BOOKBINDING AND INLAYING.

requisition. The lettering, fillets, scrolls, arabesques, and other ornaments which constitute the externaldecoration of books, are impressed upon the leather in the desired patterns by brass tools, which areslightly heated to render the impression lasting. Fillets and running sprigs are engraved in relief uponthe edge or periphery of a brass “ roll,” and this being wheeled carefully over the surface of the book,with the necessary pressure, leaves a corresponding indented pattern. In elaborately ornamented books manyhundreds of separate tools may be employed. Where the pattern is not gilt, the operation is called “blindtooling.” To apply the gold-leaf, it is necessary to prepare the leather with size and white of egg; thegold is lightly laid upon the surface, and the pressure of the tool causes it to adhere to the pattern, thesuperfluous particles being rubbed off. The beautiful illuminated appearance shown in Mr. Batten’s elegantspecimen is produced by what is termed inlaying, which consists in attaching to the surface of the booksmall pieces of differently-coloured leathers, which are pared extremely thin for the purpose.

Reserving for the present a notice of the cloth and embossed bindings which have recently proved sosuccessful, we must now briefly allude to the history of ornamental bookbinding. The ecclesiastics of theMiddle Ages bestowed upon their exquisite illuminated manuscripts a corresponding splendour of externaldecoration. Carved oak and ivory were used for their covers, and these were elaborately ornamented withgold, silver, and enamels, and frequently enriched with pearls, rubies, and other precious stones. As we shallhereafter engrave a gorgeous book-cover, assimilating in its character to those of the Middle Ages, we shalltake another opportunity of describing their extraordinary magnificence.

Richly-coloured velvets, vellum, calf and morocco leather, were used for covers at an early period, butbookbinding in the ordinary sense of the word, i.e. of a leather cover for a printed book, may be assumed todate from the invention of printing. In an able essay by Mr. Joseph Cundall on “ Ornamental Art as applied -

to Ancient and Modern Bookbinding,” read to the Society of Arts on the 10th of November, 1847, the author

observes that “ there are many printed books still in good preservation that were bound in calf with oaken

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boards at the end of the fifteenth and beginning of the sixteenth centuries. In England, the earliest bindingwith ornament was about the time of Henry VII. , when we find the royal arms, supported by two angels,the heraldic badge of the double rose and pomegranate, the Jleur-de-lis, the portcullis, the emblems of theEvangelists, and small ornaments of grotesque animals.” In a statute of Richard III . (1483) it is expresslyrecited, that there were then “ a great number of the king’s subjects living by the craft and mystery of bindingof books, and well expert in the same.” About 1538 Grafton undertook to print the Great Bible, and forthat purpose brought from Paris not only printing-presses, type, and printers, but bookbinders also; and whenit is remembered that there were seven large editions in folio of the sacred volume within three years, it isobvious that the binding of them would alone suffice to give importance to the art.

Mr. Cundall states, that the stamping of tools in gold appears to have been first introduced in thiscountry in the reign of Henry VIII.; and some beautiful rolls, probably from Holbein ’s designs, were used,

as well on the sides as on the gilded edges of books still in existence. The sides of books of the period now

under our consideration were generally of oaken or beech-boards, covered with leather, and furnished withmetal bosses at the angles. They were sometimes embossed with figures of saints in niches, and occasionallywith foliage in the intervening compartments. Heraldry is occasionally introduced, and the designs displayconsiderable ingenuity. They generally cover the whole of the field; the division of the side into centre andmargin being of Italian origin.

With the reign of Elizabeth and her learned successor considerable luxury was introduced in bookbinding,and many an old volume of that period still attests the skill of English binders. The Great Rebellion impededthe progress of the art; but after the Restoration, renewed energy was infused into it. The fashions of theContinent were then freely introduced, and imitations of the most celebrated Italian and French bindings wereexecuted with great dexterity. Lighter covers superseded the cumbrous wooden ones before used; gaily colouredleathers were employed; gilding took the place of the simple relieved work of the ordinary monastic binding.Contemporary with the formation of Sir Thomas Bodley’s and other celebrated libraries, a marked improvementin the art was manifested; and the good preservation of those collections may be mainly attributed to thecare bestowed upon their binding.

It is not, however, till we approach comparatively modern days that the names of the best workmen havebeen preserved to us; and the earliest that we are enabled to cite as displaying any special taste is that ofRoger Payne. In our next article on the subject we shall notice the works of this celebrated bookbinder, andcomplete our historical sketch of the art both in this country and in France and Italy .