RENAISSANCE.

Roy folio.

T. Way, Photo-Lith.

CHAPTER XXIII. FINISHING.

Monastic Tools.

Finishing is the art of embellishing the covers of books with different designs. Finishing comprises the embellishment of the covers either with blind work, gold, silver or platina leaf, or with metal ornaments fastened through the boards, or by only a lettering on the back of the book.

The art of finishing does not com­prise any em­bel­lish­ment done with the “block­ing press.” There­in the art is more that of the block or tool cutter, who, working in concert with the artist who drew the design, cuts the metal accordingly. The binder’s use of these blocks is mechanical only.

The monks who cult­i­vat­ed all the arts, and en­riched their Hours and their Missals with mar­vel­lous min­ia­tures, gave great zeal to the oc­cu­pa­tion of bind­ing. So charm­ing­ly were the bind­ings orn­a­ment­ed with tools and small blocks re­pro­duced from the text, that we must regret that so few of these monas­tic bind­ings are now left to us.

A great number of these books were exe­cuted in Germany, where this mode of dec­or­a­tion remained a long time in use; and we find that other count­ries bor­rowed from the printer this prim­i­tive mode of dec­ora­tion. As the art pro­gressed the binder’s mark was im­pressed on the cover as an orn­a­ment, or as a dis­tinc­tion, such as we find at the present day at the end or after the title of books to denote by what printer the work was executed. Later on, when the Renaissance shone in all its glory and beauty, we find that it freed itself from this limited practice. A new mode |112| of decoration came into use, which we may well study, even at the present day; a style at once rich and varied. If we follow the bold interlacing lines which form the skeletons of those infinite and varied designs, we catch the imaginative caprices of their authors; and the details of their transformation gives us a guide to the different schools and art of their time. The execution of these linear designs is extremely difficult. It can be easily seen that they have not been done by a block engraved in one piece, but with small segments.[8] The art of putting together these small pieces, so as to form one complete and artistic pattern, is the skill of the finisher. Many books are now finished by means of the blocking press; but on close examination, these imitations may be readily distinguished. A blocked cover never has the life and spirit that a hand-finished one has. Of blocking I must speak in subsequent pages.