Velvet is the most interesting, as its use is the most ancient, of any of these textile materials. It is strong and beautiful, the fur or pile being produced in a very curious manner. Two warps are used in the manufacture of the fabric, and small hollow brass wires, slightly flattened at the sides, and having a groove along the top, are inserted transversely under the raised “pile” warp at intervals as the weaving proceeds. These wires keep the thread in the form of upright loops, resembling those which can be seen on a Brussels carpet on a larger scale. The wires are then cut out by drawing a sharp specially-designed knife called a truvat along the groove at the top. The consequent separation of the warp threads which formed the rows of loops now forms the pile, each thread standing upright. It is wonderful how well velvet lasts, and what hard wear it will stand before all the pile is worn away. Books bound in velvet are not uncommon in Dutch work; they are sometimes inlaid in differently coloured velvets, and sometimes embroidered. In France books have rarely been bound in velvet, in Italy and in Germany still more rarely. In England, however, there has been a considerable output of velvet bindings. Examples still exist that were made in the fifteenth century for Henry VII., whose library was in all probability entirely bound in this material. Nothing earlier than Henry VII.’s books are now known of English bindings in velvet, but these are so fine that it is likely enough that earlier work of the kind was done in the case of very choice manuscripts. Not only are Henry VII.’s books, which are still in their original covers, in marvellously good condition, but they are also among the most decorative bindings that have ever been made, here or in any other country. Fine examples may be seen in the library at Westminster Abbey, at the Record Office, and in the British Museum, and in every case their beauty and interest well repay the trouble of obtaining access to them. These volumes all are in the same style, but they vary in detail. All I have seen are in red velvet, and have metal bosses in the centre and smaller ones in the corner. [Illustration: FIG. 77.--English embroidered book, velvet. Made for Henry VIII.]