In connection with inlaid ornament, we give a few hints to guide the workman in choice of colours. Much of the effect produced will result from the relations which the colours will bear to each other. A well-executed piece of work may be spoiled by the injudicious selection of colours. If the finisher be ignorant of the lessons which nature teaches in the distribution of colours, he cannot expect to please a connoisseur whose taste has been corrected and refined by a study of the harmonies of colours.

NUMERICAL PROPORTIONS OF HOMOGENEOUS COLOURS.

Yellow, 3.      Red, 5.      Blue, 8.

Yellow is melodized by orange on one side and green on the other; blue by green and purple, and the red by purple and orange.

PASTING THE END-PAPERS, JOINTS, ETC.

The volume being laid upon the table or press, with the head towards the workman and the upper board open, the guard or false end-paper must be removed and all other substances cleared out of the joint with the folder. The paper to be pasted on the board is cut at each end, so as to show the same margin as on the fore-edge, and pasted evenly over. It is then carefully laid upon the board. The position being adjusted, a piece of white paper should be laid thereon, and the whole rubbed perfectly even with the flat of the hand. Then with the folder rub perfectly square on the joint. The volume, with the board open, may then be turned, and the other side done in the same way.

If it is intended to execute a gilt border or blind tooling in the interior of the cover, it will be important that no part of the end-paper covers it. To avoid this, a slip must be cut off at the head, tail, and on the fore-edge, proportionate to the extra breadth of the border over the square. Or, if morocco joints have been placed in the volume, the two corners of the portion left to be attached to the boards must be cut, to prevent their showing above the end-paper, which is to be pasted over and would disfigure the edge, taking care to leave as much leather as will cover perfectly such portion as is intended for the joint and square of the board, so that, when the paper is pasted on, it will not be perceived that the corners have been cut off. Pare the edge of the leather where the part is cut off on a small board or folder placed underneath; afterwards paste the joint on the edge of the board, attach it neatly with the thumb, finger, and folder, and, when dry, paste thereon the marbled or coloured paper cut to the proper size. For the best class of work the morocco joint is placed in the volume by the finisher after the book is covered.

If the ends are of silk, it will be necessary to leave the silk sufficiently large to turn the edges over a piece of paper that has been cut to the required size, and in order to preserve the gloss and richness of the silk it should not be pasted on the paper upon which it is placed, except where it is turned over the edge of the paper. The paper is then lightly glued over and adjusted upon the board. This method also prevents the silk from ravelling or presenting a jagged edge. In all cases, however, where the border is gilt or otherwise ornamented, below the level of the edges of the volume, the ends must not be pasted down till after that operation is completed, as the glaire and oil would be liable to stain, and present a bad effect.

For inferior bindings, where the end-papers are left plain, the last two leaves being merely pasted together, the ends will only require pasting, and attaching by placing the volume between boards, and screwing firmly in the standing-press, immediately after which it must be taken out and the boards opened, so as to make the joints free. Almost every class of work except velvet and Turkey morocco requires to be submitted to the action of the standing-press after the end-papers have been pasted down, and then allowed to become perfectly dry by leaving the boards open. Our illustration is taken from a standing-press manufactured by W. O. Hickok, Harrisburg, Pa.

In all the departments, but especially in finishing, cleanliness is of the utmost importance. It matters not how graceful may be the design, how perfectly the tools may be worked; all may be spoiled by a volume having a dirty appearance. Therefore, have every thing clean about you,—cups, sponges, and brushes. Let your size, pastewash, and glaire, be clean; your oil-cotton the same. Do not lay on the gold until the preparation is dry. After the working of your tools, be particular in cleaning off the gold, so that no portions or specks remain that should not, for they will have the appearance of dirt. In calf-work, especially, be careful of grease, or of any thing that will soil the leather. In summer-time great care must be taken to protect your work from the flies, particularly after your backs are worked off. The little pests will eat the glaire off in places, and give the book an unsightly appearance.

VARNISH,

AS USED IN BOOKBINDING.

The first, by the celebrated Tingry, is made in the following manner:—

Put into a vessel six ounces of mastic, in drops, three ounces of sandarac finely powdered, four ounces of coarsely-broken glass, separated from the dust by a sieve, and thirty-two ounces of spirits of wine, of about forty degrees. Place the vessel upon straw in another filled with cold water; put it on the fire and let it boil, stirring the substances together with a stick, to keep the resins from uniting. When the whole appears well mixed, put in three ounces of turpentine, and boil for another half-hour, when the whole must be taken off and stirred till the varnish and the water in which it is placed cools. Next day, filter it through a fine cotton, by which means it will acquire the greatest degree of limpidity, and well cork up in a bottle.

The other recipe is given by Mons. F. Mairet, of Châtillon sur Seine, and may be prepared similar to the above. The ingredients are, three pints of spirits of wine, of thirty-six to forty degrees, eight ounces of sandarac, two ounces of mastic in drops, eight ounces of shell-lac, and two ounces of Venice turpentine.

The varnish is first put on the back of the book with a camel's-hair brush as lightly as possible. When nearly dry, it is polished with a ball formed of fine white cotton, filled with wool, on which has been rubbed a small quantity of olive-oil, to make it glide freely; it must be rubbed at first lightly, and, as fast as the varnish dries and becomes warm, more sharply. The sides are in like manner polished one after the other.

Varnish is applied after the volume has been polished by the iron, in order to retain the brilliancy and preserve the volume from the bad effects produced by flies eating off the glaire. The manufactured article now in general use is applied by a soft sponge being lightly passed over the volumes after a small portion of varnish has been applied to the sponge.

STAMPING.

For gilding the sides and even backs of publishers' work, or in fact any other where a quantity of gilding is desired at little expense, the stamping-press is brought into requisition, and by means of tools cut for the purpose, called blocks or stamps, the design is impressed on the side. These stamps may be made of very small pieces, and, by having a number of them, the patterns produced may be almost indefinite. The stamps are affixed to an iron or brass plate, called a back or foundation-plate, upon which a piece of stout paper has been glued. Then let the workman mark upon the plate the exact size of the side to be stamped, marking it evenly with the compasses, so as to justify the stamps; then strike the centre, and draw lines upon the paper from the centre, so as to divide it into squares or to any given part, so as to afford freedom for selection in the starting-point of the design. For it must be manifest that if a workman starts all his patterns from the same point, notwithstanding he may have a variety of tools at his disposal, his patterns will exhibit a great deal of uniformity. Let the paper be glued equally over the surface, and proceed to form the pattern by arranging the stamps upon the plate so as to exhibit the design. A great deal of taste can be displayed in the formation of patterns for stamping; but, in consequence of the public generally desiring a mass of gilt gingerbread-work, this branch has been but little cultivated; the prevalent opinion among stampers being that it is no matter what is put upon the side so that it is well covered with gold. Publishers find those books that are the most tawdrily gilt are soonest disposed of; hence, every thing is sacrificed to a gaudy exterior. It is to be hoped that the art will be relieved from this degraded ornamentation. Stampers themselves can do something to purify and correct the public taste by avoiding the unmeaning collections confusedly huddled together, so often seen upon sides. Every remark in regard to style, design, and combination of tools in the hand-finisher's department applies with equal force to stamp-work; and, although the stamps used in the latter are not so plastic as those in hand-work, still great results will be achieved; for, notwithstanding the superiority of hand-work for artistic expression and permanence, press-work will always maintain a prominent position in the art, producing, as it does, striking results at a trifling expense. After the pattern is formed, take a little paste and touch the under side of each stamp, and place them in exact position. After this is done and the paste has become hard, lay the stamp or pattern thus formed upon the side of the volume, taking care to have the same margin on the front, back, and ends. Then place the board or side upon which the stamp is placed upon the platen or bed of the stamping-press, leaving the volume hanging down in front of the platen, which is then moved to the centre of the upper platen, so that the clamps will touch the plate on both edges at the same moment; then pull the lever so as to put a slight pressure upon the plate in order to keep both it and the side in their proper place; then adjust the guides to the fore-edge and head or left-hand side, and screw them fast; throw back the lever, take out the book; examine and correct any irregularity in the margin of the pattern by moving the guides. When perfectly square, place a soft pasteboard under the stamp, pull down the press, and apply heat. This will set the stamps or harden the paste and glue in a short time, so that they will not fall off in stamping—a great annoyance. Work for stamping does not require so much body or preparation as if it were to be gilt by hand. Morocco can be worked by merely being washed with urine; but it is safer to use a coat of size, or glaire and water mixed in proportions of one of the former to three of the latter. Grained sheep, or, as it is called, imitation-morocco, requires more body to gild well. After the books are ready for laying on, the gold-leaf is cut upon the cushion to the required size, or, if the volume be large and the stamp will cover its superficial extent, the leaf may be lifted from the gold-book by means of a block covered with wadding or cotton lap and laid immediately upon the side. After an oiled rag has been lightly passed over the surface of the leather to cause the gold to adhere until it is put under the press, examine the press to see if sufficiently heated for the purpose. A little experience will soon determine the requisite amount of heat as a general rule. Leather-work does not require as hot a tool for stamping as for hand-work, while cloth or muslin-work requires a short, quick stroke, and the press to be hotter than for leather. In most binderies the stamping-press is heated by introducing steam or gas through tubes perforated for the purpose; though a few still use the heaters, which, after being heated in a furnace, are placed in the holes of the upper platen. After the press is properly heated, throw back the lever; take out the pasteboard from under the stamp; regulate the degree of pressure required for the stamp; then place the side to be stamped upon the bed-plate, holding it firmly against the guides with the left hand, while with the right the lever is quickly drawn to the front. This straightens the toggles and causes a sharp impression of the stamp upon the leather; immediately throw back the lever; take out the side, and rub off with a rag the superfluous gold. Repeat the operation upon the other side, unless the stamp be of an upright design; it will then be necessary to turn the stamp in the press before operating upon the other side. Case-work or covers that are stamped before being put upon the books are done in the same manner, the backs being also stamped before being glued on. The preceding cut of a stamping-press for gilding light work, lettering, &c., is of the most approved construction, while for large, heavy work, either gilt or stamped blind, (embossed, as it is erroneously called,) and for cloth-work generally, the wheel-press is best adapted. It can be worked either by hand or by power. The fly-wheel can be kept revolving while the workman is engaged in feeding the press. The lever is used for light work. It will be perceived that the upper platen of this press, to which the stamp is attached, is stationary, thereby giving great advantages in arranging pipes for heating by gas, and also for carrying off the smoke and unconsumed gas that would otherwise escape into the room. These presses are manufactured by I. Adams & Co., Boston.

A description of the various processes to produce by stamping the rich effects of inlaid work will be found under the head of Illuminated Binding and that of Inlaid Ornaments. For publishers' work it is a point of economy to have a steel-cutter that will cut out the pattern at one blow. For this kind of work, coloured German paper is used instead of leather for inlaying.

Thin boards are cut out with the aid of steel-cutters and the stamping-press, and affixed to the volumes; and, after they are covered, they are stamped in gold and blind with patterns corresponding with the figure of the cutter. This can only be applied where there are a large number of volumes, although single volumes may be cut out by hand at an increase of expense.

The modernized Gothic design (Plate IX.) is intended for a side-plate, to be worked either in gold or blank. The light floriated design (Plate X.) is calculated to be worked in gold, and is a good illustration of the prevailing treatment of the style for which it has been expressly designed. The pattern upon Plate XI. is intended for press-work, to be blank-stamped. The contrast of light and heavy work producing a fine effect, it is well adapted for a side-stamp, especially for cloth-work.