It's one of the more minor faults with books I guess, but degrees of it have worse degrees of annoyance. Have to say I get annoyed when people bring me their Folio Society books to sell to me when they've been stored front edge down in a box for years....
Mike, I forgot to mention this earlier. It was something I found out quite by accident. I have a copy of "The C Programming Language 2E" (Ritchie; Kernighan) in hardback. It is in excellent condition, but at the time, it had a twist in it. That is, one cover was lower than the other. I put it in a tight-fitting box around its perimeter, along with some other books that just happened to be the same size, so the box was packed tight. When I came back to them months later, the twist in the book had gone. It was back to normal. No one was as surprised as I was.
Yes, I've experienced the same on occasion, i.e. I catalogue a book with a slight similar fault and store correctly on a bookshelf. When I come to sell it months later, very often the fault has gone. It's quicker to use a book press but they can be very expensive. Patience pays off...
Brilliant. Fantastic video. Just checked my no.1 book (Allen Lane hardback 2020), and there it is... a very slight gap. Base cardboard now in place. Completely good. Many thanks. When am I next Bedford way!?
You can fix this issue in minutes. Just hold the book closed and press along the page edges with your thumb and forefinger, applying moderate to high pressure, pushing the pages back into the spine. After a minute of applied pressure, you will be surprised to see the spine block has reset back into its original position. The longer you hold prolonged pressure, the better the spine sinks back into place. Also considering gravity is to blame, just leave the book on its spine for a long time. Let gravity push the pages back into their original position.
A proper rounded spine with enough swell would be able to prevent this from happening. The signatures would work like bricks in an arch, preventing the sag. Unfortunately, even expensive hardbacks these days are made to a budget.
Mike, that is brilliant! As I was watching I wondered if you had something like a plinth in mind and there it was. Occasionally after purchasing a second hand book I find a previous owner has written a note in the front, perhaps when given it as present. Have you ever found anything interesting written in the front of a book? Rob and Claire
There you go, the simple ideas are the best. Yes I have come across a few interesting notes and inscriptions. Maybe I could do a video around that sometime...
Great video, and sadly a lot of my expensive books have this problem. I did some research and a suggestion i was given was to get acid free foam from art stores. The acid free is important because it wont colour your pages as other material you can use. I hope this trick stops the problem, and maybe even fixes it. Thanks for the video
Ah well, like all things books nothing is set in stone. It depends upon the size and weight of the paper and number of pages. Good quality books tend to have good quality paper, and the better the quality the heavier it is. The paper used in art books to produce that glossy look is made using white china clay. In any event is is better to stop the problem happening in the first place rather than trying to rectify it later. Hope that helps.
Depends on the size of the volume. I have small books that are 200 years old that do not have this sag. Yet I have others that are a mere 20 years old that are doing very bad. A large, new volume, with contemporary poor quality binding, will sag straight from the press.
I think we need to change our paradigm about what constitutes good "quality" paper. Like fine china or crystal, we should expect fine paper to be thinner and lighter without sacrificing durability. It is brutish to simply add bulk in order to make something stronger. I, for one, prefer a book that is thinner and lighter, so I can more easily carry it with me and read it wherever I am, and would pay more for such a book.
Ingenious, simple solution. I didn’t realize this was even a thing.
It's one of the more minor faults with books I guess, but degrees of it have worse degrees of annoyance. Have to say I get annoyed when people bring me their Folio Society books to sell to me when they've been stored front edge down in a box for years....
@@thebookman4126 Ah. The rub of society
Mike, I forgot to mention this earlier. It was something I found out quite by accident. I have a copy of "The C Programming Language 2E" (Ritchie; Kernighan) in hardback. It is in excellent condition, but at the time, it had a twist in it. That is, one cover was lower than the other.
I put it in a tight-fitting box around its perimeter, along with some other books that just happened to be the same size, so the box was packed tight. When I came back to them months later, the twist in the book had gone. It was back to normal. No one was as surprised as I was.
Yes, I've experienced the same on occasion, i.e. I catalogue a book with a slight similar fault and store correctly on a bookshelf. When I come to sell it months later, very often the fault has gone. It's quicker to use a book press but they can be very expensive. Patience pays off...
Brilliant. Fantastic video. Just checked my no.1 book (Allen Lane hardback 2020), and there it is... a very slight gap. Base cardboard now in place. Completely good. Many thanks. When am I next Bedford way!?
You can fix this issue in minutes. Just hold the book closed and press along the page edges with your thumb and forefinger, applying moderate to high pressure, pushing the pages back into the spine.
After a minute of applied pressure, you will be surprised to see the spine block has reset back into its original position. The longer you hold prolonged pressure, the better the spine sinks back into place.
Also considering gravity is to blame, just leave the book on its spine for a long time. Let gravity push the pages back into their original position.
I have tried that but without success (long term). I feel prevention is the best way forward. Thanks for your comments
A proper rounded spine with enough swell would be able to prevent this from happening. The signatures would work like bricks in an arch, preventing the sag. Unfortunately, even expensive hardbacks these days are made to a budget.
It still happens over time. Also, modern books are seldom rounded. Man, publishers today do not even stitch books. Just glue. Very sad.
Another interesting video, thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it. cheers
Mike, that is brilliant! As I was watching I wondered if you had something like a plinth in mind and there it was.
Occasionally after purchasing a second hand book I find a previous owner has written a note in the front, perhaps when given it as present.
Have you ever found anything interesting written in the front of a book? Rob and Claire
There you go, the simple ideas are the best. Yes I have come across a few interesting notes and inscriptions. Maybe I could do a video around that sometime...
Great video, and sadly a lot of my expensive books have this problem. I did some research and a suggestion i was given was to get acid free foam from art stores. The acid free is important because it wont colour your pages as other material you can use. I hope this trick stops the problem, and maybe even fixes it. Thanks for the video
That's a good tip too. With expensive books it's worth going the extra mile...
True. The cardboard will ruin the book.
You could collect paperbacks instead of hardbacks, but ........ hmmm ....
Q: How much time does it take for a book to have this noticeable 'drop' ? Does it take around ~1 year, or more like ~10 years?
Ah well, like all things books nothing is set in stone. It depends upon the size and weight of the paper and number of pages. Good quality books tend to have good quality paper, and the better the quality the heavier it is. The paper used in art books to produce that glossy look is made using white china clay. In any event is is better to stop the problem happening in the first place rather than trying to rectify it later. Hope that helps.
Depends on the size of the volume. I have small books that are 200 years old that do not have this sag. Yet I have others that are a mere 20 years old that are doing very bad. A large, new volume, with contemporary poor quality binding, will sag straight from the press.
I think we need to change our paradigm about what constitutes good "quality" paper. Like fine china or crystal, we should expect fine paper to be thinner and lighter without sacrificing durability. It is brutish to simply add bulk in order to make something stronger. I, for one, prefer a book that is thinner and lighter, so I can more easily carry it with me and read it wherever I am, and would pay more for such a book.