It is to be regretted that of late years the desire for beautifully coloured leathers has induced the need for much treatment before the dyes, mostly aniline, could be properly applied. In the course of this treatment there has been an undue use of sulphuric acid, and the presence of this acid is fatal to the lasting qualities of any leather. Attention has, however, been drawn to the evil from authoritative sources, and now sound leathers can be obtained, and it is to be hoped that the public will second the endeavours of the committee appointed by the Society of Arts by always insisting on the use of sound and certified leather to bind their valuable books in. BOOKS TO CONSULT. SOCIETY OF ARTS.--Report of the Committee on Leather for Bookbinding. _London_, 1905. LIBRARY ASSOCIATION.--Leather for Libraries. _London_, 1905. CHAPTER VIII. THE ORNAMENTATION OF LEATHER BOOKBINDINGS WITHOUT GOLD. Blind tooling and stamping--Panel stamps--Cut leather--Stained calf--Cut vellum--Transparent vellum. The true binding of a book consists of the sewing of the sections on bands, and the covering of leather is really wanted to protect the threads on the outer surfaces of the raised bands. But this is generally taken for granted, and now when we speak of the binding of a book we normally mean only the outside ornamentation. In short, the term has changed its meaning; so in the remainder of this chapter, when I speak of the “binding” of a book, it is to be understood as the generally accepted meaning: namely, those parts of the leather covering that are visible. From an artistic and æsthetic point of view we are justified in considering only the final ornamentation of a book binding. We rightly presume that in all great bindings, and even in the case of most good bindings, the technical procedures have all been truly and properly carried out. It is safe to presume this in the case of all bindings made before the latter half of the nineteenth century, but I regret to say that it is not safe to say it of bindings made then and later. There has been much improper use made of false bands, false headbands, “sawn in” backs, bad leather, and scamped sewing of sections even in books costing upwards of a hundred pounds for their bindings. The consideration of the ornamentation of leather bindings without the use of gold is of itself a large study, and one that has received much attention of late years. In the trade, ornamental outside work is called “finishing,” as distinct from the previous work, which is known as the “forwarding.” As a rule, now, these operations are not done by the same hands, but a finisher does the finishing only and makes it his speciality.