Books slightly roughened, their bloom destroyed simply by friction, may be freshened and restored to an aspect of health to conceal, up to a certain point, the wear of their old coverings. With an old glove one may spread over their surface a little flour paste or fairly thick starch to which a little alum might be added. This is smeared quickly over the back, sides and edges of the boards, and the surplus wiped off with a soft cloth. This carries away any dust which may have been deposited and also sailings which soften in the moisture. (*)

(*) Certain bindings of the sixteenth century have on their covers designs in tint formed simply of water colors. In such cases, the flour paste should not be used, or else the designs should first be accurately traced so that they can be restored, if necessary, after the operation.

After this operation, there will remain on the volume a thin coating of gelatine or of gluten (the viscous part of the starch). Before this has entirely dried, it should be thoroughly wiped over with the palm of the hand. Any scraped portions of the leather will have a dull appearance and will sometimes show darker than other parts of the cover. The edges of stripped or broken spots may be refastened to the cover by means of the starch sizing. The corners which, nearly always, will be found worn or bent, may be straightened and strengthened. In a word, if the cover cannot be restored to pass as new, it may at least be rendered more presentable and made to contrast more favorably with other books it may meet upon the shelf.

After a washing with starch, as after cleaning with alkalis, it often happens that the covers of a book are dulled. Their polish, where the bloom has not been worn away, can be restored by rubbing with a piece of flannel moistened with a few drops of very siccative varnish (purchased from art dealers or dealers in bookbinders' materials).

Most amateurs and binders know this inexpensive way of restoring a certain lustre to faded and erupted, if one may use that expression, bindings. If I have spoken rather in detail, it is for the sake of amateurs still inexperienced or living in a small, provincial town. As these latter probably would not know where to procure varnish, I offer the recipe of M. F. Mairet, which indicates the proportions for a large quantity but which may be divided by ten. In the thirty-ninth part of his "Essay Upon Binding" he says: Dissolve eight ounces of sandarach (resin), two ounces of mastic in drops, eight ounces of gum-lac in tablets and two ounces of Venetian turpentine, in three litres (quarts) of spirits of wine at a temperature of thirty-six to forty degrees. (*). Crush the gums and, to completely dissolve them, place the bottle which contains them in the wine, in hot water, shaking it from time to time. This varnish can be preserved in the bottle in which it is made, keeping the bottle tightly corked. When one wishes to use the varnish, the bottle should not be shaken because of the deposit which forms.

(*) Centigrade, i.,e. ninety-seven to one hundred and four degrees Fahrenheit. M. S. B.

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