the book, or having been told what it is about, the
designer makes one or more rough sketches in color, giving a general
idea of the book cover, both as to design, color scheme, and material
to be used in binding. If one of these sketches is selected, the
designer then makes an accurate "working" drawing, either in color, or
black and white. If a black-and-white drawing is made, a rough color
sketch is sent with it to indicate how the die is to be cut.

A finished book-cover design can be made on water-color paper,
bristol-board, or a piece of book-cover linen. This last method is
popular with publishers, as it shows them how the cover will look when
finished. A designer keeps sample books of all the most popular
bookbinding materials, which the manufacturers are glad to supply. A
practical designer always chooses for the ground color of a design a
cloth that is to be found at one of the regular book-cloth
manufacturers.

When a book-cover design is finished, it is neatly mounted on
cardboard and a careful note is written on the margin, telling how the
design is to be executed by the binder, the kind of cloth to be used,
and its number in a particular sample book. Unless the design is
executed on a piece of book cloth, a sample of the cloth desired is
pasted under the directions. The design is then cut in brass by a die
cutter, as described in the next chapter, and the covers are stamped
in gold or inks from this die by the binder. The design must be the
exact size of the future book or drawn larger in exact proportion for
reduction to the proper size.

Gold is of course the most expensive way of reproducing a cover
design, and a publisher generally tries to get as good an effect as
possible without the use of gold, or he limits its use to the title
lines or to a small part of the design. Four inks is usually the
extreme number used, and more often only two or three are used, or
gold and one ink.

Several styles of decoration are used in designing book covers; but
they may be put roughly into two classes,--those that are purely
ornamental and those that are pictorial. Personally I am in favor of
the purely ornamental cover, as being more dignified; but there are
books that seem to require a pictorial cover that is treated somewhat
in the fashion of a decorative poster.

A book-cover designer to be successful should be very versatile and
able to make use of figures as well as thoroughly versed in the use of
ornam