Marbling may be defined as the art of so arranging moist colors upon an elastic surface that they either will or can be made to readily assume sundry fantastic forms, such colors being transferable from the medium on which they lie to the edges of the book. The process, viewed by a casual spectator, appears wonderfully easy and simple; but it is, nevertheless, most difficult to describe or practice, and the tyro who attempts it must not be discouraged if he fails at first.

The tools required for marbling are a shallow wooden trough, about 2in. deep, and of size suited to your work, generally about 16in. to 20in. in length, and 6in. to 8in. wide will be large enough. It may be of pine, dovetailed at the corners, pitched along' the joints, and painted (Fig. 87). Sometimes zinc is the material of the trough.

A little round stick; several combs, of which the one for small Dutch (Fig. 88) is made of many short pieces of fine brass wire set between a couple of pieces of wood (see Fig. 89); a marble slab and muller for grinding; and an earthenware cup and small brush for each color.

Colors used in Marbling -The colors used for this purpose are the same as those ordinarily used for painting, both in oil and distemper, but you must procure them in their dry state, just as they are produced or manufactured, either in lump or powder, and grind them yourself; they may be obtained at almost any oil and color shop. We subjoin a list: Reds

drop lake, peach wood red, vermilion, rose pink, Oxford ochre (burnt); blues-indigo, Chinese blue, ultramarine, Prussian blue; yellows-lemon chrome, Dutch pink, Oxford ochre (raw), blacks -vegetable lampblack, drop ivory black; brown-Turkey umber (burnt); orange-orange lead, orange chrome; whites-china clay, pipeclay, flake white, Paris white,

All the colors must be well ground with a muller and marble slab in the manner prescribed in a former chapter for grinding sprinkle, It is of the greatest importance that the color should be ground until perfectly impalpable.

Drop Lake -This is the most beautiful, but the most expensive, of all the reds, and is used only for book edges and the most superior kinds of work. There are different shades of this color, viz., scarlet, crimson, and purple. The scarlet is the most expensive, and looks best on book edges, possessing a brilliancy which no other color will produce; but there is a great quantity of a very inferior kind of drop lake about which is of no use whatever to the marbler, as, when it comes to be worked, it is found to possess no body at all.

In order to ascertain whether the article you are about to purchase is likely to do, take a piece of the color, and, breaking it, apply the broken part to your tongue: if it adheres to your tongue, it is doubtful whether it will do; but if it takes up the moisture without manifesting any inclination to adhere, you may try it with better expectations. This color is sold in the form of small cones or drops, from which it derives its name, and is a preparation of cochineal, therefore the value of it depends much upon the price of that article.

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