Another Persian manner is that of using large metal stamps impressed with elaborate arabesques. The impressions from these stamps of course give a design in relief. The whole impression is generally gilded in various tints, and the small design itself is often picked out with a little colour. Many of these arabesque panel stamps are of wonderful beauty. Arabic and other Oriental bindings have a curious flap projecting from one of the boards, which covers and protects the front edges. The flaps are ornamented in the same way as the rest of the binding. The sewing and the paper of all these books is weak and light, but there is always work of much interest on the bindings. The backs are flat and the paste boards are thin and covered with very thin leather. They are usually ornamented inside and outside with blind and gilt work, stamped and cut work, and hand painting, in much variety. [Illustration: FIG. 53.--Oriental binding with flap.] The open work cut with a knife from thin leather is remarkable for its extraordinary precision and delicacy; it is usually in arabesques with small flowers, and often coloured by hand. It is always set on a background of colour, either painted or a bit of coloured paper. But the work is very frail, and panels of it are rarely found perfect. Oriental bindings are altogether weak, and they will not stand hard wear. Now we have, chiefly from America, machines that will do almost every one of the hand-operations for binding a book. There are sewing machines that only want to be fed with thread and the books to be sewn; there are casing machines of wonderful speed and accuracy, backing machines and binding machines. The only one thing that cannot yet be done by a machine is the pasting down the ends of the bands or tapes inside the boards. I rather think that many of these machines strain the paper badly, and also they require setting elaborately to a certain size. They are very useful for large, cheap editions, but little use for good miscellaneous work. Nothing is really so good as the old-fashioned sewing on raised bands by hand. BOOKS TO CONSULT. COCKERELL, D. Bookbinding. _London_, 1901. DAVENPORT, C. Cantor Lectures on Decorative Bookbinding. _London_, 1898. DAVENPORT, C. (Encyc. Brit. Article Bookbinding). _London_, 1902. DU SOMMERARD, A. Les arts au Moyen Age. _Paris_, 1838-46. GORI, A. F. Thesaurus vet. Diptychorum. _Florentiæ_, 1759. LABARTE, J. Hist. des Arts au Moyen Age. _Paris_, 1864. LIBRI, COUNT G. Catalogue. _Paris_, 1857. MADAN, F. Books in Manuscript. _London_, 1893. CHAPTER III. PAPER. Paper--Watermarks--Quiring.