St. Nicholas (serial) (1873) (14578684258)

Identifier: stnicholasserial112dodg (find matches)

Title: St. Nicholas (serial)

Year: 1873 (1870s)

Authors: Dodge, Mary Mapes, 1830-1905

Subjects: Children's literature

Publisher: (New York : Scribner & Co.)

Contributing Library: Information and Library Science Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Digitizing Sponsor: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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r the reliefmay be. In this, as in all the minor arts, it is, ofcourse, advisable to finish off as neatly as pos-sible ; but it is far more important to have gooddesigns and show the free and confident touchof an artist. The very great majority of peopleprefer more finish, as in machine-made work,to autographic or, as I may say, autochiric touch,which is that which shows the hand of the worker.In the great ages of art, when it was shown ineverything, elegant design and autochirism, or the to detect any joining, particularly if the edge begilt. As regards wetting down, I may observethat, if possible, the whole pattern should beworked off at one sitting, or while the leather iswet. But if this can not be done, then keep aclean sponge and a small basin of clean waterby you, and dampen the leather as you work. Every book-binder has waste pieces of coloredleather which may be used for mosaic. Thesmallest bits may be used for leaves, ornaments,or portions of work, since, when pasted on, the

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evidence of the hand itself, were most prized. Towork well, it is not necessary to have many andexpensive tools and costly material ; but to do thebest you can with what you have. There is another kind of sheet-leather workcalled mosaic, or applique. This consists in cut-ting out patterns of thin, colored leather, andpasting or gumming them on the ground. Then,the ground and pattern at the edge being slightlywet, the edge is to be tooled down into the leatherwith the wheel, which has an edge like a dime. Ifthis is done with great care, it will be impossible seams hardly show, and in large work, as for door-panels, this is of no consequence. If you intendto produce duplicate work, it will be often worthwhile to have some ornamental patterns cut outof tin or sheet-brass. You can then, with scissorsor penknife, cut them out by the stencil. It isnot difficult to learn to design patterns. I haveknown many young ladies to insist that they couldnever learn to do so, who, in a few weeks, suc-

st nicholas 1884 book illustrations north carolina science antique pattern library images from internet archive

1873

State Library of North Carolina

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public domain