ress as
before, so that the plough knife will exactly cut through the points.
The same operation is repeated on the two remaining uncut edges. In
marking out those for the fore-edge, the measurement is taken with a
pair of compasses (fig. 48) from the joint of the book to the
fore-edge of the first section. If the book has been trimmed, or is to
remain uncut, a little more must be allowed for the "squares," and if
it is to be cut in the plough, it must be now decided how much is to
be cut off, remembering that it is much better to have the boards a
little too large, and so have to reduce them after the book is cut,
than to have them too small, and either be obliged to get out a new
pair of boards, or unduly cut down the book.

[Illustration: FIG. 48.]

[Illustration: FIG. 49.]

The height of the boards for a book that has been trimmed, or is to
remain uncut, will be the height of the page with a small allowance at
each end for the squares. When a pair of boards has been cut all
round, it can be tested for squareness by reversing one board, when
any inequality that there may be will appear doubled. If the boards
are out of truth they should generally be put on one side, to be used
for a smaller book, and new boards got out. To correct a badly cut
pair of boards, it is necessary to reduce them in size, and the book
consequently suffers in proportion. If the boards have been found to
be truly cut, they are laid on the book, and the position of the slips
marked on them by lines at right angles to the back. A line is then
made parallel to the back, about half an inch in (see fig. 49). At the
points where the lines cross, a series of holes is punched from the
front with a binder's bodkin on a lead plate, then the board is turned
over, and a second series is punched from the back about half an inch
from the first. If the groove of the back is shallower than the
thickness of the board, the top back edge of the board should be
bevelled off with a file. This will not be necessary if the groove is
the exact depth. When the holes have been punched, it is well to cut a
series of V-shaped depressions from the first series of holes to the
back to receive the slips, or they may be too prominent when the book
is bound. It will now be necessary to considerably reduce the slips
that were frayed out after sewing, and to remove all glue or any other
matter attached to them. The extent to which they may be reduced is a
matter of