CHAPTER XVI. COLOURING THE EDGES.
The edges of every book must be in keeping with the binding. A half roan book should not have an expensive edge, neither a whole bound morocco book a sprinkled edge. Still, no rule has been laid down in this particular, and taste should regulate this as it must in other branches. The taste of the public is so changeable that it is impossible to lay down any rule, and I leave my reader to his own discretion.
Here are various ways in which the edges may be coloured.
Sprinkled Edges.—Most shops have a colour always ready, usually a reddish brown, which they use for the whole of their sprinkled edge books. The colour can be purchased at any oil shop. A mixture of burnt umber and red ochre is generally used. The two powders must be well mixed together in a mortar with paste, a few drops of sweet oil, and water. The colour may be tested by sprinkling some on a piece of white paper, allowing it to dry, and then burnishing it. If the colour powders or rubs, it is either too thick, or has not enough paste in it. If the former, some water must be added; if the latter, more paste: and it will perhaps be better if the whole is passed through a cloth to rid it of any coarse particles. The books may be sprinkled so as to resemble a kind of marble by using two or three different colours. For instance, the book is put in the lying press and a little sand is strewn upon the edge in small mounds. Then with a green colour a moderate |68| sprinkle is given. After allowing it to dry, more sand is put on in various places, a dark sprinkle of brown is put on, and the whole allowed to dry. When the sand is shaken off, the edge will be white where the first sand was dropped, green where the second, and the rest brown.
A colour of two shades may be made by using sand, then a moderately dark brown sprinkled, then more sand, and lastly a deeper shade of same colour.
Sprinkling Brush and Sieve.
There are a few of the “Old Binders” who still use what is called the “finger brush,” a small brush about the size of a shaving brush, made of stiff bristles cut squarely. They dip it into the colour, and then by drawing the finger across it jerk the colour over the edge. Another method is to use a larger brush, which being dipped in the colour is beaten on a stick or press-pin until the desired amount of sprinkle is obtained. But the best plan is to use a nail brush and a common wire cinder sifter. Dip the brush in the colour and rub it in a circular direction over the cinder sifter. This mode has the satisfactory result of doing the work quicker, finer, and more uniformly. The head, foredge and tail must be of exactly the same shade, and one end must not have more sprinkle on it than the other, and a set of books should have their edges precisely alike in tone and colour.
Colours for Sprinkling.—To give an account of how the various colours are made that were formerly used would be only waste of time, as so many dyes and colours that |69| answer all purposes may be purchased ready for instant use. I may with safety recommend Judson’s dyes diluted with water.
Plain Colouring.—The colour having been well ground is to be mixed with paste and a little oil, or what is perhaps better, glaire and oil. Then with a sponge or with a brush colour the whole of the edge. In colouring the foredge the book should be drawn back so as to form a slope of the edge, so that when the book is opened a certain amount of colour will still be seen. It is often necessary to give the edges two coats of colour, but the first must be quite dry before the second is applied.