We could all do with reminding ourselves about how best to shelve our books - and I've recently learned one big lesson:
How should we store our precious books?
To me this should be one of the most important questions all serious book collectors need to be asking.
To acquire an expensive book is (to me), only the first part of the responsibility of ownership.
The rest is making sure you don’t do anything you shouldn’t be to jeopardise the long term condition of that book.
So what things should we consider?
In previous blogs on this topic, I looked at the obvious enemy of books – sunlight (and now to avoid exposure to it), as well as other factors that impact its ability to stay pristine – including temperature exposure and humidity.
But assuming all these things are considered – and that you have a cool, non-humid and relatively dark place to store and display your books – there seems to remain some often hotly-debated issues.
They include debates around the ‘standing vs stacking’ of books, which way up books should be stored, and even how tightly books should be packed.
So, here’s my take on each of these below.
(I will admit now, that most of the below is common sense - although some of the pictures at the end may well shock you - so don't miss this out!).
And... I‘m also willing to admit that I've probably been making my own mistakes too.
Through doing some research for this piece, I’ve discovered I may not be storing my own personal collection in entirely perfect conditions (hint: it’s to do with which way up they should be stored – point two below).
It’s proof – if proof were needed – that we are never too experienced not to learn something new….
So let's get started:
1) Standing versus stacking
Common sense suggests this shouldn’t even be a debate – after all, just look at what libraries have been doing for centuries: standing books up, vertically.
Surely, if it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for the rest of us, right?
Many still claim however, that’s there’s nothing wrong with stacking books flat on top of each other. They point to the fact that in book vaults from Palestine to Persia, from Algier to Arabia, from Tashkent to India to China, all of these deep literature-based cultures stored their books stacked up upon each other, right up to the 20th century. The fact books are now stood up is described as being a distinctly 20th century, western preference – they say.
And there are others who still prefer the laid down approach.
Many professional binders [people who I would guess know this matter best], also say that when books are stood up, they suffer.
This screen shot (above), shows one binder’s thinking. She argues that “any book that is taller than 15 cm and is thicker than what one might consider medium thickness should be laid flat. Otherwise, she suggests, that if stood up, the text-block of the book will pull away from the spine causing the joints to rip and the book to fall out of it’s case.” (see pic above).
Jonathan Cape Ian Fleming first editions are – as we all know (or should know!) – 19 cm tall. Goldfinger, the longest book in the series is, what I would consider to be ‘medium thickness.’
So… stood-up or flat – which side of the fence (or should that be shelf) should we sit on?
Here’s my thoughts:
While some agree that for very large books, storing flat is better (because the weight of the page block can cause it to separate from the spine if they are stored in the upright position), most of the research I’ve done suggests the rule of thumb is to keep books stood up.
The consensus seems to be that only does the weight of a stack of books laid on top of each other crush the spine joints, and compress the pages, but librarians also suggest it increases dust-jacket scratching (where applicable), when removing books from the stack.
However, even though stood up is probably best, there are some ways to do this well:
What NOT to do when standing books up:
· Don’t let them lean: Books get damaged when standing at an angle, as pressure is exerted unevenly on their structure causing them to become deformed or crooked.
· Don’t let tall books lean over shorter one: Thankfully this isn’t normally a problem in James Bond book collecting, but if you have tall skinny books placed next to short ones, they will end up leaning into the empty space, becoming bent and distorted.
· Don’t put books on top of unsealed wood: Unless the book has a Mylar – or equivalent – jacket protector, any book stood directly onto bare, unsealed wood, can come into contact with organic, acidic vapors.
· Don’t pack them too tightly: When space is at a premium, there’s always the temptation to squeeze just one more book on a shelf. But the helpful people at Biblio suggest that over-stuffing a shelf puts pressure on the sides and also damages the spine. They suggest that “an envelope [ie the thickness of an envelope] should fit easily [ie slide easily], between each book.”
Not packing too tightly means a small amount of wiggle space will exist either side of a book. This will also help when taking a book out from where it stands (and preventing damage while taking it out too). Neighbouring books can simply be teased aside as you reach in to pull a book out.
Note: When books are stored stood up, NEVER extract them from a shelf by pulling them out from the spine.
Doing this pulls on the top of the spine, and if done in combination with pivoting the book out on the lower corner, this places weight and pressure on the base of the spine.
If this method of book retrieval is done persistently, you will often see bruised and crushed spines at the top and bottom of books.
Top Tip: Hold from the middle, and pull out gently – without causing any abrasion to the base of the book.
Even better: Move apart adjacent books, so you’re not ‘pinching’ and the book to take it out. This can cause pressure, and even small tears, as pinching often happens grabbing at the edge of the spine, where there is a natural hollow and the DJ can be pressed into this gap.
2) Which way up books should be stored:
I have a confession to make here.
Researching this piece suggests I’ve been storing my own person set of James Bond first editions in a less than appropriate way.
People that know me will recall I proudly have my full, complete set of books in this snug-fitting hinged box:
But, I may well need to call time on this particular storage solution!
When opened, it can be seen that these books are what book conservationists call ‘fore-edge shelved’.
This means they are stored on their edges, spine up.
But, fore-edge shelving – I have discovered is, quite possibly a bad thing to do.
Experts suggest that storing books on their fore-edges damages them faster, and causes the bindings to eventually fail and the book to fall apart.
They suggest that books stored on their fore-edges will suffer from gravity’s inevitable impact – causing the pages (the text block) to be pulled down. Over a long period of time, this will case it to gradually separate from the spine. This pressure on the text block will also cause damage to the binding materials connected to the cover boards. Stored this way, a book’s entire weight is being suspended from its joints.
Given enough time, the end result is the text block is pulled out of its cover.
I was sufficiently shocked to learn that I might be causing damage this way if I store these books long-term like this. I would appreciate people's thoughts on what they think about this particular solution.
As a result, my box (which primarily exists to shield my books from sunlight damage), has, for the time being at least, been tipped on the side that allows the books inside to be effectively ‘standing’.
3) Packing books too tightly
We’ve already mentioned tightly-packed books above, with most sources highlighting the potential damage that may occur to squashed in books when they are attempted to be removed from a shelf.
However, I’ve always had another suspicion/concern about the over compacting of books: whether it causes a compression that causes other problems: such as dulling gilt on the boards (by it being pressed into the DJ); transfer of ink(s), or causing an embossing effect, with any detail to the boards being imprinted onto the dust jacket.
I suspect foil on the boards can lose their brightness if pressed too hard against the jacket, and here is an example of the embossing effect I mention with a later print Diamond Are Forever book that I own.
The chequered tramlines on the front board of Diamonds Are Forever have been transferred to the DJ through pressure
Most people will be aware of the cross-hatching tramlines that appear on the front board of this particular book.
As can be seen in the pictures above, the book has been so tightly stored in a previous life, that these lines have been pressed into- and transposed to the dust jacket. It has been pressed so hard, and (one assumes) for such a prolonged length of time, that it has left an imprint on the jacket itself.
Another consequence of it having been too tightly packed, is that the spine is now deformed and is rolled-out rather than being square (see pic left).
Finally, just to cap off a bad series of issue points with this particular book, we can also see that the dust-jacket has been pressed into the book so significantly, that the book’s gutter – the natural groove/hinge on the cloth that occurs between the spine and the front board is replicated on the jacket too – now shows as a distinct and deep 'furrow' along the length of dust jacket. This is literally where it has been crushed hard into this gutter. An unpressed jacket won't have this groove along this vertical edge, and will 'float' above the gutter below it.
This Diamonds Are Forever shows all three of these compression characteristics in a single book, but they can apply equally across the whole of the Jonathan Cape set, to a lesser or greater degree.
What's certain, is that a book that hasn’t been pressed hard like this will be square, and will have a DJ with have a flat surface, without any indentations or deformations.
Finally...
‘Ghosting’ - this is another problem when books have been overly compressed, and over a long period of time.
See this example here (left), where a ghost mark of the flap of the jacket has been transferred to the endpaper on You Only Live Twice.
Basically, the two paper types (the paper of the dust jacket and the end-paper of the book), have reacted against each other because they’ve been squashed together too much.
Conclusions
At the risk of telling grandma how to suck eggs, we should all - arguably - take a look at how we're shelving our books, and deciding if there's any harm being done to them.
Some small changes can make a big difference, and greatly improve the longevity of a precious-to-you book.
As the US Conservation Centre writes:
"Caring for books is a great privilege, as well as a great responsibility. From illuminated manuscripts to today’s bestselling novels, books capture period technologies and permit intellectual access to other times, places, and cultures. By providing books with the proper environmental conditions and handling them with care, we let future generations share these treasures."
Comments