practice, giving as it does the same work over and over again under
precisely the same conditions, and concentrating, on one book cover,
the practice that might be spread over several backs and sides more
sparingly decorated, when variety of conditions would confuse the
student.

[Illustration: FIG. 107.]

When the principles of the diaper have been mastered, and the student
has become familiar with the limitations of his tools, other schemes
of decoration may be attempted, such as borders, centres, or panels.

A form of border connected with cross-lines is shown at fig. 106. This
is made up of a repeat of the spray built up of three tools and four
gouges shown at fig. 107, with slight modification at the corners.
Other schemes for borders are those in which flowers grow inwards from
the edge of the boards, or outwards from a panel at the centre, or on
both sides of a line about half an inch from the edge. A pattern may
also be made to grow all round the centre panel. Borders will be found
more difficult to manage than simple diapers, and at first, are best
built up on the same principle--the repeat of some simple element.

[Illustration: FIG. 108 (reduced)]

The decoration may be concentrated on parts of the cover, such as the
centre or corners. A design for a centre is shown at fig. 108, and
below is shown the way to construct it. A piece of paper is folded, as
shown by the dotted lines, and an eighth of the pattern drawn with a
soft pencil and folded over on the line A, and transferred by being
rubbed at the back with a folder. This is lined in with a pencil, and
folded over on the line B and rubbed off. This is lined in and folded
over on A and C, rubbed off as before, and the whole lined in. The
overs and unders of the lines are then marked, and gouges selected to
fit. Of course it will take several trials before the lines will
interlace pleasantly, and the tools fit in. Another centre, in which a
spray is repeated three times, is shown at fig. 109, and any number of
others will occur to the student after a little practice. A change of
tools, or the slight alteration of a line, will give an entirely new
aspect to a pattern. At page 334 is shown an all-over pattern growing
from the bottom centre of the board. In this design the leather was
dark green, with a lighter green panel in the centre. The berries were
inlaid in bright red. Although at first glance it seems an intricate
design, it is made up like