Gilding Marbled Edges

This edge, which Dr. Dibden, in his Bibliographer's Decameron, calls" the very luxury, the ne plus ultra of the bibliopegistic art," is one requiring great care and expertness in the execution.

After the edges have been taste. fully marbled, and not overcharged with color, the book must be put in the press, and well burnished as before directed. The size must then be laid on lightly, to prevent unsettling the colors of the marble, and the gold immediately applied, and finished off as in other edges. When dry, the marble is perceived through the gold.

Gilding Landscapes

When the edge is well scraped and burnished, the leaves on the fore edge must be evenly bent in an oblique manner, and in this position confined by boards tied tightly on each side, until a subject is painted thereon in water colours, according to the fancy of the operator. When perfectly dry, untie the boards and let the leaves take their propel position.

Then place the volume in the press, lay on the size and gold, and, when dry, burnish. The design will not be apparent when the volume is closed, from the gold covering it, but when the leaves are drawn out it will be perceived easily. The time and labor required make this operation expensive, and, consequently, it is very seldom performed.

After the edges have been gilt by any of the foregoing methods, the rounding must be examined and corrected, and the book should be put into the standing-press for two or three hours, to set it. The whole of the edges should be wrapped up with paper to keep them clean during the remainder of the process of binding.

Gold Sprinkle

After the edges of the book are colored with any of the self-colors already alluded to, whether mineral pigments or Judson's or spirit dyes, a good effect may be given by sprinkling with a gold liquid, made in the following manner:

Take a book of gold and 1/2oz. of honey, and rub them together in a mortar until they are very fine; then add half ,a pint of clear water, and mix them well together; after the water clears, pour it off, and put in more till the honey is all extracted and nothing left but the gold; mix one grain of corrosive sublimate with a teaspoonful of spirits of wine, and, when dissolved, put the same, with ,a little thick gum-water, to the gold, and bottle it, always shaking well before using. When dry, burnish the edges and cover with paper till the work is finished.

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