As soon as the leaf is laid, and from that point onward, the breath must be kept from the letter with a shield (of cardboard or tin) held in the left hand or otherwise. Inattention to this is responsible for many failures. Not [p170] only should the actual letters under operation be so protected, but where a quantity are sized ready for gilding on the page these should be protected also, as well as any parts already finished; for breath not only moistens but warms, and on warm size moisture condenses less easily. If the work to be done presently is so warmed, it will be found more difficult to deal with when its time comes. The first work done in the day is often the best, and for this reason, that the size for it is cool; but in gilding this portion one almost necessarily warms that to be done later. Two pages, where possible, should therefore be gilded alternately, one cooling while a portion of the other is gilded. Or thin plates of metal, or even cardboard, may be placed about as shields to protect all surfaces not under actual operation.
Superfluous gold is best removed by dusting lightly with an old and very clean and dry silk handkerchief. Indiarubber will certainly remove gold from the vellum, but it will as certainly dim any part of the gilding it touches. If the vellum was properly pounced to start with the silk will easily remove all the leaf unstuck, except little odds and ends, and these are safeliest taken away with the point of a knife.
As the pressure of burnishing helps the leaf to stick, it is best to wait till the letter has been burnished before this dusting. Such spots as are visible ungilded may be afterwards treated with a slight breath and transfer gold-leaf, or gold dust, may be painted on them. In the latter case the spots must be most carefully burnished, if burnished at all, or their surroundings will be scratched.
When a gold letter is to be set on a coloured background, or in the neighbourhood of colour, it is best put on after the colour; as may be observed was the method occasionally with the old books. If the gold is put on first, it will certainly be dimmed by warmth and breath during the colouring. On the other hand, if it is put on last, great care must be taken that the gold-leaf shall not stick to the coloured portions. Where possible, a stencil [p171] pattern of the parts to be gilded should be cut out of paper. This is easily made from a pencil rubbing taken after the size is laid, the raised pattern being of course cut out carefully a trifle larger than the outline so obtained. The paper is then laid over all the work, and the sized portions showing through the cuttings can be gilded without injury to the colour.
All gilded work should be retained, if possible, for a week or more, and then re-burnished. And in burnishing generally the burnisher should not be used, even when the size is hard, with any great force or pressure at first. For the size in drying sets as if moulded, and this mould cannot be squeezed about or actually crushed without being loosened or cracked. Throughout the whole process a gentle and vigilant alacrity is required. Success will come easily if it means to come. It cannot be forced to come.
The binder of a book with gilding in it should be warned to press the sheets as little as possible, and to use all his care in handling it, so as to keep moisture, warmth, and fingering from the gold. The folding of the sheets, when left to him, should also be done rather differently from usual, for all gilded pages need to be kept as flat as possible. None of the sizes in use seem capable of resisting bending of their surfaces without crimping or cracking. Where there is much gilding, the book will be the better for being sewn with a zigzag[32] through the sections, as this helps to “guard” the gilded work. [p172]
[CHAPTER X THE USE OF GOLD & COLOURS IN INITIAL LETTERS & SIMPLE ILLUMINATION ] Tools & Materials for Simple Illumination — Parchment, “Vellum,” & Pounce — Colours — Simple Colour Effects — Matt Gold — Burnished Gold — Burnished Gold Forms, & Outlines — Background Capitals — Applying the Background — Ornament of Backgrounds.
TOOLS & MATERIALS FOR SIMPLE ILLUMINATION
TOOLS,
