rub
1. A representation of the spine or sides of a
book, showing the lettering bands, lines,
decoration, etc. The rub is made by placing a
piece of paper, tracing tissue, or linen against
the part of the binding on which the impression is
to be made, and rubbing it with a cobbler's heel
ball, lead pencil, or soft crayon until a
recognizable copy of all details is obtained. The
rub is used principally in library binding to
enable the binder to match sets when binding a
serial publication, or when rebinding one volume
of a set. Also called "pattern," or "rub-off." 2.
To take an impression by rubbing a sheet of paper
placed on an ink block or inked type form. (12 , 156 ).
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