covered with metal, but the connection
between the binding and the book is in that case seldom quite
satisfactory. The most satisfactory metal-covered bindings that I have
seen are those in which the metal is restricted to the boards. The
book is bound in wooden boards, with thick leather at the back, and
plaques of metal nailed to the wood. The metal may be set with jewels
or decorated with enamel, and embossed or chased in various ways.

Jewels are sometimes set in invisible settings below the leather of
bindings, giving them the appearance of being set in the leather. This
gives them an insecure look, and it is better to frankly show the
metal settings and make a decorative feature of them.

CHAPTER XIX

Leather

LEATHER

Of all the materials used by the bookbinders, leather is the most
important and the most difficult to select wisely. It is extremely
difficult to judge a leather by its appearance.

"We find now, that instead of leather made from sheep, calf, goat, and
pigskins, each having, when finished, its own characteristic surface,
that sheepskins are got up to look like calf, morocco, or pigskin;
that calf is grained to resemble morocco, or so polished and flattened
as to have but little character left; while goatskins are grained in
any number of ways, and pigskin is often grained like levant morocco.
So clever are some of these imitations, that it takes a skilled expert
to identify a leather when it is on a book."

There have been complaints for a long time of the want of durability
of modern bookbinding leather, but there has not been until lately any
systematic investigation into the causes of its premature decay.

By permission, I shall quote largely from the report of the committee
appointed by the Society of Arts to inquire into the subject. There
are on this special committee leather manufacturers, bookbinders,
librarians, and owners of libraries. The report issued is the result
of an immense amount of work done. Many libraries were visited, and
hundreds of experiments and tests were carried out by the
sub-committees. There is much useful information in the report that
all bookbinders and librarians should read. The work of the committee
is not yet finished, but its findings may be accepted as conclusive as
far as they go.

The committee first set themselves to ascertain if the complaints o