Splay: its causes and prevention

Shelve your books with the fore edges aligned, not the spines, to prevent splay.
Patricksrarebooks.com
Patrickhansma.com

[@syts77]

I thought I was too obsessed with order and look of my books, but you guys are nuts.

[@CupidFromKentucky]

Thanks for telling me about a problem I didn't know I was doing. I have corrected it.

[@tonybrewer7536]

A difficult lesson but one I needed to hear

[@haywoco2]

Some Easton Press books splay simply from poor binding. Milton's Paradise Lost is a well-known example of this...EP outsourced the binding.

[@PatricksRareBooks]

That’s unfortunate-and good to know. Thanks.

[@theofficialxcel]

Keep feathering it

[@justsomebody1171]

One should never shelf books to tight! Most people take a book of the shelve by hooking their finger over the spine. If the book is shelved to tight this can cause the top to rip. I was though this when I started working at a local public library, but I think is also a good practice for a home library.

[@iamrubenmes]

Top notch knowledge to have for us bibliophiles ❤

[@josephhaggerty6391]

I actually do a version of this with a lot of my books (especially the oversize books) which is to organize them by size and *then* align them by the open ends. Of course this doesn't work for all books, especially when it comes to books in a series or a group of books by the same author where all the books are of different sizes/editions, but generally it's served me pretty well.

[@-johnny-deep-]

Nice trick. So how do you prevent sagging of the text block in the back of the shelf (the front edge of the book) that results in the top of the binding getting flatter and the bottom getting more rounded?

[@eriolduterion8855]

Fascinating, but a look at the shelved books behind you shows the spines aligned.

[@Ljosa122]

WOW that library looks nice

[@Nashvillain10SE]

...with all the spines aligned! 😂

[@sherlock1895]

Very interesting. I did not know that. Cheers!

[@BKNeifert]

Thanks, bro. Didn't even know I was doing it the right way. I always thought that was how everyone shelved books, because it's just natural for me to push them the whole way back Also, I instantly knew you were a Theology nerd. I've seen shelves like that with those kinds of books from famous preachers like Paul Washer and stuff. Nice rare book collection, too. I do also stack them vertically, on their sides on my one shelf. Similarly, they rest against the backboard. Is that safe?

[@yaminadhib3875]

Thank you

[@user-w8jhtre23]

Awsome.

[@Ashley-1090]

So not too packed, but with the foredges aligned. I assume this shouldn't be done by just pushing them to the back of the bookshelf? Because then I would expect you would lose airflow to the books?

[@bite-sizedshorts9635]

I thought it was humidity. That would cause the free edge to swell, but not the spine, as the spine is attached and not free to swell. The best cure for that is a climate-controlled library. I have thousands of books, all with their spines even at the front of the shelf, without this problem. My room is kept heated or cooled 24/7/365, even when I'm not there. That also preserves my original photos and documents longer. Many of my books are over 100 years old, and some are even more than 200 years old.

[@BelleResells]

my first edition us copy of The Neverending Story splayed from having it displayed :( I had it on my shelf for a year before i noticed