PART III.

ORNAMENTAL ART.

In treating upon this subject, we are led back to the land of the

Pharaohs; for the earliest Art records that have come down to us (and,

perhaps, the most perfect) are from the banks of the Nile, remarkable

for their severely massive character, calm and frigid. The few

ornamental details are chosen rather for their symbolical than

æsthetic beauty, consisting of local forms slightly conventionalized

and heightened with colour. Their ornaments were types and symbols

intended to address themselves to the eye, heart, and soul of the

beholder, the most frequent in recurrence being the winged globe,--a

sacred emblem the Egyptians used in their ornamental designs,--the

human figure, their sacred animals, and the lotus, reed, asp, and

papyrus. Upon the capitals of Egyptian columns are represented

nearly all the flowers peculiar to the country, the petals, capsules,

pistils, seeds, and most minute parts, being often exhibited. Capitals

are often seen resembling a vase, and at other times a bell reversed.

There is little in this style applicable to the decoration of books,

unless it be upon works relating to Egypt. Then its symbols afford the

binder an opportunity to employ its symbolic ornamentation.

ASSYRIAN AND ANCIENT PERSIAN.

Of this style it is only lately that we have become slightly

acquainted; and, though partly coeval with the Egyptian, the Assyrians

have borrowed little from them, the details being remarkable for

their classic character, at times approaching the Ionic, but greatly

dependent upon animal forms for its ornamentation, and upon painting

and sculpture for its expression. The forms, often graceful, are

less arbitrary than the Egyptian, (where symbolism is paramount,)

containing those elements afterwards elaborated into beauty by the

Greeks. There is an appropriate fitness in Assyrian ornament that

constitutes one of its prominent characteristics. In addition to

animals, the pomegranate, fir-cones, lotus-flower and reeds, rosettes,

and a fan-shaped ornament supposed to be the origin of the Greek

honeysuckle, distinguish the Assyrian style.

GREEK.

Under the ancient Greeks, Art attained a refined and exalted

character, material beauty being developed to the utmost; elegance

of proportion, chaste simplicity, and conventionalism, triumphant;

symbolism disregarded. The principal elements of Greek ornament were

the honeysuckle, the lotus-leaves, the wave-line and scroll, the

zig-zag, and the universal fret. The beauty of Grecian ornament

consists in its equality of foliage, starting-points, stalks, and

groundwork. Its running figures are well adapted to and are employed

for rolls, in side-finishing, and the proportions of this style of Art

should be carefully studied by the finisher.

ETRUSCAN.

Simplicity and elegance of form, combined with strong contrast

in colour, constitute the distinguishing marks of this style. The

Etruscan vases still form models for the artist. The novel appearance

of these vessels, all uniformly painted with a tracery of black on a

natural groundwork of brownish red, is extremely pleasing, proving the

high artistic capability of their makers. In the British Museum there

is one room entirely devoted to a collection of these remains of

ancient Art. This style is approached in its effects by inlaying

with black upon a brownish red. A copy of Caxton's "Recuyell of the

Historyes of Troye," bound in this style by Whittaker, has been highly

extolled. It is in the possession of the Marquis of Bath. The general

effects of this style are represented by a style now much in vogue,

called antique, a reddish-brown morocco being stamped upon so as

to produce a dark or black figure thereon; but the character of the

ornaments are generally dissimilar.

ROMAN.

Roman art is a redundant elaboration of the Greek, in which purity

gives way to richness, grotesque combinations become common, and false

principles creep in. Mosaic pavements are rendered pictorial by the

introduction of light and shade, the flat and round not kept distinct.

In the remains of Pompeii we find the degradation of classic Art by

the violation of true principles. There is nothing in this style to

commend it to the artist, especially in decorating books.

BYZANTINE, LOMBARD, NORMAN.

These varieties of kindred ornament, commencing with the rise of

Christianity, were founded on classic details, having a distinct

expression of their own. There is much symbolism in the Byzantine,

but all are appropriate to their several wants,--the parts rich,

judiciously disposed, and purely conventional. In these styles, so

intimately connected, we find the interlaced strap-work that suggested

Gothic tracery to the great mediæval artists.

MOORISH.

The decorative art of the Arabs is more conventional than any other,

it being in most cases extremely difficult to trace the origin of

their forms. All animal representations are strictly excluded by the

religion of Mohammed. The union of geometrical with floral forms seems

to have supplied the expression, many ornaments resembling the ovary

of plants, transversely cut and connected with crystalline shapes. The

abstract and superficial treatment is perfect, the forms are extremely

graceful, and the colouring gorgeous. The interlaced strap-work is

highly elaborated. This style is sometimes called the Arabesque, and

forms the chief decoration of the Alhambra, an ancient fortress and

residence of the Moorish monarchs of Granada. For grace and liveliness

this style is unrivalled, and it affords many useful and beautiful

hints to the finisher in his hand-tooling, and is well calculated to

produce fine effects in stamps designed for the embossing-press.

GOTHIC.

The Gothic is founded upon geometrical forms. The strap-work of former

styles is elaborated into tracery, the main lines being circular or

curved, starting from vertical lines, ending in points, enclosing

spaces divided and subdivided in the same manner, further decorated

with conventional ornaments derived from local nature. For bookbinding

it is sometimes employed, but without much judgment. The judicious

finisher will reject it on account of its inapplicability to

superficial decoration.

THE RENAISSANCE.

The Renaissance or Revival arose in Italy in the fifteenth century, by

the appropriation of classic details in connection with prior styles,

the traditionary giving way to selection and freedom; Art gaining but

few entirely new forms, rather subjecting all that had gone before to

a new treatment, which in the hands of the great artists of the period

produced agreeable results, showing the importance of general design,

rendering even incongruous materials pleasing from that cause alone.

The Cinque-cento has been considered the goal of the Renaissance

and its characteristics,--strap, tracery, arabesque, and pierced

scroll-work, a mixture of the conventional with natural forms, and

every detail of ancient Art,--producing, under different masters,

varied results. Thus, in Raphael's Loggie of the Vatican are to be

found, as at Pompeii, elements piled one above the other, without any

regard to construction. The same with the works of Julio Romano at

Mantua,--painted imitation of bas-reliefs suspended above fountains,

temples, &c., the parts often finely drawn and treated, but, taken as

a whole, little removed from the absurd, quite unlike the works of the

Greeks and Etruscans they sought to rival.

ELIZABETHAN.

The Elizabethan was an English version of the Renaissance, being a

special elaboration of the strap and bolt-work, and has been highly

useful to the stamp-cutter. Many of its forms can be advantageously

employed by the finisher.

LOUIS QUATORZE.

This distinct expression of Art is of Italian origin, being the last

of the Renaissance, and end of ornamental styles. It consists of

scrolls and shells, an alternation of curves and hollows, the concave

and convex in contrast, the broken surfaces affording a brilliant play

of light and shade. The effect when gilt being extremely magnificent,

colour was abandoned, construction hidden, and symmetry often

disregarded, especially in its decline. As to superficial treatment,

flat surfaces were studiously avoided, and the few that remained were

treated pictorially, in a mellifluous, pastoral style, known as that

of Watteau. Under Louis XV. the forms degenerated: symmetrical

balance and flow of line were disregarded, giving way to the degraded

ornamentation called the Rococo--the prevailing style of the last and

earlier part of the present century--depriving Europe for more than

one hundred years of true superficial decoration, without which no Art

can be considered complete. An attempt at this style may be seen

upon the sides of some of the gaudily-gilt albums and books of like

character. No finisher need cultivate a love for it, for it is the

aversion of all refined artists.

FINISHING.

TASTE AND DESIGN.

It is of the utmost importance to a young workman that he have correct

ideas in regard to taste, and be able to distinguish it from caprice

or mere fancy. It is in the power of all to acquire a correct taste,

for it is governed by laws that can be easily learned, and they are

unchangeable. Taste may be said to be a perception and an appreciation

of the principles of beauty and harmony as revealed by Nature through

Art. Nothing contrary to nature, no violation of any law of proportion

or of fitness, can be in good taste. The amateur and book-collector,

in commencing the foundation of a library, will do well to pause

before they adopt a species of binding that will in after years create

a feeling of annoyance, and perhaps lead to pecuniary sacrifice.

A recent writer upon the New York Exhibition of the Industry of all

Nations discourses thus:--"We call bookbinding an art; and when we

consider all that is necessary to the perfect covering of a fine book,

it must be admitted to be an art; less important, it is true, but

similar in kind to architecture.

"The first requisition upon the skill of the binder is to put the book

into a cover which will effectually protect it, and at the same time

permit it to be used with ease. If he do not accomplish this, his

most elaborate exhibition of ornamental skill is worth nothing; for he

fails in the very end for which his services are required. It was in

this regard, too, that most of our binders failed in past years.

Who that remembers the hideous, harsh, speckled sheep covers which

deformed our booksellers' shelves not long ago, can forget the added

torment which they inflicted upon their unhappy purchaser, by curling

up palpably before his very eyes, as he passed his first evening over

them, and by casting out loose leaves or whole signatures before he

had finished his first perusal? In those days, too, there was morocco

binding, with a California of gold upon the sides; and such morocco!

it felt to the fingers like a flattened nutmeg-grater, seeming to

protect the book by making it painful for any one to touch it. This

was as useless as the humbler though not more vulgar sheep. It would

hardly last through the holiday season on the centre-table which it

was made to adorn.

"The binder's next task is to give his work the substantial appearance

without which the eye of the connoisseur will remain unsatisfied.

The volume must not only be well protected, but seem so. It should

be solid, compact, square-edged, and enclosed in firm boards of a

stoutness proportionate to its size, and these should be covered with

leather at once pliable and strong. Unless it present this appearance,

it will be unsatisfactory in spite of the richest colours and the most

elaborate ornament. Thus far the mere mechanical skill of the binder

goes. In the choice of his style of binding, and in the decoration of

his book, if he perform his task with taste and skill, he rises to the

rank of an artist.

"The fitness of the binding to the character of the volume which it

protects, though little regarded by many binders, and still less by

those for whom they work, is of the first importance. Suppose Moore's

Lalla Rookh bound in rough sheep, with dark russia back and

corners, like a merchant's ledger, or Johnson's folio Dictionary in

straw-coloured morocco elaborately gilded, and lined with pale blue

watered-silk, is there an eye, no matter how uneducated, which would

not be shocked at the incongruity? Each book might be perfectly

protected, open freely, and exhibit evidence of great mechanical and

artistic skill on the part of the binder; but his atrocious taste

would insure him a just and universal condemnation. And yet there are

violations of fitness to be seen daily, on the majority of public and

private shelves, little less outrageous than those we have supposed.

Books of poetry, and illustrated works on art bound in sober speckled

or tree-marbled calf, with little gold upon the backs and sides,

and none upon the edges! Histories, statistical works, and books of

reference, in rich morocco, splendidly gilded!--the idea that the

styles ought to change places seeming never to enter the heads of the

possessors of these absurdly-covered volumes. But a little reflection

by any person of taste, and power to discern the eternal fitness

of things, will make it apparent that there should be congruity and

adaptation in the binding of books. Sober, practical volumes should be

correspondingly covered; calf and russia leather, with marbled paper

and edges, become them; while works of imagination, such as poetry

and books of engravings, demand rich morocco, fanciful ornaments, and

gilding. To bind histories, philosophical works, dictionaries, books

of reference and the like, in plain calf or dark russia,--travels,

novels, essays, and the lighter kind of prose writing, in tinted calf

or pale russia with gilding,--poetry in full morocco richly gilded,

and works on art in half morocco, with the top edge only cut and

gilded,--seems a judicious partition of the principal styles of

binding. The margins of an illustrated work on Art should never be cut

away, except where it is absolutely necessary for the preservation of

the book from dust, and the convenience of turning the leaves--that

is, at the top. It is well here to enter a protest against the

indiscriminate use of the antique style of binding, with dark-brown

calf, bevelled boards, and red edges. This is very well in its place;

but it should be confined to prose works of authors who wrote not

later than one hundred and fifty years ago. What propriety is there in

putting Scott, or Irving, or Dickens, or Longfellow, in such a dress?"

Hartley Coleridge's opinion on the subject of taste in Bookbinding is

thus given:--"The binding of a book should always suit its complexion.

Pages venerably yellow should not be cased in military morocco, but in

sober brown russia. Glossy hot-pressed paper looks best in vellum. We

have sometimes seen a collection of whitey-brown black-letter ballads,

&c. so gorgeously tricked out that they remind us of the pious

liberality of the Catholics, who dress in silk and gold the images

of saints, part of whose saintship consisted in wearing rags and

hair-cloth. The costume of a volume should also be in keeping with its

subject, and with the character of its author. How absurd to see the

works of William Penn in flaming scarlet, and George Fox's Journal in

bishops' purple! Theology should be solemnly gorgeous. History should

be ornamented after the antique and Gothic fashion; works of science,

as plain as is consistent with dignity; poetry, _simplex munditis_."

And it may not be irrelevant here to introduce the opinion of Dr.

Dibdin, whose connection with some of the first libraries in England,

and whose intimate knowledge of all the great book-collectors of the

same, must tend to stamp him as a good authority on the subject:--

"The general appearance of one's library is by no means a matter of

mere foppery or indifference; it is a sort of cardinal point, to

which the tasteful collector does well to attend. You have a right to

consider books, as to their _outsides_, with the eye of a _painter_;

because this does not militate against the proper use of the contents.

"Be sparing of red morocco or vellum. They have each so distinct,

or what painters call spotty, an appearance, that they should be

introduced but circumspectly. Morocco, I frankly own, is my favourite

surtout; and the varieties of them--_blue_, (dark and light,)

_orange_, _green_, and _olive-colour_--are especially deserving of

your attention.

"The colour of the binding may often be in harmony with its contents.

Books of poetry may be red, or light green, or blue, and have as much

ornament as may be desired. And Fine Art books, above all others,

ought to rejoice in beautiful coloured moroccos and gorgeous

ornaments. In the British Museum, books of divinity are bound in blue,

history in red, poetry in yellow, and biography in olive.

"Let _russia_ claim your volumes of architecture or other antiquities,

of topography, of lexicography, and of other works of reference. Let

your romances and chronicles aspire to _morocco_ or _velvet_;

though, upon second thoughts, _russia_ is well suited to history

and chronicles. And for your fifteeners, or volumes printed in the

fifteenth century, whether Greek, Latin, Italian, or English, let me

entreat you invariably to use _morocco_: for theology, _dark blue_,

_black_, or _damson-colour_; for history, _red_ or _dark green_;

while, in large paper quartos, do not fail to remember the _peau

de veau_ (calf) of the French, with gilt upon marbled edges. My

abhorrence of _hogskin_ urges me to call upon you to swear eternal

enmity to that engenderer of mildew and mischief. Indeed, at any rate,

it is a clumsy coat of mail. For your Italian and French, especially

in long suites, bespeak what is called _French calf binding_, spotted,

variegated, or marbled on the sides, well covered with ornament on the

back, and, when the work is worthy of it, with gilt on the edges. Let

your English octavos of history or belles-lettres breathe a quiet tone

of chastely-gilded white calf with marbled edges; while the works

of our better-most poets should be occasionally clothed in a morocco

exterior."

The further opinion of the doctor on the style of ornament, &c. in

gilding, will be given in its proper place, and which, with that

cited above, may be safely acted upon by the binder, blended with such

additions as his own taste may dictate.

It is in this state that the defects of forwarding will become

more apparent, and which no tact or ingenuity of the finisher can

effectually remedy; for, unless the bands are square, the joints free,

and the whole book geometrically just, the defect, whatever it may

be, will appear throughout, and tend to destroy the beauty of every

subsequent operation, from the constraint required to make the general

appearance of the work effective.

Before proceeding to a description of the various manipulations

required in gilding a book, it will be necessary to direct the

attention of the young workman again to what has been advanced

relative to care and attention in previous parts of this work, and

follow up the remarks there made with others on the taste necessary

to be displayed in this most important part of the art of bookbinding.

When it is considered that the most celebrated artists have arrived

at the eminence awarded to them not only through the elasticity,

solidity, and squareness of their bindings, but also from the

judicious choice of their ornaments for gilding, and the precision and

beauty with which they have been executed, it cannot be too strongly

impressed on the workman that this should ever occupy his first

attention. Nothing is so disagreeable to the eye as injudicious

or badly-executed ornaments; while with chaste and classical

embellishments, tastefully applied, an appearance of richness is

produced on the volumes that cannot fail to give satisfaction to the

most fastidious critic. The sides of the volumes present the field

most favourable for the display of ornamental taste, admitting, from

their extent, the execution of the most complicated designs. This

elaborate style of ornament has been carried to such perfection and

splendour as, in many instances, to have occupied several days in

the execution of one side alone; but it is only by the most vigorous

application, greatest care, and correct taste, that proficiency

therein can be attained. With these, success will soon crown the

endeavours of the workman; and he will have the satisfaction of

finding himself able to imitate any pattern, however difficult, as

well as to execute many new designs and compartments, of which, till

he applied himself, he had not previously an idea.

As regards the style of ornament, it must be left to taste; but, as

before promised, it will now be proper to introduce the remarks of Dr.

Dibdin on the general effect of gilding and blind tooling, leaving the

detail to be suggested to the mind of the gilder.

"First, let your books be well and evenly lettered, and let a

tolerable portion of ornament be seen upon the backs of them. I love

what is called an _overcharged back_, At first the appearance may be

flaunting and garish; but time, which mellows down book ornaments as

well as human countenances, will quickly obviate this inconvenience;

and about a twelvemonth, or six months added to the said twelvemonth,

will work miracles upon the appearance of your book. Do not be meagre

of your ornaments on the back, and never suffer _blind tooling_ wholly

to pervade a folio or quarto; for, by so doing, you convert what

should look like a _book_ into a piece of mahogany furniture.

"In large libraries there should not be too much blind tooling or too

great a want of gilt. No doubt the ornament should be as appropriate

as possible to the book. One could not endure gingerbread-gilt

_Bibles_ and _Prayer-Books_, or _Chronicles_ or _Dictionaries_, or

other books of reference. Let these have a subdued decoration on their

backs; bands only full-gilt, or a running edge-tool in the centres of

them, with small ornaments between the bands.

"I would recommend the lettering of a volume to be as _full_ as

possible; yet sententiousness must sometimes be adopted. The lines

should be straight, and the letters of one and the same form or

character within the line; yet the name of the author may be executed

a size larger than that of the date or place of its execution, and the

lettering may be between the top and bottom bands, or it may occupy

the spaces between three bands, or even more. Re-letter old books

perpendicularly, as was the custom. In all fresh bindings, however,

prefer horizontal to perpendicular lettering."[A]

[Footnote A: We sometimes fear that Dr. Dibden's commendation

of an overcharged back has produced a bad effect. It should be

borne in mind that, when the doctor wrote, calf was the

prevailing material employed in binding, and that of a light

colour.]

It remains to urge that particular attention be paid to the lettering

of books being their right titles, as the contrary will present to

the judicious an effect the most disagreeable, and may be the cause of

producing dissatisfaction with the whole of the binding in the mind of

the owner; and also to avoid the contrast which the different shade or

colour of new lettering-pieces will give to some bindings.

As it is requisite that the workman should form an idea of the style

and design to be executed on the volume before he prepares it for

gilding, we will proceed to point out the peculiarities of some of the

most prominent styles and of the tools required to produce them. We

hope to convey a faithful idea of the latter with the aid of the tools

and ornaments executed expressly for this work by Gaskill, Copper &

Fry, bookbinders' tool-cutters, Philadelphia, who have secured for

themselves, by their taste and skill, an enviable reputation as

artists. Plate I. contains an illustration of the species of ornament

termed

THE ALDINE STYLE,

Which derives its name from a noted printer named Aldus Manutius, a

Roman by birth, who was born in the year 1446 or 1447. His Christian

name, Aldus, was a contraction of Theobaldus; and to this surname he

sometimes added the appellation of Pius, or Bassianus, or Romanus. The

first of these appellatives was assumed by Aldus from his having been

the tutor of Albertus Pius, a prince of the noble house of Carpi; and

the second was derived from the birthplace of the printer--namely,

Bassian, a small town in the Duchy of Lermonetta.

Aldus is supposed to have taken up his residence at Venice, as the

favourite city wherein to mature his plans, about the year 1488; and

about 1494-95 he there put forth the first production of his press.

He introduced Roman types of a neater cut than had previously been

in use, and invented that beautiful letter which is now known as

_Italic_, though, in the first instance, it was termed _Venetian_,

from Manutius being a resident of Venice when he brought it to

perfection; but, not long after, it was dedicated to the State of

Italy, to prevent any dispute that might arise from other nations

claiming a priority, as was the case concerning the first inventor of

printing.

Prior to the time of Aldus, the only points used in punctuation

were the comma, colon, and full-point or period; but he invented

the semicolon, gave a better shape to the comma, and connected the

punctuation by assigning to the various points more proper places.

About the period of his marriage, (in 1500,) he invented a mode

of imposing a work in such a manner that two languages might be

interleaved and bound together, or separately, at the option of the

purchaser; and, about the same date, he printed the first leaf, in

folio, of a proposed edition of the BIBLE in the Hebrew, Greek, and

Latin languages; so that he has the honour of having first suggested

the plan of a Polyglott Bible. However, the plan failed of being then

carried into effect. Printing different languages in opposite columns

was not accomplished till 1530.

The mind of Aldus was entirely engaged in the care of his

printing-house; for, as soon as he had ordered his other necessary

affairs, he shut himself up in his study, where he employed himself

in revising his Greek and Latin MSS., reading the letters which he

received from the learned out of all parts of the world, and writing

answers to them. To prevent interruption by impertinent visits,

he caused the following inscription to be placed over his

door:--"_Whoever you are, Aldus earnestly entreats you to despatch

your business as soon as possible, and then depart: unless you come

hither, like another Hercules, to lend him some friendly assistance;

for here will be work sufficient to employ you and as many as enter

this place._"

The mark or device which Aldus--who died in 1515--made use of to

distinguish works issued from his press was an anchor, round which a

dolphin seemed to twist. It must be familiar to every amateur,--Mr.

Pickering, the London publisher, having adopted the Aldine anchor as

his device. To attempt any description of the Aldine class of tools

would be superfluous after so fair a specimen in the illustration.

It will be perceived they are entirely free from shading, and,

consequently, much more effective for that description of work for

which they are generally used,--viz., blind tooling. Both tools and

patterns are much lighter and more ornamental than the old Monastic

school, of which the Aldine in some degree partook.

Upon the same plate there is exhibited the arrangement of a back-panel

and tools in the

MONTAGUE STYLE,

Which derives its name from Montague, (of the firm of Montague and

Johnson,) a bookbinder of considerable eminence, who flourished

about the year 1780. The chief features of this style are corners and

centre, filled up with stops, &c. similar to illustration. The tools

are of an open, leafy description, flowing from a stem free from any

thing of the scroll or curl. The panel given has been copied from

a book supposed to have been done by Montague himself. The bar, or

barleycorn, on the head and tail and on the bands, likewise on the

insides and edges. Books in volumes, pieced red and green on adjoining

panels, frequently a lozenge of red on the second piece, and filled

up with corners and stops similar to the other panels; sometimes both

pieces green; sides generally plain, or a flowery flowing roll, for

which a two-line is now usually substituted; sewed on raised bands;

colour, brown calf, sometimes highly sprinkled.

There is also upon Plate I. an illustration of

THE HARLEIAN STYLE,

A style not behind Montague in beauty of ornament, and superior

in elegance and variety of arrangement. Before entering into a

description of the style, we will give what information we have gained

respecting its founder, trusting that it will not be unacceptable. We

find that "Robert Harley, Esq., of Frampton-Bryan, in the county of

Hereford, (the gentleman from whom the style derives its name,) was in

1700 chosen Speaker of the House of Commons, and in May, 1711, he

was created Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, and five days afterwards

was promoted to the important station of Lord High-Treasurer of Great

Britain."

In the Preface to the Harleian MSS., now in the British Museum,

speaking of Mr. Harley, it states that "his innate love of books was

such as to determine him in early life to undertake the formation of

a new library, regardless of the disadvantages with which he must

contend, as great exertions had previously been made in collecting

MSS. for the Bodleian, Cottonian, and other valuable though smaller

collections, so that the prospect of forming a new library with any

considerable number of MSS. was indeed very unpromising. But, urged

on by a love of learning, and a strong desire to search into the

transactions of former ages, determined Mr. Harley to purchase

whatever curious MSS. he could meet with, more especially such as

might in any wise tend to explain and illustrate the history, laws,

customs, and antiquities, of his native country. The principal

point which the founder of the Harleian Library had in view was the

establishment of a MS. English Historical Library, and the rescuing

from oblivion and destruction of such valuable records of our national

antiquities as had escaped the diligence of former collectors.

"At the decease of his son, (Edward Lord Harley, in 1741,) who had

been a powerful auxiliary in enriching the collection, the MS. library

consisted of nearly 8000 volumes. At the death of Mr. Harley, his

library was bequeathed to the University of Oxford. To such men we owe

a debt of gratitude for the improvement of the art and for introducing

a style of finishing that still remains the admiration of the

connoisseur.

"The books in the Harleian Collection are principally bound in red

morocco, well sewed on raised bands, tight backs, (as were all the

books of that period,) Dutch marble end-papers, and gilt edges."

Harleian tools are more wiry and much closer than the Montague,

interspersed with fine-line curls, fine pinhead curve-lines, rosettes,

acorns, solid stops, single rings, and cross-buns.

The border upon the same plate illustrates the Harleian pane-side. In

the Harleian style there are three distinctly different arrangements

for sides and backs, (independent of the flights of fancy in which

finishers indulge.) There are on the sides,--first, the two or

three-line fillet, stopped; second, the Harleian tooled or spikey

border,--a style of finishing peculiarly neat and rich, and well

adapted for nearly every description of books.

On original Harleys the tooling went right on from corner to corner,

as if worked by a very broad roll; but modern finishers prefer a

made-up corner,--that is, a tool or tools projecting at right angles

with the corner, up to which the border-tools are worked, thus

rendering the whole more harmonious and perfect. The spikey border

is worked up to a two or three-line fillet, with the cat-tooth roll

worked on the outer line towards the edge of the board. (We may

here mention that the cat-tooth, although purely French, may be also

considered Harleian, as it is on all the originals we have seen,

and accords well with the style.) Third, the pane or panelled side,

similar to the illustration. Sometimes a double pane was formed by

throwing in a two-line fillet and working a roll on the inside.

On the backs there is the upright centre, the diamond centre and

corner, as in the illustration, and the semi-circle with open centre.

The diamond centre was not much used on books of light reading, such

as novels, but rather on works of a graver nature, such as divinity,

philosophy, and history. It seems to have been the favourite style of

the earl's binders; and we must acknowledge that a book never looks so

like a book as when finished with a good diamond centre and corner.

In forming the diamond centre, the spikes ought to project beyond the

stops, as it is then more graceful and pleasing to the eye than when

the stop and spikes are flush one with the other.

THE FONTHILL STYLE.

The following account of Fonthill Abbey will, no doubt, be acceptable,

in connection with our description of the "style" which has derived

its name therefrom.

"Fonthill Abbey, in Wiltshire, justly ranks as one of the grandest

structures in the United Kingdom, combining all the elegance of modern

architecture with the sublime grandeur of the conventual style. It was

built about the end of the last century, at an expense of £400,000, by

Mr. William Beckford, son of the public-spirited Lord Mayor of London

of that name, whose statue now stands in Guildhall, with a copy of the

memorable speech and remonstrance which he addressed to George III. in

1770. Succeeding to almost unbounded wealth, (nearly £100,000 a year,)

endowed with an extraordinary mind, literary talents of the highest

order, and an exquisite taste for the arts, the young owner of

Fonthill Abbey determined to erect an edifice uncommon in design,

and to adorn it with splendour; and, with an energy and enthusiasm

of which duller minds can form but a poor conception, he soon had his

determination carried into effect.

"The gorgeous edifice reared for Mr. B. contained many magnificent

suites of apartments. We need only notice two, denominated St.

Michael's, and King Edward the Third's Gallery. They are of the most

stately and interesting description that can be conceived or imagined:

the former filled with the choicest books and many articles of

_vertu_; the latter also employed as a library, but enriched with a

much greater number of choice and curious productions, and terminating

in an oratory, unique for its elegant proportions and characteristic

consistency. It is at once rich and luxurious as the temple of which

it forms an appendage,--sombre and soothing as the religious feelings

with which its designation associates it.

'Meditation here may think down hours and moments;

Here the heart may give a useful lesson to the head,

And learning wiser grow without its books.'

It is but the drawing of a curtain, and not only all the glitter of

the adjoining splendour, but all the pomps and vanities of the world

seem to the meditative mind to be shut out forever. Perhaps its

pensive cast is more deeply experienced from the immediate contrast:

dazzled with objects of show, fatigued with the examination of rare

and costly commodities, and bewildered with the multitude of precious

devices which everywhere surround him, the soul of the visitant

retires with tenfold delight to the narrow walls of the oratory."

Our brief description of the Fonthill style cannot fail to strike the

reader as being remarkably appropriate to the sombre character of

that part of the abbey which contained the library,--the one being in

strict keeping with the other.

Half-bound olive-brown morocco; sewed on raised bands; gilt tops;

marble-paper sides and insides; with no finishing whatever, except the

lettering and date at bottom.

À LA JANSENISTE.

This chaste and beautiful style is said to be derived from a religious

order, and is highly esteemed by amateurs. Books bound à la janseniste

are full-bound Turkey or Levant morocco, with a broad turn in on the

inside of the board, gilt edges with a fine one-line fillet each side

of the bands and head and tail, and neatly mitred on the side, all in

blind, there being no gilding on the outside but the lettering; on

the inside a broad-tooled border of very fine tooling in gold, a

fine two-line in gold on the edges of the boards, and the cap of the

headbands tipped with the same.

THE CAMBRIDGE STYLE

Is practised, we may say exclusively, on theological works. At what

period it gained its name is uncertain; doubtless, it was the style in

which some of the university libraries were chiefly bound; and, in all

probability, the idea of the Harley paned side was first copied from

it. Books bound in this style are sewed on raised bands, brown calf,

pane-sprinkled sides, Dutch marble end-papers, and red edges. Back

pieced with red russia, and a two-line fillet head and tail, and on

each side of the bands, _blind_. Sides, two-line fillet close to the

edge and on each side of the pane, with a narrow flower-roll worked on

each side of the pane, close to the lines. The fillets in the pane to

be connected together at the corners with the two-line fillet, and a

tool worked from the corner of the pane towards the edge of the book,

_all blind_. Bar-roll on the edges, in gold.

[Illustration:

2.

_Modern Monastic._]

MODERNIZED MONASTIC.

This style is now in great vogue, under the appellation of the

antique. The materials employed are divinity calf and brown or

Carmelite morocco, with very thick boards, edges either red, brown,

or matted gilt; very high raised bands. The style of ornament is

illustrated by Plate II., intended for a side-stamp to be done by

the press. It can also be done by hand, with rolls, fillets, and

hand-stamps, omitting the broad and narrow fillet, and substituting

either a one or two-line, working the circles with gouges. The tools

are all worked blind. This style of binding, when appropriate to the

book, produces a very pleasing effect.

ARABESQUE.

"The term is more commonly applied to the species of ornament used

in adorning the walls, pavements, and roofs of Moorish and Arabian

buildings, consisting of an intricate heterogeneous admixture of

fruits, flowers, scrolls, and other objects, to the exclusion of

animals, the representation of which is forbidden by the Mohammedan

religion. This kind of ornament is now frequently used in the

adorning of books, plate, &c. Foliage very similar to that used by the

Arabians, intermixed with griffins, &c., were frequently employed on

the walls and friezes of temples, and on many of the ancient Greek

vases; on the walls of the baths of Titus, at Pompeii, and many other

places."--_Craig's Universal Dictionary._

As regards book-finishing, we have looked into more than one

authority, and are really unable to define what the "arabesque" style

is or ought to be. The well-understood term "roan embossed" is, in our

opinion, the nearest approach to it at the present day.

Plate III. is an adaptation of an old German design for embossing. The

figure is raised, the plate being worked with a counter, in a powerful

press.

[Illustration:

3.

_Old German Style for Embossed Work._]

This style can only be executed upon publishers' work where there is

a quantity of the same book to be done in this style. By it a good

effect is produced upon an inferior material and at a trifling cost.

The covers are embossed before they are applied to the volumes, and

in order to preserve the sharpness of the design they must be covered

with glue and not pressed afterwards.

ANTIQUE OAK AND OTHER BINDINGS.

Great varieties of style in the covers of bindings have been

introduced within the last few years; but these must be left to the

imitative powers of the skilful workman, as no written description

would give the requisite information and guidance. Should he be

desirous of executing these, he will do well to study some good

specimen. Among others may be mentioned the Antique Oak Bindings,

adopted by Mr. Murray, for his "Illuminated Prayer-Book," and Messrs.

Longman and Co., for "Gray's Elegy." Also the Iron Binding,--viz.:

covers in imitation of cast-iron,--in which Messrs. Longman and Co.

have had bound the "Parables of our Lord." Bibles and Prayers are

now frequently bound to imitate the antique, having heavy boards with

clasps and corners, and finished in the monastic style.

GROLIER STYLE.

This beautiful style of ornament is so well illustrated by Plate IV.

that it scarcely needs any remark. We will merely observe that this

style is well calculated for hand-work, being entirely superficial in

character. The pattern presented can be worked with a one-line fillet

and gouges, with a few leaves of a conventional character. The design

should be first traced upon paper of the proper size, the paper

lightly tipped at the corners with paste upon the side, then worked

with the fillet and gouges through the paper upon the leather. The

paper is then removed, and the blind impression appears upon the side.

All vestiges of the paper are carefully washed off, and the pattern

pencilled in,--that is, each portion of the figure is carefully traced

with a fine camel's-hair pencil saturated with glaire. When dry it is

lightly passed over with a piece of cotton in which sweet oil has been

dropped, and the gold leaf laid on. The pattern is then reworked upon

the gold.

[Illustration:

4.

_Grolier about 1530._]

The design upon Plate V. is a modern elaboration of the Grolier, and

is intended for a side-plate, to be executed by the stamping-press.

It is well calculated for blind or blank stamping, the solid line

producing by its intersections a fine effect. By omitting the inner

and working the out lines, this elaboration of lines and circles can

be worked by hand.

[Illustration:

5.

_Modernized Grolier._]

The Louis Quatorze is illustrated, by a pattern for a back, upon Plate

VI. This can be worked either by hand-stamps or by the press. The

centre pattern is a very pretty illustration of the prevailing style

of backs for case-work. This must be stamped before the cover is

applied to the book.

The third pattern for flat backs is adapted for hand-tools, and

when executed upon light-coloured English calf produces a beautiful

appearance. From its light, graceful character, it is well suited to

modern poetry and light literature in general. This style gives scope

to an almost endless variety of patterns, regulated only by the taste

of the finisher.

[Illustration:

_6._

_Louis XIV._ _Modern._ _French._

]

Plate VII. is a design drawn by Holbein for a side-ornament in metal.

This beautiful pattern can be adapted either to hand or press work.

Its graceful and harmonious proportions should be well studied by the

young workman.

[Illustration:

_7._

_Drawn after a design by Holbein A.D. 1550._]

Upon Plate VIII. will be found specimens of rolls and hand-stamps used

in finishing. The numbers affixed refer to the order of arrangement

in the Book of Patterns published by Gaskill, Copper & Fry, containing

over two thousand specimens with their prices attached. They have also

an immense number of patterns, executed since the publication of their

book for binders in various parts of the country.

[Illustration:

_8._

_Selection from Gaskill, Copper & Fry's Book of Patterns (18 Minor

S^t.)_]

Having given the prominent distinct styles,--of which there are,

however, many combinations, both of style, ornament, and tooling,

originating more nondescripts than we have space to treat upon,--we

proceed to the gilding, trusting that what has been pointed out to

the attention of the young workman will induce him to neglect no

opportunities of becoming acquainted with the works of artists of

celebrity, not for the purpose of servile imitation, but to examine

their adaptations of ornamental art as a study, to enable him to trace

superficial decoration back to its originators. Having acquired this

knowledge, he may by his treatment of ornament take rank as an artist.

The examples given will be sufficient for the intellectual workman

to conceive many patterns which his taste will suggest, forming an

infinite variety of beautiful designs. In all combinations, a rigorous

observance of the symmetrical proportions of the tools must be his

first care, so that the union of any number of designs present a form

agreeable and chaste. It would be superfluous to add more; but from

the importance of the subject, on closing the directions for the

ornamental department of binding, it may be repeated that there is no

greater evidence of the ignorance or carelessness of the workman than

an ornament of any kind unevenly or unequally worked. Let the young

binder especially bear this in mind: it is a defect which nothing can

effectually remedy; instead of an embellishment it is a detriment to

the binding, and his reputation as a clever workman is consequently

placed in jeopardy.

Preparatory to gilding, the back must be compassed off and carefully

marked with a folding-stick and a straight-edge or piece of vellum,

wherever it is intended to run a straight line. This serves as a guide

when the gold is laid on. For work of the best class, the fillets must

be first put in blind, and the tooling done in the same manner. For

sides where the design is elaborate, or a degree of perfection in

the tooling is desirable, the entire pattern must be first worked in

blind, and, after being washed with a dilution of oxalic acid or

a thin paste-wash, it must be carefully pencilled in with the

glaire-pencil; but this comes more appropriately under the head of

PREPARATIONS FOR GILDING.

To operate successfully, it will be necessary that the workman provide

himself with good size, glaire, and oil. The first is prepared

by boiling fine vellum slips till a good size is produced, of a

consistency that will lie equally on the volume without blotches or

ropes, and must be used warm. The glaire is formed of the whites of

eggs, beaten well with a _frother_ till it is perfectly clear, and the

froth taken off. This liquid will improve by keeping, and should never

be used new if it can possibly be avoided. For morocco bindings, the

glaire is sometimes diluted with water. The oil adopted by various

binders is different. Some use palm-oil for calf, sweet oil for

morocco or russia; others prefer hog's lard, or fine mould-candle, for

light-coloured calf; but sweet oil is well adapted for almost every

kind of leather. Vellum-size is the best preparation for coloured

calf. On books thus prepared, the glaire must be applied two or three

times, taking care that each coat is quite dry before the next is

added, and that it lies perfectly even on the whole surface, free

from globules or any substance whatever. Great care is required

in preparing coloured calf; for, if there be too much body in

the preparation, it will crack on the surface and present a bad

appearance. Morocco and roan will not require more than one coat,

and, where practicable, only on such parts of the morocco as are to

be gilt. The state of the weather must ever determine the number of

volumes to be proceeded with at one time, as in the winter double the

number may be glaired to what the dryness of a summer's day will admit

of, so as to work with safety and produce effect. A good paste-wash

before glairing is always advisable, as it prevents the glaire from

sinking into the leather.

In preparing glaire from the egg for immediate use, a few drops of

oxalic acid added thereunto will be found to be of essential service.

The volumes being thus prepared, the operation of

GILDING THE BACK

Is commenced by oiling slightly, with a small piece of cotton,

the whole length of the back. If the book is merely intended to be

_filleted_ for the economy of the gold, small strips are cut on the

gold-cushion, attached to the heated fillet by rolling it slightly

over, and affixed to the volume by passing it firmly on the lines

previously marked. But if the back is to be fully ornamented, it will

be necessary to cover it entirely with gold-leaf.

The hand-stamps should be disposed on the table before him, so as to

be selected with the greatest facility, and in readiness for every

purpose for which they may be required.

To lay on the gold, the workman takes a book of the metal, opens the

outside leaf, and passes the knife underneath the gold; with this

he raises it, carries it steadily on to the cushion, and spreads it

perfectly even, by a light breath on the middle of the leaf, taking

care also that not the least current of air has access to the room

he may be operating in. Afterwards the gold must be cut with the

gold-knife to the breadth and length of the places to be covered, by

laying the edge upon it and moving the knife slightly backwards and

forwards. Then rub upon the back the oil, and apply the gold upon the

places to be ornamented with a cotton or tip, rubbed on the forehead

or hair to give it a slight humidity and cause the gold to adhere. But

if the whole of the back is to be gilt, it will be more economical to

entirely cover it by cutting the gold in slips the breadth of the

book and applying the back on it; afterwards press it close with the

cotton, with which any breaks in the gold must also be covered,

by placing small slips where required. The humidity of the hair or

forehead will be sufficient to make the gold adhere to the cotton or

other instrument with which it may be conveyed to the book. The fillet

or roll must then be heated to a degree proper for the substance on

which it is to be worked. Calf will require them hotter than morocco

and roan, and these warmer than russia and vellum. To ascertain their

proper heat, they are applied on a damp sponge, or rubbed with the

finger wetted, and by the degree of boiling that the water makes,

their fitness is known; but a little exercise and habit will render

this easy of judging. To further insure this, the roll or pallet is

passed over the cap of the headband; if too hot, the gold will be

dull; if too cool, the impression will be bad, from the gold not

adhering in every part.

After the gold is laid on, the volume is laid upon the side, with the

back elevated, and the workman proceeds to mitre the fillets that run

lengthwise of the back, commencing at the line that has been traced

across the back, by pressing lightly with the point of the mitred roll

and running it carefully till near the line that marks the end of

the panel; then lift the fillet and turn it with the finger until the

other or reverse mitre, or nick in the fillet, is reached; then place

the fillet in the lines already gilt, adjusting it with the left hand

until the extreme point of the mitre will just reach the line traced

across. After both edges of the back have been done along the joint in

this way, the volume is then placed evenly in the finishing-press, and

the panels completed by mitreing the fillets that run across the back.

The entire operation requires the utmost care, in order to have the

lines parallel and the mitres perfectly even and true. No ornament

that may be afterwards worked upon the back, beautiful as it may be,

can atone for negligence or want of skill in the mitreing and running

of the fillets. As a matter of economy, sometimes the back is run up;

that is, instead of stopping where the lines or bands intersect, the

roll is run up the back from one end to the other, without stopping;

and, after wiping the gold off along the joint outside the fillet, it

is run across the back on each side of the bands, and head and tail in

the same manner. After the back is mitred, the finisher will proceed

with the ornamental tools, and work them carefully off. In placing

them, great attention should be paid to their occupying precisely

the same place in each panel; and, in order to present an agreeable

effect, the tools should correspond in detail, and there should be

a geometrical fitness governing the selection and arrangement of the

tools.

The judicious choice of ornaments for the back is of the utmost

importance. For instance, such as represent animals, insects,

or flowers, which are only proper for works of natural history,

entomology, and botany, should never appear on the backs of works

on general literature, as it would be an evidence of bad taste or

carelessness.

Every tool should be beautiful in itself, because no accumulation of

misshapen tools can make one beautiful ornament. There is no objection

to scrolls, leaves, flowers, stops, or any of the usual kind of

ornaments; only let them all be in themselves beautiful. It is

appropriate to introduce a harp on a book of songs, a stag's head on

a book on hunting, a recognised ecclesiastical pattern upon a book of

divinity or a prayer-book; a Greek or Roman design upon a classical

work, or a Gothic design upon a book on Gothic architecture.

Should it be desired to present on the back simply an ornamental

lettering-piece at the head, diverging to a point towards the middle

of the book, and the rest of the volume left plain, it will be

necessary to impress the tools previous to glairing, and then apply

the glaire with a camel's-hair pencil in the indentations the tools

have formed. When dry, cover with gold and reimpress the tool in

the marks previously made, and letter the title. This proceeding is

adopted in every pattern where part of the back is intended to be left

dull by being free from glaire.

The title must next engage attention, and the letters placed thereon,

either singly or together, with brass type properly fixed in the

hand-chase. If with single letters, the tail of the volume must be

lowered about an inch, and the workman draw a thread of silk across

the gold to direct the heads of the letters. Taking each singly, he

places them on the back with the right hand, steadying the letter with

the forefinger of the left. If the title is set in the chase, place

the volume evenly in the press, and apply the title, guided by the

thumb, firmly across. The title in either case must be justified, to

produce the best effect, taking care to avoid, if possible, having two

lines of the same length; and, where the title can be measured, as

in the type it may, the exact centre should be ascertained before

applying it heated on the gold. The back may now be considered

finished. The gold which has not been impressed by the gilding tools

must be well rubbed off with the _gold-rag_ and minutely cleared off

with a piece of fine flannel or India-rubber, so as to display the

delicate lines of the ornaments as perfectly and clearly as possible.

Attention should be paid to this particular; for, let a book be

finished in the most tasteful manner possible, unless well cleared off

the effect is entirely lost. If in calf, it must now be polished, and

the squares and edges of the boards proceeded with.

GILDING THE SQUARES, ETC.

For gilding the edges of the boards, the gold may be taken as for the

bands,--on the roll,--and the volume held firmly with the left hand;

but, if large, put into the press between boards, so as not to injure

the back. Where the ornament of the inside-square is simple, the like

proceeding of applying the gold will be proper, resting the board open

on an elevation equal to the thickness of the book. But if the square

has been left large, with a leather joint, so as to admit of being

more elaborately filled up, the gold must be laid on the whole space

with the tip and pressed close with the cotton. The gilding is then

proceeded with in the same manner as detailed in the directions for

the side-ornaments.

GILDING THE SIDES.

The sides, from affording more ample space, are the part of the volume

whereon the workman can and is expected to show his taste and skill

in gilding. The proceedings are the same as before pointed out where

a simple roll is the only ornament round; but where the pattern is

extensive and the details minute, it is necessary to have the whole

worked blind upon the volume before glairing, and then apply the gold.

If one side is done at a time, the book is taken by the leaves with

the left hand, the board intended to be covered resting on the thumb,

and the gold laid on as for the squares, either over the whole side

or on such parts as the pattern indicates. If the volume be small, the

gold may be laid on both sides and the leaves of the volume placed in

the finishing-press, allowing the boards to rest on its surface. This

affords greater facility for placing uniformly and systematically the

fillets, rolls, and tools necessary to complete the design on each

side. Where the pattern has not been marked, and one side only

proceeded with, the roll is run in a straight line, which should be

made, previous to covering with gold, on the board by the joint of the

back, the volume turned for the head and tail, and laid open upon the

board for the fore-edge, to give it the firmness necessary.

Directions for executing the most elaborate designs have been

previously given, whereby it will be perceived that it requires

but taste, and a just observation of similarity of design and the

geometrical proportions of the ornaments, to execute them to any

extent. One variation from this rule will destroy the effect of the

whole pattern: it will therefore be to the benefit of such as are not

conversant fully with the art, to assist themselves with designs drawn

on cartridge-paper, which may be marked through on the leather and

the pattern executed in gold or blind as required. In all, the gilding

will be the same, either to glaire over the whole cover after the

design is stamped, or, if the plain part is to be left dull, by

glairing the impressions only with a camel's-hair pencil.

GILDING ON SILK AND VELVET.

The proceedings necessary to be adopted for gilding on silk and velvet

are, from the delicate nature of these substances, different from

those laid down for gilding on leather. The glaire used on the latter

would tend to stain, and therefore it is necessary to employ other

means for fixing the gold. This is by drying the whites of eggs

and reducing them to a powder, which is put into a small bottle and

tightly tied over with a piece of fine muslin, by which means it is

equally distributed on the space intended to be gilt. Gum-sandarac is

now, however, more generally used for this purpose, although some

use gum-copal. The powder being applied, the gold is cut in slips and

taken on a roll of a circumference equal to the length of the space

intended for it to be applied on. The design is then firmly impressed,

and the superfluous gold brushed off with a soft brush or clean piece

of cotton, and the other side alike executed. In lettering, or fixing

single tools on the back, the same proceedings must be adopted, by

taking the gold thereon and applying it to the back or side of the

volume. Where the design is large, or elaborate work is required, it

will be better executed in the following manner:--The design must be

drawn on paper, and worked through on silk, after which the impression

must be carefully glaired with a camel's-hair pencil; when dry, rub

the parts intended for the gold with the finger passed through the

hair or with a clean rag slightly oiled, and, after laying on the gold

as directed for other styles, reimpress the tools, and _whip_ off the

superfluous gold with a clean flannel.

As there is no moisture in silk, the workman must not lay on at one

time so much as he does on calf and other substances.

ILLUMINATED BINDING.

This style, an invention of the French, was for some time kept by them

with the greatest secrecy. It is a binding of the utmost magnificence,

uniting the varied beauties of the arabesque and gilt ornament,

blended with the illuminated decorations seen on early MSS. before the

invention of printing. When executed in the best manner, nothing can

exceed the beauty of the whole _coup-d'[oe]il_, rivalling, as it does,

in splendour, the most elaborately-finished design of the painter. The

time required to be devoted, on its first introduction, to a single

specimen, appeared likely to confine this sort of ornament to the

finest treasures of literature, and even to them in a limited degree.

The improvements, however, in machinery and the rapid advance of the

arts have, in a few years, brought this style into very general use

for albums and other works where embellished covers are adopted; and

even on the cheap roan bindings used for Bibles, Prayers, &c. it may

be seen; though in effecting this cheapness it must be premised that a

less durable method is adopted.

To execute the more elaborate designs, practice and a taste for the

arts will here alone serve the workman; without these requisites it

would be futile to make the attempt. But, as the proceedings require

to be executed with the utmost care, we shall enter fully into such as

are new, and, from their importance, at the risk of being considered

prolix, again touch on those that may have been before treated of.

The description of one side will serve the purpose of making the

proceedings fully understood. Whether the material be of morocco or

white vellum, it must be washed, if required, perfectly clean, and

left to dry. The first operation will be--if it be for stamp-work--to

place the side on the bed of the stamping-press and boldly impress the

design thereon. The most elegant, and capable of the greatest display

of colour, are subjects of botany and natural history. The next

step will be to glaire with a camel's-hair pencil such parts of the

impression as it is intended shall be afterwards covered with gold.

This done, the delicate operation of colouring may be proceeded with.

In London and Paris this is executed by professed artists in no way

conversant with book-binding. The colours to be used must be such as

do not at all, or very slightly, fade on exposure to the air or sun,

such as carmine, ultramarine, indigo, burnt sienna, gamboge, and

sap-green. These must be prepared, with fine gum, in the same manner

as for painting, and be lightly and delicately laid on such parts of

the design as it is intended the colour should occupy, taking care

that the ground-colour or leather is entirely hid. Let every thing be

true to nature, each bird, plant, and flower its proper colour, and

a general harmony prevail throughout. When finished, let the whole

perfectly dry, and then, in the manner directed, lay gold on such

parts as it is intended, in the reimpression of the plate, should be

further embellished. Heat the plate, place the side again under it,

and give it a firm and sharp impression. Rub off the superfluous gold,

and the whole of the delicate lines of the ornament will be found

beautifully gilt, the colours firmly fixed by the heat of the

plate, and the rough edges of the colour completely effaced by the

reimpression of the original design.

In executing the less expensive and more simple designs, the plate

is impressed in gold on the side, and the parts left ungilt on the

leather; afterwards coloured according to the taste of the workman.

For the best class of work, after the design is impressed, either by

hand or the press, pieces are cut out of variously-coloured morocco,

pared thin, and neatly pasted on the side, the design, when worked,

entirely concealing the edges of the morocco. This is termed inlaid

work.

BLIND TOOLING.

This is an ornamental operation, applied either before or after the

book has been gilt and polished, and, if judiciously intermingled with

the gold, will not fail to present a good effect. It is a style that

has been much used of late years, and is executed in the same way and

with the same tools as for gilding, but without any gold applied on

the places thus ornamented. The rolls, pallets, and smaller tools,

are applied by the hand, and the large plates with the press, with the

same precautions as indicated in the previous section. If the pattern

consists of straight lines, and the workman possesses a good eye, the

best manner of executing it is by making use of a pallet, placing it

firmly on the book, and sliding it to the opposite point. It remains,

therefore, to consider such matters as more immediately apply to this

style of decoration.

The tools for blind tooling should not be so warm as for gilding, and

particularly for morocco. If it is wished to be left dull,--that is,

free from glaire,--the particles attaching themselves over the edge of

the gold ornaments must be removed with the end of the finger, wrapped

over with a piece of fine cloth, and wetted. This will soon wash it

clean, and when dry the blind ornaments may be proceeded with.

Graining may be properly considered as a blind ornament. This is

where, by the means of wooden or metal plates, the sides of a book are

marked with lines crossed over each other, so as to form innumerable

small squares in imitation of russia, or in imitation of the grain

of morocco, scales of fish, and other substances. The operation is

performed by placing the volume between the two plates even by the

groove of the back, in the standing-press, and pressing it tightly

down, and so even that the plate will be impressed equally over the

whole surface. Nothing will look worse than a bold impression in

one place and a slight one in another; and therefore it becomes of

importance to see that it is evenly pressed, as a second application

of some kind of plates will never be found affixed to the same places.

MODERNIZED MONASTIC OR ANTIQUE.

This style, whether done by the hand or the press, is one that

requires care and patience on the part of the workman, so as to bring

up the tools black, without burning or otherwise injuring the leather.

We have spent much time in experiments, so as to arrive at the most

certain and perfect mode of producing the desired result. The style

emanated from Mr. Hayday's bindery; and a volume executed in this

style for a connoisseur in this city, with tooling of a brilliant

black, fell into our hands some years since, and we at once set about

attempting to produce the same effects. Our efforts were confined to

hand-tooling for some time; and, although inferior in effect, they

were generally well received; but we were far from being satisfied. We

tried every substance that could be thought of, made the leather and

tools hot and dry, or wet and cold, as reason seemed to point to one

or the other as the proper method. We will now communicate the results

of our labours:--In the first place, the material is of the greatest

importance; and the finest effects cannot be produced except upon

English calf or morocco. American calf is entirely out of the question

for the purpose, as the morocco is too hard on the surface, and there

is not sufficient colour in the body for the tools to draw and affix

it by heat to the surface; but some kinds are better adapted for the

purpose than others. To test this, apply the tip of the tongue to the

leather, and if the dampness lies on the surface, without sinking

in, reject it; but if the dampness strikes instantly into the

leather,--the quicker the better,--the workman may proceed with some

hopes of success. After the volume is covered and ready for finishing,

wash it evenly over with clean water; and, as soon as the water ceases

to lie upon the surface, apply the tool moderately heated; this will

bring up the dark colour. Afterwards go over it again with the tool,

so as to make the impressions clear and bright. There are, however,

some colours, as well as particular manufactures, that will not come

up black; and we were long satisfied that some colouring-matter was

employed. We wrote to a friend in London, who sent us the material

and the method of its use. The material was common printers' ink. His

communication we now make public. "In the first place, the leather

should be quite damp, and the tools used should be as hot as possible

without the printers' ink. Then again impressed with the printers' ink

upon the tools. We put the larger tools in again without ink. When the

ink is used upon the tools, the leather should be rather damp, and

the tools not very hot. When the pattern is worked in the manner

described, it should be left until dry, and then brushed with a brush,

not very stiff, which will give a brilliant gloss to the tooling."

When using printers' ink, be careful not to get too much on the tools.

Let the young workman but follow the directions given, and, with a

little patience and reflection, he will be able to do work of the

character under consideration, fully equal to the efforts of the best

workman, provided that the tools be worked true and even.

POLISHING.

The details of this operation, which is performed immediately after

the gold ornaments have been worked, have been reserved in order

that the whole of the ornamental department might be kept together.

Morocco, roan, silk, and velvet, and the blind ornaments on any

substance, must never be submitted to the action of the polisher. A

smart rubbing with a piece of rough calf will be sufficient for the

two former, and the velvet or silk will merely require cleaning with

any smooth substance or with India-rubber.

There are two polishers,--one for the back and bands, and another for

the sides. The oil applied on the cover previous to laying on the gold

will be sufficient to make the polisher glide easily over the surface.

The polisher must be heated, and well cleaned on a board, and passed

quickly and evenly on the back, sides, or joints, as the case may

be, taking especial care that it is not too hot, as the glaire would

thereby be turned white and the work damaged in appearance, nor so

cold as to give a bad polish.

The book, as gilt, must be first polished on the back, by taking it

with the left hand, resting it on the table, and polished with the

right hand by gliding backwards and forwards the smooth part of the

polisher on the whole extent of the back. This not only polishes the

surface, but smooths down the indentations formed upon the leather

by the gilding-tools, bringing up the gilding to the surface. The

polisher must be passed on such places only as it is wished to make

brilliant, and great care taken not to touch the places intended to be

left dull.

The sides are similarly polished, by laying the volume on the table,

covered with baize, and passing the large iron quickly over, first

from the fore-edge towards the groove, and then, by turning the volume

in a contrary way, from the tail to the head.

If the joint requires polishing, the book is laid before the workman,

the tail towards him, and the iron applied on the side next the

groove, polishing the whole length of the board; then, turning round

the volume, and bringing the fore-edge towards him, he polishes the

side on the fore-edge, and, turning again, completes the whole by

polishing the parts at the head and tail.

In addition to polishing, it is desirable to give to the sides the

greatest possible smoothness by pressing them between polished tins or

horns. These are placed on each side of the book even by the groove,

put between pressing-boards, and screwed tightly in the press, and

left for some time.

COLOURING.

Calf-skins of uniform tints, and also sprinkled, can now be obtained

of English manufacturers; yet in many localities they are difficult

to obtain. We therefore make known the chemical substances and

ingredients required to execute them in the best manner. Marbling is a

process that must be executed by the binder upon the cover, and, with

many other revival styles, is again coming into vogue. The recipes

given for the superior marbles and designs will, it is presumed,

present this branch of the art on a higher footing, in a general

point of view, than is usually accorded to it; and it is confidently

asserted that not one of them will prove a failure, if attention

to the directions be only given. Nothing has been omitted in the

description of the substances best for use, the mode of preparing

them, and the proceedings to be adopted, that can tend to give to the

covers all the elegance and splendour of which they are susceptible.

By the aid of these, assisted by some taste, the workman may vary the

designs almost to infinity; but it must be admitted that, unless he

is devoted to his art, no mere directions or casual advantages will

enable him to succeed in the more complicated or delicate operations,

while, with an ardour for it, all difficulties will be easily

overcome.

CHEMICAL PREPARATIONS.

Under this head is included _aqua regia_, or killed spirits, _nitric

acid_, _marbling-water_, and _glaire_ prepared for marbling.

AQUA REGIA,

So called from its power to dissolve gold, is a mixture of nitic acid

(aquafortis) and muriatic acid, (spirits of salts,) deprived of its

burning qualities by block-tin, which it dissolves. It is called

by the chemist _acid nitro-muriatic_: the muriatic also contains a

portion of alkali, which gives to red a vinous tint, and for which

colour it is principally used.

The two substances should be of the purest quality, of a concentration

of thirty-three degrees for the nitric acid and of twenty degrees for

the muriatic. They must be mixed with the greatest precaution. Having

provided a clear glass bottle, the neck rather long, capable of

holding twice the quantity to be prepared, place it upon a bed of

sand, the opening at top, and pour in _one part_ of pure nitric acid

and _three_ of muriatic. Let the first vapours dispel, and then cover

the orifice with a small phial, which must not confine the vapour too

closely, as the bottle would be liable to burst, but which retains

as much as possible without risk. Of block-tin, an eighth part of

the weight of the acid must then be dropped into the bottle, in small

pieces, a little at a time, covering the orifice with the phial. The

acid will immediately attack the tin and dissolve it, when a second

portion must be put in with the same precaution, and so on till the

whole is dissolved. _Malacca_ tin is the best for use, and if pure

there will be no sediment; but, as it cannot always be obtained, a

black sediment will be left. The vapour having ceased, the acid must

be poured into bottles and secured with glass stoppers, to preserve

it. When used, a part is taken and mixed with _one quarter_ of its

weight of distilled water.

It is usual with some workmen to perform this operation in a common

drinking-glass; but, as the vapour is thereby all dispersed, the

composition loses a considerable portion of its best quality, for it

will be observed, if performed in a bottle as above directed, that the

vapour assumes a red tint, which does not escape if the neck of the

bottle be of sufficient length.

ANOTHER.

Some binders adopt the following method; but, as it is not capable of

producing an equal beauty and clearness of colour with the one above

given, it will not be advisable to use. The former, too, will be

equally effective to an indefinite period, while this will not

preserve more than two or three months.

Put in a brown freestone pot two ounces of powdered _sal-ammoniac_,

six ounces of fine _Malacca tin_, in strips or drops, twelve ounces of

distilled water, and, last, a pound of _nitric acid_, of thirty-three

degrees. Leave the whole till the tin is dissolved, and then pour off

and bottle as above directed.

VITRIOL-WATER.

Vitriol, as sold in the pure state, will not be proper to use in

marbling or sprinkling, as it would corrode and destroy the leather.

It must be weakened at least in proportion of one ounce of vitriol to

three of water.

MARBLING-WATER.

It is usual with many to use the water pure; but a few drops of

_potash liquid_ mixed with it will be found to produce better effect,

the marble being rendered more distinct.

GLAIRE.

Put spirits of wine in a proportion of two drops to the whites of

twelve eggs, and beat the whole well together till perfectly clear.

PREPARATIONS OF THE COLOURS.

The preparations used by different binders vary much, as will be seen

by the recipes given for the same colours, which we judge necessary

to put on record, that nothing connected with the subject should be

omitted, premising that each colour may be depended upon for producing

the most satisfactory results. It may be proper also to observe that

the whole of the woods and other ingredients used should be previously

powdered or reduced to small pieces, the colours being thereby much

better extracted.

BLACK.

1. Dissolve half a pound of green copperas in two quarts of water. The

oxide contained in the sulphate of iron will combine with the tanning

of the leather, and produce a good black.

2. Boil in a cast-iron pot a quart of vinegar, with a quantity of

rusty nails, or steel-filings, till reduced one-third, taking off the

scum as it rises to the top. This liquid improves by age. To keep up

the quantity, boil with more vinegar.

3. A cheaper liquid may be produced by boiling two pints of beer and

two pints of water with two pounds of old iron and a pint of vinegar,

scumming as before, and bottling for use.

BROWN.

1. Half a pound of good Dantzic or American potash dissolved in one

quart of rain-water, and preserved in a bottle well corked.

2. Salts or oil of tartar, in the same proportions as above.

3. A beautiful brown may be procured from the green shells of walnuts.

To prepare this, a quantity of the green shells, when the nuts are

gathered, must be pounded in a mortar to extract the juice, and then

put into a vessel capable of holding a sufficient quantity of water.

The water being put in, the whole should be frequently stirred, and

left to soak, with the vessel covered. Afterwards the liquid must be

passed through a sieve, the juice well expressed, and bottled, with

some common salt, for use. This liquid, after fermentation, will

produce the best effects, for the uniform tints, as it tends to soften

the leather, and will not corrode.

BLUE.

1. It is usual with many binders to use _Scott's Liquid Blue_, but it

is necessary to know the preparation of the colour. Perhaps the best

and most simple one known is one given by _Poerner_, which is as

follows:--In four ounces of sulphuric acid, of 66 degrees, mix

gradually one ounce of finely-powdered indigo, so as to form a sort of

pulp. Place the vessel in another containing boiling water, for some

hours, and then leave it to cool. Afterwards put to it a small portion

of good potash, dry and finely powdered, stirring the whole well,

and letting it rest for twenty-four hours, when bottled, and use as

required. This colour will appear nearly black, but may be made to

any shade by adding water to it. If any portion remain after being

diluted, it must be put into a separate bottle, as if mixed with the

first preparation the whole would be deteriorated.

2. A readier blue may be prepared by mixing one ounce of powdered

indigo with two ounces of oil of vitriol, and letting it stand for

twenty-four hours, and then adding twelve ounces of pure water.

PURPLE.

Boil half a pint of archill or logwood with vinegar and water, of each

half a pint.

LILAC.

Same as for the purple, with the addition of about two table-spoonsful

of potash.

VIOLET.

Half a pound of logwood chips and one ounce of Brazil dust, boiled

over a good fire in four pints of water till reduced one-half, and

left to clear. Then throw in one ounce of powdered alum and two grains

of cream of tartar, and again boil till dissolved. This liquid must be

used warm.

FAWN.

In two pints of water boil one ounce of tan, and a like portion of

nutgall, till reduced to a pint.

YELLOW.

1. To one ounce of good caked saffron, turmeric, or French berries,

add a portion of spirits of wine or _aqua regia_, and leave the

mixture to macerate. This liquid is used cold, and may be varied to

any shade by adding water when required.

2. In two pints of water put eight ounces of French berries, and boil

till reduced one-half. Then pass it through a sieve or fine cotton,

and add a small quantity of powdered alum, and again boil, using it

warm.

ORANGE.

In a pint and a half of potash liquid, boil a quarter of a pound

of fustic chips till reduced one-half; then put in an ounce of good

_annatto_, well beaten, and, after boiling, a small portion of alum,

and use warm.

GREEN.

1. Liquid blue and yellow mixed will best suit for general purposes.

2. Dissolve in a bottle one ounce of verdigris in an ounce of white

wine vinegar, and place the whole before a fire for four or five days,

frequently shaking the bottle.

RED.

There are three sorts of red,--viz.: common, fine, and scarlet.

_Common._--1. In a tinned kettle boil half a pound of Brazil wood,

eight grains of nutgalls, both powdered, and three pints of water,

till the whole is reduced one-third. Then add powdered alum and

sal-ammoniac, of each one ounce, and when dissolved strain through a

sieve. This liquid must always be used warm.

2. Boil a quarter of a pound of Brazil dust, two ounces of powdered

cochineal, and a little alum, in two pints of the best vinegar, till a

bright red is produced. Use warm.

_Fine._--1. In three pints of water boil half a pound of Brazil dust

and half an ounce of powdered nutgalls. Pass the whole through a

fine cotton, and replace the liquid on the fire, adding one ounce

of powdered alum and half an ounce of sal-ammoniac. Give the whole

another boil, and then add a portion of _aqua regia_, according to the

shade desired, and use warm.

2. A quicker and cheaper proceeding is by putting in a cup a portion

of Brazil wood, and adding to it the _aqua regia_, letting it stand

for a quarter of an hour to extract the colour.

_Scarlet._--To one ounce of white nutgalls and one ounce of cochineal,

both finely powdered, add two pints of boiling water. After boiling

some time, add half an ounce of _aqua regia_, and use warm.

MARBLING.

Before proceeding to a description of the marbles, and other designs

on the covers coming under the general head of marbling, it will be

proper to give a few directions relative to some important matters

required in the way of preparation. As the success of many of the

designs depends upon the quickness with which they are executed,

it will be important that the colours, sponges, brushes, &c. are

previously disposed in the best order, so as to be of the readiest

access. Attention should be paid to the probable quantity that may be

required of each colour, as many of them will not be available for use

another time.

The books should all be previously washed with paste and water to

which has been added a little pearlash liquid, and left to dry. After

this they must be glaired equally over, and when dry placed upon the

marbling-rods, the sides of the books extending over and the leaves

hanging between. The rods must be placed on an elevation at the top,

so as to allow the water to run gradually towards the bottom of the

books; and, if the backs are required to be left plain, another rod,

or piece of board, grooved to the shape of the back, placed on them.

To avoid the scum arising from the beating of the brushes over the

colours, it is better to rub the ends of the bristles on the palm of

the hand, on which a little oil has been spread. These preliminaries

being settled, the operation of marbling commences, for which we shall

now give directions.

COMMON MARBLE.

The book being placed on the rods, throw on the water prepared for

marbling in large drops, with a coarse brush, or bunch of quills, till

the drops unite. Then, with a brush charged with the black liquid and

beaten on the press-pin as directed for sprinkling the edges, a number

of fine streaks are produced by throwing the colour equally over the

cover. Afterwards the brown liquid must be similarly thrown over. When

the veins are well struck into the leather, the water must be sponged

off and the book placed to dry.

If the volume has been previously coloured with any of the

preparations before described, and it is wished to produce a marble

thereon, the brown must be thrown on first, and then the black; as

without this precaution the marble would not strike, because of

the acid which forms part of the colours. This observation being

applicable to all the other designs, it will not be necessary again to

repeat it.

ANOTHER.

Throw on the vinegar-black, then the brown, and lastly a sprinkle of

vitriol-water.

PURPLE MARBLE.

Colour the cover two or three times with hot purple liquid, and,

when dry, glaire. Then throw on water, and sprinkle with strong

vitriol-water, which will form red veins.

STONE MARBLE.

After throwing on the water, sprinkle boldly with the black liquid;

then, with a sponge charged with strong brown, drop the colour on the

back in three or four places, so that it may run down each side in a

broad stream, and afterwards operate with vitriol-water on the parts

the brown has not touched.

GREEN AGATE.

Sprinkle black, in nine times its quantity of water, in large drops

over the whole surface of the cover, and when the drops unite apply on

the back at regular distances the green liquid, so that it may flow on

the boards and unite with the black.

BLUE AGATE.

Proceed as above, only substituting blue in place of the green,

weakened with water according to the shade required.

FAIR AGATE.

Commence by sprinkling black in small drops at a good distance from

each other; afterwards sprinkle equally over large drops of weak

potash.

AGATINE.

Proceed as for the green agate, and then sprinkle scarlet all over the

cover; finally, throw on blue in small drops, weakened in four times

the quantity of water.

LEVANT MARBLE.

After the water, throw on the back-brown in broad streaks as directed

for the _stone_, and then in like manner the _aqua regia_. This will

be found to imitate closely the Levant marble.

PORPHYRY VEIN.

Throw on large drops of black diluted in double the quantity of water.

When the colour has struck well into the leather, sprinkle in the

same manner brown mixed equally with water. Then apply a sprinkle

of scarlet, and afterwards large spots of yellow, the liquid nearly

boiling. While these colours are uniting, throw on weak blue, and then

_aqua regia_, which, flowing together down the sides of the book, will

form the vein distinctly.

RED PORPHYRY.

Sprinkle with black in eight times the quantity of water, very equal

and in small spots. Let it dry, rub, and glaire. Then give two or

three sprinkles of fine red, and one of scarlet, and again leave to

dry. Finally, sprinkle scarlet in small spots as equally as possible.

GREEN PORPHYRY.

For this design the cover must be finely sprinkled over three separate

times, leaving the colour to search and dry between each. The green

must be brought to the shade required by mixing with water. To form a

more elegant vein, sprinkle first with weak black, and afterwards with

green, and when dry with fine red.

PORPHYRY.

This marble, imitating the _eye of the partridge_, is executed by

throwing on black in eight times its volume of water, in small drops,

but so close as to just run into each other. When the black begins to

flow, sprinkle over brown mixed equally with water. Let it dry, wash

the whole with a sponge, and before quite dry again give it two or

three coats of fine red. After being dry and well rubbed, sprinkle

equally over the surface large drops of _aqua regia_.

ANOTHER.

Colour the cover with red, yellow, blue, or green, and, when dry,

with black diluted as above; let this also dry, and then sprinkle

over large or small drops of aqua regia. The eye of the partridge is

properly formed with blue sprinkled upon the weakened black, and, when

dry, with the killed spirit or _aqua regia_.

ROCK.

Throw on large drops of black prepared as for the porphyry, and, when

half dry, weakened potash in the same manner. When dry again, sprinkle

on equally small spots of scarlet, and lastly _aqua regia_.

GRANITE.

Mix black in about fifty times its quantity of water, and sprinkle

equally over very fine, repeating it as it dries five or six times.

Then, in like manner, sprinkle over with brown, and, after rubbing

well, glaire lightly. Finally, sprinkle finely over with _aqua regia_.

TREE-MARBLES.

These marbles, which were first executed in Germany, from whence they

passed into England, are formed by bending the boards in the middle,

so that the water and colours flow from the back and fore-edge to the

centre, in the form of branches of trees. Those who have never seen

the tree-marbles of Mr. Clarke, of London, can form but little idea of

the beauty of which this style is susceptible. The name is also given

to such as are made to imitate the grain of the wood.

WALNUT.

Formed by sprinkling black and brown only, as for the common marble.

CEDAR.

After sprinkling as for the walnut, and before perfectly dry, apply

lightly a sponge presenting large holes dipped in orange upon various

places on the cover, so as to form a description of clouds. Afterwards

apply the fine red, with a similar sponge, nearly upon the same

places, and when dry give the whole two or three coats of yellow,

taking care that each penetrates evenly into the leather.

MAHOGANY.

The proceedings are nearly the same as for the walnut, the difference

being merely in sprinkling the black more boldly, and, when perfectly

dry, giving two or three uniform coats of red.

BOX.

In order to imitate the veins contained in box, the boards must be

bent in five or six different places and in divers ways. After placing

the book between the rods, throw on the water in small drops, and

proceed as for the walnut. After being perfectly dry, throw water

again in large drops, and sprinkle on small spots of blue, diluted

equally with water; and, when again dry and rubbed well, apply the

scarlet with a sponge as directed for the cedar. Finally, when dry,

give two or three coats of orange, and the design is complete.

WAINSCOT.

Colour with strong brown, glaire, and place between the rods, with the

boards flat. Throw on weak black in large spots, then brown in like

manner, and, lastly, sprinkle boldly with vitriol-water.

VARIEGATED.

Marble as for the walnut, and then put on each board a circle, oval,

or other figure, and apply weak black on the outer parts. When dry,

give it a good coat of red, and, after throwing on spots of scarlet,

take off the figures, and wash well the parts where the latter colour

has been used. Finally, give the oval two coats of yellow, or other

colour, with a camel's-hair brush.

MARBLING ON PAPER.

The sides of a half-bound book, which will be covered with paper, may

be marbled to correspond with the effect produced on the leather by

the action of the black and brown at the same time. This is performed

by pasting firm white paper on the sides, and colouring with a

mixture of four ounces of nutgalls and a small portion of powdered

sal-ammoniac boiled well together, which will take the black and brown

nearly equal to leather.

SPRINKLES.

This is another ornament on the covers of books, capable of being much

varied. A few of the most general use are given, premising that any

of the colours arranged as for the marbles above, or sprinkled on the

uniform colours, will be productive of a beautiful effect. The books

must be pastewashed over, but not glaired.

NUTMEG.

Sprinkle very finely with black and then with brown. If wished to

produce a finer effect, give a sprinkle of vitriol-water.

RING.

Put about a teaspoonful of vitriol to a cup of the black, and sprinkle

coarsely over. If the ring is not sufficiently strong, add more

vitriol.

TORTOISE-SHELL.

Wash the cover with yellow, and sprinkle very boldly with black.

When dry, spot with a sponge, as before directed, with blue, red, and

black, each colour being left to dry before the next is applied.

In concluding the description of the marbles and sprinkles, it may be

remarked that, with a little taste, the workman might vary the designs

to upwards of one hundred different patterns; also that each colour

should be allowed to properly strike into the leather before another

is used. Panes, or blank spaces, are formed by placing squares, &c.

of pasteboard on the sides, which prevents the colours touching the

leather when sprinkling. After the design is completed, the covers

should be well rubbed with a woollen cloth or the ball of the hand, to

remove the whole of the refuse of the colour, which will be found to

corrode on the surface of the leather.

UNIFORM COLOURS.

Before proceeding to execute any of the colours, the books must be

well and evenly paste-washed, and left till perfectly dry. It will

also be necessary to observe that the black will become darker in all

the subsequent operations of colouring, glairing, and polishing, so

that attention must be paid not to use this liquid too strong.

LIGHT BROWN.

Wash the cover with vitriol-water till perfectly uniform in colour,

and then with brown to the shade desired.

ANOTHER.

Mix a small quantity of annatto with the potash liquid, and use hot.

This will produce a beautiful tint.

DARK BROWN.

Colour with weak black till a slate-shade is produced, and then apply

the brown three or four times, as taste may dictate.

Others might be added, but the proceedings are the same, varying only

the quantity of colour according to the shade. The _nut-brown liquid_

will produce beautiful tints.

CORINTHIAN GRAPE.

The proceedings are the same as for the last colour, adding two or

three coats of _fine red_.

COMMON GRAPE.

Proceed as for the last, omitting the brown after the black.

BLUE.

After giving four or five coats of the chemical blue diluted with

water, wash lightly with weakened aqua regia, which will take off the

green reflection produced by the yellow tint of the leather.

GREEN.

Give three or four coats of the green liquid, extended in water

according to the shade required. Any of the other colours noticed in

the preparations may be thus executed.

OLIVE.

After giving a slate-colour, apply yellow, boiled with a small portion

of blue, on the cover, rubbing it equally in while hot, to insure

uniformity.

PEARL GRAY.

This colour must be executed carefully, so as to be perfectly uniform

and without stains. Colour over with exceedingly weak black liquid,

till a pale gray is produced. The weaker it is, the better will the

workman succeed. Then pass over a light coat of fine red mixed in a

large portion of water, so as to give a light red reflection scarcely

distinguishable.

SLATE.

Use the black liquid a little stronger than for the last, and omit the

red.

BLACK.

For common purposes, the black may be formed in the way adopted for

other colours; but, in many instances, it is necessary to produce a

colour having the appearance of japan, and which will require more

labour and attention.

Wash the book over with brown till a dark shade is formed; then, with

a piece of woollen cloth, apply the black liquid mixed with japan,

which will produce a beautiful black. This colour should have a good

coat of vellum-size before glairing. Or it may be better to finish off

with the varnish given in another part of the work.

Nutgalls, copperas, and gum-arabic, are used by many, and will be

found to produce a good and bright colour.

GOLD MARBLES, LANDSCAPES, ETC.

These designs, if properly executed, are the most beautiful that

can be imagined. The labour and care, however, requisite, must ever

confine them to superior bindings, for which a high price is given,

to indemnify the workman for the time required to produce the proper

effect. The imitation of the gold marbles is not an easy task; but

a knowledge of the art of painting, and a clever management of the

brush, will enable the workman to imitate the figure of the marble so

true to nature as to be scarcely distinguishable.

GOLD MARBLE.

This marble, which will not require the ability to execute as those

following it, is the invention of M. Berthé, senior, bookbinder of

Paris, and may be executed on any kind of uniform substance. Take a

piece of cloth, exceeding the size of the volume, and fold it equally;

lay it, thus folded, evenly upon a board, and then open the other

half, and cover the board; spread, upon the half towards the left,

gold leaf to the size of the cover, allowing such portion as the roll

intended to be worked on it may take, which will be a saving of gold;

then refold the cloth on the gold, and press the hand above, without

moving the cloth, so as to divide the gold into a number of small

pieces. The gold being thus prepared, moisten the side of the volume

with glaire mixed with water in equal proportion, and place it on the

cloth, pressing above firmly with the hand. Care being taken not to

disarrange it, turn over the volume, cloth, and board, and take the

latter off, replacing it with a sheet of paper, and rubbing smartly

above, so as to attach the whole of the gold to the cover. After this

the cloth must be removed, and the gold will be found equally fixed;

to further insure which lay on a sheet of paper, and rub well with the

palm of the hand.

To remove any gold that may appear on the part intended for the roll

in gilding, wet the end of the thumb, form a sort of square with the

fore-finger on the edge of the board to the size of the roll, and rub

the surface of the cover, which will clear it with facility before the

glaire is dry.

LAPIS-LAZULI.

This marble is of clear blue, veined with gold, presenting an

appearance of the utmost splendour. It is executed as follows:--

Place the volume between rods as for marbling, and with a sponge full

of large holes, dipped in chemical blue mixed in six times its volume

of water, make light spots, similar to clouds, at irregular distances;

then put in a quarter part more blue, and make new clouds or spots

a little darker. Repeat this operation six or seven times, each

time adding more blue. All these coats will form stains in proper

gradation, as in the natural marble; and to operate more properly,

it would be better to have a model, either of the marble itself, or

skilfully painted.

The veins of gold, which must not be laid on till the book is gilt,

and just previous to polishing, are formed with gold in shell. The

substance used to make it take and hold firmly on the cover of the

book is prepared with white of egg and spirits of wine in equal

proportion, and two parts of water, beating all well and leaving it to

clear; then wet a small portion of gold-powder with the liquid, mixing

it with the finger, and use it with a small camel's-hair pencil. Pass

it on in different places, so as to imitate the model, according to

the taste of the workman; when done, let it perfectly dry, and polish

with the polisher scarcely warm.

It will be perceived that by the use of other colours, or two or three

together, many beautiful designs may be in like manner executed.

LANDSCAPES.

Many beautiful subjects may be formed on the sides of books by the

workman skilled in painting; and, although coming more properly under

the art of painting, and being objectionable on account of producing

a mingling of the arts, so frequently exhibited upon volumes where

the art of the bookbinder is superseded by that of the painter and

jeweller, the young workman should understand at least the process by

which they are produced. The volume is prepared by being pastewashed,

so as to present a uniform fawn colour, the designs slightly traced,

and afterwards coloured according to the pattern, the colours being

mixed to the proper shade with water. The shades must be tried on

pieces of refuse leather, as, being spirit-colours, when once laid on,

no art can soften them down if too strong; and a peculiar lightness of

touch will be necessary to produce effect. Portraits, &c. may also be

executed in this manner, and many superb designs have at times

been executed by the best binders of England and France. M. Didot,

bookseller of Paris, presented a copy of the "_Henriade_," published

by himself, to Louis XVIII., most elegantly ornamented in this style.

It was executed by _M. Lunier Bellier_, bookbinder of Tours, and

exhibited on one side a miniature portrait of Henry IV., and on the

other a similar one of Louis XVIII., both perfect likenesses. The

greatest difficulty consisted in the portraits, which were first

imprinted on paper, very moist, and immediately applied to the cover,

on which they were impressed with a flat roller. When perfectly dry,

they were coloured with all the art of which the binder was capable,

and the other ornamental paintings executed by hand. This proceeding

requires great care in the execution, and will be applicable to any

design where the binding will justify the expense.

TRANSFERRED LANDSCAPES.

The art of transferring, long practised in the ornamenting of fancy

articles, was judged equally practicable for forming a superior

embellishment for the sides of books. But the varnish necessary to be

employed in the operation rendered the invention of no utility, from

the action of the heated polisher turning it white or causing it to

shell off. After several trials, this difficulty is believed to be

overcome, by the employment of a very simple and common article in

the office of the bookbinder,--viz.: _new glaire_, well beaten up. The

proceeding is as follows:--Cut the print, intended to be transferred,

close to the design on all sides. Let it steep in the glaire till it

is well saturated with it. During this time glaire the book twice,

letting it dry on each application. Take out the print, place it

exactly in the centre of the side-cover, and, laying a piece of paper

above, rub it sharply on the book, so that it may adhere very closely.

Remove the upper paper, and with the finger rub off the paper gently

until the printed design begins to appear, wetting the finger in

_glaire_ should the paper get too dry. The utmost attention will now

be necessary, for the least carelessness in removing the paper that

still remains may entirely destroy the design, and the whole of the

previous labour be lost. The paper must be gently removed, piece by

piece, till the design only appears on the leather while damp. When

dry, a white appearance will be presented, arising from the small

particles of paper adhering to the ink; but these will be sufficiently

hid on glairing the side previous to finishing. The extent and variety

to which, at a small expense, these designs may be carried, with the

finish and beauty given to the sides of books, renders the subject

worthy of the attention of the ornamental workman particularly; but

he must possess perseverance and carefulness in an eminent degree,

to carry it to perfection. After the gilding or other ornament is

executed, the side must be finished off in the usual manner. A slight

coat of the varnish described in a subsequent part of the work will,

in this case, give a superior finish.

The following directions, and that of Mr. Buchanan's, are taken from

the circulars of the Finishers' Friendly Association of London:--

"_Pictures on Calf._--We have heard of a process for transferring

prints from the paper on which they had been printed to the sides

of books bound in calf; and in these days, when _novelty_ is so much

sought after, it might be worth some Friendly's while to test its

efficacy. The side must be washed clean, and, while damp, the print is

laid thereon, when, after remaining some time in the arming-press, it

is said that a copy of the engraving will be found on the calf.

"In sending one of these executed in colours by him twenty years

ago, a Friendly corrects an error we committed, by terming _prints_

PICTURES, and writes, 'In preparing the calf, it is simply washed with

thin paste-water; when dry, a coat or two of weak salts of tartar.

When perfectly dry, you may proceed with any subject; a very weak

brown being generally used for its outline. For all colours, I use two

cups of different strengths, with _quill_-pens and brushes to each.

The green is composed of Scott's liquid blue and French berries. These

are bruised and simmered from half a pint to a quartern, then caused

to boil, and, while in that state, a pinch of burnt alum should be

added to set the colour. The slate is weak copperas; red is obtained

from Brazil dust and vinegar, or Brazil chips boiled, and solution of

tin added. The books had generally double bands--the lettering-pieces

stained chocolate, and the spaces between bands blacked, or the

colours "_moused_," morocco being too bright for the stained calf. An

octagon or square was coloured brown, slate, or sprinkled, and in the

centre a light ground. Was the subject to my fancy, botanical works

with a group of plants on the sides, when polished and pressed in

japanned tins, had the neatest appearance. Landscapes, animals,

insects, shells, &c. are all permanently fixed on the calf by the

above-named colours.' He concludes by hoping 'the instructions are

sufficiently plain to induce some aspiring F. F.'s to practise this

almost forgotten branch of the art of finishing.'

"W. BUCHANAN."

ORNAMENTAL BLACK LINES.

Black lines in rays, or intersecting each other in the form of

diamonds or other devices, on the sides of books, which present a good

appearance if well executed, are ruled with steel or swan pens, the

nibs being formed to the size required by the boldness of the lines.

The vinegar-black mixed with a portion of gum-arabic, to neutralize a

part of the action of the acid and make it of a stronger consistency,

will be found to answer best. Whatever the pattern, it should be

slightly traced with the folder, and the design be afterwards marked

with the pen, kept steady by the aid of a ruler.

BLACKING THE SQUARES.

Unless coloured uniformly, the whole of the designs before described

will not produce the best effect if the squares remain plain or

variously tinted; it is, therefore, necessary to black the edges and

squares of the board, and the cap over the head-band. This is done

with a piece of any firm soft substance on the edges, and with a

sponge within the volume, sufficiently below the part where the

end-papers will cover. Finally, the covers should be well pastewashed

and left to dry.

BANDS AND TITLE-PIECES.

Where the backs are flat it will be necessary to mark the place

intended for the bands in gilding. For this purpose the binder should

have patterns of the various forms and sizes cut out of thin board, a

little longer and double the breadth of the volumes, so that they may

be held firmly on the sides, while the bands are marked across the

back through the apertures cut in the pattern. It is usual to give

a double band at the bottom of the back, and therefore this must be

allowed for in the pattern, which lengthened portion must be placed

even with the edge of the boards at the tail of the volume, and the

bands marked with the folder. By this plan the whole of the bands

in sets of books will present a parallel line, and the bad effect

produced by the inequalities arising from compassing the distances and

trusting to the sight will be avoided. A great saving of time is also

effected, as the patterns once made will serve for a very considerable

period.

On the fancy colours and sprinkles it is usual to attach

lettering-pieces of morocco. For this purpose the morocco, or roan if

common work, is cut lengthways of the grain, according to the space

between the bands, and the slip placed across the back to measure the

breadth, and then cut off. Then, slightly damping on the flesh-side,

it must be pared as thin and equal as possible, and the edges sloped

evenly down, so as to bring it to the exact size of the square it is

to occupy. Should the back require two pieces,--viz.: another for

the volume or contents,--it may be proper to vary the colour. These

title-pieces are pasted evenly on, a portion of paste rubbed over them

with the finger, and then attached firmly and equally by rubbing down

the edges with the folder, when the paste must be well washed off with

a clean sponge. Where economy is an object, the squares intended for

the title may be darkened with brown or black, which will show the

lettering very well.

INLAID ORNAMENTS.

To give some bindings in vellum, calf, or morocco an additional degree

of splendour, it is sometimes required to execute ornaments on

the covers of a different colour; and, as this is an important

manipulation, it will be necessary for the young workman to understand

it. Let the pattern be worked in blind upon the volume, taking care to

have it well impressed. Pare morocco of the colour desired evenly

and thin. While damp, place it upon that portion of the pattern to be

inlaid, and press upon it with the fingers. The outline of the figure

will appear through the morocco. Then lay it upon the paring-stone;

and, with the same gouges with which the pattern has been executed,

proceed to cut out the morocco. The gouges used for this kind of work

should be made of steel.

The same directions will apply to fancy titles for flat backs.

After the pieces have been properly cut out, the workman will proceed

to paste them evenly and adjust them in their place upon the volume.

When dry and prepared, the book will then be ready for gilding, and

when covered with the gold ornament the joints of the leather will not

be perceptible, if well executed. The gouges must be worked upon the

edge of the morocco.

This kind of ornament is more frequently executed on calf than any

other substance.

COLOURS.

In connection with inlaid ornament, we give a few hints to guide the

workman in choice of colours. Much of the effect produced will result

from the relations which the colours will bear to each other.

A well-executed piece of work may be spoiled by the injudicious

selection of colours. If the finisher be ignorant of the lessons which

nature teaches in the distribution of colours, he cannot expect to

please a connoisseur whose taste has been corrected and refined by a

study of the harmonies of colours.

NUMERICAL PROPORTIONS OF HOMOGENEOUS COLOURS.

_Yellow_, 3. _Red_, 5. _Blue_, 8.

SECONDARIES.

3 Yellow } Orange. {

5 Red } { These are contrasting colours to the

{ primaries with which they produce

5 Red } Purple. { harmony in opposition:--the orange

8 Blue } { with the blue, the purple with the

{ yellow, and the green with the red.

3 Yellow } Green. {

8 Blue } {

TERTIARIES.

Purple } Olive. {

Green } { The tertiaries stand in the same relation

{ to the secondaries that the secondaries

Green } Citron. { do to the primaries:--olive to

Orange } { orange, citron to purple, and russet

{ to green.

Orange } Russet. {

Purple } {

Yellow is melodized by orange on one side and green on the other; blue

by green and purple, and the red by purple and orange.

PASTING THE END-PAPERS, JOINTS, ETC.

The volume being laid upon the table or press, with the head towards

the workman and the upper board open, the guard or false end-paper

must be removed and all other substances cleared out of the joint with

the folder. The paper to be pasted on the board is cut at each end,

so as to show the same margin as on the fore-edge, and pasted evenly

over. It is then carefully laid upon the board. The position being

adjusted, a piece of white paper should be laid thereon, and the whole

rubbed perfectly even with the flat of the hand. Then with the folder

rub perfectly square on the joint. The volume, with the board open,

may then be turned, and the other side done in the same way.

If it is intended to execute a gilt border or blind tooling in the

interior of the cover, it will be important that no part of the

end-paper covers it. To avoid this, a slip must be cut off at the

head, tail, and on the fore-edge, proportionate to the extra breadth

of the border over the square. Or, if morocco joints have been placed

in the volume, the two corners of the portion left to be attached to

the boards must be cut, to prevent their showing above the end-paper,

which is to be pasted over and would disfigure the edge, taking care

to leave as much leather as will cover perfectly such portion as is

intended for the joint and square of the board, so that, when the

paper is pasted on, it will not be perceived that the corners have

been cut off. Pare the edge of the leather where the part is cut off

on a small board or folder placed underneath; afterwards paste the

joint on the edge of the board, attach it neatly with the thumb,

finger, and folder, and, when dry, paste thereon the marbled or

coloured paper cut to the proper size. For the best class of work the

morocco joint is placed in the volume by the finisher after the book

is covered.

If the ends are of silk, it will be necessary to leave the silk

sufficiently large to turn the edges over a piece of paper that has

been cut to the required size, and in order to preserve the gloss and

richness of the silk it should not be pasted on the paper upon which

it is placed, except where it is turned over the edge of the paper.

The paper is then lightly glued over and adjusted upon the board. This

method also prevents the silk from ravelling or presenting a jagged

edge. In all cases, however, where the border is gilt or otherwise

ornamented, below the level of the edges of the volume, the ends must

not be pasted down till after that operation is completed, as the

glaire and oil would be liable to stain, and present a bad effect.

[Illustration: STANDING-PRESS.]

For inferior bindings, where the end-papers are left plain, the last

two leaves being merely pasted together, the ends will only require

pasting, and attaching by placing the volume between boards, and

screwing firmly in the standing-press, immediately after which it must

be taken out and the boards opened, so as to make the joints free.

Almost every class of work except velvet and Turkey morocco requires

to be submitted to the action of the standing-press after the

end-papers have been pasted down, and then allowed to become perfectly

dry by leaving the boards open. Our illustration is taken from a

standing-press manufactured by W. O. Hickok, Harrisburg, Pa.

In all the departments, but especially in finishing, cleanliness is of

the utmost importance. It matters not how graceful may be the design,

how perfectly the tools may be worked; all may be spoiled by a volume

having a dirty appearance. Therefore, have every thing clean about

you,--cups, sponges, and brushes. Let your size, pastewash, and

glaire, be clean; your oil-cotton the same. Do not lay on the gold

until the preparation is dry. After the working of your tools, be

particular in cleaning off the gold, so that no portions or specks

remain that should not, for they will have the appearance of dirt. In

calf-work, especially, be careful of grease, or of any thing that will

soil the leather. In summer-time great care must be taken to protect

your work from the flies, particularly after your backs are worked

off. The little pests will eat the glaire off in places, and give the

book an unsightly appearance.

VARNISH,

AS USED IN BOOKBINDING.

The first, by the celebrated _Tingry_, is made in the following

manner:--

Put into a vessel six ounces of mastic, in drops, three ounces of

sandarac finely powdered, four ounces of coarsely-broken glass,

separated from the dust by a sieve, and thirty-two ounces of spirits

of wine, of about forty degrees. Place the vessel upon straw in

another filled with cold water; put it on the fire and let it boil,

stirring the substances together with a stick, to keep the resins from

uniting. When the whole appears well mixed, put in three ounces of

turpentine, and boil for another half-hour, when the whole must be

taken off and stirred till the varnish and the water in which it is

placed cools. Next day, filter it through a fine cotton, by which

means it will acquire the greatest degree of limpidity, and well cork

up in a bottle.

The other recipe is given by _Mons. F. Mairet_, of _Châtillon sur

Seine_, and may be prepared similar to the above. The ingredients are,

three pints of spirits of wine, of thirty-six to forty degrees, eight

ounces of sandarac, two ounces of mastic in drops, eight ounces of

shell-lac, and two ounces of Venice turpentine.

The varnish is first put on the back of the book with a camel's-hair

brush as lightly as possible. When nearly dry, it is polished with a

ball formed of fine white cotton, filled with wool, on which has been

rubbed a small quantity of olive-oil, to make it glide freely; it

must be rubbed at first lightly, and, as fast as the varnish dries and

becomes warm, more sharply. The sides are in like manner polished one

after the other.

Varnish is applied after the volume has been polished by the iron, in

order to retain the brilliancy and preserve the volume from the bad

effects produced by flies eating off the glaire. The manufactured

article now in general use is applied by a soft sponge being lightly

passed over the volumes after a small portion of varnish has been

applied to the sponge.

STAMPING.

For gilding the sides and even backs of publishers' work, or in fact

any other where a quantity of gilding is desired at little expense,

the stamping-press is brought into requisition, and by means of tools

cut for the purpose, called blocks or stamps, the design is impressed

on the side. These stamps may be made of very small pieces, and,

by having a number of them, the patterns produced may be almost

indefinite. The stamps are affixed to an iron or brass plate, called

a back or foundation-plate, upon which a piece of stout paper has been

glued. Then let the workman mark upon the plate the exact size of the

side to be stamped, marking it evenly with the compasses, so as to

justify the stamps; then strike the centre, and draw lines upon the

paper from the centre, so as to divide it into squares or to any given

part, so as to afford freedom for selection in the starting-point of

the design. For it must be manifest that if a workman starts all his

patterns from the same point, notwithstanding he may have a variety

of tools at his disposal, his patterns will exhibit a great deal

of uniformity. Let the paper be glued equally over the surface, and

proceed to form the pattern by arranging the stamps upon the plate so

as to exhibit the design. A great deal of taste can be displayed in

the formation of patterns for stamping; but, in consequence of the

public generally desiring a mass of gilt gingerbread-work, this branch

has been but little cultivated; the prevalent opinion among stampers

being that it is no matter what is put upon the side so that it is

well covered with gold. Publishers find those books that are the

most tawdrily gilt are soonest disposed of; hence, every thing is

sacrificed to a gaudy exterior. It is to be hoped that the art will be

relieved from this degraded ornamentation. Stampers themselves can

do something to purify and correct the public taste by avoiding the

unmeaning collections confusedly huddled together, so often seen upon

sides. Every remark in regard to style, design, and combination of

tools in the hand-finisher's department applies with equal force to

stamp-work; and, although the stamps used in the latter are not so

plastic as those in hand-work, still great results will be achieved;

for, notwithstanding the superiority of hand-work for artistic

expression and permanence, press-work will always maintain a prominent

position in the art, producing, as it does, striking results at a

trifling expense. After the pattern is formed, take a little paste and

touch the under side of each stamp, and place them in exact position.

After this is done and the paste has become hard, lay the stamp or

pattern thus formed upon the side of the volume, taking care to have

the same margin on the front, back, and ends. Then place the board

or side upon which the stamp is placed upon the platen or bed of

the stamping-press, leaving the volume hanging down in front of the

platen, which is then moved to the centre of the upper platen, so that

the clamps will touch the plate on both edges at the same moment; then

pull the lever so as to put a slight pressure upon the plate in order

to keep both it and the side in their proper place; then adjust the

guides to the fore-edge and head or left-hand side, and screw them

fast; throw back the lever, take out the book; examine and correct any

irregularity in the margin of the pattern by moving the guides. When

perfectly square, place a soft pasteboard under the stamp, pull down

the press, and apply heat. This will set the stamps or harden the

paste and glue in a short time, so that they will not fall off in

stamping--a great annoyance. Work for stamping does not require so

much body or preparation as if it were to be gilt by hand. Morocco can

be worked by merely being washed with urine; but it is safer to use a

coat of size, or glaire and water mixed in proportions of one of the

former to three of the latter. Grained sheep, or, as it is called,

imitation-morocco, requires more body to gild well. After the books

are ready for laying on, the gold-leaf is cut upon the cushion to the

required size, or, if the volume be large and the stamp will cover its

superficial extent, the leaf may be lifted from the gold-book by means

of a block covered with wadding or cotton lap and laid immediately

upon the side. After an oiled rag has been lightly passed over the

surface of the leather to cause the gold to adhere until it is put

under the press, examine the press to see if sufficiently heated for

the purpose. A little experience will soon determine the requisite

amount of heat as a general rule. Leather-work does not require as

hot a tool for stamping as for hand-work, while cloth or muslin-work

requires a short, quick stroke, and the press to be hotter than for

leather. In most binderies the stamping-press is heated by introducing

steam or gas through tubes perforated for the purpose; though a few

still use the heaters, which, after being heated in a furnace, are

placed in the holes of the upper platen. After the press is properly

heated, throw back the lever; take out the pasteboard from under the

stamp; regulate the degree of pressure required for the stamp; then

place the side to be stamped upon the bed-plate, holding it firmly

against the guides with the left hand, while with the right the lever

is quickly drawn to the front. This straightens the toggles and causes

a sharp impression of the stamp upon the leather; immediately

throw back the lever; take out the side, and rub off with a rag the

superfluous gold. Repeat the operation upon the other side, unless the

stamp be of an upright design; it will then be necessary to turn the

stamp in the press before operating upon the other side. Case-work or

covers that are stamped before being put upon the books are done in

the same manner, the backs being also stamped before being glued

on. The preceding cut of a stamping-press for gilding light work,

lettering, &c., is of the most approved construction, while for

large, heavy work, either gilt or stamped blind, (embossed, as it is

erroneously called,) and for cloth-work generally, the wheel-press

is best adapted. It can be worked either by hand or by power. The

fly-wheel can be kept revolving while the workman is engaged in

feeding the press. The lever is used for light work. It will be

perceived that the upper platen of this press, to which the stamp is

attached, is stationary, thereby giving great advantages in arranging

pipes for heating by gas, and also for carrying off the smoke and

unconsumed gas that would otherwise escape into the room. These

presses are manufactured by I. Adams & Co., Boston.

[Illustration: LETTERING AND GILDING PRESS, No. 1.]

[Illustration: EMBOSSING PRESS, No. 2.]

A description of the various processes to produce by stamping the rich

effects of inlaid work will be found under the head of Illuminated

Binding and that of Inlaid Ornaments. For publishers' work it is a

point of economy to have a steel-cutter that will cut out the pattern

at one blow. For this kind of work, coloured German paper is used

instead of leather for inlaying.

Thin boards are cut out with the aid of steel-cutters and the

stamping-press, and affixed to the volumes; and, after they

are covered, they are stamped in gold and blind with patterns

corresponding with the figure of the cutter. This can only be applied

where there are a large number of volumes, although single volumes may

be cut out by hand at an increase of expense.

The modernized Gothic design (Plate IX.) is intended for a side-plate,

to be worked either in gold or blank. The light floriated design

(Plate X.) is calculated to be worked in gold, and is a good

illustration of the prevailing treatment of the style for which it has

been expressly designed. The pattern upon Plate XI. is intended for

press-work, to be blank-stamped. The contrast of light and heavy

work producing a fine effect, it is well adapted for a side-stamp,

especially for cloth-work.

[Illustration:

_9._

_Modernized Gothic._]

[Illustration:

_10._

_Modern Floriated Design._]

[Illustration:

_11._

_Expressly for Cloth after Holbein's Style._]

Plate XII. is a graceful design from a "Hint" of Mr. Leighton's. It is

suited for a side-stamp, to be worked in gold; and with it closes our

illustrations of design.

[Illustration:

_12._

_From a hint of Leighton._]

To obviate a difficulty that the young finisher will experience in his

first attempts at designing, let him select a good quality of sized

paper, cut it to the required size, then fold it carefully into four

parts, and draw his pattern boldly upon one of the four corners with

a lead-pencil. After that is done, slightly damp the opposite corner,

fold the drawn portion so that it comes in contact with the damp

surface, and rub it upon the back, so as to transfer the outlines of

the drawing. When it appears with sufficient distinctness, trace it

carefully over with the pencil, and repeat the process upon the other

corners until the pattern is complete. This method insures accuracy

and expedition. In working a pattern with gouges or with intersected

lines, the same principle is applied, so as to reproduce the pattern

precisely alike at the four corners, and to save time. In this case

the paper is folded, and one impression of the tool answers for both

sides of the pattern.

Let the young finisher but feel a love for his art, make himself

familiar with the best specimens, and determine to excel; and

eventually his productions will be esteemed, his ability command the

best situations, and he will be recognised as an artist.

CUTTING-MACHINES.

For cutting paper, pamphlets, and books "out of boards," a number

of machines have been invented, and are used in many binderies,

especially in those where large quantities of "cloth-work" are bound.

They have been found to answer for this class of work very well. Some

of them operate with sufficient nicety to cut books for case-work

that are intended for gilt edges, when they are not to be scraped.

For first-class work, cut "in boards," nothing has been discovered to

supersede the old-fashioned mode of cutting with the plough and press.

[Illustration: PATENT PAPER AND BOOK TRIMMER.]

The above cut of one of these machines, from the manufactory of

I. Adams & Co., Boston, will serve to convey a general idea of its

appearance; and the names of the makers are a sufficient guarantee of

the mechanical perfection of its details.

TRANSLATION OF DATES.

Many old books have their dates printed in a manner which puzzles the

finisher, should he be required to date any so printed, which are too

thin to admit of its being done as on the title-page. The following

key is here given, as it may be found useful in such cases:--c. 100;

I[c], or D, 500; cI[c] or M, 1000; I[cc], 5000; ccI[cc],

10,000; I[ccc], 50,000, cccI[ccc], 100,000. Thus, cI[c], I[c],

CLXXXV111--1688. While on this subject, it may not be inappropriate to

notice the dating of some books printed in France during the republic

in that country. Thus, "An. XIII."--1805, that being the thirteenth

year of the republic, which commenced in 1792.

RESTORING THE BINDINGS OF OLD BOOKS.

Old bindings often look badly on account of the leather becoming dry

and cracked, or the surface of the skin having been rubbed off in

places. To obviate this, take a small quantity of paste and rub it

carefully with the finger upon the portions that require it; after it

is dry, wash the volume carefully over with a thin solution of glue

size. When dry, the volume may be varnished, and afterwards rubbed

over with a cloth in which a few drops of sweet oil have been dropped.

SUPPLYING IMPERFECTIONS IN OLD BOOKS.

It often occurs that a valuable and rare work has a leaf torn or

missing. In order to supply it, the first step will be to obtain

the use of a perfect copy as a model. Then procure paper of the same

colour as the leaf to be mended, and cut it carefully to correspond

with the torn portion. After the piece has been neatly adjusted, tip

it and the leaf, very lightly, along the edges with paste made of

rice-flour; then place a piece of tissue-paper on both sides of the

leaf, and smooth it carefully with the folder; then close the volume

and allow it to remain until perfectly dry. Then proceed to remove the

tissue-paper, and it will be found that the portions that adhere where

the joining occurs will be strong enough to secure the piece to the

leaf of the book. The letters may be then copied from the perfect copy

and traced upon the inserted piece. The general appearance will depend

upon the skill displayed in order to produce a successful imitation of

the original.

HINTS

TO BOOK-COLLECTORS.

Never write your name upon the title-page of a book.

Have your books cut as large as possible, so as to preserve the

integrity of the margin.

Do not adopt one style of binding for all your books.

Let the bindings upon your books be characteristic of the contents and

of the value of the work.

Employ Turkey morocco for large works or for books that you have in

constant use. It is the most durable material used in binding, except

Levant morocco, which is very expensive.

English coloured calf makes a beautiful covering, and bears full gilt

tooling better than morocco. The latter, if too richly charged, is apt

to look tawdry.

Let the durability and neatness of your bindings be the primary

requisites. Ornament judiciously and sparingly, rather than carelessly

or gaudily.

Poetry and sermons are not to be treated alike, either in colour or

degree of ornament to be employed.

The value of a library will be enhanced by the amount of knowledge and

taste displayed in the bindings.

Russia leather is no protection against worms, and it speedily cracks

along the joint.

Uncut books will command a higher price than those that are cropped.

To bind a book well, it should have ample time to dry after each

process.

When you receive a volume from the binder, place it upon your shelf in

such a manner that the adjoining volumes will press tightly against

it and keep it closed; or, if you lay it upon your table, place other

volumes upon it, to prevent the boards from warping, and do not, for

some time, use it near the fire.

Upon opening a volume, do not grasp the leaves tightly in your hands.

You might thereby break the back. If the book is too tight in the

back, lay it upon a flat surface, and open it by taking a few sheets

at a time, and lightly pressing upon the open leaves, going thus from

the beginning to the end, until the requisite freedom is obtained.

Use a paper-knife, or folder, to cut up the leaves of your uncut

books, so that the edges will be smooth and even; otherwise the book

will have to be cut down when it is bound.

Do not bind a newly-printed book. It is liable to set off in the

pressing.

Never destroy an original binding upon an old volume if the binding be

in tolerable condition. An old book should not be rebound, unless it

is essential to its preservation; and then it should be, as far as

possible, a restoration.

Carefully preserve old writings and autographs upon fly-leaves, unless

they are trivial. It is an act of courtesy to the former owner of a

book to place his book-plate on the end-board of the volume.

Any blank-leaves that occur in old volumes should not be removed. The

bastard or half title should always be preserved.

Have all oblong plates placed in such a manner that the inscription

under them will read from the tail to the head of the volume.

Never bind a large map with a small volume. It is liable to tear away;

and, in pressing the volume, it makes unseemly marks. Maps and plans

should be affixed to blank leaves, so as to open clear of the volume,

that the reader may have the plan and text to examine together.

It is a false economy to bind up a number of volumes together,

especially if they are of different sizes and upon different subjects.

Keep your books dry, but not too warm. Gas is injurious in a library,

especially to the gilding upon the books.

Do not place books with uncut tops where the dust will fall upon

them. It will penetrate between the leaves and mar the interior of the

volumes.

Avoid placing books with clasps or carved sides upon the shelves. They

will mark and scratch their neighbours.

Never fold down corners, or wet your fingers, when reading or turning

over the pages of a book.

Do not read a book at table. Crumbs are apt to penetrate into the

back-fold of the leaves.

Books are not intended for card-racks or for receptacles of botanical

specimens.

Never leave a book open, face downward, under the pretext of keeping

the place. If it remain long in that condition, it will probably ever

afterwards jump open at that place.

Never pull books out of the shelves by the head-bands, or suffer them

to stand long upon the fore-edge.

Books should not be toasted before a fire or be converted into

cushions to sit upon.

Saturate a rag with camphor, and, when dry, occasionally wipe the dust

from your books with it, and you will not be annoyed with book-worms.

Treat books gently; for "books are kind friends. We benefit by their

advice, and they exact no confessions."

+Technical Terms+

USED IN

BOOKBINDING.

_All-Along._--When a volume is sewed, and the thread passes

from kettle-stitch to kettle-stitch, or from end to end in

each sheet, it is said to be sewed all-along.

_Asterisk._--A sign used by the printers at the bottom of the

front page of the duplicate-leaves printed to supply the place

of those cancelled.

_Backing-Boards._--Are used for backing or forming the joint.

They are made of very hard wood or faced with iron, and are

thicker on the edge intended to form the groove than upon the

edge that goes towards the fore-edge, so that the whole power

of the laying-press may be directed towards the back.

_Backing-Hammer._--The hammer used for backing and rounding:

it has a broad, flat face, similar to a shoemaker's hammer.

_Bands._--The twines whereon the sheets of a volume are sewn.

When the book is sewed flexible the bands appear upon the

back. When the back is sawn so as to let in the twine, the

appearance of raised bands is produced by glueing narrow

strips of leather across the back before the volume is

covered.

_Band-Driver._--A tool used in forwarding to correct

irregularities in the bands of flexible backs.

_Bead._--The little roll formed by the knot of the headband.

_Bleed._--When a book is cut into the print it is said to

bleed.

_Bevelled Boards._--Very heavy boards for the sides champered

around the edges.

_Blind-Tooled._--When the tools are impressed upon the

leather, without being gilt, they are said to be blind or

blank.

_Boards._--Are of various kinds, such as pressing, backing,

cutting, burnishing, gilding, &c. The pasteboards used for

side-covers are termed boards. The boards used for cutting

books "out of boards" are called steamboat-boards. Tinned

boards are used for finished work; while brass or iron-bound

boards are used for pressing cloth-work.

_Bodkin or Stabbing-Awl._--A strong point of iron or steel,

fixed on a wooden handle, to form the holes in the boards

required to lace in the bands. Used also for tracing the lines

for cutting the fore-edge.

_Bole._--A preparation used in gilding edges.

_Bolt._--The fold in the head and fore-edge of the sheets.

Also the small bar with a screw used to secure the knife to

the plough.

_Bosses._--Brass plates attached to the sides of volumes for

their preservation.

_Broke up._--When plates are turned over and folded at a short

distance from the back-edge, before they are placed so as to

enable them to turn easily in the volume, they are said to be

broke up. The same process is sometimes applied to the entire

volume.

_Burnish._--The effect produced by the application of the

burnisher to the edges.

_Burnishers._--Are pieces of agate or bloodstone affixed to

handles.

_Cancels._--Leaves containing errors which are to be cut out

and replaced with corrected pages.

_Caps._--The leather covering of the headband. Applies also to

the paper envelopes used to protect the edges while the volume

is being covered and finished.

_Case-Work._--Work in which the boards are covered and

stamped. The volume is then glued upon the back and stuck into

them.

_Catch-Word._--A word met with in early-printed books at the

bottom of the page, which word is the first on the following

page. Now used to denote the first and last word in an

encyclopædia or other book of reference.

_Centre-Tools._--Are single, upright, or independent tools

used for the middle of the panels by the finisher.