Laying & only sLould the actual letters under operation be so pro-

Burnishing tected, but where a quantity are sized ready for gilding

Gold on Pag>' these should be protected also, as well as

any parts already finished; for breath not only moistens
but warms, and on warm size moisture condenses less
easily. If the work to be done presently is so warmed,
it will be found more difficult to deal with when its time
comes. The first work done in the day is often the best,
and for this reason, that the size for it is cool; but in

gilding this portion one almost necessarily warms that to

be done later. Two pages, where possible, should there¬
fore be gilded alternately, one coolir g while a portion of
the other is gilded. Or thin plates of metal, or even
cardboard, may be placed about as shields to protect all
surfaces not under actual operation.

Superfluous gold is best removed by dusing lightly
with an old and very clean and dry silk handkerchief.
Indiarubber will certainly remove gold from the vellum,
but it will as certainly dim any part of the gilding it
touches. If the vellum was properly pounced to start
with the silk will easily remove all the leaf unstuck,
except little odds and ends, and these are safeliest taken
away with the point of a knife.

As the pressure of burnishing helps the leaf to stick, it
is best to wait till the letter has been burnished before
this dusting. Such spots as are visible ungilded may be
afterwards treated with a slight breath and transfer gold-
leaf, or gold dust, may be painted on them. In the latter
case the spots must be most carefully burnished, if bur¬
nished at all, or their surroundings will be scratched.

When a gold letter is to be set on a coloured back¬
ground, or in the neighbourhood of colour, it is best put
on after the colour; as may be observed was the method
occasionally with the old books. If the gold is put on first,
it will certainly be dimmed by warmth and breath during
the colouring. On the other hand, if it is put on last,
great care must be taken that the gold-leaf shall not stick
to the coloured portions. Where possible, a stencil

136

pattern of the parts to be gilded should be cut out of Laying &

paper. This is easily made from a pencil rubbing taken Burnishing

after the size is laid, the raised pattern being of course Gold
cut out carefully a trifle larger than the outline so obtained.

The paper is then laid over all the work, and the sized
portions showing through the cuttings can be gilded
without injury to the colour.

All gilded work should be retained, if possible, tor a
week or more, and then re-burnished. And in burnishing
generally the burnisher should not be used, even when the
size is hard, with any great force or pressure at first. For
the size in drying sets as if moulded, and this mould
cannot be squeezed about or actually crushed without
being loosened or cracked. Throughout the whole pro¬
cess a gent’e and vigilant alacrity is required. Success
will com easily if it means to come. It cannot be forced

to come. , ., ,

The binder of a book with gilding in it should be
warned to press the sheets as little as possible, and to
use all his care in handling it, so as to keep moisture,
warmth, and fingering from the gold. The folding of
the sheets, when left to him, should also be done rather
differently from usual, for all gilded pages need to be
kept as flat as possible. None of the sizes in use seem
capable of resisting bending of their surfaces without
crimping or cracking. Where there is much gilding, the
book will be the better for being sewn with a zigzag
through the sections, as this helps to “guard ’ the gilded
work.

» Vide D. Cockerell, “Bookbinding and the Care of Books,
p. 81.

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