it rises to a high rank among the arts. Side by
side with printing, it strives after that perfection which shall ensure
the perpetuity of human thought. Thus a book, clothed in morocco, is not
a mere piece of mechanism, but a vehicle in which the intellectual life
of writers no longer on earth is transmitted from age to age. And it is
the art of book-binding which renders libraries possible. What the
author, the printer, and the binder create, the library takes charge of
and preserves. It is thus that the material and the practical link
themselves indissolubly with the ideal. And the ideal of every true
librarian should be so to care for the embodiments of intelligence
entrusted to his guardianship, that they may become in the highest degree
useful to mankind. In this sense, the care bestowed upon thorough and
enduring binding can hardly be overrated, since the life of the book
depends upon it.

CHAPTER 4.

PREPARATION FOR THE SHELVES: BOOK PLATES, ETC.

When any lot of books is acquired, whether by purchase from book-dealers
or from auction, or by presentation, the first step to be taken, after
seeing that they agree with the bill, and have been collated, in
accordance with methods elsewhere given, should be to stamp and label
each volume, as the property of the library. These two processes are
quite distinct, and may be performed by one or two persons, according to
convenience, or to the library force employed. The stamp may be the
ordinary rubber one, inked by striking on a pad, and ink of any color may
be used, although black or blue ink has the neatest appearance. The stamp
should bear the name of the library, in clear, legible, plain type, with
year of acquisition of the book in the centre, followed by the month and
day if desired. A more permanent kind of stamp is the embossing stamp,
which is a steel die, the letters cut in relief, but it is very expensive
and slow, requiring the leaf to be inserted between the two parts of the
stamp, though the impression, once made, is practically indelible.

The size of the stamp (which is preferably oval in shape) should not
exceed 11/4 to 11/2 inches in diameter, as a large, coarse stamp never
presents a neat appearance on a book. Indeed, many books are too small to
admit any but a stamp of very moderate dimensions. The books should be
stamped on the verso (reverse) of the title page, or if preferred, on the
widest unprinted portion of the title-page, preferably