66 advance over old methods than the present styles of leather binding compared with the uncouth and badly-finished "half-calf extra" and "half-calf antique" of ten or fifteen years ago. While the half-calf extra style-generally consisting of a light leather back and corners finished with gold tooling," and marbled paper sides--is still used by publishers for their regular trade bindings, those booksellers who come in contact with the best class of buyers now find it to their advantage to exercise some individual taste in these library bindings, and a vast improvement in the character and the originality of such work is the result. Calf, morocco (both "turkey" and "levant"), seal, and alligator leathers are now used in both "half," "three-quarter," and "full" bindings, these bindings, these designations expressing the amount of leather used, the sides of the book in half and three-quarter binding being covered with marble paper. Tree calf" binding was, a few years since, scarcely done at all in this country, while now much of this work executed in New York and Boston will compare very favorably with the finest grade of imported bindings. It is, however, in the general "finish" of the "extra bindings” and in the good taste shown in the "tooling" and lettering that so marked an improvement may be perceived in this department of book-manufacture. In this class of binding the work is all done by hand, and much therefore depends upon the skill and accuracy of the "finisher," while in cloth-binding, after the general design of the book has been decided upon, the execution of the work is mechanical. Illustrations.-There are now a number of methods of making book illustrations. These may be named-about in the order of their cost-as follows: 1. Photo-engraving. 2. Wood-cutting. 3. Photo-lithographic and Heliotype. 4. Lithographic. 5. Copper Plate. 6. Steel Plate. Each of these methods has its own special advantages, and to describe them in full would require a large volume. We can only touch here upon the several peculiarities of the different operations. Photo-engraving.—Illustrations made by this method can, like wood-cuts, be printed at the same time as the text of a book, a material advantage. The design, usually made much larger than the prepared plate, is photographed to the proper size upon a plate of type metal. The plate is now immersed in a bath of acid which eats away all the white of the design, the lines of the drawing being protected from the action of the acid by a preparation of varnish, and the design is thus left in relief. The plate is now mounted upon a block so as to be "type high," and it can be inserted in the page and printed with the type. For simple black-and-white drawings, diagrams, mechanical work, such as buildings, machinery, etc., this process is excellent, while the cost is materially less than that of a wood-cut. The objections to it for book illustrations are that it fails to produce either the strength or delicacy of the wood-cut, while it cannot utilize an ordinary photograph until it has been redrawn in plain black-and-white. Wood-cuts. Formerly it used to be the custom for the artist to make his design with pencil or brush directly upon the block to be engraved. Now, however, much greater freedom to the artist is possible, for he can make his drawing as large as he may please, and it is then photographed upon the block to the proper size. This freedom, however, of course necessitates a much more comprehensive treatment on the part of the engraver, and its introduction has brought about a higher grade of wood-engraving than was possible under the old mechanical methods. In woodcutting, as in photo-engraving, every thing that is to appear white in the design is cut away, while the black and gray lines are left in relief. It is not easy to make a comparison in regard to the relative expense of the two methods, because this greatly depends upon the character of the design from which an illustration is to be made. With the photo-plate it is of little consequence how great the detail of the drawing may be so long as this appears in plain black and white lines. In the wood-cut, however, the expense is entirely dependent upon this matter of detail, an intricate design of three inches square costing perhaps more than another of three times the size but of more open character. Photo-lithographic and Heliotype processes both produce somewhat the effect of a photograph, and for a certain class of illustration their use may be advantageous. The objection to them, however, is that they must be printed separately and not with the text of the book, and the expense of producing them is thus considerable, while the cost of binding is increased by the necessity of pasting in separate sheets of illustrations. The use of these methods can only, as a rule, be recommended for books of limited editions. Lithograph. In lithography the illustration is engraved and printed upon stone. For the finer description of medical plates, and for colored designs of fruits, flowers, and foliage, this method is most effective. The printing is, however, very slow and expensive work, as the sheet has to pass through the press separately for each color. Copper and Steel Plate.-Books illustrated by means of etchings on copper present, if the work be artistically done, the most thoroughly satisfactory method of producing the tone and feeling of the artist's design. In etching the copper wax. plate is covered with a coating of thick, prepared varnish or The surface being now smoked, the artist draws his design upon the blackened surface, after which the lines are cut through the varnish with a sharp-pointed instrument. The plate is then covered with acid, which eats away the copper where the lines are drawn through the wax, leaving the rest of the plate intact. Aside from the drawing, much here depends, in the result, upon the good judgment of the artist in the length of time he permits the acid to act; if the action is too long the plate may be entirely ruined. The cost of making the Steel Plate is much greater than that of the etching, the design in this case being cut upon the steel with great labor and care with a tool called the graver. This is the most expensive method of making a book illustration, and is now rarely used except for portraits. Both the etching and steel-engraving require much time to print, and are thus expensive for ordinary book-illustrating purposes. Moreover the same objection exists as to their use as with the photo-lithographic engraving-the printing having to be done by a separate process, and not with the text of the book. Works for Readers and Buyers of Books. etc. 17th 1000. THE BEST READING. A CLASSIFIED AND PRICED BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR EASY REFERENCE. With Hints on the Selection of Books, the Formation of Libraries, on Courses of Reading, First Series, covering English and American Publications prior to 1877. Seventeenth Edition, entirely rewritten, and brought down to August, 1877, with the addition of priced lists of the best books in French, German, Spanish and Italian Literature. Edited by F. B. PERKINS. Octavo, paper, $1 00; cloth extra, $1 50 Second Series, covering the Publications of the Five Years ending December 31, 1881. Edited by Lynde E. Octavo cloth, JONES. $I OO By far the best work of the kind."-College Courant. "We know of no manual that can take its piace."-N. Y. Independent. "Invaluable alike for readers, buyers and sellers of books."-Fort Wayne Gazette. THE LIBRARY COMPANION. Forming an Annual Supplement to the "Best Reading,” volumes I, II, III, IV, and V. Comprising the Publications of 1877, '78, '79, '80, and '81, with Classified Indexes. Octavo, boards, each, $0 50 "Please send a duplicate set of the LIBRARY COMPANION; our volumes are worn out with constant usage."-H. P. JAMES, Librarian, Free Library, Newton, Mass. HINTS FOR HOME READING. A series of papers by EDWARD EVERETT HALE, F. B. PERKINS, H. W. BEECHER, CHAS. DUDLEY WARNER, JOSEPH COOK, LYMAN ARBOTT, M. J. Sweetser, CYRUS HAMLIN, H. W. MABIE, and others, edited by LYMAN ABBOTT; together with a new edition of "Suggestions for Libraries,” with first, second and third lists of 500, 500 and 1,000 volumes, recommended as the most important and desirable; forming volume XVIII in PUTNAM'S Handy-Book Series. Twelvemo, cloth $1 00; boards, "It should be in the hands of every reader in the country. * uable."-Boston Transcript. $0 75 Its suggestions are inval G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, 27 & 29 WEST 23d STREET, NEW YORK, |