Uncut edges

I am restoring a water damaged set of 4 books printed and half-bound
in leather in 1906 and a peculiar feature of the book aroused my
curiosity. After the book was printed and machine sewn, it was sent
to a binder for finishing, the head was trimmed and gilded but the
tail and fore edge were not trimmed resulting in very uneven, ragged
edges and two pages in each section are still joined together (it
also indicates the books were never read).

I have seen books with untrimmed edges before and I wonder why the
book was not neatly finished off. I have also seen references to
books been cut or uncut and in the novel, The Great Gatsby, a
comment is made by one of the party-goers with regards to Gatsby's
Library. The books had not been cut and he held that to be
significant to the character of Gatsby. So what is the point of an
attractively bound leather book with ragged edges and uncut pages.
The book is "the History of Freemasonry", published by The Masonic
History Company of New York and London, Printing and Binding by Trow
Co.

Gregory Martin
Bookbinder
Winmalee NSW
Australia

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 11:44
                 Distributed: Friday, November 14, 1997
                       Message Id: cdl-11-44-016
                                  ***