which is its essential quality. Perhaps the
broken hinges of a dark calf book could be joined without great difficulty
by means of the liquefied gutta-percha mentioned above.

I have sometimes repaired the corners of a volume with more or less
success. In cases where the damage was slight, after having loosened the
paper on the inside of the cover at the corner, either with, or without,
moistening it, I pushed back the damaged skin for a short distance, then
glued upon the board over the corner a fragment of leather of the same
kind and tint, pared thin, then pressed down the rough edges and fashioned
the new corner by moistening the leather. Then, having replaced the broken
edges of the original leather, I recolored the patch to an exact
match.[19]

When the leather at the corner is entirely dilapidated an entirely new
corner of triangular form should be supplied, pasted down level with the
leather on the cover, which has been cut away smoothly where the new
corner is joined on. If the corner of the board is itself tattered, it can
be stiffened by the use of paste or glue, thoroughly soaked in and left to
dry. A little Spanish white might be added to the paste to give it more
solidity.

But when the angle of the corner is entirely rounded, weakened and
demolished by use, it should be renewed by incorporating an entirely new
corner on the board. To fasten this securely, the edge of the board should
be cut across at an angle of forty-five degrees, then split, and the upper
half cut away for a short distance back. The new triangular piece for the
corner is also notched underneath to correspond so that the two patches
will superimpose and exactly fit. Here one makes use of strong paste or
glue. This operation is not difficult but it requires time and patience,
for a considerable amount of leather must be raised from the board and
then replaced. If one is not endowed with patience, it is better to turn
this work over to a binder, otherwise one will work to no purpose and will
damage his book instead of restoring it.

REPAIRING EDGES. To remove a spot of ink or color from the edges of a
book, the substance described for similar operations on pages or prints
may be used. However, there is this distinction; here one is not concerned
with the surface of a single sheet but with a great many page-edges one
after another. If the edges to be cleaned are not placed under pressure,
the liquids, penetrating between them, will stain