Aldis, M.A.
Cambridge: at the University Press 1916
by hooking the forefinger into the headband, for it is by the
repetition of this action that the headband gets broken and
the upper part of the back is torn so that it hangs loose and,
presently falling off, is lost. In earlier days when books stood
with the foredge outwards they fared no better; clasps and
silk ties offered tempting tags wherewith to draw the
volumes from their places, and it thus came about that many
books were bereft of these really rather tiresome
appendages. A better way is to place the forefinger firmly on
the top edges of the book about an inch from the back and
tilt the volume forward so that it can be grasped between
the thumb and fingers. Or, the volumes standing on each
side of the book may be tilted in with the thumb and finger
just sufficiently to allow the book to be seized and drawn
Though the extended use of machinery has introduced a kind of ruthless element into modern book-construction, yet
a considerable number of books are, happily, still issued uncut; and, surely, there are few more pleasurable times for
the reading book-lover than the half-hour spent with the paperknife in cutting up and honey-sipping a new book.
Sometimes, however, that half-hour may prove a little trying to anyone who likes to see neatly cut edges, for it is
nearly impossible to cut some of the modern spongy paper without leaving the edges in rags and jags. For cutting a
book an ivory knife with a smooth edge is the right thing to use, and, it seems necessary to state, neither a finger nor
a hairpin is a suitable substitute. In the act of cutting, the knife should be drawn down rather than pushed forward or
the edges may cut up roughly; and if the edge of the knife is drawn across the hair two or three times the slight
lubrication thus applied will cause it to do its work more smoothly. In cutting the top edges special care should be
taken to cut quite up to the back; a quarter or half inch left uncut and then torn when the book is opened is but too
commonly seen. Some American books of recent date are a snare to the unwary, for, though cut smooth on the top,
some of the bottom edges are left to be cut by the reader, and unless the volume be opened cautiously a leaf may be
torn in half.
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