alabaster monument, with his picture cut out, and made
thereon."--Quoted in Nichols's _Leicestershire_, vol. i. p. 357.: see
also pp. 298. 381.]

_Binding of old Books._--I shall feel obliged to any of your readers who
will tell me how to polish up the covers of old books when the leather has
got dry and cracked. Bookbinders use some composition made of glair, or
white of egg, which produces a very glossy appearance. How is it made and
used? and how do they polish the leather afterwards? Is there any little
work on book-binding?

CPL.

[Take white of an egg, break it with a fork, and, having first cleaned
the leather with dry flannel, apply the egg with a soft sponge. Where
the leather is rubbed or decayed, rub a little paste with the finger
into the parts affected, to fill up the broken grain, otherwise the
glair would sink in and turn it black. To produce a polished surface, a
hot iron must be rubbed over the leather. The following is, however, an
easier, if not a better, method. Purchase some "bookbinders' varnish,"
which may be had at any colour shop; clean the leather well, as before;
if necessary, use a little water in doing so, but rub quite dry with a
flannel before varnishing; apply your varnish with wool, lint, or a
very soft sponge, and place to dry.]

_Vessel of Paper._--When I was at school in the north of Ireland, not very
many years ago, a piece of paper, about the octavo size, used for writing
"exercises," was commonly known amongst us as a vessel of paper. Can any of
your correspondents tell me the origin of the phrase; and whether it is in
use in other localities?

ABHBA.

[Lemon, in his English _Etymology_, has the following remarks on this
phrase:--"_Vessel of Paper_: The etymology of this word does not at
first sight appear very evident; but a derivation has been lately
suggested to me, which seems to carry some probability with it; viz.
that _a vessel of paper_ may have derived its appellation from
_fasciculus_, or _fasciola_; quasi _vassiola_; a vessel, or small slip
of paper; a little winding band, or swathing cloth; a garter; a
_fascia_, a small narrow binding. The root is undoubtedly _fascis_, a
bundle, or anything tied up; also, the fillet with which it is bound."]

* * * * *

Replies.

KING JAMES'S IRISH ARMY LIST, 1689.

(Vol. ix., pp. 30, 31.)

My collection