bout one-eighth of an inch of the end should project.
In covering, the leather must be pierced and carefully worked round
the catch. To make the plait, three strips of thin leather are slipped
through the ring, and the ends of each strip pasted together. The
three doubled strips are then plaited and the end of the plait put
through a hole in the lower board of the book about half an inch from
the edge, and glued down inside. A groove may be cut in the mill-board
from the hole to the edge before covering, to make a depression in
which the plait will lie, and a depression may be scooped out of the
inner surface of the board to receive the ends.

At fig. 119 is a somewhat similar clasp with three plaits suitable for
large books. The metal end and the method of inserting it into wooden
boards are shown below. The turned-down end should go right through
the board, and be riveted on the inside. When the three plaits are
worked, a little band of silver may be riveted on just below the ring.

[Illustration: FIG. 119.]

A very simple fastening that is sometimes useful is shown at fig. 77.
A very small bead is threaded on to a piece of catgut, and the two
ends of the gut brought together and put through a larger bead. The
ends of the gut with the beads on them are laced into the top board
of the book, with the bead projecting over the edge, and a loop of gut
is laced into the bottom board. If the loop can be made exactly the
right length, this is a serviceable method.

Silk or leather ties may be used to keep books shut, but they are apt
to be in the way when the book is read, and as hardly anybody troubles
to tie them, they are generally of very little use.

METAL ON BINDINGS

Metal corners and bosses are a great protection to bindings, but if
the books are to go into shelves, the metal must be quite smooth and
flat. A metal shoe on the lower edge of the boards is an excellent
thing for preserving the binding of heavy books.

Bosses and other raised metal work should be restricted to books that
will be used on lecterns or reading desks. The frontispiece is from a
drawing of an early sixteenth-century book, bound in white pigskin,
and ornamented with brass corners, centres, and clasps; and at page
323 is shown a fifteenth-century binding with plain protecting bosses.
On this book there were originally five bosses on each board, but the
centre ones have been lost.

Bindings may be entirely