,,modern ,,bookbindings ,illustration3 #a4 ,,bound ,,by ,,zaehnsdorf4 ,,modern ,,bookbindings ,,their ,,design ,,and ,,decoration ,,by ,s4 ,t4 ,,prideaux ,illustration ,,new ,,york ,e4 ,p4 ,,dutton ,,and ,,company #aijf ,edinburgh3 ,t4 ,,and ,a4 ,,constable1 ,printers to ,his ,majesty ,,contents ,,page ,,modern ,,english ,,binding #c ,,modern ,,french ,,binding #ei ,,edition ,,binding #aje ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations ,,plate ,i4 ,,bound ,,by ,,zaehnsdorf--,frontispiece ,,at ,,page ,,ii4 #f ,,iii4 #f ,,iv4 ,,rivi,,re #aj ,v4 #aj ,,vi4 ,,morrell #ad ,,vii4 #af ,,viii4 #af ,,ix4 ,,de ,,coverly #ah ,x4 ,,fazakerly #bj ,,xi4 #bj ,,xii4 ,,chivers #bf ,,xiii4 #bf ,,xiv4 ,,the ,,oxford ,,university ,,press #cj ,,xv4 #cd ,,xvi4 #cd ,,xvii4 ,,the ,,guild ,,of ,,handicraft #ch ,,xviii4 ,,douglas ,,cockerell #dj ,,xix4 #dj ,,xx4 ,f4 ,,sangorski ,,and ,g4 ,,sutcliffe #db ,,xxi4 ,,de ,,sauty #dd ,,xxii4 #dd ,,xxiii4 ,,miss ,,adams #df ,,xxiv4 ,,miss ,,maccoll #dh ,,xxv4 ,,miss ,,alice ,,pattinson #dh ,,xxvi4 ,,miss ,,maude ,,nathan #ej ,,xxvii4 ,,miss ,,woolrich #eb ,,xxviii4 ,,miss ,,philpot #ed ,,xxix4 ,,marius ,,michel #fj ,,xxx4 #fb ,,xxxi4 #fb ,,xxxii4 ,l,,on ,,gruel #fd ,,xxxiii4 #fh ,,xxxiv4 #fh ,,xxxv4 #gb ,,xxxvi4 #gb ,,xxxvii4 ,,mercier #gf ,,xxxviii4 #hj ,,xxxix4 #hb ,,xl4 #hd ,,xli4 #hd ,,xlii4 ,,ruban #hh ,,xliii4 #ib ,,xliv4 #ib ,,xlv4 ,,carayon #id ,,xlvi4 #if ,,xlvii4 #if ,,xlviii4 ,,chambolle #ih ,,xlix4 #ajf ,l4 #ajf ,,li4 ,,canape #ajh ,,lii4 #aab ,,liii4 #aaf ,,liv4 #abj ,,lv4 #abj ,,lvi4 ,,kieffer #abd ,,lvii4 #abh ,,lviii4 #abh ,,erratum ,for 8,revire0 read 8,rivire0 in ,list of ,illustrations4 ,for 8,morell0 read 8,morrell0 throughout4 ,the address of the ,oxford ,university ,press is still ,amen ,corner1 ,e4,c41 and not ,st4 ,dunstan's ,house1 ,fetter ,lane1 as stated on page #ce4 ,,modern ,,english ,,binding ,i ,within the last five-and-twenty years there has been a marked revival in every department of applied art4 ,the influence of ,william ,morris1 whose efforts in all the accessories of house decoration were for some time only recognized by the few1 has now spread to all classes4 ,no longer confined to the houses of the rich or of those who profess the cult of aesthetics1 it is to be found with more or less of travesty in country rectories and suburban villas1 catered for by the enterprising tradesman on the monthly hire system4 ,to those who remember vividly the early ,victorian surroundings of the home and their prevailing ugliness1 the complete change which has taken place has hardly yet ceased to be a source of wonder4 ,nothing remains the same3 from wall-paper to coal-box1 from bedroom to kitchen1 all has #8suffered a sea change4' ,in any examination of the present condition of the artistic crafts and the promise they present of future development on a sound basis1 one cannot fail to observe that the effort to promote taste has penetrated to the commonest objects of daily use4 ,the thought that finds expression in decoration has gone to salt-cellars and buttons as well as to carpets1 cabinets and books4 ,some industries too1 that may almost be said to have died out for lack of appreciation1 have been revived on new lines and taken up by the public with enthusiastic approval4 ,the use of enamel in jewellery and in combination with wrought metal may be mentioned as an instance of this1 as well as the inlaying of cabinet work not only with coloured woods1 but with pewter1 ivory and pearl4 ,the spell of convention once broken1 the imagination of the craftsman has found relief in flying to the furthest distance from models that were till recently his only guide4 ,this freedom1 when restrained by genuine artistic feeling1 has given in many cases excellent results2 but in the majority of cases the sole achievement has been an eccentricity that shows few signs of a realization of what is needed in applied art and of the laws that should govern it4 ,in no sphere has there been a more striking departure from the hitherto circumscribed lines of ornamentation than in everything that relates to books and their decorative treatment4 ,paper and ink1 type and its massing on the page1 illustration both as a part of the text and outside it1 the materials and enrichment of the cover--all have alike undergone fundamental reconsideration4 ,it is1 however1 with bindings and not with the other features of book production that we are now concerned2 and it is proposed in these pages to draw attention to what is being done in ,england and ,france in a field of work that has an increasing number of recruits and a growing and interested public4 ,it is now more than twenty years since the movement spoken of began to include bookbinding4 ,during that time there has been noted the trade opposition to ,mr4 ,cobden-,sanderson when he started as an amateur1 followed by an imitation in many quarters1 which1 to say the least of it1 is not the most subtle form of flattery4 ,there has been also the later influence of ,mr4 ,douglas ,cockerell--a result of his strenuous craft teaching as well as of the work of his own hands--and the tardy acknowledgment of professional binders that the interest of the amateur has been productive of good even from the narrow standpoint of their class4 ,nor has ,france escaped this wave of innovation1 though there formalism had a stronger hold even than with us1 inasmuch as the traditions of what in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries had really been more of a fine art than a craft were rooted in the country with all the firmness that national pride could give4 ,finally1 one may mark the growing enthusiasm of our ,american neighbours in the subject and their efforts to create a national taste in fine bindings4 ,they show a ready acknowledgment of what is being done outside their own country1 and a willingness to recognize that work directed by the artistic rather than the commercial spirit must be paid for according to a standard different to that of the ordinary tradesman4 ,illustration3 #b4 ,,bound ,,by ,,zaehnsdorf4 ,illustration3 #c4 ,,bound ,,by ,,zaehnsdorf4 ,that an increasing number of people appreciate the problem of designing book covers may be judged from the fact that of late years nearly every illustrated paper has had an occasional article on one or another binder anxious to attract the public to the originality of his work4 ,assuming this appreciation1 we will touch briefly on the craft in ,england before its revitalization during the last quarter of a century1 and then pass in review those who are now occupied with its decorative side and who are trying to remove it from the traditional grooves in which it lay for so long4 ,unfortunately1 many binders doing excellent and conscientious work1 on lines far more valuable than that of pattern making1 must remain unnoticed1 for it is only work that is striving after an effect of ornament that is capable of illustration4 ,of this1 too1 the amount has so much increased of late that it is impossible to give examples of much that equally deserves representation with what has been selected4 ,for a true understanding of modern effort it is necessary to realize that the art history of binding is an important one1 especially in ,italy and ,france2 but in this very brief review of ,english binding before #ahej1 we need not start further back than the time when gilt tooling was brought from ,france4 ,before that period the heavier covers had been decorated with stamps often of a very beautiful kind and impressed upon the leather without gold4 ,but in the reign of ,henry ,,viii41 ,thomas ,berthelet1 the ,king's printer1 first executed gold-tooled bindings1 the designs on which were frankly adopted from those that prevailed in ,italy1 the models1 no doubt1 being found among the large number of books imported from abroad at that time4 ,later on1 when ,italian binding as a fine art had been merged in that of ,france1 the influence of the latter country is seen1 as1 for example1 in the books bound for ,thomas ,wotton in imitation of ,grolier1 one of the most famous collectors of any age or country4 ,throughout the reigns of the ,stuarts1 ,english binding continues to show ,french influence1 as a glance at the books exhibited to the public in the ,british ,museum will show to the most casual observer4 ,nor had we a binder who can be said to have shown any tendency towards a native style till the time of the ,restoration1 when ,samuel ,mearne1 bookbinder to the ,king1 inaugurated what is known as the #8cottage' form of decoration4 ,though the elaborate filigree work on his books reminds one that ,le ,gascon exercised an important influence1 the form of the ornaments and their arrangement remain distinctly ,english4 ,a development of this style1 equally native in character1 may be found a little later1 during the first part of the eighteenth century1 chiefly on the ,bibles and ,prayer-,books of the time4 ,in these there is a certain amount of rough inlay1 either in the form of a panel or in that of tulips and other conventional flowers outlined in gold1 though with a dotted instead of a solid line4 ,these ornaments1 poor in themselves1 which form the main part of the decoration1 are often combined with great skill and sense of effect4 ,an unusual number of such books were collected at the time of the ,exhibition of ,bindings at the ,burlington ,fine ,arts ,club1 and were found both charming and effective notwithstanding a somewhat rough and hasty workmanship4 ,from the reign of ,james ,,ii4 to the time of ,roger ,payne there are no names associated with any bindings of importance2 and with the passing of the prevailing fashion of ornament on the books just described1 design reached its lowest point towards the end of the century4 ,of ,roger ,payne1 who effected a genuine revival of bookbinding somewhere about #aggj1 it is not necessary to say much4 ,his style is well known to all book lovers1 and the details of his eccentric life have been so often recorded that the reader must be more than weary of them4 ,one point in connexion with his work is1 however1 ,i think1 worth mentioning1 and that is that his style has never lent itself to that modification in imitation which enables any artist to become the founder of a school4 ,any one of the skilled binders will do you a #8,roger ,payne' as he will do you a #8,grolier' or a #8,le ,gascon'2 but it will be a reproduction of the real ,roger's work1 with the exact details and precise arrangement of them that are to be found on his authentic bindings4 ,so that1 notwithstanding his originality1 he inspired no following1 though his imitators have been perhaps more numerous than those of any other binder4 ,illustration3 #d4 ,,bound ,,by ,,rivi,,re4 ,illustration3 #e4 ,,bound ,,by ,,rivi,,re4 ,charles ,lewis and ,frances ,bedford1 followed by ,robert ,rivire and ,joseph ,zaehnsdorf1 did much good work in the early part of the last century1 especially ,bedford2 but they can lay no claim to an originality which disappeared with ,payne1 and which was not seen again until ,mr4 ,cobden-,sanderson attempted to do for the binding of books what ,william ,morris had already done for the other decorative arts4 ,it is the result of this revived interest in handicrafts and the attempted application to binding of the more vital principles of art which it is proposed to illustrate here4 ,one must say attempted1 because success by no means always results4 ,in this review1 however1 of modern binders1 definite criticism is not an object1 though the difficulties attendant on their efforts naturally come up for consideration and necessarily involve some expression of opinion4 ,illustration3 #f4 ,,bound ,,by ,,morrell4 ,both ,zaehnsdorf and ,rivire left representatives to carry on their work1 the former a son1 and the latter two nephews1 ,mr4 ,percy and ,mr4 ,arthur ,calkin4 ,from the small establishments in which both houses originated there has developed in each case an important business in which an exceedingly large number of books are bound for the export as well as the retail trade4 ,in a bindery of this nature there would not be time for the serious consideration of artistic problems unless it contained what ,mr4 ,lethaby so aptly describes as #8a 8quality0 department in a 8quantity0 business4' ,it remains as true now as it has always been that the craftsman who is also an artist must work in his own way and at his own speed--a fact well realized in the ,french workshops1 which are altogether outside the rush and pressure of commercial life4 ,so in each of these houses we find a certain number of the more intelligent and skilful men employed only upon the best work1 and engaged in carrying out designs which they either make up themselves from certain recognised types or which are made for them by more practised designers4 ,this introduces the question--which is a practical one for the large employer1 though it need not exist for those having a comparatively limited output--whether it produces better results to keep a trained designer1 or to give the pattern making into the hands of the more artistically disposed #8finishers4' ,some consider that it is impossible1 so long as the education of the workman is so lamentably defective on the side of taste as it is1 to expect him to plan book covers above the ordinary level of presents and school prizes2 others hold that his feeling for what is good and appropriate can only be cultivated by encouraging him to the interest and responsibility of planning what he is going to execute4 ,mr4 ,calkin has long kept a designer entirely occupied on the decorated work that many of his clients demand4 ,other houses have tried the practice of getting drawings made by the general decorative artist1 and have given it up in disgust at the unpractical character of the results obtained4 ,and it is true that it takes time and patience to train one accustomed to a free hand in invention to a realization of the limitations necessitated by the use of rigid stamps and the comparatively small number of them that can be employed on a binding4#a ,ask any professed pattern maker to make you a device for a book cover1 and you will get something which1 though it may be satisfactory and attractive in itself1 will be either impossible of execution or give the most disappointing results4 ,naturally1 where any firm happens to possess workmen of the required taste and ability1 they should be encouraged to the utmost to give effect to their sense of drawing in its application to their own trade4 ,messrs4 ,morrell1 whose large business is entirely a wholesale one1 supplies all the booksellers with bindings designed by his men and remarkable for their variety and merit4 ,it is too early to speak of the influence of the technical schools upon the output of the large workshops1 but when one knows that the three houses above mentioned employ some #bjj men between them1 it can easily be imagined that the training of the workman is a serious consideration4#b ,it is customary now for binders to keep a record of their more special work1 and in this way the extent of their range can be noted by the employer and undue repetition prevented4 ,another improvement on the past is that designs are not now multiplied as they used to be--that is to say1 in the best class of work4 ,a specially planned cover is not repeated or even published without the owner's consent2 and this is a wise plan1 for all art1 even the best1 suffers by vain repetition1 and a good and appropriate pattern on a book will be but a weariness to the eye when it is seen in multiplicity in booksellers' windows4 ,illustration3 #g4 ,,bound ,,by ,,morrell4 ,illustration3 #h4 ,,bound ,,by ,,morrell4 ,the concluding illustrations in this chapter show work done by ,mr4 ,roger de ,coverly and ,mr4 ,harry ,wood4 ,mr4 de ,coverly served his apprenticeship to the elder ,zaehnsdorf1 and was afterwards employed for many years by ,messrs4 ,leighton4 ,in #ahfc he set up for himself1 and his sound taste being discovered by ,mr4 ,f4 ,s4 ,ellis and ,mr4 ,william ,morris1 he soon got the custom of many of those who were then seeking its application to bindings4 ,in #ahhc he took one of his clients1 ,mr4 ,cobden-,sanderson1 as a pupil1 and has had others since4 ,he considers his speciality to be vellum work2 but unfortunately this does not show well in reproduction4 ,mr4 ,wood was also with ,zaehnsdorf1 working for him as a finisher for twelve years4 ,he subsequently managed and in the end bought the business of ,mr4 ,kaufmann in ,soho1 which he has greatly expanded1 and which is now managed by his son4 ,neither he nor de ,coverly have ever sought the heavy expenses and responsibilities of a large undertaking1 but have been content with a personal business in which they themselves have always taken an active part4 ,illustration3 #i4 ,,bound ,,by ,,de ,,coverly4 ,,ii ,although the chief place to study bookbinders and their craft is naturally ,london1 there are several provincial centres where it flourishes1 and where it has been touched by that movement for developing the artistic as well as the business side which we noticed in the previous chapter4 ,in large country towns it is impossible for work to be as much specialized as it is in ,london2 consequently a large bindery will do business of a most miscellaneous kind1 embracing everything from pamphlets to fine-tooled morocco bindings1 and including albums1 ledgers1 library and school books for prizes4 ,mr4 ,fazakerly in ,liverpool1 ,mr4 ,birdsall in ,northampton1 and ,mr4 ,chivers in ,bath1 all have establishments more or less of this kind4 ,illustration3 #aj4 ,,bound ,,by ,,fazakerly4 ,illustration3 #aa4 ,,bound ,,by ,,fazakerly4 ,mr4 ,fazakerly was one of the first binders1 certainly outside of ,london1 who refused to support the excessive competition in cheapness1 and who struck out a department in which fine work could be executed at prices that were remunerative and not prohibitive4 ,happily the result of his efforts shows the success of a refusal to pander to that desire for cutting prices which has done so much to ruin the crafts on their artistic side4 ,for some time after he had educated his workmen to the responsibility of his new venture1 he found that the taste of his customers lay towards a reproduction of old models1 but he has of late been quite successful in directing it on to new lines4 ,one feature may be noted in connexion with the morocco work of ,mr4 ,fazakerly1 namely1 that the under cover is rarely decorated with the same design as the upper4 ,if the lower cover is left quite plain1 the effect is poor1 and suggests that trouble has been spared on the book as a whole2 but there is no reason for the convention1 almost universally adopted1 whereby the two sides are entirely alike4 ,the same tools and elements of design should appear in each cover1 only disposed in different schemes of ornament1 and such variation naturally implies more thought1 the thought that avoids repetition4 ,one of ,mr4 ,fazakerly's innovations was the employment of embossed leather1 which has since spread to many other houses2 and another which he considers a specialty of his business is the decoration of the edges of books1 both by means of tooling on them or gauffering1 as it is more generally called1 and also by painting underneath the gold4 ,we may recall that in the sixteenth century this extension of ornament to the leaves of a book was very prevalent1 and was only one of many indications that the workman spent ungrudging time and thought on the details of what was intended to be a work of art throughout4#c ,some very fine specimens of gauffered edges may be seen on the works of ,luther in seven folio volumes1 dated ,jena #aegb-aeha1 now in ,south ,kensington ,museum4 ,the volumes being very thick offer fine scope for ornament1 which consists of the shield of ,saxony painted in the centre of each foredge1 the rest of the space being filled with arabesques and ,renaissance ornaments4 ,and there is1 we believe1 still in this country part of the library that once belonged to ,odonico ,pillone of ,belluno1 comprising some hundred and forty folios with foredges painted by the hand of ,cesare ,vecellio1 a nephew of ,titian4#d ,the painting of edges was revived in ,england1 and reappears in thoroughly native style on books of the latter half of the eighteenth century4 ,charming little ,english landscapes are to be found on some of them1 which1 as the painting is done when the leaves are fanned out and held in that expanded position1 are not in evidence when the book is shut1 but when open appear at once4 ,the name of ,william ,edwards of ,halifax and his son ,james is especially associated with this work1 and their books are not very rare4 ,mr4 ,fazakerly has done a great deal of this decoration1 which requires certain conditions to ensure success4 ,the painter must be an artist1 and the paper on which he works should be rather thin than thick2 the modern fashion of printing on a sort of cardboard handicaps the binder not only in this1 but other and far more important ways4 ,mr4 ,fazakerly has also made some innovations in #8doublures1' a term applied to the inside face of the boards when lined with leather or decorative material4 ,in the matter of doublures the last word has not been said1 and there is still room for experiment4 ,the ,french custom of violent-coloured watered silks or equally salient inlays has never found much favour in this country2 but there has been a great dearth both of invention and taste in dealing with this feature of a binding4 ,some of ,zaehnsdorf's doublures have silk either of the same colour as the cover1 or in harmony with it1 and he has tried ,russia leather with considerable success4 ,unsuitable as it is for the outside cover from its tendency to rapid deterioration1 it makes a very good board lining1 and can be employed as well for the flyleaf opposite2 indeed1 it is better where possible that doublure and flyleaf should be the same4 ,it is with calf that ,mr4 ,fazakerly has made his innovation1 and when delicately tinted and incised1 but not embossed1 the results seem pleasant and appropriate4 ,on books relating to ,japan1 the number of which is largely on the increase1 some of the coloured ,japanese embossed papers make excellent doublures4 ,before dismissing this subject1 we may mention the attempt of ,mr4 ,bagguley1 a binder at ,newcastle-under-,lyme1 to tool on vellum in colour4 ,some of this work1 designed by ,lon ,solon and ,miss ,talbot1 is very delicate and attractive2 so delicate1 in fact1 that it is only suitable for the inside of a book4 ,his patterns are composed chiefly of gouge and line work1 as no effect of solid mass can be apparently got in the colour1 and the effect is enhanced by dots and other small tools worked in gold4 ,the excessively detailed nature of this work1 which is made up of #8tools' small and light in character1 heavier dies not being suitable for the stamping of colour1 render it costly of execution1 but there is no doubt that its occasional use offers a desirable variation on the ordinary inside lining4 ,it is difficult to close this subject without a few words in condemnation of the coloured papers used by most binders for ordinary work which does not admit of anything more elaborate4 ,it is time they gave up the ,german marbled patterns1 the ,french #8combs1' and even the spirit marbles which produce the effect of violent colour thrown on wet blotting-paper and appear to be the latest fashion of monstrosity in such things4 ,good white handmade papers or vellum papers are the most suitable1 while if coloured ones are deemed essential1 the ,french and ,van ,gelder crayon papers toning harmoniously with the morocco are not likely to be an offence4 ,illustration3 #ab4 ,,bound ,,by ,,chivers4 ,illustration3 #ac4 ,,bound ,,by ,,chivers4 ,the business of ,messrs4 ,birdsall at ,northampton takes us to another centre of provincial activity in binding1 and it has an especial interest in being one of the oldest bookbinding businesses in the country4 ,it has been in the hands of the present proprietors' family well over a hundred years1 and has a connected history since #ageg1 when ,john ,lacy1 a banker of ,northampton1 acquired it and associated with it a bookselling business which he had also in the town4 ,on giving up work in #agib he sold both to ,william ,birdsall1 a ,yorkshireman by birth1 who had settled there1 and in this family it has remained ever since4 ,we spoke before of the varied nature of the work carried out by country binders1 and on ,messrs4 ,birdsall's premises we find a department of manufacturing stationery1 another for the wholesale paper trade1 a third for commercial bindings in which are included certain special registered bindings patented for serial work1 such as the #8,stronghold' and #8,biblia fortis1' suitable for free libraries where the usage is rough and constant1 and lastly1 one set apart for highly finished leather and vellum books4 ,the works are always kept in the highest state of efficiency1 and the workmen are encouraged to excel in skilled and conscientious work4 ,many of these have passed a lifetime there1 and though the business is not of a co-operative character1 a bonus is distributed to the older and more efficient workers at the end of the year4 ,illustration3 #ad4 ,,bound ,,by ,,the ,,oxford ,,university ,,press4 ,mr4 ,chivers1 of ,bath1 has brought an unusual amount of originality and enthusiasm into the service of his craft4 ,his father was a binder there before him1 and the son1 after working with ,chatelain in ,london1 decided to settle in his native town4 ,for some time his specialty was a binding for public libraries patented under the name of #8,duro-flexile1' and this1 together with other library appliances1 brought him a connexion with librarians all over the country who were occupied with the problems presented by the particular nature of their work4 ,he has brought considerable invention to bear upon these problems1 and in certain cases it is not likely that a more satisfactory solution will be found than that which he has introduced4 ,besides these practical matters he has made certain styles of decorating book covers especially his own1 and one of these he has developed with considerable success4 ,this consists in a scheme whereby designs are painted on paper and then covered with transparent vellum1 so that there is no limit to the colour effect that may be produced4 ,we have already mentioned ,james ,edwards1 of ,halifax1 who settled in #aghd as a bookseller in ,pall ,mall1 and whose love of books caused him to direct his coffin to be made from the shelves of his libraries4 ,in #aghe he took out a patent #8for embellishing books bound in vellum and making drawings on the vellum which are not liable to be defaced by destroying the vellum itself4' ,the description further contained in the patent has never been found possible of imitation1 which may or may not have been intentional on his part4 ,the ,british ,museum shows a ,prayer-,book bound by him in this style for ,queen ,charlotte1 wife of ,george ,,iii41 which has likewise a foredge painting beneath the gold4 ,his patterns were frequently ,etruscan in character2 but as his range of decoration was limited and the vellum he used insufficiently transparent1 his books are only of moderate interest4 ,mr4 ,chivers' plan is a much simpler one1 and if the designs are given into the hands of artists1 very original results can be obtained4 ,the ,french have one binder--,m4 ,carayon--who is famed for a class of book cover that gives something of the same effect4 ,the best-known painters both in water colours and black and white are employed to decorate the white vellum that clothes so sumptuously the finely illustrated books that his countrymen admire so much4 ,these will1 however1 stand no usage of any kind1 and can only be kept in cases carefully made for their protection4 ,the vellucent work of ,mr4 ,chivers being beneath the vellum runs no risk of deterioration and can stand even more than the usual wear and tear4 ,sometimes it appears as if the colours chosen were too strong1 producing in some cases rather the effect of the highly coloured supplements that appear at ,christmas in our illustrated papers2 but that1 of course1 is not a criticism that belongs to the method1 but is rather a counsel of perfection for a more delicate application of that method4 ,the desire for colour has appeared constantly in the history of bookbinding4 ,we see it first in the ,venetian books brilliantly painted in lacquer in the ,persian and ,saracenic style taken from ,arabian manuscripts1 then in the strapwork coloured with a varnished incrustation like enamel1 the best of which1 ,french and ,italian1 is found about the middle of the sixteenth century4 ,this method has proved very perishable1 and has never been revived4 ,later on we get the inlaying of coloured leathers1 which reached its most interesting development in the eighteenth century1 and has retained its hold on public taste ever since4 ,the earlier painted strapwork was freely copied in mosaics of leather2 and when we come to deal with present-day ,french bindings1 we shall see the new style of inlaid decoration to which these have given place4 ,the vellucent method of ,mr4 ,chivers is full of delightful possibilities if confined to books to which it is suited1 and when employed in a rather lower colour scheme as suggested4 ,nor is it necessary for the whole cover to be of vellum1 for it is possible to introduce a panel only of the transparent material over a picture1 and to incorporate this in the morocco1 giving the effect of an enrichment of enamel4 ,another style which ,mr4 ,chivers has done much to popularise is calf1 embossed and incised and sometimes coloured by hand4 ,in this1 as for the vellucent bindings1 he draws freely upon outside talent4 ,mr4 ,h4 ,granville-,fenn is general artistic adviser1 and ,miss ,alice ,shepherd and ,mr4 ,s4 ,poole have long been associated with him in the execution of this work4#e ,some of the #8cuir cisel' that has come down to us from the past1 and which originated in ,germany1 is very fine in character1 as any one can see who studies some excellent examples exposed in the ,british ,museum4 ,there seems no reason why it should not have a satisfactory revival2 in ,france1 indeed1 this has already taken place1 as we shall see later on1 but in ,england there is still too much #8prettiness' associated with it1 and one is apt to think it more suitable for card-cases and blotting-cases than for bindings4 ,what results it can yield when the design is severe and dignified and the treatment finely chiselled may be observed on the ,pantheologia by ,rainesius de ,pisa1 a folio dated about #adge1 one of the ,museum books just mentioned4 ,illustration3 #ae4 ,,bound ,,by ,,the ,,oxford ,,university ,,press4 ,illustration3 #af4 ,,bound ,,by ,,the ,,oxford ,,university ,,press4 ,the last illustrations in this chapter show work from the binding department of the ,oxford ,university ,press4 ,the ,press itself1 located in special buildings in ,oxford built in #ahcj1 is divided into two parts1 one devoted chiefly to the printing of ,bibles and ,prayer-,books1 the other to classical1 scientific and general printing4 ,it is entirely self-contained1 making its own paper1 ink1 type1 stereo- and electro-plates4 ,the ,university type foundry is the oldest in ,england1 and at the paper mills at ,wolvercote1 near ,oxford1 the famous ,india paper is made which has brought very great changes into the book trade4 ,the publishing and binding house1 lately at ,amen ,corner in the ,city1 is now at ,st4 ,dunstan's ,house1 ,fetter ,lane1 and thither are sent all the books from the ,press as soon as printed4 ,in the ,paris ,exhibition of #aijj the ,press showed a considerable number of decorated bindings in addition to the exhibits from the other departments4 ,the ,oxford ,press designs are very varied in character and include some excellent inlays2 they are made by the more artistic among the workmen1 and speak highly for the level of taste attained in the bindery4 ,illustration3 #ag4 ,,bound ,,by ,,the ,,guild ,,of ,,handicraft4 ,,iii ,in bringing forward what may be called the younger generation of binders1 it is natural to speak first of ,mr4 ,cobden-,sanderson as the source from which they have drawn much of their inspiration4 ,his work1 however1 is not represented here1 as it would be discourteous to go against his wishes in the matter4 ,whatever may be the reasons for his change of attitude in this respect1 he has in the past done a great deal to introduce his work personally to the public and to explain his method and ideals4 ,the pages of the ,british ,bookmaker1 a trade journal no longer in existence1 the ,english ,illustrated ,magazine1 the ,fortnightly ,review1 testify to his former willingness that his work should be known and appreciated4 ,he has also been one of the main supporters of the ,arts and ,crafts ,society since its inception in #ahhh1 and his books have been the largest contribution to binding in its occasional exhibitions4 ,there too1 as well as at the ,society of ,arts and elsewhere in ,london and the provinces1 he has lectured on the craft1 setting forth what he conceives to be its purport both in the limited matter of its processes and achievements and in the wider aspect of its relation to the wants and progress of society4 ,not long ago he published a book on ,industrial ,ideals1 which it is interesting to compare with the collected papers by ,mr4 ,william ,morris which have appeared on that and kindred subjects4 ,mr4 ,morris always held up the ideal of the ,middle ,ages as the goal towards which to strive4 ,it was a time1 he considered1 when the processes or means by which life is lived constituted the end of life itself1 without seeking for some other end external to them and often incompatible with them4 ,this idea of #8art being the highest function of life' was the gospel to which he never ceased to direct the attention of his followers1 and the next step--the attempted re-organization of life into conditions that enable art to realize itself--thus followed as a matter of course4 ,as a protest against the mechanical exploitation of the arts for the sake of commercial success in its worst sense1 and with the attendant evils of excessive competition1 such a creed is most valuable1 and has already had an important effect on the decorative arts which we trust may be permanent4 ,but it would seem mistaken in theory and impossible of practice to attempt a reversion to mediaeval ideals with the wholly altered conditions of production1 distribution and mode of living that are now part and parcel of modern life4 ,a crusade against the existing conditions in which works of art are produced must1 one would think1 if its criticism is to be operative1 find some way of including in its scheme of regeneration the great movements of commercial life which is one of the features of the age1 and which even the most optimistic could hardly hope to stem4 ,here and there an individual may achieve a career somewhat in accordance with mediaeval ways1 content with the limitations imposed by this ideal2 but except in such isolated instances it does not seem possible to return to the practice of the past1 when1 as ,mr4 ,lethaby says1 #8the designer of a gold cup made it and sold it over the counter1 and the art was thrown in like a ,christmas almanack4' ,here comes in the problem mentioned in a previous chapter4 ,if1 on the one hand1 there is too much tendency for the designer to be occupied only in planning ornament for others to execute with the result that a certain inevitableness is nearly always wanting in the finished product1 yet it may be better for a skilled workman to carry out the views of an artist rather than try and evolve variants from a few types set before him4 ,in the frequent advocacy of a revival of past conditions which would benefit the workman1 there is one point that seems always left unnoticed--a point of great importance2 and that is the stringent means taken in those days to protect the purchaser also4 ,in the scholarly little introduction called #8,art in the ,netherlands' which ,mr4 ,w4 ,h4 ,james ,weale contributed to the ,catalogue of the picture exhibition held at ,bruges in #aijb1 he gives a concise account of the conditions under which alone a man could become a painter in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries2 and what held good for painting held good also for the minor arts of life4 ,as long as the craftsman belonged to the guild of his craft1 he was bound by its rules to carry out his work honestly and conscientiously1 to use good materials1 and to beautify it as far as he was able4 ,the corporation arranged for the education of its members4 ,they were apprenticed to masters responsible both for their technical efficiency and the fulfilment of their duties of citizenship4 ,each was bound to the other2 the apprentice was to give zeal in his service and the master to impart all he knew of his trade4 ,once the apprenticeship at an end1 the youth could work1 as what would now be known as an #8improver1' with any master he liked1 and in any town that he chose4 ,later on1 in order to become a master1 he had to present himself before the heads of the guild and give proofs of efficiency1 promise obedience to the rules of the corporation1 and swear to carry on his work well and honestly4 ,observe1 however1 that1 although a master1 he remained all his life under the control of the governing body of the corporation1 the members of which could enter his shop at any moment1 seize his materials if of inferior quality1 confiscate them1 and inflict punishment upon him4 ,lastly1 in disputes between himself and his clients the guild was called in to decide between them4 ,we can imagine no condition less in touch with the schemes of modern and social democracy1 which so often deal exclusively with the needs of the worker and neglect those both of the employer and the consumer4 ,illustration3 #ah4 ,,bound ,,by ,,douglas ,,cockerell4 ,illustration3 #ai4 ,,bound ,,by ,,douglas ,,cockerell4 ,illustration3 #bj4 ,,bound ,,by ,f4 ,,sangorski ,,and ,g4 ,,sutcliffe4 ,in connexion with this topic1 mention should be made of ,mr4 ,c4 ,r4 ,ashbee's experiment with the ,guild and ,school of ,handicraft4 ,it began its existence at ,essex ,house in ,east ,london1 and1 after fourteen years1 in ,may #aijb1 removed to ,chipping ,campden1 a small ,cotswold village where the wool trade flourished during the ,middle ,ages and the silk trade in the eighteenth century4 ,the aim of the ,guild is set forth in a little pamphlet1 distributed to visitors at the ,dering ,yard ,gallery1 #fg;,a ,new ,bond ,street1 where the work of the school is annually exhibited4 ,it need only be said here that its object is to set a higher standard of craftsmanship by liberating the workman from the restrictions of the trade shop1 and directing his independence away from purely individualistic efforts on to lines of art service to the community1 and that it is conducted co-operatively1 the men having an interest and a share in the concern and its government4 ,while recognizing the importance of what a man does and the conditions under which he does it1 both to himself as a citizen and to the community for which he labours1 the ,guild endeavours to strike a mean between the socialism that cares only for the worker and the commercialism that disregards him and his idealistic as well as material needs4 ,the work carried out at ,chipping ,campden is very various1 and includes furniture1 metal work1 jewellery1 printing and binding4 ,after ,mr4 ,morris's death1 ,mr4 ,ashbee acquired the plant hitherto in use at the ,kelmscott ,press1 and began a series of books1 first in a ,caxton type and later from a fount of his own design4 ,binding followed almost as a matter of course on these issues from the ,essex ,house ,press2 and in connexion with it1 besides the ordinary plain-tooled leather bindings1 excellent in restrained ornament1 he has revived certain fifteenth-century styles for which he has a special predilection1 and which include the use of enamels and wooden boards1 the latter often carved in low relief4 ,the bindings1 though designed for the most part by ,mr4 ,ashbee1 are carried out by ,miss ,power1 who is in the main responsible for them4 ,these books raise again the question whether such deviations from the ordinary paths are legitimate attempts to enlarge the limitations of the binder's art4 ,the ultimate serviceable use of a book should ever be kept in sight1 and must in the end determine the matter4 ,leather and vellum1 tooled with a few fine stamps1 disposed with taste and restraint1 will always remain the best coverings for books1 because they are unobtrusive and can be pleasantly handled and easily disposed4 ,work that is embossed1 enamelled1 carved1 or even too decorative in colour for unlimited production1 can only be desired as occasional specimens of interest in themselves1 and as exceptions proving the rule4 ,illustration3 #ba4 ,,bound ,,by ,,de ,,sauty4 ,illustration3 #bb4 ,,bound ,,by ,,de ,,sauty4 ,mr4 ,douglas ,cockerell1 a pupil of ,mr4 ,cobden-,sanderson1 has written the first of a new series of technical handbooks on the artistic crafts which is a model of the kind and should prove the text-book for all future binders4 ,it is1 no doubt1 the outcome of some years' teaching at the ,county ,council ,school in ,regent ,street1 where1 for many years1 he did excellent work in training the younger men to an intelligent interest in the various processes of their craft4 ,no craft can be well learned anywhere but in a practical workshop2 and he considers the value of class teaching to be limited to helping those engaged in a trade1 and that such help is of great value in giving higher ideals and encouraging experimental work4 ,from the beginning ,mr4 ,cockerell has been specially interested in the repairing of books and in the preservation of old covers1 and has given his pupils some training in all that relates to the care of books4 ,there are numbers of old bindings that after four hundred years of wear and tear are still capable of fulfilling their original purpose of protection1 with a little help from modern hands4 ,to give a new lease of life to fine old books is really of far greater importance than the continual production of new and pretty bindings4 ,mr4 ,cockerell's original work is well known both here and in ,america1 and there is luckily a great deal of it that is simple as well as highly decorated4 ,it is comparatively easy to do the latter2 but a plain binding that yet has the stamp of the maker's individuality is a very exceptional achievement1 and in work of that character ,mr4 ,cockerell is unsurpassed4 ,illustration3 #bc4 ,,bound ,,by ,,miss ,,adams4 ,mr4 ,f4 ,sangorski and ,mr4 ,g4 ,sutcliffe1 who were formerly with ,mr4 ,cockerell1 have started a bindery of their own1 and are engaged both in teaching and doing varied work of a pleasant character4 ,trained in the methods of ,mr4 ,cockerell at the ,technical ,school at #caf ,regent ,street1 ,mr4 ,sutcliffe now controls the teaching for the ,county ,council at its branch establishment in ,camberwell1 and ,mr4 ,sangorski that of the ,northampton ,institute in ,clerkenwell4 ,mr4 de ,sauty is another young binder1 and his work is of considerable merit4 ,his inlays are distinguished for the taste shown in the association of colours1 and his finishing has some of the brilliant qualities of the ,french school1 seen particularly in the finely studded tooling of which he seems particularly fond4 ,he has now the post formerly held by ,mr4 ,cockerell4 ,illustration3 #bd4 ,,bound ,,by ,,miss ,,maccoll4 ,illustration3 #be4 ,,bound ,,by ,,miss ,,alice ,,pattinson4 ,in concluding this sketch of ,bookbinding in ,england as it appears to-day1 we must not omit to speak of the entrance recently effected by women in many of the handicrafts1 and notably in the one under consideration4 ,quite a number are now trying to make a livelihood out of bookbinding2 and possibly1 therefore1 a few words less of criticism than of counsel may not come amiss4 ,it may be said that there are certain conditions absolutely necessary for successful achievement1 quite apart from financial gain1 which is another matter4 ,the first of these is a workshop training1 which1 though impossible some years ago1 is now no longer so within certain limits2 that is to say1 there are one or two binders with small workshops who undertake to give women systematic teaching for a limited time4 ,in a workshop they will see a variety of work that they will miss if taught privately1 and they will learn the habit of rapid and dexterous manipulation of tools and materials without which it is impossible to work quickly enough for a profitable return upon the outlay4 ,a second most necessary qualification is that they should have the physique for standing and working at a bench during the hours of an ordinary working day4 ,for binding is not like other less specialized crafts that can be taken up at odd hours and laid aside with equal facility1 but needs concentration of mind as well as sureness of hand4 ,a third element in the desirable equipment is a certain faculty of imagination controlled by right feeling or good taste1 so that the results of workmanship have the note of individuality without eccentricity4 ,in art as in life1 personality is the one thing needful1 and we may fairly look to women to show the realization of it that can hardly be expected from those working in the stereotyped grooves of production4 ,illustration3 #bf4 ,,bound ,,by ,,miss ,,maude ,,nathan4 ,and what is to be said of binding as a means of livelihood8 ,experience has shown that properly trained women can do as good binding as men1 though not upon large and heavy work1 and if they do it well enough some of them can earn a fair wage1 while if they fail to reach a high standard they had better for all practical purposes let it alone4 ,but to hold out any inducement to the woman who really needs bread-and-butter to take up binding as a lucrative employment1 as is done in some quarters1 should be characterized with the severity it deserves4 ,many women need but an addition to their income1 and to such1 if they are willing to incur the expense of training and plant1 and if they realize the experimental nature of the undertaking1 binding may be recommended as a sufficiently pleasant occupation4 ,whether financial success comes1 however1 or not1 must depend upon the amount of work turned out1 on the originality and finish with which it is executed1 and last1 but not least in importance1 on the finding of a market4 ,booksellers are now so overstocked with so-called artistic bindings of moderate merit1 and it may also be said of moderate price1 that they are not eager to accept those of average quality at the more than average price that many women expect their work to command4 ,a market can always be found for the best of everything2 but as far as bindings are concerned it is certainly at present overstocked with the second best1 and attention may well be directed to other branches of decorative work4 ,there are more than enough half-trained workers1 both male and female2 and it would be a most undesirable result of what in itself is so eminently desirable--the opening of the artistic crafts to women--if there were to be a great deal of inferior work put into circulation obviously from the hands of those who have never left the amateur stage4 ,women make a mistake1 too1 in specializing in the production of decorated bindings4 ,it is no doubt a right principle to take the everyday things of life and decorate them rather than invent useless ones for the purpose4 ,it has1 however1 this disadvantage1 that it has now become almost impossible to get any of these homely things made with the severe simplicity of mere purposefulness4 ,if one does not want the useless things1 at least one need not buy them2 but it seems hard that the necessary ones should become the corpora vile on which the professed decorator exercises his too frequently disordered imagination4 ,one is unfortunately as little likely nowadays to find a plain pepper-pot as one is to find a bound book on which there is not some flower sprawling over its cover in a meaningless attempt to be ,japanese in sentiment4 ,we want to get rid of the affectation of contorted pattern and have more of the plain things of life plainly made4 ,as far as bindings are concerned1 in addition to this much-desired simplicity1 there is1 as has been said above1 far more important and useful work to be done than pattern making1 in the repairing and preserving of old books and records4 ,an instance of this may be seen at the present moment in an extensive matter undertaken by ,mr4 ,cockerell for the ,middlesex ,county ,council4 ,a large number of their ancient ,sessions ,books1 many of them crumbling to pieces1 are being put in a condition for reference1 the whole business of mending being done by women under the direction formerly of ,miss ,wilkinson and now of ,miss ,m#8,ewan both pupils of ,mr4 ,cockerell4 ,again1 many more women might adventure starting a business in the country or in a provincial town4 ,in ,america there is hardly a centre where there is any interest shown in books which has not a woman binder who has probably been trained by ,mr4 ,cobden-,sanderson4 ,we are glad to notice that ,miss ,adams has a bindery at ,broadway1 that ,miss ,paget is at ,farnham doing good honest work of a comparatively simple nature1 and that ,miss ,philpot has established herself at ,cambridge4 ,space forbids more than a few illustrations from the work of women binders1 numerous as they now are4 ,miss ,mac,coll's books have for some time excited interest both on account of the character of her brother's designs and her manner of executing them by means of a small wheel1 which is an attempt to overcome the restrictions of the finisher's ordinary methods4 ,miss ,nathan1 ,miss ,pattinson and ,miss ,stebbing are all doing well-considered and tasteful work on sound principles4 ,of those at work in ,scotland we need only mention the names of ,miss ,jessie ,king1 ,miss ,mc,clure and ,miss ,jane ,f4 ,hamilton1 ,miss ,alice ,gairdner and ,miss ,agnes ,watson of ,glasgow1 as their work has recently been specially dealt with in a paper by ,mr4 ,lewis ,f4 ,day4 ,illustration3 #bg4 ,,bound ,,by ,,miss ,,woolrich4 ,illustration3 #bh4 ,,bound ,,by ,,miss ,,philpot4 ,in conclusion1 it is necessary to keep in mind that binding is but one of the sub-crafts that contribute to the production of books4 ,of late each of these has pursued its own often faulty ideals regardless of its relationship to the other contributory crafts4 ,the paper-maker1 the printer and the binder would be more likely to work intelligently if they had some mutual knowledge of each other's needs and limitations4 ,the habit has been growing for some time of looking on the binding of a book as the most important thing in connexion with it4 ,but the binder of the future1 if his work is to be an effective contribution to decorative art1 must look on the book itself as the unit of interest1 the thought1 embodied in typography and illustration1 constituting a whole to which in the decorated cover he adds1 not an essential part1 but as it were the crown or coping-stone4 ,illustration3 #bi4 ,,bound ,,by ,,marius ,,michel4 ,,modern ,,french ,,binding ,i ,in the spring of #aijb there took place in ,paris the first of the exhibitions to which the new ,galliera ,museum is henceforth to be devoted4 ,this ,gallery1 still unknown to a considerable number of ,english visitors1 was built by ,ginain in the style of the ,french ,renaissance1 and is all that a small museum should be4 ,its history is briefly as follows4 ,in #ahgh1 the ,duchesse de ,galliera presented to the ,city of ,paris a plot of ground situated in the ,rue ,pierre-,charron by the ,trocadero avenue1 and undertook to erect upon it a suitable building in which to house the collection of works of art that she proposed leaving to the nation4 ,before1 however1 it was finished1 and in consequence of the political events that resulted in the expulsion of the heads of princely houses from ,france1 the ,duchess had made a will in which she left her pictures to her native town of ,genoa1 only making provision for the completion of the ,gallery4 ,she died in #ahhh1 and soon afterwards ,paris found herself in possession of this fine museum1 surrounded with gardens1 and admirably appointed in the architectural detail so well understood by the ,french1 but empty of all the treasures it was to have housed4 ,what was to become of it8 ,the municipal council decided that it should be devoted to industrial art1 forming a sort of supplement to the ,carnavalet ,museum1 and the necessary furnishing was undertaken with a view to that end4 ,it was formally opened in #ahie1 but for five years after that remained practically empty1 though purchases were made from successive ,salons of different kinds of decorative art and disposed among the vacant rooms to form a nucleus for future acquisitions4 ,in #aijj the ,council1 after much deliberation1 decided that the museum should be devoted to periodical industrial exhibitions1 and the first one1 of a miscellaneous character1 took place in the following year4 ,its distinctive feature consisted in what was an entirely new departure for ,france1 namely1 that every craftsman signed his work instead of being represented only in the name of the firm which employed him4 ,this idea1 to which we have now long been accustomed through the efforts of the ,arts and ,crafts ,society1 was a very novel one for our neighbours1 and is to be adopted henceforth in all the ,galliera exhibitions4 ,the initiative met with such undoubted success that the ,germans proceeded at once to start a museum at ,mulhouse on similar lines4 ,the organizing jury of the ,council1 which includes the foremost men of letters1 artists and critics1 next decided that the yearly exhibitions should each be devoted to a special branch of decorative art4 ,the first of these was inaugurated in ,may #ahib1 in an admirably planned show of modern bindings comprising the latest developments1 and1 it must be added1 eccentricities of ornamental book covers4 ,the number sent in necessitated the largest gallery being set aside for their reception1 and was a testimony to the confidence felt by the binders that merit would be the sole criterion4 ,and indeed1 though much interesting work was rejected1 not only were the well-known artists well represented1 such as ,michel1 ,mercier1 ,gruel1 ,ruban1 ,canape1 ,lortic1 ,carayon1 etc41 but room was found for the curious vellum covers of ,pierre ,roche and the incised and modelled leather of ,lepre with whom ,michel and others so happily collaborate4 ,the impression made upon the visitor was at once one of careful selection and admirable disposition4 ,in contrast to the wretched instalment offered by the great ,exhibition of #aijj1 the work of every binder was seen to the best advantage1 the eye was not fatigued by too many show-cases1 and the harmony of surroundings left nothing to be desired4 ,the display of works of art is in itself a study1 and we could undoubtedly learn much from the ,french in the excellent arrangement of their galleries4 ,but what a strange transition from that great room in the ,bibliothque ,nationale1 where rest at last the classic specimens of work that may without exaggeration be included among the fine arts1 to this most modern of collections6 ,when in the ,bibliothque ,nationale we are reminded of that exquisite sonnet of ,hrdia-- ,illustration3 #cj4 ,,bound ,,by ,,marius ,,michel4 ,illustration3 #ca4 ,,bound ,,by ,,marius ,,michel4 ,v,,lin ,,dor ,vieux matre relieur1 l'or que tu ciselas ,au dos du livre et dans l'paisseur de la tranche ,n'a plus1 malgr les fers pousss d'une main franche ,la rutilante ardeur de ses premiers clats4 ,les chiffres enlacs que liait l'entrelacs ,s'effacent chaque jour de la peau fine et blanche2 ,a peine si mes yeux peuvent suivre la branche ,de lierre que tu fis serpenter sur les plats4 ,mais cet ivoire souple et presque diaphane1 ,marguerite1 ,marie1 ou peut-tre ,diane1 ,de leurs doigts amoureux l'ont jadis caress2 ,et ce vlin pli que dora ,clovis ve voque1 je ne sais par quel charme pass1 ,l'me de leur parfum et l'ombre de leur rve4 ,illustration3 #cb4 ,,bound ,,by ,l,,on ,,gruel4 ,here in the ,galliera we realize how complete is the revolution now finally effected by a people who clung long and faithfully to the traditions of a style made famous by ,grolier and by the ,eves1 ,le ,gascon and ,derme4 ,all through the nineteenth century these traditions were adhered to1 carried out by ,thouvenin1 ,simier and ,cap1 by ,chambolle1 ,duru1 ,trautz and ,cuzin1 the inspired copyists of the great masters4 ,these looked on originality as the most dangerous of innovations and a sort of disloyalty to the precedents handed down to them across the ages4 ,nevertheless the impending change was slowly and surely making way1 fostered by ,lortic and ,marius ,michel1 the latter through his writings as well as in his work4 ,henri ,marius ,michel followed in his father's steps3 his essay on ,l'ornamentation des reliures modernes showed clearly the direction taken by the modern school2 while the sumptuous book1 ,la reliure du ,,xix sicle1 by ,henri ,braldi1 who is both a patron and collector of distinction1 may be said to have given final expression to the movement as a whole4 ,bookbinding1 in common with larger subjects1 has its bibliography4 ,a glance over the names of the books that relate to it published during the last half-century shows well enough how interest has been displaced from the historic schools to those which have initiated entirely new forms of decoration as applied to book covers4 ,if1 then1 we are struck by the contrast between past and present as regards the nature of this application of art to bindings1 we are equally impressed by the contrast between the position of the binder then and now4 ,it is no wonder that the small world of binders and their patrons in ,paris were proud of the position of honour assigned to their craft in #aijb4 ,they inaugurated a series of exhibitions1 which is to include ivories1 lace1 jewellery1 furniture--every art1 in fact1 to which there attaches the personality that can only come from having at some time had as its exponents #8the masters of those who know4' ,even so late as #ahgj the name of ,trautz was unknown1 not only to the ordinary public1 but to such collectors as ,eugne ,paillet and ,quentin ,bauchart1 though he had been producing admirable work for thirty years4 ,in #ahgh he was decorated with the ,legion of ,honour1 the first time that any such distinction had been offered to a binder4 ,it was only after his retirement and subsequent return to business at the age of sixty that his fame grew till it culminated in a sort of worship that is inconceivable outside of ,france4 ,nowadays the many means of publicity would render such a state of things quite impossible4 ,it is an age in which every one longs to see himself reflected in print or show-case2 and if the workman in any line does not himself take measures for bringing his efforts to the light1 there is a class whose chief occupation it is to be the discoverers of hidden talent1 and to act as middlemen between the producer and the public4 ,in ,paris1 binders have now a status that is looked upon with surprise and envy in ,england4 ,they are still1 it is true1 mostly congregated on the left bank of the ,seine1 the quarter which was formerly in the parish of ,saint-,andr-des-,arts1 and where their guild had its church of that name1 now no longer in existence4 ,up to five-and-twenty years ago there was hardly one that lived elsewhere1 and even now it is the exception to find a binder in the more fashionable quarter4 ,one has to climb high to reach their ateliers1 invariably of very modest dimensions and where but few workmen are employed4 ,the extensive businesses that we know in ,london hardly exist in ,paris1 and ,m4 ,gruel's is probably the only one employing a large number of hands4 ,for the most part two or three #8forwarders' and the same number of #8finishers' will suffice for the yearly output of a single workshop4 ,but to these ateliers go personally the great collectors who are wealthy patrons1 to discuss in detail different points of design and technique with a connoisseurship that is reserved with us for painting or sculpture4 ,to the unstinted help and intelligent appreciation afforded by such a class of amateurs is undoubtedly due the superior position of the artistic crafts in ,france4 ,many of the bindings in the ,galliera were achieved at a cost of two thousand francs1 and others for three and even four thousand4 ,there are two papers entirely devoted to the craft--,la ,reliure1 which is the organ of the ,chambre ,syndicale1 an association of master binders founded by ,m4 ,gruel2 and ,le ,relieur1 organ of the ,chambre ,syndicale ,ouvrire1 which is the corresponding association for workmen4 ,every year binders can exhibit at each of the rival ,salons1 at the ,socit des ,artistes ,franais and the ,socit ,nationale des ,beaux-,arts1 and the ,galliera ,exhibition is but the latest and most effective of the special exhibitions organized from time to time for the exclusive display of their work4 ,there is a desire to make such exhibitions recurrent every ten years1 so as to get a periodic outlook on the art as a whole2 but it is unlikely that the next few decades will show such marked characteristics of difference as may be seen by comparison of this collection with that even of #ahib organized by the ,cercle de la ,librairie4 ,it may1 in fact1 be suggested that the evolution--or revolution1 according to the point of view taken--now at its height1 will probably produce a reaction towards that greater sobriety of treatment which distinguished the best work of the past4 ,there are1 indeed1 already signs that the future of binding will not lie in that emancipation from all restrictions of form and material which would seem to be the ideal of some4 ,precisely what that future will be rests largely1 no doubt1 with the collectors1 who are1 as has been indicated1 a powerful body in ,france1 largely on the increase4 ,it is they who1 like ,,mm4 ,braldi1 ,spencer1 ,bordes1 ,villebuf1 ,roger1 ,marx1 ,claude ,lafontaine1 ,baron de ,claye1 ,louis ,barthou1 and many others1 not only furnish binders with the means of giving full play to their imagination1 but often devote their pens with enthusiasm to introducing new efforts to the numerous body of amateurs who look to them for guidance in matters of taste and are ready enough to follow their initiative4 ,illustration3 #cc4 ,,bound ,,by ,l,,on ,,gruel4 ,illustration3 #cd4 ,,bound ,,by ,l,,on ,,gruel4 ,the modern movement in binding may be said to have sprung out of the new form of book-collecting which began about #ahgj4 ,up to that time the book lover had confined himself entirely to eighteenth-century literature4 ,for forty or fifty years there had been a mad rush in the salerooms for books of that period1 which were then confided to ,thouvenin1 ,simier1 or ,trautz1 who had exercised their skill in marvellous imitations of the past1 with an execution often more technically perfect than the originals4 ,there came a time1 however1 when such works were exhausted--already stored away1 that is to say1 on the shelves of collectors1 the few that occasionally appeared on the market being only to be had at prohibitive prices4 ,book-buyers were thus faced with the problem of what was to be their next move4 ,obviously to create a new taste in books and establish a fresh motive for collecting was a necessity1 and a few pioneers decided to set the fashion in illustrated books of the nineteenth century4 ,lon ,conquet1 whose reputation as a publisher is associated with the production of many fine works1 at once rose to the occasion1 and made a name first with his editions of the romantics of the nineteenth century1 and then with original editions of contemporary authors4 ,clients for whom the old tastes had become too rare and costly an indulgence were thus provided with the means of gratifying a new enthusiasm4 ,illustration3 #ce4 ,,bound ,,by ,l,,on ,,gruel4 ,illustration3 #cf4 ,,bound ,,by ,l,,on ,,gruel4 ,in #ahgd an association sprang up of about fifty-five collectors who called themselves #8,les amis des livres1' from which sprang the new departure which has had far-reaching results in book production4 ,the members determined that henceforth1 instead of reprints from the past1 there should be books specially illustrated and specially produced in small editions for the society1 thus reviving the traditions of the days of ,grolier and ,de ,thou1 when book collectors were also book makers in the best sense of the word4 ,authors and artists were to collaborate with printers and publishers to produce the perfect work4 ,in this way came into existence ,eugnie ,grandet with the drawings of ,dagnan engraved by ,le ,rat1 ,monsieur1 ,madame et ,bb1 illustrated by ,edmond ,morin and many another1 to which ,meissonier1 ,vierge and ,lepre devoted their best efforts4 ,illustrated books have always presented a special attraction for our neighbours1 and this new stimulus gave the most surprising results4 ,out of it arose1 too1 all the excessive preoccupation with #8states1' #8papier de chine1' #8papier de japon1' and the like which has been carried to a ridiculous extent4 ,the cult of rarity in all such matters surely reached its highest point when single copies were specially illustrated for individual collectors1 such as the ,fleurs du ,mal1 which ,paul ,gallimond had ornamented with marginal notes by ,rodin1 and ,les ,trois ,mousquetaires with water-colour sketches by ,maurice ,leloir4 ,the original drawings for ,notre ,dame de ,paris by ,luc ,olivier ,merson were bought for #bj1jjj francs in the open market1 while those for ,les ,trois ,mousquetaires and ,manon ,lescaut by ,maurice ,leloir fetched the extravagant price of #fj1jjj francs apiece4 ,these facts are interesting as showing how a small number of genuine book lovers and collectors can constitute a real power1 and so far control the character of the book market that they create a new taste which will be recorded in history as the fashion of the age in which they lived4 ,the success of the #8,socit des amis des livres' and the response of the editors such as ,conquet1 ,quantin1 ,testaud1 and others1 to their initiation1 gave such encouragement to amateurs that two new clubs were soon formed1 #8,les amis des livres de ,lyon' and #8,les bibliophiles contemporains4' ,the last was founded by ,octave ,uzanne with a membership of #afj1 and ceased to exist only to be re-established as the #8,socit des cent bibliophiles1' presided over by ,m4 ,eugne ,roderigues4 ,besides all these associations there grew up a class of literature entirely devoted to the instruction of the amateur and the development of his taste in all matters relating to books and their bindings4 ,the earlier literature of binding had been devoted to reproductions of fine specimens from historic collections1 but now there appeared in profusion such books as ,l'art d'aimer les livres et de les connatre1 ,connaissances ncessaires un bibliophile1 ,les livres modernes qu'il convient d'acqurir1 ,de la reliure1 examples imiter ou rejeter1 not to mention monthly reviews such as ,le ,livre ,moderne1 ,l',art et l',ide1 ,le ,livre et l',image1 and the like4 ,grolier took the best books he could find1 and put them into the best bindings he could find1 and the motto of the collectors of to-day was henceforth to be1 as ,m4 ,braldi says in the work previously mentioned1 #8le livre de son temps dans la reliure originale de son temps4' ,thus out of the new bibliomania grew naturally the reaction in binding with which we are now dealing1 and the latest expression of which was seen in the ,galliera ,museum4 ,these books of fine illustrations must have an appropriate decoration2 nothing will do that has served its turn elsewhere1 and every amateur stipulates that his binding shall be unique4 #8,doublures1' formerly the exception1 are now the rule2 #8tools' are cut freely for fresh designs1 and expense increases with the initiative demanded of the binder1 till there seems no limit to what will be paid by the enthusiast4 ,with the craving for novelty there naturally arises the problem1 so difficult of solution1 concerning the limitations of material and how far audacity may be risked in decoration without extravagance or eccentricity4 ,cuzin1 at the height of his reputation in #ahhe1 was possibly the first to leave the grooves of tradition and to create a style that he considered appropriate to the books of the time4 ,it consisted for the most part on the outer covers of what the ,french call jeu de filets1 or line patterns which are capable of much diversity1 while wreaths of flowers inside took the place of the lace patterns that had hitherto formed the ornament of #8doublures4' ,he also adopted emblematic designs1 but these were exceedingly moderate in their symbolism4 ,marius ,michel1 too1 devoted himself to the research for fresh motives of decoration4 ,in #ahhi1 when eighteen years of age1 he had gone into ,gruel's atelier and rapidly became a gilder of consummate taste and skill4 ,ten years later he set up for himself as a finisher1 working for ,duru1 ,cap1 ,chambolle1 ,cuzin and other binders4 ,for the next twenty years or more his fine talent was devoted to the reproduction of bindings of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries1 to perfect copies of ,grolier1 ,le ,gascon and others put upon the books of that time1 which were still to be bought freely and at moderate price4 ,some of his best work is to be seen now in the library at ,chantilly2 for the late ,duc d',aumale during his exile intrusted large numbers of books to ,cap1 always accompanied with detailed instructions1 and it is these which constitute a large part of the elder ,marius ,michel's title to fame4 ,illustration3 #cg4 ,,bound ,,by ,,mercier4 ,,ii ,in #ahff ,henri ,marius ,michel1 though only twenty years of age1 had taken an important position in the business1 maintaining the traditions of his father with equal zest and talent2 and ten years later the atelier became one for binding in all its branches1 a change which enabled ,henri to develop his instincts for originality1 the firstfruits of which were seen in the incised and modelled leather covers exhibited by him at ,l',union ,centrale des ,arts ,dcoratifs in #ahha4 ,but it was the days of the ,trautz mania2 and no collector would hear of any binder but ,trautz4 ,all the old books must be broken up to be recovered by him1 and even bindings by ,bozrian were destroyed to be replaced by those of ,trautz4 ,notwithstanding his enormous output1 the workshop was filled with books which he kept years without touching1 and prices continued to increase until the ,lacarelle sale in #ahhh1 when there were signs of a change4 ,in one auction-room there were #dbj ,trautz bindings1 in another #chj2 in the library of ,james de ,rothschild there were #bhjj items1 of which #adjj were in nineteenth-century binding1 a thousand of these latter being bound by ,trautz4 ,but time brings its revenges2 the place of ,trautz is possibly now as much below his deserts as it was then above1 while ,henri ,marius ,michel1 whose gifts of invention were long ignored as revolutionary1 is now at the height of his reputation4 ,m4 ,braldi calls him the finest binder since the ,renaissance1 and there are those who say that the idolatry of ,trautz has given place to another and no less extravagant form of hero worship4 ,unceasingly occupied with decoration1 he gave up the practice of gilding with his own hand1 but has continued to execute the ,cuir ,cisel1 which is one of the styles in which he first achieved success and in which he is undoubtedly past master4 ,another style that has been associated with his name since #ahhe is that known as le flore stylis1 in which flower motives are very slightly conventionalized1 but with a certain individuality that makes his work unmistakable1 notwithstanding the number of his imitators4 ,modern ,french designs of this type are not nearly enough conventionalized for our ,english taste1 where a frankly realistic treatment of natural growths has always been considered unsound4 ,illustration3 #ch4 ,,bound ,,by ,,mercier4 ,with the death of ,trautz and the rise of the new book-collecting had come the moment for a revolution in binding1 and ,henri ,marius ,michel was quickly followed by others4 ,he had1 in fact1 set the ball rolling1 and broken with the long-kept traditions of symmetry1 only to let loose a flood of eccentric work for which there was little to be said1 and which often had not even the saving grace of technique4 ,he at once became reactionary1 and there was a period during which he returned to repeated patterns1 simple line borders and the ordinary corner and centre ornaments1 rendered with faultless execution4 ,but ,marius might turn reactionary for a time2 the craze for l'art nouveau1 as it was termed1 was not to be lightly checked4 ,everything was now pressed into the service for the mere sake of novelty--leather1 wood-carving1 bronzes1 ivories1 enamels1 miniatures1 all found a place until a binding looked like any but what it should be1 namely1 a thing to be pleasant in the hand and intended to protect a book1 without needing protection for itself4 ,curiosity shops were ransacked for silks and satins as board-linings4 ,japan yielded its papers and its embossed leathers1 flowers of exotic growth lent strange forms to design1 and symbolism became rampant4 ,for a time1 indeed1 emblematic bindings were accepted as the note of the new style which was to mark the century1 and in the hands of the indifferent artist became a real terror4 ,there is obviously no such thing as #8new art'--there is simply art or there is not1 and there can be no real art without good craftsmanship4 ,under pretext of inventing a style that was to belong to the century1 all that was done was to perpetuate grotesqueness instead of originality and a burlesque of ideas in their application to binding4 ,meanwhile discussion as to the limitations of material naturally became faster and more furious1 while the literature on the subject grew apace4 ,in #ahif a controversy arose between ,gruel and ,michel1 the former being supported by ,bosquet1 a binder holding an important position in the library of ,messrs4 ,hachette and a frequent writer on his craft both in its historical and technical aspects4 ,we1 for whom the artistic crafts occupy a very subordinate position1 can hardly imagine the heat of discussion that rages round a subject like this in ,france4 ,the combatants at once range themselves on opposite sides1 and the weapons used are all the resources of a language pre-eminently suited to satire and ridicule1 but which somehow seem an armoury out of place on so restricted a battlefield4 ,the ,frenchman1 however1 is never so happy himself1 nor1 may we say1 so entertaining to his neighbours1 as when his tongue and his pen are giving effect to the ready wit that seems always at his service4 ,illustration3 #ci4 ,,bound ,,by ,,mercier4 ,m4 ,gruel1 whose efforts were directed towards stemming the tide of eccentricity associated with l'art nouveau1 pointed out the impossibility that a new style should spring up on demand1 and recommended a return to the study of past models and a gradual transformation of these into fresh departures4 ,m4 ,michel replied that a firm break with tradition was necessary in order to avoid the constant repetition of the past and the mixture of styles which had long been the only resource of the ineffective designer4 ,it was necessary1 he said1 either to return to nature or to seek inspiration from other arts besides binding4 ,so the excitement grew1 aided that same year by an exhibition in the ,champ de ,mars in which bindings from the school of ,nancy1 under the direction of ,wiener1 achieved a notoriety which only fanned the flame4 ,these bindings soon got the nickname of reliures d'affiche1 and painting was the art from which they derived their inspiration4 ,the book was now looked on as a canvas on which to depict in different-coloured moroccos various scenes from life or nature4 ,in some cases the composition was not even contained on one panel1 but strayed over the back to finish on the under cover4 ,the symbolist school with its picture binding has had a considerable vogue1 though not in the extreme of violent reproduction of the ,nancy school4 ,michel was himself influenced by it1 and both he and ,meunier were represented in this same exhibition with subjects in relief and allegorical representations in mosaic4 ,the next development was the sculpture binding1 which ,michel distinctly furthered by suggesting to ,lepre that he should model a cover for the solitary copy on ,japan paper of ,paysages ,parisiens1 which he had not only illustrated1 but the drawings for which he had also engraved on wood and on copper4 ,since that time the modelled leather work of ,lepre has taken a permanent place among book covers of the day2 it is masterly in conception and execution1 but would be as fine and more appropriate in a panel framed on a wall than on a binding4 ,the art of the leather worker is one1 whether applied to the coffer1 the blotter1 or the book--it is but the shape and the purpose that defines the appropriateness or inappropriateness of any particular treatment4 ,marius and ,lepre represent the highest point attained by le cuir incis4 ,artists of their attainments are rare1 and it is only such artists who can be tolerated in deviations from the normal and whose inventions can in any sense be held to justify the result4 ,most collectors content themselves with a specimen or two in their libraries of the sculptured or symbolic or bejewelled binding1 be it ever so curious1 and turn with satisfaction to the more ordered ways of some modification or another of past traditions4 ,illustration3 #dj4 ,,bound ,,by ,,mercier4 ,illustration3 #da4 ,,bound ,,by ,,mercier4 ,to turn now from this brief account of the recent developments of ,french binding to the ,galliera exhibition4 ,the books shown by ,m4 ,lon ,gruel1 whom his son ,paul now most ably seconds1 were1 as may be supposed1 of the highest importance4 ,the house is one of the oldest in ,paris1 having been established in #ahaa by ,deforge1 by whom ,m4 ,gruel's father was employed4 ,m4 ,lon ,gruel is an enthusiast who has all the antiquarian as well as the practical knowledge of binding at his fingers' ends4 ,he has a fine collection of old bindings and all sorts of documents relating to them1 and some of these he used for his important publication in #ahhg1 ,manuel historique et bibliographique de l'amateur de reliures1 a second instalment of which appeared in #aijd4 ,the characteristic of the business has always been the production of fine editions of liturgies and books of a devotional character1 which made it famous long ago1 and the bindings of which have always been specially designed and carried out under the direction of ,m4 ,gruel4 ,it would have been natural enough had he been content with the great commercial success attained by the house1 due to the industry and business qualities of the direction of successive members of his family4 ,but instead of that1 it has been his ambition to show that he could with equal success follow every turn taken by the art in the various directions that its recent evolution has demanded4 ,the styles associated with the names of ,grolier1 the ,eves1 and le ,gascon1 are reproduced for those clients who demand them1 while the more modern mosaic work1 blind-tooled or with gold1 is invented and executed with equal facility4 ,one style revived from the past1 that of le cuir incis1 he has made especially his own1 and he treats it in an entirely different manner to that of ,marius4 ,the difference in procedure is briefly this3 the incised leather of ,marius is not one with the binding1 but is a thick piece of calf1 worked first by cutting and modelling1 and then introduced as a panel sunk into the cover4 ,in ,gruel's method the cover is the unit on which the design is modelled while damp1 then coloured1 and finally hardened4 ,to succeed in this technique needs great delicacy of handling and a constant practice in its methods4 ,it gives plenty of scope for emblematic treatment1 which1 in the hands of ,rossigneux1 who designed much of this work in former days for ,gruel1 was of great artistic merit3 at the present time it is executed mainly by a son of ,m4 ,bosquet1 already spoken of as an important writer on the critical and technical aspects of what is also his own craft4 ,rossigneux was an architect and designer of surprising talent1 who did not hesitate to learn the technicalities of binding that he might devote himself to the decoration of book covers1 not only in leather but in carved wood1 for which he was especially famous4 ,m4 ,lon ,gruel is the master of a large workshop to which his men are proud to belong4 ,as ,president of the ,chambre ,syndicate he has rendered important services1 freely acknowledged1 in an insistence on sound teaching and a wise encouragement of the coming generation of binders4 ,the variety of his achievement is a constant surprise even to those who know his versatility1 for at each successive exhibition he seems able to add fresh laurels to those which have always surrounded the name of his house4 ,illustration3 #db4 ,,bound ,,by ,,ruban4 mile ,mercier has the reputation of being the finest gilder in ,paris--l'artiste impeccable1 as his fellows call him--and he is perhaps the one man in whom they and the public recognize the chief exponent of the best traditions without being in any sense a servile imitator of the past4 ,his individuality is a sympathetic one to all1 and even in that little world of keen opposition and personal jealousy he cannot count a single enemy4 ,he took over the atelier of ,cuzin in #ahij1 at the age of thirty-six1 on the death of his chief1 with whom his relations had long been of the happiest kind1 and for whose clients he had executed all the fine designs associated with the name of ,cuzin4 ,there is an immense difference in the mere technique of #8tooling1' or gilding as it is always called abroad--a difference almost impossible to put into words1 but which is none the less visible to the eye for such distinctions4 ,no ,french gilding could possibly be mistaken for ,english1 and the reverse is also true4 ,but even among ,french gilders1 where the method prevails of laborious and patient but absolutely certain reworking of the tools in impressions previously made1 ,mercier stands out as pre-eminent4 ,his work has a vigour and sureness of handling1 his gilding a brilliancy and solidity as well as elegance of appearance that are beyond criticism4 ,though he himself works as hard as ever1 he has already brought up in his workshop several young finishers of great merit1 among whom ,mayloender is mentioned as already of fine performance as well as of future promise4 ,content to quietly excel1 ,mercier has raised no opposition by any manifesto1 and his position of first rank is accepted by all without hesitation as to its justice4 ,ptrus ,ruban1 born at ,villefranche in #ahea1 seemed for some time undecided as to whether he should join the ranks of the traditional or the revolutionary binders4 ,he was at first obviously inspired by the newer decorative attempts of ,henri ,marius ,michel1 but has recently left the circle of innovators for the more restricted ranks of the relieurs-doreurs1 of whom ,mercier is the head4 ,nevertheless ,m4 ,ruban's power of invention has enabled him to produce some remarkably fine #8blind-tooled' mosaics1 in which striking effects of colour have been managed without a sacrifice of taste4 ,the finish of his craftsmanship is undoubted3 no one has finer mastery over tools and leather1 and a faultless treatment of exquisite material distinguishes everything he turns out4 ,it may seem as if too much stress is laid upon this perfection of execution which characterises ,french work in a way that is unknown to our craftsmen4 ,and it is true that it too often proves a snare1 giving an occasion for making difficulties merely to show how they can be triumphed over4 ,but1 on the other hand1 it is a matter in which we in ,england are all too negligent4 ,the insistence of late on the comparative unimportance of technique in relation to originality of invention has been disastrous1 and the ,arts and ,crafts ,society has1 if we may venture to say so1 given far too much encouragement to that point of view4 ,there have been bindings shown there which were defective in the very elements of sound #8forwarding'--in the finish that comes of an effective corps d'ouvrage1 and that should never have been admitted into an exhibition supposed to be especially selective4 ,it may be truly said that nothing is a work of art unless it attains to a fairly perfect technique1 even though the decorative conception may be of considerable value4 ,illustration3 #dc4 ,,bound ,,by ,,ruban4 ,illustration3 #dd4 ,,bound ,,by ,,ruban4 ,charles ,meunier1 born in #ahff1 served a short but energetic apprenticeship to ,marius ,michel1 and then at the age of twenty decided to start for himself4 ,keen to succeed and make a place among the foremost binders of ,paris1 he worked with a restless and unceasing effort that might well have proved disastrous to his career4 ,the increasing costliness of whole-binding due to the demands for originality made by amateurs had given an impetus to half-binding which ,meunier was not slow to avail himself of4 ,he at once set about supplying the demand1 executing some five or six hundred1 each with a different emblematic design upon the back4 ,it was the moment when1 as has been shown1 the symbolist movement was at its height1 and the young binder naturally echoed the note of the day4 ,it was the same with the cuir cisel1 in which he quickly attained great skill1 doing forty copies alone1 with as many different designs of ,l'histoire des quatre fils d',aymon1 a book illustrated by ,eugne ,grasset1 which proved a failure commercially until ,marius floated it by means of his fine bindings with motives taken from the illustrations themselves4 ,meunier has now almost attained the position he coveted4 ,his style has become chastened in accordance with the increasing distaste of eccentricity1 and he gives greater care to the details of execution1 which1 according to ,french standards1 left something to be desired in the early days of his rather too exuberant fancy4 ,last year he held a special exhibition in ,new ,york1 showing some seventy specimens in which his decorative skill was extensively represented4 ,his taste in colour may seem somewhat crude and his motives bizarre1 but of the mastery over his materials there is no doubt4 ,his snare is that he is a decorator before anything else1 and not always sufficiently restrained1 or mindful of the best traditions of decoration in its particular application to binding4 ,illustration3 #de4 ,,bound ,,by ,,carayon4 ,the reputation of ,m4 ,carayon is based upon le cartonnage1 or #8casing' as we call it1 and which is with us an inferior form of binding mainly confined to publishers' editions4 ,in this work the cases or covers1 whether of cloth or leather1 are made separately and the book held to them by the very slight attachment of pasting down the endpapers1 instead of the slips on which the book is sewn being laced into the boards and then being subsequently covered with the material selected4 ,but in ,france cartonnage la ,bradel has become a fine art mainly through the instrumentality of ,m4 ,carayon4 ,supposed to be of ,german origin1 it takes its name from the binder who first used it in ,france1 where for some time it was considered as a temporary binding for books of value which in this way were left uncut at the edges and handled as little as possible4 ,m4 ,carayon1 born in #ahdj1 started life as a soldier1 soon giving up that career to become a decorative painter2 but his love of books and all that concerns them finally decided his occupation4 ,type of the true art worker1 he is to be found all day long in his atelier1 though sadly crippled with rheumatism1 devising some new application of le genre ,bradel4 ,all materials come alike to him2 morocco1 calf1 vellum1 brocade1 velvet1 even simple paper1 produce in his hands the most exquisite results4 ,amateurs confide to his charge their most costly possessions1 and the first artists of the day1 such as ,robaudi1 ,henriot and ,louis ,morin1 decorate his vellum work with pen-and-ink and water-colour drawings4 ,if one wants1 indeed1 to realize that the beauty of a binding does not lie in tooling1 or indeed in any kind of ornament1 one need only handle the little paper-covered books turned out by ,carayon for a few francs4 ,at the same time neither inlaying nor gilding has any secrets from him1 and he devises the modelled1 leather work executed for him by ,rudeaux with the delicacy and sureness of taste that distinguish all he undertakes4 ,illustration3 #df4 ,,bound ,,by ,,carayon4 ,illustration3 #dg4 ,,bound ,,by ,,carayon4 ,chambolle most worthily continues the traditions associated with the name of his father4 ,as an interpreter of the past he has a place apart and almost untouched by the main revolutionary movement that has penetrated nearly every atelier in ,paris1 and modified1 if not overturned1 its inherited traditions4 ,to him are confided the classics of former times1 which he clothes in the styles appropriate to them1 keeping to a simplicity of ornamentation which reveals great taste and feeling for composition4 ,wisely enough1 he rarely goes outside his own domain1 where1 in these days of reckless pursuit of novelty1 he remains almost supreme4 ,canape is a young binder of increasing reputation4 ,at present he seems to specialize in what is called la gaufrure froid1 in which different-coloured moroccos are tooled without gold--a style which has been much in favour of late years1 and in which ,marius ,michel was the first to effect great triumphs4 ,his career has been watched with much interest for the last few years1 and he is thought to be steadily taking place in the first rank4 ,kieffer1 too1 is a binder whose work has a distinctly personal touch1 and whose bindings have an individuality of their own4 ,the reproductions shown testify to a certain largeness of conception in design1 which1 though somewhat mannered1 has distinct value4 ,m4 ,pierre ,roche has struck a new note in what he calls la reliure glomise4 ,it is work done on something of the same lines as that attempted by ,mr4 ,cedric ,chivers of ,bath4 ,he uses a transparent vellum which covers and protects the decoration1 which thus appears1 to use his own words1 as if behind a veil4 #8,c'est l'esprit du livre qui vient du dedans en dehors apparatre au travers des matires solides qui le protgent4' ,a sculptor of great talent1 this has been merely a recreation to him4 ,he has done but a small number of books for a few distinguished clients1 and1 notwithstanding their success1 has1 like a true artist1 refused to be drawn into manufacturing them1 feeling it doubtful whether it is a style that should be popularized to any great extent1 or rather remain as an occasional variation of the more accredited ways of book-cover decoration4 ,illustration3 #dh4 ,,bound ,,by ,,chambolle4 ,we have perhaps said enough to indicate the variety of the work shown at the ,galliera ,museum1 its high attainment in the field of design1 and its still higher achievement in the matter of craftsmanship4 ,one impression remains very clearly1 that there were two distinct classes of exhibitors1 the professional binder1 so to speak1 and the artist intent on producing decorative material for bindings4 ,the first looks at a book as a thing to bind and handle1 and is restrained in his methods by the use and purpose to which it is to be put4 ,the second considers it as a surface to decorate1 by means of painting or the aid of any other of the arts4 ,the modelled work of ,lepre1 above alluded to1 is an instance of this2 so also is that of ,mdme4 ,vallgren1 which likewise consist of panels that are let into bindings prepared for that purpose by ,marius and others4 ,admirable in their way1 they would be equally effective as decorative objects framed upon a wall1 and can but be considered a fantasy in connexion with books4 ,bibliomania in ,france is responsible for much that is disastrously eccentric and decadent4 ,it is a form of vanity in which collectors vie with each other1 and involves an expenditure not only on books but on bindings that would now seem to have reached the limit of extravagance4 ,but such eccentricity is less than it was1 and need no longer fill the eye to the exclusion of what is really finely conceived as well as exquisitely executed4 ,if ,paris still produces too many bindings of the bizarre and overdecorated kind1 we can still go to her for the masterpieces of simplicity and for flawlessness of material faultlessly treated4 ,some day even the best binders may cease to support l'art nouveau by the force of their skill and energy1 but will rather confine themselves1 as in the past1 to the simple dignity that distinguished bindings in the best periods1 and to the accomplishment of that fine restraint which must always be the high-water mark of bookbinding as a fine art4 ,,edition ,,binding#f ,of late years1 with that revival of craftsmanship1 according to the gospel of ,ruskin and ,william ,morris1 already dwelt upon1 there has been a rush into all the departments of manual dexterity needing for successful achievement the guidance of artistic feeling4 ,the result of this has been that there is a tendency to exaggerate the importance of the ornamental and the decorated1 to the exclusion of not only simplicity but1 let us say frankly1 of plainness and the undecorated surface of flawless material4 ,the over-elaboration of the decorative arts must inevitably produce a reaction sooner or later1 very quickly for those who prefer restraint1 more slowly for the majority of the public1 to whom ornament is always synonymous with art4 ,for such as these fashion counts for much2 and it is in the hope that those who lead taste in the matter of edition bindings may find a scope for their enterprise on somewhat new lines that ,i ask consideration for this chapter4 ,illustration3 #di4 ,,bound ,,by ,,chambolle4 ,illustration3 #ej4 ,,bound ,,by ,,chambolle4 ,after all1 the costly bindings achieved for wealthy amateurs must always constitute but a small portion of the output of bound work4 ,there will remain the cloth or leather-covered book in greater or smaller editions1 for which covers are made in quantities by machinery1 separately from the book1 and for decorating which metal dies are cut and stamped by means of an embossing press1 either with or without the addition of colours or gold leaf4 ,it is of this class of work that ,i propose to treat1 giving first a brief account of the stages through which it has passed in modern times1 then showing how it was dealt with1 though on a much smaller scale1 in the early days of printing1 and finally offering some suggestions for its more varied and1 as ,i think1 more artistic treatment in the future4 ,this treatment would necessitate the employment of leather2 but there is no reason why the less expensive kinds of skins should not be used1 not perhaps for books issued in large numbers1 but for small editions where a little extra outlay could be easily recovered on the published price of the work4 ,roans made from the best sheepskins1 which are the hides of ,scotch sheep1 would not be a costly material1 and would give good results in the embossing press4 ,pigskin is a very suitable material for the better class of bindings on which stamps are to be used1 and is both strong and comparatively inexpensive1 considering the size of the skins4 ,vellum1 again1 might be occasionally used for small editions2 it blocks well1 and is most effective with but little ornament4 ,at one time much in demand for bindings1 it ceased for many years to be used at all in ,england1 except in account-book manufacture1 when it was generally stained green4 ,it has lately come into fashion again1 chiefly for limp work1 through the initiative of ,william ,morris1 who introduced it on most of the works issued by him from the ,kelmscott ,press2 and both the ,doves ,press and the ,ashendene ,press have continued to employ it4 ,to observe its suitability for blocking1 either when used limp or on boards1 we have only to turn to the coats-of-arms which frequently decorated it on the books of the great collectors of past times4 ,there was a very fine specimen of vellum1 ornamented in black1 shown at the ,burlington ,fine ,arts ,exhibition in #ahia4 ,but before considering in detail how edition bindings were treated in the days when1 comparatively speaking1 books were few in number1 we will get some idea of their treatment in more recent times1 starting with the last century4 ,illustration3 #ea4 ,,bound ,,by ,,canape4 ,up to1 roughly speaking1 about #ahbe1 books of the type of dictionaries1 classics1 school books1 and books of reference were mostly bound in roan or sprinkled sheep2 while books of history1 poetry1 and novels were issued in drab or olive-coloured paper boards1 with a printed label pasted on the back1 or the full title printed on the back and sides1 as in the case of ,walker's ,british ,classics 7#ahah74 ,it was very rarely that anything but a dull colour was used1 though ,whittingham's ,british ,poets 7#ahaf7 had a dark ,venetian red paper1 and the class of literature known in those days as gift-books or annuals occasionally appeared in vellum-coloured paper1 stamped with gold4 ,the more valuable of these1 however1 filled with choice steel engravings and prepared for the ,christmas market1 were bound in morocco and silk1 and issued under such titles as ,the ,keepsake1 ,the ,bijou1 ,friendship's ,offering1 ,the ,book of ,beauty1 ,the ,landscape ,annual1 and so on4 ,such books commanded a large sale1 even in those days2 and a writer on the subject1 in the first volume of ,the ,bookbinder1 mentions ,finden's ,tableaux1 two thousand imperial quarto volumes1 full bound in best morocco1 gilt4 ,the paper-covered boards1 which clothed the larger number of the books of that time1 had a way of cracking at the hinge1 and so becoming disconnected1 a difficulty which was got over about #ahbb by covering the back with calico or cloth4 ,as an illustration of this step we may take ,scott's ,waverley ,novels4 ,the ,novels and ,tales1 in twelve volumes1 appeared in #ahai in pink paper1 with white labels2 the ,historical ,romances1 in six volumes1 followed in #ahbb1 in blue paper1 with pink cloth back and white paper labels2 and ,novels and ,romances in #ahbd in the same fashion4 ,the next step was that of covering books entirely with cloth1 introduced by ,mr4 ,archibald ,leighton1 one of the most enterprising and successful of modern binders1 whose business capacity and energy secured for him the patronage of the chief publishers of the day4 ,he bound for ,murray1 ,pickering1 ,colbourn1 ,tilt1 ,charles ,knight1 ,moon1 ,boys1 ,graves1 and many others1 and died prematurely in #ahda1 leaving to his family a well-established business which1 under a somewhat varying character1 has remained in their hands up to the present time4 ,in the ,bookseller of ,july #d1 #ahha1 there is an interesting account1 by ,mr4 ,robert ,leighton1 of the invention of bookbinders' cloth by his father1 and of how the subsequent embossing of it came about4 ,the exact date of cloth binding he is not able to state1 but says that he has in his library a volume1 presented to his father by the author1 bound in smooth1 red cloth1 with a paper label4 ,the publishers' names are ,lackington1 ,hughes1 ,harding and ,lepard1 and the date on the title-page is #ahbb4 ,there is every reason to believe that it is one of a number similarly bound in that year4 ,in those days the white calico was bought in ,london1 sent to the dyers to be dyed1 and thence to ,mr4 ,john ,southgate1 of #c ,crown ,court1 ,old ,change1 to be stiffened and calendered4 ,the embossing of bookbinders' cloth was suggested by ,mr4 ,archibald ,leighton to the late ,mr4 de la ,rue1 and was carried out so admirably by him1 with the appliances he possessed for embossing paper1 that his process remains still comparatively unaltered4 ,the desired pattern was engraved on a gun-metal cylinder1 and transferred in reverse to one made of compressed paper1 strung upon an iron spindle and turned in the lathe to the exact circumference of the gun-metal one1 and these two being worked together in a machine1 and the pattern transferred from one to the other1 the cloth was passed between them and received the impress of the pattern engraved on the metal cylinder4 ,illustration3 #eb4 ,,bound ,,by ,,canape4 ,in this way the whole of the cloth used by ,messrs4 ,leighton was for many years embossed upon their own premises4 ,the cylinders were only fourteen or fifteen inches wide1 and the machine was turned by manual labour and heated by red-hot irons1 which were placed in the gun-metal cylinder and replaced by others when cold4 ,in those days it was customary to engrave special cylinders for books of importance1 and you may still occasionally meet with stray volumes of ,the ,penny ,cyclopdia or ,knight's ,pictorial ,england1 and such like popular works1 with embossed cloth covers so prepared4 ,mr4 ,pickering was the first person for whom ,mr4 ,leighton bound books in cloth1 and either his #8,aldine ,poets' or the #8,diamond ,classics' were the first books on which it was put4 ,the first person to undertake the embossing of bookbinders' cloth on cylinders a yard wide was ,mr4 ,law1 of ,monkwell ,street1 and for years he embossed all the cloth sold by ,mr4 ,james ,leonard ,wilson1 of ,st4 ,john ,street1 who had followed ,mr4 ,leighton's methods in the preparation and sale of the cloth4 ,mr4 ,wilson sold his business to ,messrs4 ,duffield1 who established a manufactory of bookbinders' cloth at ,hoxton1 and so improved it that for years he held practically a monopoly of its output4 ,the exact period when gold-stamping was first applied to cloth is clearly marked by the publication of ,lord ,byron's life and works1 in seventeen volumes1 by ,mr4 ,john ,murray1 of ,albemarle ,street4 ,the volumes were published monthly1 and had a sale of about #bj1jjj4 ,they were bound in green cloth1 and the first volume was issued in #ahcb1 with a green paper label on the back1 matching the cloth in colour1 on which was printed in bronze the title and a coronet2 on the second and succeeding volumes the paper label was dispensed with1 and the coronet and title were stamped in gold upon the cloth itself4 ,mr4 ,henry ,george ,bohn1 in a letter addressed to the ,art ,journal1 says that his father1 ,john ,henry ,bohn1 a ,german bookbinder1 established about #agie in ,frith ,street1 ,soho1 had a special reputation for gilding on the silk linings of books1 as well as calf-graining1 tree-marbling1 and other special processes1 all of which he himself made acquaintance with when a boy4 #8,in later life1' he continues1 #8the knowledge of the peculiar dressing used for gilding on silk enabled me to communicate to ,mr4 ,leighton the means of getting cloth prepared so as to take gilding by heated machinery at the rolling or stamping press1 which a leading trade firm said was impracticable4 ,the process1 however1 after a few weeks' experiments conducted by the late ,mr4 ,james ,leonard ,wilson1 was successfully accomplished2 and ,mr4 ,leighton thereupon wrote to me triumphantly announcing the fact1 and undertaking in consequence to bind in gilt cloth several thousand volumes at half the price ,i should previously have had to pay1 on account of the necessity of having to add leather backs for taking the gold by hand tooling4 ,the book was ,martin and ,westall's ,bible ,points1 which ,i brought out in #ahcb4 ,what to me at the time seemed an accomplishment of little moment has now become of such importance to cloth binders that1 could the discovery have been patented1 it would have yielded a considerable income4' ,illustration3 #ec4 ,,bound ,,by ,,canape4 ,this ,mr4 ,robert ,leighton1 who thus wrote of his father's invention1 was himself the pioneer in the use of steam machinery in bookbinding1 and he adopted in his own business nearly all the machinery which has since become indispensable to the wholesale binder4 ,he was also the first to use steam power for blocking in gold2 the first to use aluminium1 and black and coloured inks for cloth cases1 examples of which he showed in the exhibition of #ahea4 ,he had a great reputation for the designs of his cloth bindings1 which he devised in conjunction with his artist cousin1 ,john ,leighton1 known as ,luke ,limner1 a good instance being the pleasant and appropriate covers for ,mrs4 ,jameson's ,legends of the ,madonna and ,legends of the ,monastic ,orders4 ,the two ,leightons1 father and son1 thus inaugurated and furthered the great revolution in the art of edition binding associated with the employment for the purpose of specially prepared cloth1 and its decoration by means of steam-blocking in gold and colours4 ,it was natural that such an invention should lead to abuse2 and in a short time1 unfortunately1 there was so much gilt ornament that a strong reaction took place1 and1 while cloth as a material for the cover continued to be used1 it was either left plain or had a single bordering line in gold1 with or without the title likewise in gold upon the sides4 ,more recently colour printing upon cloth has been revived with excellent results in many cases1 especially where an artist who understands the power and limitations of the blocking process has been employed upon the designs4 ,many of these are entirely without gold1 and give representations of scenes taken from the books with excellent impressionist effect4 ,one may mention as instances in ,england the novels published by ,messrs4 ,hodder and ,stoughton1 such as ,in ,our ,town1 ,her ,majesty's ,minister1 ,mrs4 ,wiggs of the ,cabbage ,patch1 ,the ,hebrew1 and many others of the same firm1 one of whose members gives special attention to the successful production of cloth covers4 ,the bindings of books issued by ,mr4 ,john ,lane are also frequently very successful1 though it is not so easy to keep in touch with the output of ,american work on similar lines4 ,messrs4 ,puttenham have produced some excellent examples of taste in colour printing1 notably ,the ,romance of the ,colorado ,river1 ,puerto ,rican1 ,lights of ,childhood1 and ,the ,romance of the ,renaissance ,chateaux1 in which the castle of ,langeais is shown in black on a grey cloth4 ,the same house publish likewise one or two books bound in plain cloth1 with a photographic print on the cover1 which seemed a pleasant variation not in use over here2 while ,twenty-,six ,historic ,ships1 also issued by them1 is a most satisfactory example of blocking with white foil on a blue ground4 ,at ,messrs4 ,appleton's are to be found several specimens of bookbinders' cloth which do not come over here at all4 ,we have but little variety in the nature and preparation of our cloth2 while in ,america it is treated in many different ways1 which naturally give very varied results in the blocking-press4 ,messrs4 ,gay and ,bird issue some effective colour printing on ,in ,south ,africa with ,buller1 and an attractive example of a loch and mountain scene in four sombre colours on ,the ,story of ,gsta ,berling4 ,there is little doubt that the most artistic effects are got by using very few colours in harmony rather than in contrast with the cloth4 ,gold is much more sparingly used for cloth work than formerly1 and with far better taste4 ,paris in its ,splendour1 published by the last-named firm1 is an interesting example of the different effects that can be obtained from the gold by varieties of matted ground in the block2 while in ,walden1 issued by ,messrs4 ,houghton and ,mifflin1 the cloth of the cover represents the design1 the gold being confined to suggesting the background1 with a decidedly original result4 ,this1 then1 is the position of cloth binding at the present time as shown by the leading publishers' work4 ,the technical processes are probably as perfect as such things can be1 the drawings are frequently the work of artists1 there is far more restraint than formerly both in the matter of design and the employment of colour1 while the taste in colour schemes is often as good as possible1 and a great advance on that shown a decade or two ago4 ,we do not think that in that special branch of edition bindings there is any great advance to be made or novelty to be assumed1 though no doubt we may expect a wider diffusion of the taste that we have noted in the best work and an increasingly small number of book covers inferior in design1 colour1 and general effect4 ,in what direction1 then1 can we hope for any new departure8 ,in order to answer the question1 and complete the scope of this chapter1 it is necessary to spend a short time in studying the bindings in which books were clothed when they were less numerous1 and during a period when they reached what many think the high-water mark of successful decoration4 ,illustration3 #ed4 ,,bound ,,by ,,canape4 ,illustration3 #ee4 ,,bound ,,by ,,canape4 ,the work of the early printers was issued in trade bindings just as publishers' work is now sent out1 but in those days stationers combined the craft of binding with the business of bookselling4 ,the earliest of all were decorated by building up designs from dies1 these being arranged in pattern schemes which ,mr4 ,w4 ,h4 ,james ,weale was the first to analyze and set forth in the catalogue of the fine collection of rubbings of bindings which he presented to the ,national ,art ,library of ,south ,kensington in #ahid4 ,these schemes were taken from the covers of manuscripts from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries1 but the same kind of arrangement1 though not so elaborate1 may be seen on the earliest printed books2 also witness the illustrations to the monographs on early ,oxford and ,cambridge bindings issued by the ,bibliographical ,society4 ,small books were stamped with a panel on the sides1 and these often had the initials or mark of the binder1 which have led in many instances to the ascription of particular bindings to the stationers who issued them1 though a still greater number still remain to be identified4 ,the blocks were generally small1 and were used sometimes one on each side between a bordering of roughly drawn lines2 sometimes two together were placed upon one side1 and connected with lines or some simple device2 and occasionally on large books four panels were arranged in rows of two4 ,the material of the binding was ass's-skin1 pigskin1 calfskin1--though not the fragile kind now associated with the name--and vellum1 but chiefly the three first4 ,the stamps or blocks used were cut in intaglio1 either on hard wood or on metal1 producing the impression in cameo2 the design was often both strong and delicate in treatment1 the impression after all these years showing great artistic vigour and inventiveness4 ,indeed1 nothing can be more excellent than the dragons1 gryphons1 and other mythical animals in the pear-shaped1 triangular1 circular1 or square dies arranged within the pattern schemes of the very early bindings4 ,it is known exactly how these stamps were used upon the bindings2 it is probable that1 when panel stamps were used1 the leather was thoroughly wetted and the book then placed in a screw press1 under a block of wood or metal1 for the length of time needed to obtain a clear impression4 ,in ,marques ,typographiques by ,silvestre1 there is a printers' mark1 used by ,petrus ,cesar ,gaudanus1 otherwise ,pierre de ,keyser1 of ,ghent1 between #aeaf and #aedg1 which represents a book undergoing pressure in a printers' press2 and ,josse ,bade1 likewise a stationer and printer of ,paris1 who died in #aece1 used a somewhat similar one4 ,though there is obviously a book in the press1 the picture may relate to a process not connected with binding2 but in any case it probably represents what must have been the procedure used in impressing the stamps4 ,these dies passed from one workshop to another1 and none of them are extant to my knowledge in ,england1 though the heraldic blocks used on books in the reigns of ,henry ,,vii4 and ,henry ,,viii4 were decidedly numerous and of great artistic merit4 ,in the ,netherlands these designs were the binders' property and protected as such1 but in ,england1 where the binders were not organized into separate guilds1 this was not the case1 and piracy was everywhere prevalent4 ,illustration3 #ef4 ,,bound ,,by ,,kieffer4 ,on many of the blocks there appear two indentations or holes about a quarter of an inch in diameter1 situated within the border at the top and bottom of the panel4 ,the precise purport of these is unknown1 and many plausible theories have been invented to account for them4 ,one such suggests that they were stop buttons to prevent the stamp from sinking too far into the leather1 but it is more probable that they indicate the heads of nails or pegs which fastened the carved block or metal stamp to another piece of wood4 ,sometimes the impressions made by them are almost imperceptible1 at others there has been an attempt at concealment by carrying the ornament across4 ,many of the subjects pictured on these stamps were of a religious character3 thus the ,baptism of ,christ1 ,saint ,john the ,baptist1 the ,crucifixion1 ,our ,lady of ,pity1 the ,ara ,cli1 and the different saints and apostles1 are all represented upon these early book covers4 ,for an account of them1 and for a general history of early stamped bindings1 which contains also a certain amount of illustration1 the interested reader cannot do better than procure the two volumes1 published at half a crown by the ,department of ,science and ,art1 at ,south ,kensington1 entitled ,bookbindings and ,rubbings of ,bindings in the ,national ,art ,library of ,south ,kensington ,museum1 by ,w4 ,h4 ,james ,weale4 ,this class of binding has given rise to much dispute of an archological kind1 with which1 happily1 we are not concerned at the moment4 ,whether the stamps were of wood or metal1 in what country they originated1 their authorship as indicated by initials incorporated in the design1 their provenance as apart from the country in which they were in use1 who was the inventor of the pattern roller1--all such questions we may leave aside1 the point of interest being the fact of the stamp and its astonishing variety of character1 for many styles were represented by it1 all1 with but few exceptions1 of great merit and suitability to their end4 ,for the present purpose1 and as far as ornament is concerned1 they may be classified somewhat as follows3-- #a4 ,small ,gothic dies with palmated leaves1 animals1 and so on1 combined in design according to certain fixed patterns1 such as those on the ,bible written and bound in the monastery at ,durham for ,hugh ,pudsey1 bishop of that diocese from #aaec to #aaie1 and other books in the same cathedral library4 #b4 ,interlaced ornament of several distinct types1 some ,celtic in character1 on the earliest books in leather that have come down to us1 executed in the north of ,england in the twelfth century1 others recalling the designs on ,roman mosaic pavement2 others1 again1 ,eastern in character4 ,perhaps the most beautiful interlaced patterns of all belong to the latter class1 and are the cablework designs found on ,italian books of the last half of the fifteenth century1 no doubt copied from ,arabian examples4 ,the ,spanish bindings of the first half of the sixteenth century have interlaced ornament of as fine a kind1 but often lacking in the comparative simplicity of the ,italian4 #c4 ,the ,gothic stamps of mythical animals1 enclosed in circles or scrollwork1 bordered with ,gothic foliage1 and frequently containing a legend4 ,these were mostly of ,german origin1 and were no doubt inspired by the work of ,albert ,drer and his contemporaries4 #d4 ,the heraldic panels decorated with royal badges1 used in ,england during the reigns of ,henry ,,vii4 and ,henry ,,viii4 #e4 ,the panel stamps of a purely decorative kind1 such as those with the religious subjects above mentioned2 others like the well-known two used by ,moulin1 of a miller with his sacks1 in punning allusion to his name2 and those in use by ,norins1 in which the acorn figures largely as an ornament4 #f4 ,lastly1 the panel stamps with two profile busts in medallion within a framework of ,renaissance ornament1 thoroughly debased in character1 and marking the complete decline of the binder's stamp4 ,i would sum up1 in conclusion1 the points ,i have desired to emphasize1 and which are as follows3-- ,that the flat blocking of cloth work in gold and colours by no means exhausts the treatment possible for edition or publishers' bindings4 ,it has undoubtedly been largely overdone1 for lavish ornament is distinctly out of place as applied to cheap material1 such as cloths and linens4 ,indeed1 as decoration for the ordinary novel of a few shillings nothing is in better taste than a single design carried out in two or three colour printings without gold1 such as some of those mentioned4 ,illustration3 #eg4 ,,bound ,,by ,,kieffer4 ,illustration3 #eh4 ,,bound ,,by ,,kieffer4 ,that there is room for a totally distinct class of bindings for small editions of more important publications1 which should be in leather and blocked with a stamp of fine design without gold1 which will give a raised impression4 ,for this purpose zincographic blocks are of no use1 but brass1 as a material which admits of modelling1 would be imperative4 ,that the designing of such stamps should be put in the hands of the few artists having a genius for the work1 which is quite special in character1 and belongs more to the art of the medallist than to that of the maker of patterns4 ,we in no way want their undue multiplication1 but would rather1 indeed1 that they should be reserved for a limited number of publications1 for which the subject-matter1 paper and type constitute together a whole1 worthy of a dignified cover that will stand the lapse of time4 ,in these days of book lovers and collectors of every sort1 it is certainly not unlikely that there are many who would welcome a new venture of this kind1 in which they would associate the binding with the book1 and have no desire to separate the one from the other4 ,in the little ,bibelot series1 ,messrs4 ,gay and ,bird have already made a slight attempt on the lines ,i am suggesting4 ,lastly1 we have tried to show that there is no dearth of material from which the designer of such work may glean the principles on which it should be based1 in order to secure satisfactory results4 ,apart from the bindings still extant1 which may be studied for the purpose1 such sources as the ,book of ,kells and ,early ,christian ,art in ,ireland1 by ,margaret ,stokes1 are full of illustrations in a field strangely little explored by the pattern maker of to-day4 ,while only a limited number of early examples have been instanced1 they are suggestive of what was done in edition binding in the past1 and may be done again in the future4 ,such a departure needs1 no doubt1 the initiative of a printer-publisher who does the best kind of work1 and in a field that commands the interested support of the genuine book lover4 ,surely1 however1 to find such an one ought not to be difficult with the widespread interest now shown in every detail of book production4 ----- ,footnote #a3 ,for the benefit of those who are interested in the technicality of what is known as #8tooling1' we will briefly describe in what it consists4 #8,finishing tools' are stamps of metal that have a pattern cut on the face1 and the shanks of which are held in wooden handles4 ,such patterns can be complete in themselves1 or the single #8tools' may have only the elements of a pattern that needs to be built up1 for the #8tools' must not be too large1 or they cannot be worked with sureness of result4 ,the design is composed of these #8tools' in combination with gouges which are curved lines4 ,the drawing is first made accurately on paper by means of blackening the tools in a candle or lightly impressing them on an ink-pad4 ,this paper is then placed on the book and slightly attached with paste at each corner4 ,the tools are next gently heated and reworked on the drawing1 leaving an impression in #8blind1' as it is called1 on the leather sufficient to be seen through the gold leaf when this is applied ready for the next operation4 ,the cover is now damped with water and the impressions left by the tools pencilled over with a preparation of white of egg known as glaire1 applied with a camel-hair brush4 ,when this is sufficiently dry1 but not too dry1 the gold leaf is put on1 and the individual #8tools1' taken at just the right heat1 are reworked in the impressions seen faintly beneath the gold4 ,fresh gold may have to be applied and the pattern reworked several times if the tools are solid or the leather for any reason presents special difficulties4 ,these are1 roughly speaking1 the processes necessary to the working of a design1 though many small ones have been omitted4 ,it will be seen at once1 however1 from this brief account3 firstly1 that there are no freehand possibilities about the operation2 and secondly1 that to be a good finisher a workman should know something of drawing1 for he cannot make a correct pattern1 much less one that has any organic meaning1 unless he understands how to combine small tools with taste and judgment4 ,he must know what to leave out as well as what to put in2 if there is inlaying1 he must have a sense of colour-harmony and contrast1 and he must understand enough of styles not to mix up those of different periods1 nor to select one that is unsuitable to the special character of the book4 ,footnote #b3 ,the technical schools1 it may be noted1 with the exceptions perhaps of the ,borough ,polytechnic1 are not looked on with favour by the trade1 who are ever adverse to any alteration in the traditional habits of a craft2 but it is difficult to see1 without some experiments of the kind1 how the learner is to get the advantages of intelligent training1 which he did under the old system of apprenticeship4 ,now that ,trades ,unions have a tendency to deteriorate the quality and limit the output of the adult worker1 it is well that there should be some influences brought to bear upon him in the earlier stages of his career that make for appreciative insight into the meaning of his work and cultivate his taste in its more artistic possibilities4 ,footnote #c3 ,with tooled edges the leaves of the book are gilt as usual1 and while still in the press1 the head1 tail and foredge are worked over with #8tools' that are open in character1 the finer ones being preferable4 ,these tools must be slightly warmed1 so that the impression may be firm4 ,sometimes the edge is tooled on the gold before burnishing1 when the impressed pattern will naturally be of a different colour to the burnished part1 as the burnisher will glide over the indentations4 ,at others a different-coloured gold is laid on the top of the first and tooled upon1 when the pattern will be left in the new gold on the original colour4 ,footnote #d3 ,this painting can be with or without gold4 ,in any case1 it is necessary that the leaves should be fanned out and tied slightly between boards4 ,while in this position the colour is applied1 which can be either a stain or water-colour moistened with size4 ,when dry1 the leaves are released1 and may be left as they are or gilt in the ordinary way1 when the colour will show through the gold1 gaining a lustre and richness it would not otherwise have4 ,footnote #e3 ,the process of leather cutting and embossing is briefly as follows4 ,the design is first drawn on paper1 then transferred to tracing paper and traced through from this on to the leather1 which is shoe-calf prepared for the purpose as to quality and thickness4 ,the process is very much like beaten and chased silver work1 except that the soft leather has to be reinforced at the back with a cement1 and while this cement is hardening the front has to be modelled4 ,it is a mistake to suppose that this work is of a delicate nature4 ,if the design is fairly evenly distributed over the decorated space1 handling and the slight friction a well-bound book is subject to in the course of time enhance its appearance4 ,again1 by tracing and cutting the design without embossing it a different surface is obtained1 while the application of gold tooling and that of various colour tints are additions of treatment that give considerable scope to the finisher4 ,footnote #f3 ,the author wishes to acknowledge permission1 which she has received from ,the ,printing ,art1 to print in this country this last chapter1 which first appeared in that periodical4 ,printed by ,t4 ,,and ,a4 ,,constable1 ,printers to ,his ,majesty at the ,edinburgh ,university ,press ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,transcriber',s ,,notes #a4 ,silently corrected obvious typographical errors and variations in spelling4 #b4 ,retained archaic1 non-standard1 and uncertain spellings as printed4 #c4 ,re-indexed footnotes using numbers and collected together at the end of the last chapter4 #d4 ,corrected the first two items in the ,erratum4 ,the last item was left unchanged4 #e4 ,enclosed italics font in underscores4