famous for his brown calf, but made it too dark at first, instead
of allowing it to deepen in colour with time. Riviere could do good
work when he took pains; but he was unequal and uncertain.

Charles Lewis had been preceded by another person of his name, who is
noticed in Nichols's _Anecdotes_ (iii. 465) as dying in 1783, and as
of Chelsea. This personage was held in high esteem by his clients, and
was very intimate with Smollett the novelist, who is said to have had
Lewis in his mind, when he drew the character of Strap in _Roderick
Random_.

Fashions in binding, which occupy a distinct position, are the
embroidered covers in gold, silver, and variegated threads, executed
both abroad and in England, and of which many examples are ascribed to
the Nuns of Little Gidding in Huntingdonshire; and velvet, silk, and
metal bindings, which exist in sufficient abundance, and usually occur
with marks of original ownership, lending to them a special value.
Much depends in all these instances on the character of the work and
the preservation of the copy; and each book has to be judged on its
own merits. A considerable proportion of indifferent specimens are
constantly in the market.

The Little Gidding bindings are made additionally interesting by the
apparent connection between them and John Farrer of Little Gidding,
who had a principal hand in producing a volume on Virginia entitled
_Virgo Triumphans_, of which there were three issues, 1650-51, the
last of which has the map by Goddard in two states, one bearing the
inscription: _John Farrer, Esq., Collegit_. And the other: _Domina
Virginia Farrer Collegit_. It is highly probable that the material for
the book-covers worked by the Nunnery were obtained by the Farrers
direct from Virginia. But it may be well questioned whether the holy
ladies did more than the decorative and finishing stages.

The early provincial school of English binding is chiefly remarkable
for the productions of Edwards of Halifax, who, with his two sons,
James and Thomas, held a prominent rank in the book-trade at Halifax
and in London in the last and present century, and whose name is also
recognised as that of an enthusiastic amateur. It was at the sale of
the private library of James Edwards in 1815 that the celebrated
_Bedford Missal_ occurred. The bindings of Edwards present nothing
very extraordinary; but many of them have painted edges or sides,
sometimes executed with great care and skill. A cop