Cancel

At the conclusion of a work, if there be any leaves cancelled, it is useful to place a mark in the white line of the odd page of the reprinted leaf, to prevent a mistake on the part of the bookbinder; a *, †, ‡, ||, or §, either upright or laid flat. This is too frequently neglected, and when the warehouseman omits tearing or cutting the cancelled leaf, the wrong one occasionally is bound in the book. To save press work and paper, cancel leaves are always imposed with the fragments, if possible.

Before the book is gathered, the warehouseman should either tear the cancelled leaf or run his knife up it, so as to prevent it being overlooked by the bookbinder; running the knife up it is the most expeditious method and, to prevent mistakes, he ought to do this himself, and not to entrust it to boys, as cutting a wrong leaf would cause another leaf to be reprinted, and he might be held responsible for the expense, and also incur censure on account of delay.