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6 Sep, 2010
2010-9-6 9:08:33 PM UTC
I'm afraid I do not own a copy to compare.
6 Sep, 2010
2010-9-6 9:54:23 PM UTC
I have only an offprint of Tolkien' s 'Middle English Losenger', so I can't compare either.

Interesting to learn of the expression 'deckle edges'. Nice word, 'deckle'. I've come across this before once or twice, in my collection *rummages around* - here we are; Adrien Bonjour's 'Twelve Beowulf Papers 1940-1960'. (published 1962). I had to cut the edges in order to access the essays I wanted to read. I was shown how to do this by a book-dealer; it's not for the faint-hearted, and I wouldn't do it to a 1st ed. Gawain! (mine, complete with dust-wrapper dated April 1925, fortunately came to me in a cut form).

The way to do it, mes enfants, is a very quick and bold slice using a steel rule. Indecisiveness causes tears (and tears!) So be warned: if you want it done to something fancy, take it to a bookbinder.

7 Sep, 2010
2010-9-7 2:25:43 AM UTC
Putting on my special collections librarian's hat:

The correct term for a book with the folds of its gatherings still intact is, as Gawain says, unopened. As John Carter writes in ABC for Book Collectors (available as a pdf here), unopened 'must not be confused, as it often is by philistines, with uncut'. My and Christina's copy of the Essais is roughly trimmed but not unopened; it was, however, once owned and read by someone else, who made a few marginal notes, and he or she may have opened the leaves. It's not at all unusual to find scholarly books of this sort, issued in wrappers and intended to be rebound (and thus trimmed at that time), with unopened gatherings.

Now, then, as to opening unopened leaves, my advice is always to stay well clear of any metal or plastic tool, the use of which, even with care, may bring disastrous results, mainly because it will be so much harder than book paper and have a hard edge. Much better to use a stiff card, for instance an index card (at the library I use old catalog card stock), heavier than the paper to be cut but not too thick, and keeping it and the book flat, address the unopened top or fore-edge with a gentle sawing motion, with just enough force to get the job done.

Wayne
7 Sep, 2010 (edited)
2010-9-7 6:32:02 AM UTC
My copy of Essas is the same, as well as my copy of the Transactions of the Honourable Society of the Cymmrodorion.

have left them both wthout separating the pages. Is there a need to open the pages? I was worried about damaging the books

Dior
7 Sep, 2010 (edited)
2010-9-7 7:24:59 AM UTC
...and I wouldn't do it to a 1st ed. Gawain (Garm)

There is a little misunderstanding here, I think. My Gawain, as all the early prints I bet, has deckle edges (=untrimmed/uncut pages), but is not unopened. I can turn every page, but the edges of the pages are rough, not smooth.

But I don't think I will 'open' my copy of Essais. I'm not that handy and the risk of creasing a page is too great. And it seems a nice oddity to my collection. It also means the book has never been read or used before.

Anyway, thank you for your responses!
7 Sep, 2010
2010-9-7 12:15:26 PM UTC
"...stay well clear of any metal or plastic tool, the use of which, even with care, may bring disastrous results, mainly because it will be so much harder than book paper and have a hard edge. Much better to use a stiff card, for instance an index card (at the library I use old catalog card stock), heavier than the paper to be cut but not too thick, and keeping it and the book flat, address the unopened top or fore-edge with a gentle sawing motion, with just enough force to get the job done."

- Wayne

yes of course - (where is my mind lately?). An index card is what I used on the Bonjour. I stopped using rulers some time ago.

As for Gawain - I thought it sounded odd.

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