Marbled Paper: Its History, Techniques, and Patterns (Publication of the A.S.W. Rosenbach Fellowship in Bibliography)

For 250 years after its introduction to Europe around 1600, the method of decorating paper known as marbling reigned supreme as the chief means of embellishing the fine work of hand-bookbinders.

Richard J. Wolfe reconstructs the rise and fall of the craft and offers the most comprehensive account available of its history, techniques, and patterns.

The history portion seems exhaustive, and I began to keel over with the descriptions of what happens when you marble (the paints form a 'lip' with the carragheenan to prevent them from blending together), but the color plates are worth the price of the book alone.

There are facsimiles of old German marbling swatch books (which I'd love to get a copy of).

This book is for those who love marbled paper (and fabrics) and who want to know about the history. Might not be the best First Book on marbling, but the process is best learned in a classroom setting, IMHO.