Gilding upon velvet is still practised a little in England; the service books used at the wedding of the present Prince of Wales were in red velvet with the royal monogram impressed in gold upon it. With the eighteenth century an end came to any great output of bindings in velvet, canvas or satin; now and then an isolated specimen is found, and the era of cloth bindings began in the nineteenth century. The main difference is that the earlier books in velvet, canvas or satin were always specially broad, but the cloth bindings were trade bindings from the beginning, with very few exceptions. At first backs of paper bound books were strengthened by pieces of ordinary linen or calico pasted over them, the title being added on a label; but a special cloth for binding purposes was made early in the century by James Leonard Wilson, and in 1822 Pickering’s Aldine Classics bound in that material were issued. This use of a special cloth was largely helped and fostered by Mr. Archibald Leighton, who made a speciality of it. The cloth was sometimes watered and sometimes plain. Cloth soon became a favourite binding for cheap books, and in time Wilson found a way of gilding upon it, probably by the use of dried and powdered albumen. Some of the early cloth bindings were ornamented by impressions from engraved cylinders, the pattern showing in low relief. The great pressure which was used to make this impression had so hardened the cloth as well as the boards upon which it is fixed, that many of the existing examples of the work are still in perfect condition. Then gradually came ornamentation stamped in gold on the sides and gold lettering on the back, and of recent years designs and pictures stamped in colours upon cloth, canvas and buckram have become common. Many of these designs are excellent, and the work required for them gives employment to a large number of designers as well as colour printers and block makers. Books bound in these materials look well and last well for a time, but they are essentially short-lived if handled much. About the middle of the nineteenth century numbers of small illustrated periodicals, landscape annuals, and the like were covered in watered silk, generally red, blue or green. These also do not last well; but if any copies that are still in a good state are found, they should be carefully preserved as they are, and not be rebound; they represent a type of binding that is by no means without charm. Perhaps the most important books which were originally issued in this form of cover were the two beautiful volumes of Rogers’ _Poems_ and _Italy_. They have gilt edges and are bound with flat open backs and sawn in bands.