Bookbinding. Edited by Paul N. Hasluck. (Cassell and Co. 15.)—We
have had the opportunity from time to time of com- mending to our readers a very useful periodical bearing the title of Work. This little volume reproduces some of its contents. "This handbook," says the preface, "contains, in a form convenient for everyday use, a comprehensive digest of the information on Bookbinding, scattered over nearly twenty thousand columns of Work." The directions and suggestions are illustrated with diagrams, pictures of machines, &c. We do not see in the index any mention of cost, nor do we wonder that the subject is omitted. But there is much that the outsider finds it difficult to under- stand. Quite elegant cloth bindings are produced in large quantities at 40. per copy, but a single book cannot be bound under three times that sum. Leather bindings of small volumes, again, are produced for less than a shilling, but they cannot be obtained for less than three times that sum. Bookbinding, in fact, is too costly for the ordinary purse, and much good matter perishes in consequence.
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