Page:The museum, (Jackson, Marget Talbot, 1917).djvu/206

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176
THE MUSEUM

tion it needs. The opening in the front board should be slightly above the centre, as the eye in looking at a print has a tendency to make it look lower. This opening is usually cut with a bevelled edge. In Berlin a special machine has been made for this and the process is easy and simple. In our smaller collections the bevel is usually cut by hand, using a very sharp knife held slanting. Great dexterity and considerable strength are needed to make a good job of this hand cutting, and most curators of print departments would bless the inventor of a small and inexpensive machine that would do this more satisfactorily. In mounting the print, it is considered very bad museum practice to cut away any part of the paper on which the print is made. Oftentimes, therefore, a much larger mount is needed than the size of the print really calls for, in order to give an opportunity for storing the extra paper that the artist has thought best to use. The print is placed upon the mount, and marks made where the upper corners come. A thin gummed banknote paper such as is used for mending torn music or books is generally employed in mounting. This is easily removed, if necessary, and does not render illegible any marks that may be on the back of the print. The strip should be cut the full length of the print, folded in the