up, diluted with
about half as much vinegar, and allowed to settle. Some finishers
prefer to use old, evil-smelling glaire, but provided it is a day old,
and has been well beaten up, fresh glaire will work quite well.

The impressions of any heavy or solid tools should be given a second
coat of glaire when the first has ceased to be "tacky," and if the
leather is at all porous, all impressions had better have a second
coat.

As glaire is apt to show and disfigure the leather when dry, it is
best to use it as sparingly as possible, and, excepting where the
pattern is very close, to confine it to the impressions of the tools.
It is not at all an uncommon thing to see the effect of an otherwise
admirably tooled binding spoilt by a dark margin round the tools,
caused by the careless use of glaire. Glaire should not be used unless
it is quite liquid and clean. Directly it begins to get thick it
should be strained or thrown away.

The finisher should not glaire in more than he can tool the same day.
When the glaire has ceased to be "tacky," the gold is laid on.

[Illustration: FIG. 86.]

At first it will be found difficult to manage gold leaf. The essential
conditions are, that there should be no draught, and that the cushion
and knife should be quite free from grease. The gold cushion and
knife are shown at fig. 86. A little powdered bath-brick rubbed into
the cushion will make it easier to cut the gold cleanly. The blade of
the gold knife should never be touched with the hand, and before using
it, both sides should be rubbed on the cushion. A book of gold is laid
open on the cushion, and a leaf of gold is lifted up on the gold
knife, which is slipped under it, and turned over on to the cushion. A
light breath exactly in the centre of the sheet should make it lie
flat, when it may be cut into pieces of any size with a slightly
sawing motion of the knife. The book with the pattern ready prepared,
and the glaire sufficiently dry (not sticky), is rubbed lightly with a
small piece of cotton-wool greased with a little cocoanut oil. The
back of the hand is greased in the same way, and a pad of clean
cotton-wool is held in the right hand, and having been made as flat as
possible by being pressed on the table, is drawn over the back of the
hand. This should make it just greasy enough to pick up the gold, but
not too greasy to part with it readily when pressed on the book. As
little grease as possible should be used on the