l should be the united aim of all who are
concerned in its manufacture--the paper-maker, the printer, and the
book-binder. While utility comes first in the art of book-making for
libraries, yet neatness and even elegance should always be united with
it. An ill-forwarded book, or a badly finished one, presents a clumsy,
unattractive look to the eye; while an evenly made piece of work, and a
careful and tasteful ornamentation in the gilding, attract every
discerning reader by their beauty. One writer upon book-binding terms the
forwarder of the book an artizan, and the finisher an artist; but both
should have the true artist's taste, in order to produce the work that
shall commend itself by intrinsic excellence. The form and shape of the
book depend wholly, indeed, on the forwarder.

We are told that the great beauty of the Grolier bindings lay in the
lavish and tasteful adornment of the sides. In fact, much depends upon
the design, in every piece of decorative work. The pretty scroll
patterns, the interlaced figures, the delicate tracery, the circles,
rosettes, and stars, the lovely arabesques, the flowers and leaves
borrowed from the floral kingdom, the geometric lines, the embroidered
borders, like fine lace-work,--all these lend their separate individual
charms to the finish of the varied specimens of the binder's art. There
are some books that look as brilliant as jewels in their rich, lustrous
adornment, the design sometimes powdered with gold points and stars. Some
gems of art are lined with rich colored leather in the inside covers,
which are stamped and figured in gold. This is termed "_double_" by the
French. Some have their edges gilded over marbling, a refinement of
beauty which adds richness to the work, the marble design showing through
the brilliant gold, when the edge is turned. Others have pictorial
designs drawn on the edges, which are then gilded over the pictures. This
complex style of gilding, the French term _gaufre_. It was formerly much
in vogue, but is latterly out of fashion. Many gems of binding are
adorned with fly-leaves of moire silk, or rich colored satin. Color,
interspersed with gold in the finish of a book covering, heightens the
effect. The morocco of the side-cover is sometimes cut, and inlaid with
leather of a different color. Inlaying with morocco or kid is the richest
style of decoration which the art has yet reached. Beautiful bindings
have been in greater request during the past twe