in every way we shall be able to add another improvement to the by it on paper about as fine and heavy as that used by the london journals without increasing its price although we have evidence that the art of waa pursued hy of those nations whose very names are now almost lost in the lapse of ages � witness the in the egyptian palace to prove its great antiquity � and has been practised more or less successfully by the nations of modem europe during several centuries yet it is only till within a very few years that it has been known in the united states for though the trade of waa probably introduced into this country with the first press yet its earliest footing here as an art dates back only a very few years to which all hooks were bound as s of peter fame were made � to sell and in each case with a result equally to the it would not perhaps be too much to assert that in no pursuit has such a general improvement recently taken place as in that under notice whether considered with regard to the greater of the the better materials used or above all to the more correct taste displayed at the present day both as regards the style of and of covering for as were all other defects yet in this latter essential was the greatest necessity for evident therefore it was that american gained scant at the great of � m fact the made at the time in london were by no means encouraging to future competition the justice of the condemnation however lay far more in the want of taste than in the quality of the though it has since been admitted that this latter was far from deserving to be considered as a favorable specimen of what could have been shown h american many of whom deemed b the great it folly to with the old and famous houses in europe where their so attained the dignity of au art and where of all of binding suitable to any kind of work are so easily accessible while in this country the majority of even our most celebrated lacking such are absolutely ignorant of the names and origin of the various practised in europe this deficiency in a knowledge of the first principles of their art has prevented many gentlemen of wealth and taste who have collected costly probably containing many rare works of early date from giving that legitimate encouragement to the which in other countries is so liberally bestowed the owners of such valuable works preferring to endure the reproach of meanness rather than see their highly volumes by and outward � a mortification to which several of our most distinguished have been subjected the truth of these wiu we venture to say not be disputed by those who are most deeply interested in this matter the themselves and although as before stated a great improvement in taste is perceptible here even within two years especially noticeable in one or two instances yet till the as a body have more thoroughly educated into a knowledge of their trade in all its bearings especially in the of the style of covering to the contents of the volume to be bound they will do well to imitate more closely foreign when they find themselves at a loss if in addition they would encourage among themselves and bestow and permanently rewards upon such as execute their work in the best taste we believe tlie trade would speedily be to an extent little anticipated estimated by the display in the crystal palace our views are certainly by no means borne out but this arises from the fact that the nations of europe with the exception of one or two specimens from england have not entered the field as rivals we should have been pleased to have had an opportunity of comparing the merits of our best with men of such reputation as cape and other eminent french artists of the present day and we likewise regret that the less splendid but more works of the best english houses such as and others have not a single representative at our world s pair to enable us to judge of their merits we do find a solitary specimen from france and the few from england are on the whole inferior to those in the american department and as the british worthy of any notice are so few in number we will proceed to dispose of them first a collection of books exhibited by mr h g the eminent affords decidedly the best of to be found in the english department we do not know by what house they were done as the s name is not given nor do we suppose they were sent as model specimens of english but merely consist of a random selection from the large stock of the and are placed there we think rather to show the different adopted in for various kinds of work than for any other purpose foremost among the display stands s british in two volumes bound in green of beautiful quality and grain they are ornamented with a rich border composed of heavy rolls and of a style very appropriate for large and richly illustrated works there are a other in this case all and richly bound and serving to show a good and appropriate style for costly intended for valuable many and otherwise might also profit considerably by examining the smaller books containing sundry volumes of s classical and standard in calf extra calf antique and other suitable for library as mere specimens they are by no means remarkable still they generally look well and are all in correct taste mr of has a large volume entitled scotland which at least in the attention of most persons in that department of the building it is bound in red 