bluish tint on buff-tinted
paper; but, like much other good advice, this remains practically
untried.

Illustrations have been a feature of the book for over four hundred
years, but they have hardly yet become naturalized within its pages. Or
shall we say that they soon forgot their proper subordination to the
type and have since kept up a more or less open revolt? The law of
fitness demands that whatever is introduced into the book in connection
with type shall harmonize with the relatively heavy lines of type. This
the early black-line engravings did. But the results of all other
processes, from copper-plate to half-tone, conflict with the
type-picture and should be placed where they are not seen with it.
Photogravures, for instance, may be put at the end of the book, or they
may be covered with a piece of opaque tissue paper, so that either their
page or the facing type-page will be seen alone. We cannot do without
illustrations. All mankind love a picture as they love a lover. But let
the pictures belong to the book and not merely be thrust into it.

The binding is to the book what the book is to its subject-matter, a
clothing and protection. In the middle ages, when books were so few as
to be a distinction, they were displayed sidewise, not edgewise, on the
shelves, and their covers were often richly decorated, sometimes with
costly gems. Even the wooden cover of the pre-Columbian Mexican book had
gems set in its corners. Modern ornamentation is confined to tooling,
blind and gilt, and inlaying. But some booklovers question whether any
decoration really adds to the beauty of the finest leather. It should be
remembered that the binding is not all on the outside. The visible cover
is only the jacket of the real cover on which the integrity of the book
depends. The sewing is the first element in time and importance. To be
well bound a book should lie open well, otherwise it is bound not for
the reader but only for the collector.

It cannot be too often repeated that properly made books are not
extremely costly. A modern book offered at a fancy price means either a
very small edition, an extravagant binding, or what is more likely, a
gullible public. But most books that appeal to the booklover are not
excessive in price. Never before was so much money spent in making books
attractive--for the publisher always has half an eye on the
booklover--and while much of this money is wasted, not all is laid out
in vain. Our