1894.] on Bookbinding : its Processes and Ideal. 181 



to the surface to be decorated, and the pattern is reimpressed on the 

 paper, and so through on to the surface of the book. 



3. The paper is now removed, and the pattern on the book is 

 reimpressed with hot tools to make the impression crisp and distinct. 



4. At this stage a diiferent process begins. The surface of the 

 cover, with the pattern impressed upon it as described, is taken bit 

 by bit and treated as follows : 



1. First it is moistened with water or vinegar. 



2. Then the pattern is pencilled over with " glaire," which is a 

 liquid composed of the white of an egg beaten up and drained off. 



3. Then, when the glaire is dry, the surface is lightly touched 

 with oil or grease to give a hold to the gold leaf next to be applied. 



4. Then the gold leaf, cut to the size and shape of the portion of 

 the cover to be operated on, is applied by a flat brush called a " tip," 

 and pressed down by a pad of cotton-wool to reveal the pattern 

 underneath. 



5. Then, and finally, the pattern with the gold upon it is gone 

 over again with the hot tools, and the gold is impressed into it. 

 The rest of the gold is rubbed away with an oiled rag, and the 

 pattern is now displayed permanently in gold and " finished." 



The description is easy — how easy! — but the craft is difficult. 

 Gold cannot be persuaded to stick as a friend may be persuaded to 

 stay ; it must be made to stick, i.e. all the conditions upon which 

 successful gold tooling depends must in all cases be observed, and 

 there is the rub! What in each case — and the circumstances are 

 never quite the same — are the conditions? How divine them? A 

 little more, or a little less, makes so much difference. How dry may 

 the leather be, or how damp must it be ? How much glaire ? How 

 hot must the tools be ? When is the moment to begin ? Then how 

 difficult it is correctly to manipulate the tools, to keep them even 

 upon the leather. How difficult, finally, to keep the leather, 

 throughout all the long and difficult operation, perfectly clean and 

 the gold brilliant ! What patience, what natural aptitude, what 

 acquired skill, what fortitude ! " The city sparkles like a grain of 

 salt." Shall I ever succeed ? the apprentice may well ask himself. 

 Shall I ever attain to such skill, to such consciousness of power, 

 that I shall not even know how to fail ? In this difficulty, too, and in 

 the effort and ambition to overcome it, lies a further difficulty, the 

 snare of the art, the temptation of the finisher. He becomes 

 engrossed in it — the finisher in mere finishing. He pursues it 

 positively, and not in subordination to design. And he achieves 

 victory at last, only to find that what he should have achieved, the 

 thing beautiful, has escaped him. He can tool, but he cannot 

 design ; and he has so magnified execution that when completely 

 successful, when completely triumphant, he is then most con- 

 spicuously a failure. The tremulous outline of design — and design 

 appeals to the imagination, to the inner eye of the soul as well as to 

 the outer eye of sense — the tremulous outline of design has perished 



