the quantity to be taken by the fingers—by the fore-edge, giving the hand a turn so as to bring the backs uppermost, when the sheets will fan out at the back and thus make the counting an easy matter. The left hand counts—pardon, the head counts, but the left hand tells off the sheets in such a way that the middle and index fingers are alternately inserted in 4, 8, 12, 16, &c., whilst counting 1, 2, 3, 4, &c., and at the same time throwing over the sheets held. Every 25th lot of four sheets gives 100, and, of course, any other number you please can be counted in the same manner. Each lot is once more knocked up, placed in piles crosswise, and afterwards pressed.
The contrivance for pressing most generally used nowadays is still the bookbinder's little wooden hand-press, with wooden, or perhaps iron, screws; the former are lighter and handier, the latter heavier but more durable and therefore of advantage where heavy pressure is demanded. Each lot is placed between pressing-boards; these are about 1-1/2 cm. thick and vary in length and width according to the sheets or books to be pressed. According to the grain of the wood we speak of long and cross boards. On top of the upper and underneath the lower batch we place a cross board; it does not matter which way the grain runs in the other boards used. This precaution is taken to obviate the probable breakage when the cheeks of the press run parallel with the grain of the two outer pressing-boards.
The pile of sheets between the pressing-boards is so placed that the nuts of the press are at first raised as high as the pile about to be pressed requires, then the press is put on the table to the right in front of the worker so that the head of one screw at the front touches the table edge. The pile is drawn on to the front edge of the table, the left hand slips underneath, and the chin presses on top. Whilst raising the upper cheek of the press with the right hand, the pile is inserted between the opened cheeks, is adjusted, and the press screwed up, first by the hand screws and then by the screw key used for this purpose. To do this the press with its high cheeks is held firmly between the legs and the nuts screwed up with the screw key as tightly as ever possible.
At this stage