The Washington times., 1902-10-19

with pair of small pliers. ACIDS are
used to give the metal the appearance
of age.
There are number of books in ex.
istence which. while they possess no
especial value from an artistic stand
point. are still sufficiently interesting TO
command attention. There is a book In
England, the account of a murder trial.
which is bound in the skin of the mur-
derer: and there is another bound In
human skin. to be seen in the National
Museum. A local doctor has in his
library a medical work bearing cover
of very much discolored white silk This
unsightly binding becomes OF more than
passing interest, however. when one il
told that the cloth once formed part
of the shroud of a high Government Of
fetal. whose body fell a prey to gravs
robbers and became dissecting room
subject" A captain of the civil war,
who lost his left leg as the result Of
2 wound received in the field, wrote an
| account of the engagement and pre-
sented 1t to his colonel, bound in the
skin of the amputated member. He had
persuaded the surgeon to preserve the
| leg N salt until his recovery.
There seems to be considerable dis
oussion among noted authors as to the
relative merits of English and Amer
:can bookbinGing. MoreIy Roberto,
Eden Philpots. and Gilbert Parker are
loud in their praise of American work.
but Israel Zangwill. George Bernard
Shaw. and others defend the British
craftsman. Miss Emily Preston, who
has studied bookbinding with the best
teachers of America and Europe. says,
in the American Printer" Tor March:
Bookbinding in America.
There is an extraordinary interest In
bookbinding in America 1t has grown
with amazing quickness. Americans
have money to buy with. and they are
learning what to buy. They know good
work now and demand 1t. OF course,
the public for bookbinding is. even at
its broadest. limited one. Fine bind
ings mean big prices, but the apprecia-
tion is growing. even among those who
cannot afford to buy. Our standard OF
bookmaking does not come up to that
Of England, but we were later In start
Ing, and we haven't the museums Of
arts and crafts, nor the teachers. In
ordinary commercial bookbinding, the
designer Is the only workman who is Of
much individual Importance. 1 can't see
that there is much pecuniary advantage
to girl in superficial study OF book
binding. She can make more money at
other work, but there Is room at the
top. The demand for really good work
is increasing, and I believe the book
binder of genuine ability has a future
here"
Appreciation Increasing.
The appreciation OF good bindings 10
undoubtedly increasing. Compare the
sombre bindings of books produced dur
ing the last generation with those Of
today. An early addition of Coleridge's
Ancient Mariner in its binding Of
brown cloth, appears cheap and shoddy
when laid beside one of the delicate de
luxe volumes of Kipling OF THE Rubai-
yat," yet either of the latter may be
had for considerably less than the orig
inal cost of the former. large mum.
Der of even the cheapest books OF to-
day are tastefully. if not well bound.
even If at the sacrifice OF good printing
and paper. One sees books selling as
low as 25 cents. bearing cover designs
by the most famous designers. Cheap
hooks are no longer to be found only il
paper bindings, and this has awakened
in those who care only fer the lower
class OF literature, an appreciation OF
cood bookmaking which shoul'. elevate
their tastes along other lines, as well
as in literature. 1t is to be hoped that
the oookbinding of the future will re
as far in advance of that of today as
our books are in advance Of those Of
the past generation, and that the art
may not suffer a period of retrograde
as did that of china decora-
lion during the early part of the last
century.