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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;2manybooks, post: 871967, member: 8267&quot;]2many&#039;s partner here. Jivvy is correct. This is a &#039;finishing tool&#039; called, simply enough, a &#039;type holder&#039;, for holding type or ornaments to decorate leather bindings. You clamp brass or hard metal (not ordinary lead) type in the tool, heat the brass parts, place gold leaf over prepared leather (see below - these days we use a manufactured foil that requires no pretreatment) and gently but firmly sort of roll the type carefully over the foil on the surface to be printed. A book is normally held spine-up in a backing press for the procedure, but it can also be done to the covers. You can also omit the gold and &#039;blind-tool&#039; the lettering, as shown in Jivvy&#039;s picture. Holders like this were convenient for titling editions or multi-volume sets, where the same name or word is stamped repeatedly - for single volumes, many binders find it easier to use individual letter tools, if their hands are steady enough. </p><p><br /></p><p>Talas still offers a good variety of finishing tools: <a href="https://www.talasonline.com/tools-and-equipment/brassfinishing" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.talasonline.com/tools-and-equipment/brassfinishing" rel="nofollow">https://www.talasonline.com/tools-and-equipment/brassfinishing</a></p><p><br /></p><p>The process is called &#039;tooling&#039; or &#039;gold tooling&#039;. Embossing, stamping, and printing are different though similar processes. </p><p><br /></p><p>Here&#039;s a website with more info on the process: <a href="https://www.adelaide.edu.au/library/special/exhibitions/victorian-bindings/cabinet3/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.adelaide.edu.au/library/special/exhibitions/victorian-bindings/cabinet3/" rel="nofollow">https://www.adelaide.edu.au/library/special/exhibitions/victorian-bindings/cabinet3/</a></p><p>&quot;Gold tooling differs significantly from embossing, stamping and blocking as it is done with hand bookbinding finishing tools, not in an arming press.&nbsp; Bookbinders use tools such as ornaments, fillets, rolls, pallets or gouges (as seen in the cabinet alongside the Library&#039;s Imperial press) to first blind-tool the cloth or leather, creating a surface impression without any gold or ink.&nbsp; The area to be gold-tooled is then sized with a paste wash and glair (egg-albumen and vinegar or water) and once dry, a thin layer of “grease”, often olive oil, is applied, along with a layer of gold leaf.&nbsp; Tooling can then begin.&nbsp; The heated tools reactivate the glair and grease, causing the gold leaf to adhere whilst also coagulating the glair into a tough, insoluble adhesive.&nbsp; Any excess gold is then brushed away and residue grease is removed, usually with French chalk.&quot;[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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