"Be sparing of red morocco or vellum. They have each so distinct, or what painters call spotty, an appearance, that they should be introduced but circumspectly. Morocco, I frankly own, is my favourite surtout; and the varieties of them—blue, (dark and light,) orange, green, and olive-colour—are especially deserving of your attention.
"The colour of the binding may often be in harmony with its contents. Books of poetry may be red, or light green, or blue, and have as much ornament as may be desired. And Fine Art books, above all others, ought to rejoice in beautiful coloured moroccos and gorgeous ornaments. In the British Museum, books of divinity are bound in blue, history in red, poetry in yellow, and biography in olive.
"Let russia claim your volumes of architecture or other antiquities, of topography, of lexicography, and of other works of reference. Let your romances and chronicles aspire to morocco or velvet; though, upon second thoughts, russia is well suited to history and chronicles. And for your fifteeners, or volumes printed in the fifteenth century, whether Greek, Latin, Italian, or English, let me entreat you invariably to use morocco: for theology, dark blue, black, or damson-colour; for history, red or dark green; while, in large paper quartos, do not fail to remember the peau de veau (calf) of the French, with gilt upon marbled edges. My abhorrence of hogskin urges me to call upon you to swear eternal enmity to that engenderer of mildew and mischief. Indeed, at any rate, it is a clumsy coat of mail. For your Italian and French, especially in long suites, bespeak what is called French calf binding, spotted, variegated, or marbled on the sides, well covered with ornament on the back, and, when the work is worthy of it, with gilt on the edges. Let your English octavos of history or belles-lettres breathe a quiet tone of chastely-gilded white calf with marbled edges; while the works of our better-most poets should be occasionally clothed in a morocco exterior."
The further opinion of the doctor on the style of ornament, &c. in gilding, will be given in its proper place, and which, with that cited above, may be safely acted upon by the binder, blended with such additions as his own taste may dictate.
It is in this state that the defects of forwarding will become more apparent, and which no tact or ingenuity of the finisher can effectually remedy; for, unless the bands are square, the joints free, and the whole book geometrically just, the defect, whatever it may be, will appear throughout, and tend to destroy the beauty of every subsequent operation, from the constraint required to make the general appearance of the work effective.
Before proceeding to a description of the various manipulations required in gilding a book, it will be necessary to direct the attention of the young workman again to what has been advanced relative to care and attention in previous parts of this work, and follow up the remarks there made with others on the taste necessary to be displayed in this most important part of the art of bookbinding. When it is considered that the most celebrated artists have arrived at the eminence awarded to them not only through the elasticity, solidity, and squareness of their bindings, but also from the judicious choice of their ornaments for gilding, and the precision and beauty with which they have been executed, it cannot be too strongly impressed on the workman that this should ever occupy his first attention. Nothing is so disagreeable to the eye as injudicious or badly-executed ornaments; while with chaste and classical embellishments, tastefully applied, an appearance of richness is produced on the volumes that cannot fail to give satisfaction to the most fastidious critic. The sides of the volumes present the field most favourable for the display of ornamental taste, admitting, from their extent, the execution of the most complicated designs. This elaborate style of ornament has been carried to such perfection and splendour as, in many instances, to have occupied several days in the execution of one side alone; but it is only by the most vigorous application, greatest care, and correct taste, that proficiency therein can be attained. With these, success will soon crown the endeavours of the workman; and he will have the satisfaction of finding himself able to imitate any pattern, however difficult, as well as to execute many new designs and compartments, of which, till he applied himself, he had not previously an idea.
As regards the style of ornament, it must be left to taste; but, as before promised, it will now be proper to introduce the remarks of Dr. Dibdin on the general effect of gilding and blind tooling, leaving the detail to be suggested to the mind of the gilder.
"First, let your books be well and evenly lettered, and let a tolerable portion of ornament be seen upon the backs of them. I love what is called an over-charged back, At first the appearance may be flaunting and garish; but time, which mellows down book ornaments as well as human countenances, will quickly obviate this inconvenience; and about a twelvemonth, or six months added to the said twelvemonth, will work miracles upon the appearance of your book. Do not be meagre of your ornaments on the back, and never suffer blind tooling wholly to pervade a folio or quarto; for, by so doing, you convert what should look like a book into a piece of mahogany furniture.
"In large libraries there should not be too much blind tooling or too great a want of gilt. No doubt the ornament should be as appropriate as possible to the book. One could not endure gingerbread-gilt Bibles and Prayer-Books, or Chronicles or Dictionaries, or other books of reference. Let these have a subdued decoration on their backs; bands only full-gilt, or a running edge-tool in the centres of them, with small ornaments between the bands.
"I would recommend the lettering of a volume to be as full as possible; yet sententiousness must sometimes be adopted. The lines should be straight, and the letters of one and the same form or character within the line; yet the name of the author may be executed a size larger than that of the date or place of its execution, and the lettering may be between the top and bottom bands, or it may occupy the spaces between three bands, or even more. Re-letter old books perpendicularly, as was the custom. In all fresh bindings, however, prefer horizontal to perpendicular lettering."[*]