in these instances it must be recognised that such a change can seldom
be made without serious detriment. It is chiefly indeed from some
incongruity of style or technical mistake in the re-putting together
that we are led to guess that the covers have been thus tampered with.
Now and then such a transference occurs in the case of leather-bound
books, and in such instances is usually easy for a trained binder to
detect. Embroidered covers, on the other hand, have rarely been changed,
the motive for such a proceeding never having been strong, and the risk
attending it being obvious enough. We may, in fact, feel tolerably sure
that the large majority of embroidered covers still remain on the boards
of the books they were originally made for.

All the embroidered books now extant dating from before the reign of
Queen Elizabeth have gone through the very unfortunate operation of
're-backing,' in the course of which the old embroidered work is
replaced by new leather. The old head and tail bands, technically very
interesting, have been replaced by modern imitations, and considerable
damage has been done in distorting the work left on the sides of the
book. It would seem obvious that a canvas, velvet, or satin embroidered
binding, if it really must be re-backed or repaired at all, should be
mended with a material as nearly as possible of the same make and colour
as that of the original covering; but this has rarely been done, the
large majority of such repairs being executed in leather. But in the
case of such old bindings we must be grateful for small mercies, and
feel thankful that even the sides are left in so many cases. It is
indeed surprising that we still possess as much as we do. If all our
great collectors had been of the same mind as Henry Prince of Wales, the
Right Hon. Thomas Grenville, or even King George III., we
should have been far worse off, as although several fine old bindings
exist in their libraries, many which would now be priceless have been