Note 3 — MODERN ENGLISH BINDING

With tooled edges the leaves of the book are gilt as usual, and while still in the press, the head, tail and foredge are worked over with ‘tools’ that are open in character, the finer ones being preferable. These tools must be slightly warmed, so that the impression may be firm. Sometimes the edge is tooled on the gold before burnishing, when the impressed pattern will naturally be of a different colour to the burnished part, as the burnisher will glide over the indentations. At others a different-coloured gold is laid on the top of the first and tooled upon, when the pattern will be left in the new gold on the original colour.