old it as we have directed, you will soon see
what is meant. It is a ticklish operation and the paper is easily torn if
too thin _or too damp_. It also requires some patience, for probably you
will find that the strip has come away from the sides during your
manipulations. Press it down again and do the other end. Pressing and
pulling gently and kneading are the secrets of success. A small rubber
squeegee such as photographers use is useful here. With it you can press
out the superfluous paste under the sides of the strip; but it must be
used cautiously and not too hard.

Now close the volume, not forgetting to insert sheets of clean paper
between boards and leaves at either end, take it up again in your left
hand, and pat and finger it carefully till you are satisfied that all is
well. Then remove a volume of similar thickness from a rather tightly
packed shelf, and insert your patient in its place _as far as the strip_.
Leave it here to dry for at least twenty-four hours.

If the original paper label is legible and intact, it can be easily
soaked off the tattered back, though you may have to operate first of all
with the pocket-knife to remove it entire from the book. Press it between
blotting-paper and allow it to dry naturally. When the new back is dry
(not before) the label may be pasted on to it. If, however, the label is
missing or too tattered to be of service, there is nothing for it but to
write another one with your best penmanship, copying the original, if you
have it, in facsimile. Such labels should be written with Indian
(_waterproof_) ink upon rather thin paper of a different colour from the
back. Light buff is the most useful colour, though pale blue and light
green can be used sometimes with advantage.

Should you wish to make your work look extra neat, and to disguise the
fact that the volume has been rebacked, it is possible sometimes to raise
the end-papers at the inner corners of the boards, so that the projecting
ends of the backing-strip may be tucked under. So much for rebacking.

Sometimes, however, the boards are too dirty or broken to be retained, or
some of the boards in a set of volumes are missing. Then there is nothing
for it but to provide new boards or patch up and re-cover the old ones.
Here again the labour is not very great. New boards may be cut from a
cardboard box of suitable size and thickness. Those used by dressmakers
are not very suitable, the card being generally too soft.