Laying & matter settles down, and the sticky parts, remaining

Burnishing in solution above, are liable to be used up. What

Gold is left in the saucer after use is apt to be deficient
in its sticky parts, and it is best thrown away. Take
out of the jar only what is required at the time, and
mix a fresh lot the next time.

Bubbles, formed in the mixture, may be burst by a
needle, or by adding a minute drop of oil of cloves.

Methods of Laying the Size.—The parchment or
paper is laid flat on a table; if on a slope, the size
would run down and lie unevenly. A quill pen
with a finely cut nib and an extra long slit (about
I inch) is used for laying the size. It is filled pretty
full by means of a quill or a brush ; if by the latter,
special cate must be taken to avoid bubbles.

Experiments should be made in various methods.

I. Perhaps the best way of sizing small forms, so
that the size may set properly and the burnish retain
its brilliance, is to put on a thin coat with a pen—
in the direct manner in which coloured Versals are
made {q.v.)—and afterwards add two or three thin
coats, allowing each coat to dry thoroughly. This
requires considerable patience and skill, as it takes a
long time, and there is a danger, in adding several
coats, of spoiling the form by going over the edges
{For extra coats, or for large forms, a brush may be used).

II. The simplest method for ordinary gold letters
is to make them with one extra thick coat1 of size,
exactly like coloured Versals—first a natural pen
outline, and then the filling in (see fig. 81). This
requires some practice to do well, as the thicker size

* If this, as is not unlikely, will require twenty-four hours to
dry, make sure, before laying the size, that you will be able to lay
the gold-leaf on it at or near the same time on the next day (see

p. 117).

114

is more difficult to manage than the colour.1 Very Laying &

narrow parts—such as the thin strokes—are apt to Burnishing

be deficient in size, and therefore, while they are Gold
still wet, the pen—held nearly vertical with the nib
in contact with the surface of the size—is moved
slowly along it until the stroke has received sufficient
size and is properly filled out.

III. A method that may be found more con¬
venient for heavy forms, is to hold the pen across
the form to be gilded (which has previously been
marked on the parchment) with its nib resting on
the further outline {a, fig. 97). The nib being

Fig. 97.

moved along that line, by contact with the parch¬
ment restrains the size from passing beyond it, while
allowing it to flow out freely behind and below {a, 2).
The opposite side is similarly treated, and, if the
form be narrow, the size as it flows out blends with
that already laid {b). The ends of the form are
finished in like manner {c).

1 Should a drop fall on the page it can be removed quickly
with the knife, but it is safer to allow it to dry and then to
pick it off carefully. Size which has flowed beyond the bounds
of the form may be trimmed away when it has set.

115