Josef Halfer

“ Often from small beginnings, within a longer or shorter period of time, great enterprises spring into existence, which greatly further our development in culture, science and arts, and are blessings to the whole civilized world. The material welfare arising from them renders it necessary that new champions continuously enter the arena and combat in the cause of progressive industry.
The industries of color and paper making which play most important parts in the art of marbling shall be the first subjects of my essay. ”

“ It is wonderful how man through the vigor of his intellect, tears from nature her hidden treasures which have lain in obscurity for thousands and thousands of years.
Who would have thought, that the antediluvian vegetation with its splendor of thousands of colors should celebrate its resurrection in aniline colors which by their splendid qualities of richness and intensity over-shadowed everything before them? It is a pity that we are only able to use these colors in limited numbers in our trade. ”

“ The art of marbling is that branch of our trade, in which color is brought into use for the decoration of bindings, yet it has not found the desirable general introduction into our book-binderies because practical men have not so intently employed their time and endeavors, to overcome the difficulties, which resist its general application. ”

“ It is an obstacle to marbling, that the gall mixes so easily with the size. It often happens that the gall spoils the size before an edge was ever produced on it. This happens especially when the size on which the colors are prepared according to the old [66] method, is too thick. The size is frequently soiled and spoiled when the colors are prepared, because the colors can not be perfectly drawn off on thick size. There will always remain some particles which will not only soil the size but impregnate it with gall, and which will cause the entire uselessness of size and color. ”

“ If such a coloring substance is ground in the finest way possible, the division of the body is a very great one, but an intimate union of the particles can never take place because first, the color is insoluble in water and, second, because the division (diminution) of a body has its limits. For this reason particles are isolated and lay loosely alongside of each other.
If a mineral color is mixed with the necessary amount of water and gall and thrown upon the size the drop expands to a round disc, which upon close investigation, is found to consist of numberless small dots. ”

“ Many of my colleagues are of the opinion, that marbled edges are inferior to drawn edges, but this is a great mistake, and here we are able to show in what directions the marbling art is able to develop to its full glory. ”

“ Every color manufactory possesses another system to produce its products, and after thousands of experiments I was finally forced to resort to chemistry for the purpose of gaining a knowledge of the raw products viz: earths, metals, acids, bases and their conditions and qualities in order to study their compositions and precipitations, the coloring composite of lake colors and their bodies, and to subject them to investigation on their effects on marbling size. ”

“ All colors which we intend to use for marbling must be bound to bodies absolutely insoluble in water; it is therefore a mistake to say, that the colors dissolve in water. You may grind the color on a marble slab or in a machine as long as you please, but you will only obtain a great degree of fineness of the bodies but never a dissolution of the same.
Each body possesses its limit of divisibility; in amorphous bodies the high divisibility is but natural, but in crystalline bodies this division must be produced by grinding or washing. ”

“ Bodiless colors, which give a complete solution [65] with water will run into each other on being thrown on the size and will flow from the paper when it is lifted off. The insolubility of the color bodies therefore prevents them from running although they are disarranged on the size in drawing and although one color may be compressed or expanded by a second, yet they all remain separate without mixing, except, perhaps, that the shade of the first color becomes more intense, because its color particles are pushed together by the more violent expansion of the second color. ”

“ The gall is added during the process of grinding the color, so that the particles of colors are fully surrounded by the gall. The gall has an excellent effect on the colors but it also can act very injuriously if the necessary precautions are not taken. Carelessness is mostly the reason that the edges do not possess the demanded lustre of color and why they appear pale, as the marbler often uses the gall too soon when he notices the smallest obstacle, (due in most cases to the size.) It is therefore not astonishing that brilliant comb or peacock-edges are so rarely seen. ”

“ It is therefore impossible without a more thorough knowledge of the chemistry of colors to find from the legion of colors, which are thrown upon the market, the ones best adapted to our art. So much more so as, in most recent times, by simplification in the manufacture of most colors their quality, for marbling, has most essentially deteriorated. ”

“ The separation of colors by white and black is most decidedly more profitable and effective, than [130] a marble in which the different variegated colors immediately touch each other. It is therefore advisable always to take black as the ground-color, white will be produced without adding any coloring matter whatever by the drawing of the colors with the stylus.
Black is the ground-color, upon which all the rest, blue, yellow, red are thrown; it is understood, that they must expand in the proper proportion, to produce a clear marble. ”

“ The expanding power and lightness of ox-gall are, consequently, peculiarities of equal value. Marbling size forms the base for the colors, which by the consistency of the glutinous mass and by the gall added to them are prevented from sinking to the bottom. They float like drops of oil upon the water and only differ from them by the fact that the colors will spread out on the size, while the drops of oil on the water are contracted to circular spots of small size. If a drop of oil were thrown upon the size it would spread out very quickly. ”

“ The application of color in the art of marbling gives us certainly extraordinary freedom and a wide range to our fancy, but nevertheless there are certain principles or laws necessary to make the colors appear in an effective and beautiful way. Those tones of color which lie between yellow and reddish yellow are called warm, those between blue and the middle of reddish blue, cold colors. In the center lies red by its strength and effectiveness forming the dividing line between the warm and cold. ”

“ As in nature, a shadow is formed by obstructing the light, so in the technic of coloring the shadow is obtained by the annihilation of the light-color. By combination of a primary color with a harmonizing secondary color of equal strength, we obtain the right shadow tone of the first color. In this way, by experiments in mixing, the right shadow tones, which form in a multi-colored edge, the gradual transitions of primary colors can be easily detected. ”

“ It is an easy manipulation to prepare ox-gall, so that it does not decompose, but on the other hand a much greater attention must be paid to the binding and expanding powers of the same, as [8] they may have, in spite of its excellent qualities for color, by insufficient caution in their handling the most deleterious influences on the colors as well, as on the sizing and in most cases are the causes of the failure of the edging. There are several substances, which possess qualities similar to ox-gall and many others which possess only its expansibility. ”

“ If the colors are rightly prepared in proportion to their expansibilities in relation to each other, the new size is to be poured into the trough and the marbling may begin. [26]
The mistake which is commonly made in marbling is, that too little attention is paid to the size and color. Frequently the size is soiled and the colors are spoiled by adding too much gall before an edge is produced. For this there are generally three causes, either the size is too fresh, too thick or the colors have been prepared on the same size by which the edges are to be produced. ”

“ For brown and black the well known colors umber, sepia, vegetable lamp-black, drop ivory-black and others are employed.
The color for producing violet edges can be best obtained by mixing cobalt-blue with Turkish-red or carmine.
It is always the most essential part of the process to grind the color uniformly with the paste, if it is desirable to obtain an edge of the same intensity of color.
A peeling off of the color while the edges are being burnished is due to a lack of paste, or of a too great consistency or too insufficient fineness of the color. ”

“ As I have already mentioned the insolubility of glycocholic acid binds the color to the paper. To explain this I will mention a few examples; the saturated alum solution will cause glycocholic acid to curdle. If, therefore, we add to ox-gall [62] which is basic the saturated solution of alum, a soft plaster-like mass is precipitated which consists of glycocholate of aluminium, insoluble in water. This chemical reaction explains the durability of the colors. If we desire to marble books or papers we impregnate them with alum water, allow them to dry partly and take the edge from the size. ”

“ For such kinds of sizes the earth colors are preferable but only for marbled edges.
The normal strength of size can be discerned [25] without araometer or other recommended apparatus. My opinion is that 2/5 of an ounce of good carrageen moss to a quart of water are sufficient, as carrageen excels all other glutinous bodies by the quantity of mucilage contained in it. To test the correct strength of the size pour some of it into a flat vessel, as a plate or dish, and throw a drop of color upon it; if the color does not spread out, but rather sinks down a drop of ox-gall must be added. ”

“ Take 3/5 of an ounce of ivory-black add 1/6 of an ounce of a thick solution of gum, grind the whole mixture with a mixture of shellac-ammonia which has been diluted with a little water. If the color is ground perfectly fine it is diluted with the [142] solution of shellac-ammonia and is ready for use. Should it not be powerful enough to force the colors into veins, a few more drops of gall must be added. This body color is likewise thrown on by the aid of the large bristle brush as all other body colors. ”

“ He is the only one to find the remedy, scientific men not possessing sufficient technical knowledge. Only he is ready and able to stand up for such special trades, to work and to fight for them, who is himself interested and who not only learned to understand the art of marbling from former instructions and traditions, but from his own practical experience. ”

“ Among the great number of numeral colors there are many which in spite of their amorphous properties are bad marbling colors, such as the compounds of copper, zinc and arsenic. Often it depends upon the manner of manufacturing, even if the [7] color have a good body whether it can be used by us, as, for instance, white lead and barium both of which can be produced as good or useless colors. ”

“ From this time on I had a foundation, upon which to continue my investigations with greater surety. Finally I succeeded in finding that the colors named later on are good and useful marbling colors.
When we look over the different special branches of our trade, we find everywhere great progress, [86] which is even noticeable in the smallest workshop. Already, these wonderful achievements have become common property, only the art of marbling stood still on account of insufficient instruction and it has not made any progress in the last decade. ”

“ The preparation of ox-gall to be used in marbling is simple. Take a quart of fresh bile (ox-gall or fish-gall) , place in a bottle which contains when filled from 1-1/2 to 2 quarts, add 1/2 pint of absolute alcohol, shake well and leave stand for from 14 days to 3 weeks. Within this time all particles of gum and all fatty substances which are present in some galls in comparatively large quantities, will fall to the bottom and the gall will be thin-fluid, pure and diaphanous, brownish, yellow or greenish according to the nourishment of the animal from which it was taken. ”

“ The grinding of a color is done mostly by apprentices as the time of a journeyman would be too valuable. In most cases this part of the preparation gives the greatest trouble, since the colors are seldom gotten to that fineness necessary to marbling. This is easily explained as the grinding demands practice and a certain perseverance. From the point of view that time is money, the majority of book-binders concluded to use ready ground colors and this was profitable to them as they could buy them better and finer ground and much cheaper. ”

“ The manufacture of colored paper makes a second branch of industry indispensable and one which stands on as high a stage of development as the paper industry; this is the manufacture of colors, which deserve the greatest attention on our part on account of the marbling art. ”

“ The consistency of the size is also materially influenced by the temperature, the warmer, the less substantial and the more pliable; the colder, the more consistent and stiff it is.
A good marbling size should be an entirely homogeneous mucilage, i. e., a solution, which should be free of any vestiges of seeds or strings undissolved. A less viscous size is more adapted to the production of comb-edges, while a more viscous size to the production of marbled or veined edges. ”

“ The laws for this are founded on the peculiarity of the power of man's vision. The eye, demands to be satisfied, an accord of primary colors. Red requires to annihilate one sided irritation the two primary colors, yellow and blue. The secondary green is obtained by a combination of yellow and blue, for that reason green is the color demanded by red to please the eye. But there must be a contrast of colors, for instance light red and dark green or dark red and light green must be brought together. ”

“ If we add to hard water a quantity of sodium or potassium, the carbonate of lime is precipitated as a white or yellowish powder, according to the quantity of iron contained in the water, and a soft water remains.
The sun produces on a great scale in nature, what the chemist achieves on a smaller scale by evaporation or precipitation and cooling of steam, a water free of all mineral salts, which we call distilled water. ”