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+The Project Gutenberg eBook of In quest of the perfect book
+
+This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and 
+most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions 
+whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms 
+of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online 
+at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, 
+you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located 
+before using this eBook.
+
+
+Title: In quest of the perfect book
+
+Subtitle: Reminiscences & reflections of a bookman
+
+Author: William Dana Orcutt
+
+Release Date: September 14, 2023 [eBook #71634]
+
+Language: English
+
+Credits: Terry Jeffress, Tim Lindell and the Online Distributed
+         Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+         produced from images generously made available by The Internet
+         Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK
+***
+
+
+
+
+
+                    _IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK_
+
+
+
+
+               A book is a portion of the eternal mind
+                 caught in its progress through the world
+                 stamped in an instant, and preserved for
+                 eternity.--_Lord Houghton_ (1809-1885)
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: QUEEN MARY’S PSALTER, English, 14th Century
+
+_The Last Judgement_
+
+(Brit. Mus. Royal MS. 2B vii, 11 × 7 inches)]
+
+
+
+
+                     IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK
+
+                             REMINISCENCES
+                             & REFLECTIONS
+                             OF A BOOKMAN
+
+                          WILLIAM DANA ORCUTT
+
+
+         [Illustration: William Dana Orcutt’s printer’s mark]
+
+
+                     PUBLISHED · MCMXXVI · BOSTON
+                        LITTLE, BROWN & COMPANY
+
+
+
+
+                  Copyright, 1926, _by_ Little, Brown
+                  and Company · _All rights reserved_
+
+                                  ·.·
+
+                Printed in the United States of America
+                       Published September, 1926
+
+                                  ·.·
+
+                        Reprinted October, 1926
+                       Reprinted November, 1926
+
+
+
+
+          THE AUTHOR is indebted to the _Atlantic Monthly_
+            for permission to reprint as the first chapter
+            of this volume an essay which originally
+            appeared in that magazine; to the _Christian
+            Science Monitor_ for permission to use, in
+            quite different form, certain material which
+            has been drawn upon in literary editorials
+            written by him for its columns; to Alban
+            Dobson, _Esq._, G. Bernard Shaw, _Esq._, Henry
+            James, _Esq._, _Mrs._ Anne Cobden-Sanderson,
+            and others, for permission to print personal
+            letters and photographs.
+
+
+
+
+                              _To_ ITALY
+                That great Country whose Master-Spirits
+                  in Art, Typography, and Literature
+                     have contributed most toward
+                           THE PERFECT BOOK
+                       this Volume is Dedicated
+
+
+
+
+                     FOREWORD TO THE THIRD EDITION
+
+
+Years ago, I prepared what seemed to me a splendid Foreword to my first
+novel, and was much chagrined when I was urged to leave it out. At the
+time, the comment that came with the advice seemed a bit brutal: “A
+Foreword is an admission on the part of an author that he has failed to
+tell his story, or is an insult to the intelligence of his readers.”
+Since then my own feelings have come in such complete accord that the
+request of my publishers for a Foreword to this Third Edition comes
+as a surprise. But, after all, this is not my story, but the story of
+the Book, so, as recorder, I must recognize my responsibility. I have
+claimed that this story was Romance, but since writing it, Romance has
+allied itself to Drama, for the Gutenberg Bible, a copy of which sold
+in February for a record price of $120,000, in September achieved the
+stupendous value of $305,000! Surely the Book has come into its own!
+
+After devoting a lifetime to printing as an art, I have naturally
+been gratified to discover that so large and friendly an army of
+readers exists to whom books mean something more than paper and type
+and binders’ boards. To many of my readers, the ideas advanced in this
+volume apparently have been novel, but appealing: “I have been over the
+books in my library,” writes one, “and find many that now take on new
+significance.” Another says, “I feel that I have missed much, all these
+years, in not knowing how fascinating the story of the Book itself
+really is.” Then there are those who are good enough to say that the
+story of my adventures has helped to place the art of printing where it
+rightfully belongs.
+
+Some of my reviewers and some correspondents seem seriously to think
+that I believe the Quest to be ended. Think of the tragedy of having so
+alluring an adventure become an accomplished fact,--even granting that
+it were possible! Where is the Perfect Book to be found? In the words
+of the author or in the heart of the reader? In the design of a type
+or in the skill of the typographer or the binder? In the charm of the
+paper or in the beauty of the illumination or illustration? It must, of
+course, be in the harmonious combination of all of these, but the words
+of an author which find a place in one reader’s heart fail to interest
+another; the design of a type that is appropriate to one book is not
+equally expressive in all.
+
+The word _perfection_ has no place in our language except as an
+incentive. To search for it is an absorbing adventure, for it quickens
+our senses to perceive much that would otherwise be lost. If perfection
+could become commonplace, the Quest would end,--and God pity the world!
+Until then each of us will define the Perfect Book in his own words,
+each of us will seek it in his own way.
+
+A writer _may_ be born who combines the wisdom of Solomon, the
+power of analysis of Henry James, the understanding of Plato, the
+philosophy of Emerson, and the style of Montaigne. This manuscript
+_may_ be transformed into a book by a printer who can look beyond
+his cases of type, and interpret what Aldus, and Jenson, and Etienne,
+and Plantin saw, with the artistic temperament of William Morris and
+the restraint of Cobden-Sanderson. There _may_ be a binding that
+represents the apotheosis of Italian, French, and English elegance.
+A reader _may_ be developed through the evolution of the ages
+competent to appreciate the contents and the physical _format_
+of such a volume, “for what we really seek is a comparison of
+experiences.”
+
+Until then the Quest will continue, going constantly onward and upward.
+Its lure will keep us from slipping back upon false satisfaction and a
+placid but--shall I say?--a dangerous contemplation of the humanistic
+idyll.
+
+                                            _William Dana Orcutt_
+
+
+
+
+                               CONTENTS
+
+
+      I. IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK                            1
+           Gutenberg
+           Aldus Manutius
+           Guido Biagi
+           Ceriani
+           Pope Pius XI
+           Sir Sidney Colvin
+
+     II. THE KINGDOM OF BOOKS                                   35
+           Eugene Field
+           John Wilson
+           Mary Baker Eddy
+           Bernard Shaw
+
+    III. FRIENDS THROUGH TYPE                                   73
+           Horace Fletcher
+           Henry James
+           William James
+           Theodore Roosevelt
+           T. J. Cobden-Sanderson
+
+     IV. THE LURE OF ILLUMINATION                              109
+           Byzantine Psalter
+           Lindisfarne Gospels
+           Alcuin Bible
+           Golden Gospels of St. Médard
+           Psalter of St. Louis
+           Queen Mary’s Psalter
+           Bedford Book of Hours
+           Grimani Breviary
+           Antiquities of the Jews
+           Hours of Francesco d’Antonio
+           Hours of Anne of Brittany
+
+      V. FRIENDS THROUGH THE PEN                               151
+           Maurice Hewlett
+           Austin Dobson
+           Richard Garnett
+           Mark Twain
+           Charles Eliot Norton
+           William Dean Howells
+
+     VI. TRIUMPHS OF TYPOGRAPHY                                191
+           The Beginnings. Germany--The _Gutenberg Bible_
+           Supremacy of Italy
+               Nicolas Jenson: Augustinus: _De Civitate Dei_
+               Aldus Manutius: _Hypnerotomachia Poliphili_
+           Supremacy of France
+               Robert Étienne: The _Royal Greeks_
+           Supremacy of the Netherlands
+               Christophe Plantin: The _Biblia Polyglotta_
+               The Elzevirs: _Terence_
+           Supremacy of England
+               John Baskerville: _Virgil_
+           Supremacy of France (second)
+               The Didots: _Racine_
+           Supremacy of England (second)
+               William Morris: The _Kelmscott Chaucer_
+               Cobden-Sanderson: The _Doves Bible_
+
+    VII. THE SPELL of the LAURENZIANA                          271
+
+    INDEX                                                      301
+
+
+
+
+                             ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+  English Illumination, 14th Century. From _Queen Mary’s
+    Psalter_, Brit. Mus. Royal MS. 2B vii
+    (in colors and gold)                                      _Frontis._
+
+  John Gutenberg. From Engraving by Alphonse Descaves.
+    Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris                                 page 6
+
+  Aldus Manutius. From Engraving at the British Museum                10
+
+  _Dott. Comm._ Guido Biagi. Seated at one of the
+    _plutei_ in the Laurenziana Library, Florence (1906)              14
+
+  Hand-written Humanistic Characters. From Sinibaldi’s
+  _Virgil_, 1485. Laurenziana Library, Florence                       16
+
+  Specimen Page of proposed Edition of Dante. To be printed by
+    Bertieri, of Milan, in Humanistic Type                            19
+
+  Jenson’s Roman Type. From Cicero: _Rhetorica_, Venice, 1470         22
+
+  Emery Walker’s Doves Type. From _Paradise Regained_,
+    London, 1905                                                      23
+
+  Autograph Letter from Charles Eliot Norton                          31
+
+  Illuminated Page of Petrarch’s _Triumphs_. Set in Humanistic
+    Type designed by the Author                                       32
+
+  Autograph Page of Eugene Field Manuscript. From _Second Book of
+    Verse_, New York, 1892                                            39
+
+  Autograph Verse in Field’s own Copy of _Trumpet and Drum_           41
+
+  John Wilson in 1891. Master-Printer                                 42
+
+  Page of Horace Fletcher Manuscript                                  77
+
+  Giambattista Bodoni. From Engraving at the Bibliothèque
+    Nationale, Paris                                                  78
+
+  The Bodoni Letter compared with the Didot Letter                    81
+
+  Horace Fletcher in 1915                                             82
+
+  Autograph Letter from Henry James to Horace Fletcher                87
+
+  Mirror Title. From Augustinus: _Opera._ 1485. Laurenziana
+    Library, Florence                                                 94
+
+  T. J. Cobden-Sanderson. From Etching by Alphonse Legros, 1893       96
+
+  Carved Ivory Binding, Jeweled with Rubies and Turquoises. From
+    _Psalter_ (12th Century). Brit. Mus. Eger. MS. 1139              112
+
+  Byzantine Illumination (11th Century). _Psalter_ in Greek.
+    Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 19352                                        118
+
+  Celtic Illumination (8th Century). _Lindisfarne Gospels._
+    Brit. Mus. Cotton MS. Nero D. iv                                 124
+
+  Carolingian Handwriting (9th Century). _Alcuin Bible._
+    Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 10546                                        126
+
+  Carolingian Illumination (9th Century). _Golden Gospels of
+    St. Médard._ Bibl. Nat. MS. Lat. 8850                            128
+
+  Gothic Illumination (13th Century). Miniature Page from the
+    _Psalter of St. Louis_. Bibl. Nat. MS. Lat. 10525                130
+
+  Gothic Illumination (13th Century). Text Page from the
+    _Psalter of St. Louis_. Bibl. Nat. MS. Lat. 10525                132
+
+  English Illumination (14th Century). _Queen Mary’s Psalter._
+    Brit. Mus. Royal MS. 2B. vii                                     134
+
+  French Illumination (15th Century). _Bedford Book of Hours._
+    Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 18850                                        136
+
+  French Renaissance Illumination (15th Century). _Antiquities
+    of the Jews._ Bibl. Nat. MS. Français 247                        138
+
+  Flemish Illumination (15th Century). Miniature Page from the
+    _Grimani Breviary_. Bibl. S. Marco, Venice                       142
+
+  Flemish Illumination (15th Century). Text Page from the
+    _Grimani Breviary_. Bibl. S. Marco, Venice                       144
+
+  Italian Illumination (15th Century). _Book of Hours_, by
+    Francesco d’Antonio. R. Lau. Bibl. Ashb. 1874                    146
+
+  French Illumination (16th Century). Miniature from _Hours of
+    Anne of Brittany_. Bibl. Nat. MS. Lat. 9474                      148
+
+  French Illumination (16th Century). Text Page from _Hours of
+    Anne of Brittany_. Bibl. Nat. MS. Lat. 9474                      150
+
+  Order for Payment of 1050 _livres tournois_ to Jean Bourdichon
+    for the _Hours of Anne of Brittany_, 1508                        152
+
+  Autograph Letter from Maurice Hewlett                              161
+
+  Autograph Poem by Austin Dobson                                    167
+
+  Mark Twain. At the Villa di Quarto, Florence, 1904.
+    From a Snap-shot                                                 170
+
+  Autograph Letter from Mark Twain. With Snap-shot of Villa di
+    Quarto                                                           172
+
+  Autograph Letter from William Dean Howells                         185
+
+  Part of a Page from the Vellum Copy of the _Gutenberg Bible_.
+    Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris                                    195
+
+  Rubricator’s Mark at end of First Volume of a Defective Copy of
+    the _Gutenberg Bible_, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris             196
+
+  Rubricator’s Mark at end of Second Volume of a Defective Copy of
+    the _Gutenberg Bible_, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris             197
+
+  Gutenberg, Fust, Coster, Aldus Manutius, Froben. From Engraving
+    by Jacob Houbraken (1698-1780)                                   198
+
+  John Fust. From an Old Engraving                                   199
+
+  Device and _Explicit_ of Nicolas Jenson                            203
+
+  Jenson’s Gothic Type. From Augustinus: _De Civitate Dei_,
+    Venice, 1475                                                     205
+
+  Device of Aldus Manutius                                           208
+
+  Grolier in the Printing Office of Aldus. After Painting by
+    François Flameng. Through Courtesy the Grolier Club, New
+    York City                                                        208
+
+  Text Page from Aldus’ _Hypnerotomachia Poliphili_, Venice, 1499    211
+
+  Illustrated Page from Aldus’ _Hypnerotomachia Poliphili_,
+    Venice, 1499                                                     212
+
+  Grolier Binding. Castiglione: Cortegiano. Aldine Press, 1518.
+    Laurenziana Library, Florence                                    212
+
+  Grolier Binding. Capella: _L’Anthropologia._ Aldine Press,
+    1533. Laurenziana Library, Florence                              214
+
+  Robert Étienne. From Engraving by Étienne Johandier Desrochers
+    (c. 1661-1741)                                                   217
+
+  Title Page showing Étienne’s _Royal Greeks_, Paris, 1550           220
+
+  Text Page Showing Étienne’s Roman Face                             222
+
+  Text Page showing Étienne’s _Royal Greeks_, from _Novum Jesu
+    Christi D. N. Testamentum_, Paris, 1550                          222
+
+  Christophe Plantin. From Engraving by Edme de Boulonois (c. 1550)  225
+
+  Title Page of Plantin’s _Biblia Polyglotta_, Antwerp, 1568         228
+
+  Page of Preface of Plantin’s _Biblia Polyglotta_, Antwerp,
+    1568                                                             229
+
+  Text Pages of Plantin’s _Biblia Polyglotta_, Antwerp, 1568         230
+
+  Second Page of Plantin’s _Biblia Polyglotta_, Antwerp, 1568        232
+
+  Device of Christophe Plantin                                       236
+
+  Title Page of Elzevir’s _Terence_, Leyden, 1635                    241
+
+  Text Pages of Elzevir’s _Terence_, Leyden, 1635                    242
+
+  John Baskerville                                                   244
+
+  Title Page of Baskerville’s _Virgil_, Birmingham, 1757             247
+
+  Text Page of Baskerville’s _Virgil_, Birmingham, 1757              249
+
+  Engraving from Didot’s _Racine_, Paris, 1801. By Prud’hon          253
+
+  Title Page of Didot’s _Racine_, Paris, 1801                        253
+
+  Opening Page of Didot’s _Racine_, Paris, 1801                      255
+
+  Text Page of Didot’s _Racine_, Paris, 1801                         256
+
+  Firmin Didot. From Engraving by Pierre Gustave Eugène Staal
+    (1817-1882)                                                      256
+
+  William Morris. From Portrait by G. F. Watts, R. A., in
+    the National Portrait Gallery, London. Painted in 1880           258
+
+  Sir Edward Burne-Jones, Bart. From a Photograph at the British
+    Museum                                                           260
+
+  Text Page of _Kelmscott Chaucer_, 1896                             262
+
+  Title Page of _Doves Bible_, London, 1905                          265
+
+  Text Page of _Doves Bible_, London, 1905                           267
+
+  The _Sala Michelangiolo_, in the Laurenziana Library,
+    Florence                                                         276
+
+  _Dott. Comm._ Guido Biagi, in 1924                                 278
+
+  Vestibule of the Laurenziana Library, Florence                     280
+
+  Miniature Page from the _Biblia Amiatina_, R. Lau. Bibl.
+    Cod. Amiatinus I                                                 288
+
+  Antonio Magliabecchi                                               293
+
+  Library Slips used by George Eliot while working on _Romola_
+    in Magliabecchian Library, Florence                              296
+
+
+
+
+                                   I
+
+                     IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK
+
+
+“Here is a fine volume,” a friend remarked, handing me a copy of _The
+Ideal Book_, written and printed by Cobden-Sanderson at the Doves
+Press.
+
+“It is,” I assented readily, turning the leaves, and enjoying the
+composite beauty of the careful typography, and the perfect impression
+upon the soft, handmade paper with the satisfaction one always feels
+when face to face with a work of art. “Have you read it?”
+
+“Why--no,” he answered. “I picked it up in London, and they told me it
+was a rare volume. You don’t necessarily read rare books, do you?”
+
+My friend is a cultivated man, and his attitude toward his latest
+acquisition irritated me; yet after thirty years of similar
+disappointments I should not have been surprised. How few, even among
+those interested in books, recognize the fine, artistic touches
+that constitute the difference between the commonplace and the
+distinguished! The volume under discussion was written by an authority
+foremost in the art of bookmaking; its producer was one of the few
+great master-printers and binders in the history of the world; yet the
+only significance it possessed to its owner was the fact that some one
+in whom he had confidence had told him it was rare! Being rare, he
+coveted the treasure, and acquired it with no greater understanding
+than if it had been a piece of Chinese jade.
+
+“What makes you think this is a fine book?” I inquired, deliberately
+changing the approach.
+
+He laughed consciously. “It cost me nine guineas--and I like the looks
+of it.”
+
+Restraint was required not to say something that might have affected
+our friendship unpleasantly, and friendship is a precious thing.
+
+“Do something for me,” I asked quietly. “That is a short book. Read
+it through, even though it is rare, and then let us continue this
+conversation we have just begun.”
+
+A few days later he invited me to dine with him at his club. “I asked
+you here,” he said, “because I don’t want any one, even my family, to
+hear what I am going to admit to you. I have read that book, and I’d
+rather not know what you thought of my consummate ignorance of what
+really enters into the building of a well-made volume--the choice
+of type, the use of decoration, the arrangement of margins. Why,
+bookmaking is an art! Perhaps I should have known that, but I never
+stopped to think about it.”
+
+One does have to stop and think about a well-made book in order to
+comprehend the difference between printing that is merely printing and
+that which is based upon art in its broadest sense and upon centuries
+of precedent. It does require more than a gleam of intelligence to
+grasp the idea that the basis of every volume ought to be the thought
+expressed by the writer; that the type, the illustrations, the
+decorations, the paper, the binding, simply combine to form the vehicle
+to convey that expression to the reader. When, however, this fact is
+once absorbed, one cannot fail to understand that if these various
+parts, which compositely comprise the whole, fail to harmonize with the
+subject and with each other, then the vehicle does not perform its full
+and proper function.
+
+I wondered afterward if I had not been a bit too superior in my
+attitude toward my friend. As a matter of fact, printing as an art has
+returned to its own only within the last quarter-century. Looking back
+to 1891, when I began to serve my apprenticeship under John Wilson at
+the old University Press in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the broadness
+of the profession that I was adopting as my life’s work had not as
+yet unfolded its unlimited possibilities. At that time the three great
+American printers were John Wilson, Theodore L. De Vinne, and Henry O.
+Houghton. The volumes produced under their supervision were perfect
+examples of the best bookmaking of the period, yet no one of these
+three men looked upon printing as an art. It was William Morris who in
+modern times first joined these two words together by the publication
+of his magnificent Kelmscott volumes. Such type, such decorations, such
+presswork, such sheer, composite beauty!
+
+This was in 1895. Morris, in one leap, became the most famous printer
+in the world. Every one tried to produce similar volumes, and the
+resulting productions, made without appreciating the significance of
+decoration combined with type, were about as bad as they could be. I
+doubt if, at the present moment, there exists a single one of these
+sham Kelmscotts made in America that the printer or the publisher cares
+to have recalled to him.
+
+When the first flair of Morris’ popularity passed away, and his
+volumes were judged on the basis of real bookmaking, they were
+classified as marvelously beautiful _objets d’art_ rather than
+books--composites of Burne-Jones, the designer, and William Morris,
+the decorator-printer, co-workers in sister arts; but from the
+very beginning Morris’ innovations showed the world that printing
+still belonged among the fine arts. The Kelmscott books awoke in me
+an overwhelming desire to put myself into the volumes I produced. I
+realized that no man can give of himself beyond what he possesses,
+and that to make my ambition worth accomplishing I must absorb and
+make a part of myself the beauty of the ancient manuscripts and the
+early printed books. This led me to take up an exhaustive study of the
+history of printing.
+
+[Illustration: JOHN GUTENBERG, _c._ 1400-1468
+
+From Engraving by Alphonse Descaves
+
+Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris]
+
+Until then Gutenberg’s name, in my mind, had been preëminent. As
+I proceeded, however, I came to know that he was not really the
+“inventor” of printing, as I had always thought him to be; that he
+was the one who first foresaw the wonderful power of movable types as
+a material expression of the thought of man, rather than the creator
+of anything previously unknown. I discovered that the Greeks and the
+Romans had printed from stamps centuries earlier, and that the Chinese
+and the Koreans had cut individual characters in metal.
+
+I well remember the thrill I experienced when I first realized--and
+at the time thought my discovery was original!--that, had the Chinese
+or the Saracens possessed Gutenberg’s wit to join these letters
+together into words, the art of printing must have found its way to
+Constantinople, which would have thus become the center of culture and
+learning in the fifteenth century.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+From this point on, my quest seemed a part of an Arabian Nights’ tale.
+Cautiously opening a door, I would find myself in a room containing
+treasures of absorbing interest. From this room there were doors
+leading in different directions into other rooms even more richly
+filled; and thus onward, with seemingly no end, to the fascinating
+rewards that came through effort and perseverance.
+
+Germany, although it had produced Gutenberg, was not sufficiently
+developed as a nation to make his work complete. The open door led
+me away from Germany into Italy, where literary zeal was at its
+height. The life and customs of the Italian people of the fifteenth
+century were spread out before me. In my imagination I could see the
+velvet-gowned agents of the wealthy patrons of the arts searching
+out old manuscripts and giving commissions to the scribes to prepare
+hand-lettered copies for their masters’ libraries. I could mingle with
+the masses and discover how eager they were to learn the truth in
+the matter of religion, and the cause and the remedies of moral and
+material evils by which they felt themselves oppressed. I could share
+with them their expectant enthusiasm and confidence that the advent of
+the printing press would afford opportunity to study description and
+argument where previously they had merely gazed at pictorial design.
+I could sense the desire of the people for books, not to place in
+cabinets, but to read in order to know; and I could understand why
+workmen who had served apprenticeships in Germany so quickly sought
+out Italy, the country where princes would naturally become patrons of
+the new art, where manuscripts were ready for copy, and where a public
+existed eager to purchase their products.
+
+While striving to sense the significance of the conflicting elements
+I felt around me, I found much of interest in watching the scribes
+fulfilling their commissions to prepare copies of original manuscripts,
+becoming familiar for the first time with the primitive methods of
+book manufacture and distribution. A monastery possessed an original
+manuscript of value. In its _scriptorium_ (the writing office) one
+might find perhaps twenty or thirty monks seated at desks, each with a
+sheet of parchment spread out before him, upon which he inscribed the
+words that came to him in the droning, singsong voice of the reader
+selected for the duty because of his familiarity with the subject
+matter of the volume. The number of desks the _scriptorium_ could
+accommodate determined the size of this early “edition.”
+
+When these copies were completed, exchanges were made with other
+monasteries that possessed other original manuscripts, of which copies
+had been made in a similar manner. I was even more interested in the
+work of the secular scribes, usually executed at their homes, for it
+was to these men that the commissions were given for the beautiful
+humanistic volumes. As they had taken up the art of hand lettering from
+choice or natural aptitude instead of as a part of monastic routine,
+they were greater artists and produced volumes of surpassing beauty. A
+still greater interest in studying this art of hand lettering lay in
+the knowledge that it soon must become a lost art, for no one could
+doubt that the printing press had come to stay.
+
+Then, turning to the office of Aldus, I pause for a moment to read the
+legend placed conspicuously over the door:
+
+    _Whoever thou art, thou art earnestly requested by Aldus to
+    state thy business briefly and to take thy departure promptly.
+    In this way thou mayest be of service even as was Hercules
+    to the weary Atlas, for this is a place of work
+                     for all who may enter_
+
+[Illustration: ALDUS MANUTIUS, 1450-1515
+
+From Engraving at the British Museum]
+
+But inside the printing office I find Aldus and his associates talking
+of other things than the books in process of manufacture. They are
+discussing the sudden change of attitude on the part of the wealthy
+patrons of the arts who, after welcoming the invention of printing,
+soon became alarmed by the enthusiasm of the people, and promptly
+reversed their position. No wonder that Aldus should be concerned as
+to the outcome! The patrons of the arts represented the culture and
+wealth and political power of Italy, and they now discovered in the new
+invention an actual menace. To them the magnificent illuminated volumes
+of the fifteenth century were not merely examples of decoration,
+but they represented the tribute that this cultured class paid to
+the thought conveyed, through the medium of the written page, from
+the author to the world. This jewel of thought they considered more
+valuable than any costly gem. They perpetuated it by having it written
+out on parchment by the most accomplished scribes; they enriched it
+by illuminated embellishments executed by the most famous artists;
+they protected it with bindings in which they actually inlaid gold and
+silver and jewels. To have this thought cheapened by reproduction
+through the commonplace medium of mechanical printing wounded their
+æsthetic sense. It was an expression of real love of the book that
+prompted Bisticci, the agent of so powerful a patron as the Duke of
+Urbino, to write of the Duke’s splendid collection in the latter part
+of the fifteenth century:
+
+    _In that library the books are all beautiful in a superlative
+    degree, and all written by the pen. There is not a single one
+    of them printed, for it would have been a shame to have one of
+    that sort._
+
+Aldus is not alarmed by the solicitude of the patrons for the beauty
+of the book. He has always known that in order to exist at all
+the printed book must compete with the written volume; and he has
+demonstrated that, by supplying to the accomplished illuminators
+sheets carefully printed on parchment, he can produce volumes of
+exquisite beauty, of which no collector need be ashamed. Aldus knows
+that there are other reasons behind the change of front on the part
+of the patrons. Libraries made up of priceless manuscript volumes
+are symbols of wealth, and through wealth comes power. With the
+multiplication of printed books this prestige will be lessened, as the
+masses will be enabled to possess the same gems of thought in less
+extravagant and expensive form. If, moreover, the people are enabled
+to read, criticism, the sole property of the scholars, will come into
+their hands, and when they once learn self-reliance from their new
+intellectual development they are certain to attack dogma and political
+oppression, even at the risk of martyrdom. The princes and patrons of
+Italy are intelligent enough to know that their self-centered political
+power is doomed if the new art of printing secures a firm foothold.
+
+What a relief to such a man as Aldus when it became fully demonstrated
+that the desire on the part of the people to secure books in order to
+learn was too great to be overcome by official mandate or insidious
+propaganda! With what silent satisfaction did he settle back to
+continue his splendid work! The patrons, in order to show what a poor
+thing the printed book really was, gave orders to the scribes and the
+illuminators to prepare volumes for them in such quantities that the
+art of hand lettering received a powerful impetus, as a result of which
+the hand letters themselves attained their highest point of perfection.
+This final struggle on the part of the wealthy overlords resulted only
+in redoubling the efforts of the artist master-printers to match the
+beauty of the written volumes with the products from their presses.
+
+These Arabian Nights’ experiences occupied me from 1895, when Morris
+demonstrated the unlimited possibilities of printing as an art, until
+1901, when I first visited Italy and gave myself an opportunity to
+become personally acquainted with the historical landmarks of printing,
+which previously I had known only from study. In Florence it was my
+great good fortune to become intimately acquainted with the late Doctor
+Guido Biagi, at that time librarian of the Laurenziana and the Riccardi
+libraries, and the custodian of the Medici, the Michelangelo, and the
+da Vinci archives. I like to think of him as I first saw him then,
+sitting on a bench in front of one of the carved _plutei_ designed
+by Michelangelo, in the wonderful _Sala di Michelangiolo_ in the
+Laurenziana Library, studying a beautifully illuminated volume resting
+before him, which was fastened to the desk by one of the famous old
+chains. He greeted me with an old-school courtesy. When he discovered
+my genuine interest in the books he loved, and realized that I came as
+a student eager to listen to the master’s word, his face lighted up and
+we were at once friends.
+
+[Illustration: _Dott. Comm._ GUIDO BIAGI
+
+Seated at one of the _plutei_ in the Laurenziana Library, Florence
+(1906)]
+
+In the quarter of a century which passed from this meeting until his
+death we were fellow-students, and during that period I never succeeded
+in exhausting the vast store of knowledge he possessed, even though
+he gave of it with the freest generosity. From him I learned for the
+first time of the far-reaching influence of the humanistic movement
+upon everything that had to do with the _litteræ humaniores_, and
+this new knowledge enabled me to crystallize much that previously had
+been fugitive. “The humanist,” Doctor Biagi explained to me, “whether
+ancient or modern, is one who holds himself open to receive Truth,
+unprejudiced as to its source, and--what is more important--after
+having received Truth realizes his obligation to the world to give it
+out again, made richer by his personal interpretation.”
+
+This humanistic movement was the forerunner and the essence of the
+Renaissance, being in reality a revolt against the barrenness of
+mediævalism. Until then ignorance, superstition, and tradition had
+confined intellectual life on all sides, but the little band of
+humanists, headed by Petrarch, put forth a claim for the mental freedom
+of man and for the full development of his being. As a part of this
+claim they demanded the recognition of the rich humanities of Greece
+and Rome, which were proscribed by the Church. If this claim had been
+postponed another fifty years, the actual manuscripts of many of the
+present standard classics would have been lost to the world.
+
+The significance of the humanistic movement in its bearing upon the
+Quest of the Perfect Book is that the invention of printing fitted
+exactly into the Petrarchian scheme by making it possible for the
+people to secure volumes that previously, in their manuscript form,
+could be owned only by the wealthy patrons. This was the point at which
+Doctor Biagi’s revelation and my previous study met. The Laurenziana
+Library contains more copies of the so-called humanistic manuscripts,
+produced in response to the final efforts on the part of patrons to
+thwart the increasing popularity of the new art of printing, than any
+other single library. Doctor Biagi proudly showed me some of these
+treasures, notably Antonio Sinibaldi’s _Virgil_. The contrast
+between the hand lettering in these volumes and the best I had ever
+seen before was startling. Here was a hand letter, developed under the
+most romantic and dramatic conditions, which represented the apotheosis
+of the art. The thought flashed through my mind that all the types in
+existence up to this point had been based upon previous hand lettering
+less beautiful and not so perfect in execution.
+
+“Why is it,” I demanded excitedly, “that no type has ever been designed
+based upon this hand lettering at its highest point of perfection?”
+
+[Illustration: HAND-WRITTEN HUMANISTIC CHARACTERS
+
+From Sinibaldi’s _Virgil_, 1485
+
+Laurenziana Library, Florence (12 × 8 inches)]
+
+Doctor Biagi looked at me and shrugged his shoulders. “This, my
+friend,” he answered, smiling, “is your opportunity.”
+
+At this point began one of the most fascinating and absorbing
+adventures in which any one interested in books could possibly engage.
+At some time, I suppose, in the life of every typographer comes the
+ambition to design a special type, so it was natural that the idea
+contained in Doctor Biagi’s remark should suggest possibilities which
+filled me with enthusiasm. I was familiar with the history of the best
+special faces, and had learned how difficult each ambitious designer
+had found the task of translating drawings into so rigid a medium as
+metal; so I reverted soberly and with deep respect to the subject of
+type design from the beginning.
+
+In studying the early fonts of type, I found them exact counterfeits
+of the best existing forms of hand lettering at that time employed
+by the scribes. The first Italic font cut by Aldus, for instance, is
+said to be based upon the thin, inclined handwriting of Petrarch. The
+contrast between these slavish copies of hand-lettered models and the
+mechanical precision of characters turned out by modern type founders
+made a deep impression. Of the two I preferred the freedom of the
+earliest types, but appreciated how ill adapted these models were
+to the requirements of typography. A hand-lettered page, even with
+the inevitable irregularities, is pleasing because the scribe makes a
+slight variation in forming the various characters. When, however, an
+imperfect letter is cut in metal, and repeated many times upon the same
+page, the irregularity forces itself unpleasantly upon the eye. Nicolas
+Jenson was the first to realize this, and in his famous Roman type he
+made an exact interpretation of what the scribe intended to accomplish
+in each of the letters, instead of copying any single hand letter, or
+making a composite of many hand designs of the same character. For this
+reason the Jenson type has not only served as the basis of the best
+standard Roman fonts down to the present time, but has also proved
+the inspiration for later designs of distinctive type faces, such as
+William Morris’ Golden type, and Emery Walker’s Doves type.
+
+[Illustration: Specimen Page of proposed Edition of Dante.
+
+To be printed by Bertieri, of Milan, in Humanistic Type (8¼ × 6)]
+
+William Morris’ experience is an excellent illustration of the
+difficulties a designer experiences. He has left a record of how he
+studied the Jenson type with great care, enlarging it by photography,
+and redrawing it over and over again before he began designing his own
+letter. When he actually produced his Golden type the design was far
+too much inclined to the Gothic to resemble the model he selected.
+His Troy and Chaucer types that followed showed the strong effect of
+the German influence that the types of Schoeffer, Mentelin, and Gunther
+Zainer made upon him. The Doves type is based flatly upon the Jenson
+model; yet it is an absolutely original face, retaining all the charm
+of the model, to which is added the artistic genius of the designer.
+Each receives its personality from the understanding and interpretation
+of the creator (_pages 22, 23_).
+
+[Illustration: Jenson’s Roman Type. From Cicero: _Rhetorica_, Venice,
+1470 (Exact size)]
+
+[Illustration: Emery Walker’s Doves Type. From _Paradise Regained_,
+London, 1905 (Exact size)]
+
+From this I came to realize that it is no more necessary for a type
+designer to express his individuality by adding or subtracting from his
+model than for a portrait painter to change the features of his subject
+because some other artist has previously painted it. Wordsworth once
+said that the true portrait of a man shows him, not as he looks at any
+one moment of his life, but as he really looks all the time. This is
+equally true of a hand letter, and explains the vast differences in the
+cut of the same type face by various foundries and for the typesetting
+machines. All this convinced me that, if I were to make the humanistic
+letters the model for my new type, I must follow the example of Emery
+Walker rather than that of William Morris.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+During the days spent in the small, cell-like alcove which had been
+turned over for my use in the Laurenziana Library, I came so wholly
+under the influence of the peculiar atmosphere of antiquity that I
+felt myself under an obsession of which I have not been conscious
+before or since. My enthusiasm was abnormal, my efforts tireless. The
+world outside seemed very far away, the past seemed very near, and I
+was indifferent to everything except the task before me. This curious
+experience was perhaps an explanation of how the monks had been able to
+apply themselves so unceasingly to their prodigious labors, which seem
+beyond the bounds of human endurance.
+
+My work at first was confined to a study of the humanistic volumes in
+the Laurenziana Library, and the selection of the best examples to
+be taken as final models for the various letters. From photographed
+reproductions of selected manuscript pages, I took out fifty examples
+of each letter. Of these fifty, perhaps a half-dozen would be almost
+identical, and from these I learned the exact design the scribe
+endeavored to repeat. I also decided to introduce the innovation of
+having several characters for certain letters that repeated most
+frequently, in order to preserve the individuality of the hand
+lettering, and still keep my design within the rigid limitations of
+type. Of the letter _e_, for instance, eight different designs
+were finally selected; there were five _a_’s, two _m_’s,
+and so on (see illustration at _page 32_).
+
+After becoming familiar with the individual letters as shown in the
+Laurenziana humanistic volumes, I went on to Milan and the Ambrosiana
+Library, with a letter from Doctor Biagi addressed to the librarian,
+Monsignor Ceriani, explaining the work upon which I was engaged, and
+seeking his co-operation. It would be impossible to estimate Ceriani’s
+age at that time, but he was very old. He was above middle height, his
+frame was slight, his eyes penetrating and burning with a fire that
+showed at a glance how affected he was by the influence to which I have
+already referred. His skin resembled in color and texture the very
+parchment of the volumes he handled with such affection, and in his
+religious habit he seemed the embodiment of ancient learning.
+
+After expressing his deep interest in my undertaking, he turned to a
+publication upon which he himself was engaged, the reproduction in
+facsimile of the earliest known manuscript of Homer’s _Iliad_.
+The actual work on this, he explained, was being carried on by his
+assistant, a younger priest whom he desired to have me meet. His own
+contribution to the work was an introduction, upon which he was then
+engaged, and which, he said, was to be his swan song, the final
+message from his soul to the world.
+
+“This, I suppose, is to be in Italian?” I inquired.
+
+He looked at me reproachfully. “No, my son,” he answered, with deep
+impressiveness; “I am writing my introduction in Latin, which, though
+called a dead language, will be living long after the present living
+languages are dead.”
+
+Ceriani placed at my disposal the humanistic volumes in the Ambrosiana,
+and introduced me to his assistant, whose co-operation was of the
+utmost value in my work. I was particularly struck by the personality
+of this younger priest. He was in close touch with affairs outside the
+Church, and asked searching questions regarding conditions in America.
+He spoke several languages with the same facility with which he spoke
+his own Italian. His knowledge of books and of bookmaking, past and
+present, surprised me. All in all, I found him one of the most charming
+men I have ever met. His name was Achille Ratti, and when he became
+Bishop of Milan in 1921, and was elevated to the College of Cardinals
+two months later, I realized how far that wonderful personality was
+taking him. One could scarcely have foreseen, however, that in less
+than a year from this time he would become Pope Pius XI.
+
+When, after my drawings were completed, I returned to America, I took
+up the matter of the type design with Charles Eliot Norton, my old
+art professor at Harvard, then _emeritus_. Professor Norton was
+genuinely interested in the whole undertaking, and as the proofs of
+the various punches later came into my hands he became more and more
+enthusiastic.
+
+I had arranged to use this type in a series of volumes to be published
+in London by John Murray, and in America by Little, Brown and Company.
+An important question arose as to what should be the first title, and
+after careful consideration I decided that as Petrarch was the father
+of humanism his _Trionfi_ would obviously be an ideal selection.
+The volume was to be printed in English rather than in the original
+Italian, and I settled upon Henry Boyd’s translation as the most
+distinguished.
+
+Upon investigation it developed that the original edition of this
+book was long out of print and copies were exceedingly rare. The only
+one I could locate was in the Petrarch collection of the late Willard
+Fiske. I entered into correspondence with him, and he invited me to be
+his guest at his villa in Florence. With the type completed, and with
+proofs in my possession, I undertook my second humanistic Odyssey,
+making Florence my first objective. Professor Fiske welcomed me
+cordially, and in him I found a most sympathetic personality, eager to
+contribute in every way to the success of the undertaking. He placed
+the volume of Boyd’s translation in my hands, and asked that I take it
+with me for use until my edition was completed.
+
+“This book is unique, and so precious that you certainly could not
+permit it to go out of your possession,” I protested.
+
+His answer was characteristic. “Your love of books,” he said, “is such
+that this volume is as safe in your hands as it is in mine. Take it
+from me, and return it when it has served its purpose.”
+
+Then came the matter of illustrations. In London I had a conference
+with Sir Sidney Colvin, then Keeper of Prints and Drawings at the
+British Museum. Colvin had been made familiar with the undertaking
+by John Murray, who had shown him and Alfred W. Pollard some of the
+earliest proofs of the punches that I had sent to England. After a
+careful examination of these, both men suggested to Mr. Murray that his
+American friend was playing a joke upon him, declaring that the proofs
+were hand-lettered and not taken from metal originals!
+
+“There is a fate about this,” Colvin said, after I had explained
+my mission. “We have here in the Museum six original drawings of
+Petrarch’s _Triumphs_, attributed by some to Fra Filippo Lippi and
+certainly belonging to his school, which have never been reproduced.
+They are exactly the right size for the _format_ which you have
+determined upon, and if you can have the reproductions made here at the
+Museum the drawings are at your disposal.”
+
+I made arrangements with Emery Walker, the designer of the Doves type
+and justly famous as an engraver, to etch these plates on steel, and
+the reproductions of the originals were extraordinarily exact. Those
+Walker made for the parchment edition looked as if drawn on ivory.
+
+Parchment was required for the specially illuminated copies which
+were to form a feature of the edition, and before leaving America I
+had been told that the Roman grade was the best. I naturally assumed
+that I should find this in Rome, but my research developed the fact
+that Roman parchment is prepared in Florence. Following this lead,
+I examined the skins sold by Florentine dealers, but Doctor Biagi
+assured me that the best grade was not Roman but Florentine, and that
+Florentine parchment is produced in Issoudun, France. It seemed a far
+cry to seek out Italian skins in France, but to Issoudun I went. In
+the meantime I learned that there was a still better grade prepared in
+Brentford, England--this, in fact, being where William Morris procured
+the parchment for his Kelmscott publications.
+
+At Brentford I secured my skins; and here I learned something that
+interested me exceedingly. Owing to the oil which remains in the
+parchment after it has been prepared for use, the difficulty in
+printing is almost as great as if on glass. To obviate this, the
+concern at Brentford, in preparing parchment for the Kelmscott volumes,
+filled in the pores of the skins with chalk, producing an artificial
+surface. The process of time must operate adversely upon this
+extraneous substance, and the question naturally arises as to whether
+eventually, in the Kelmscott parchment volumes, the chalk surface will
+flake off in spots, producing blemishes which can never be repaired.
+
+For my own purposes I purchased the skins without the artificial
+surface, and overcame the difficulty in printing by a treatment of the
+ink which, after much experiment, enabled me to secure as fine results
+upon the parchment as if printing upon handmade paper.
+
+The volumes were to be printed in the two humanistic colors, black and
+blue. In the original manuscript volumes this blue is a most unusual
+shade, the hand letterer having prepared his own ink by grinding
+_lapis lazuli_, in which there is no red. By artificial light the
+lines written in blue can scarcely be distinguished from the black. To
+reproduce the same effect in the printed volume I secured in Florence
+a limited quantity of _lapis lazuli_, and by special arrangement
+with the Italian Government had it crushed into powder at the Royal
+mint. This powder I took home to America, and arranged with a leading
+manufacturer to produce what I believe to be the first printing ink
+mixed exactly as the scribes of the fifteenth century used to prepare
+their pigments.
+
+The months required to produce the _Triumphs_ represented a period
+alternating in anxiety and satisfaction. The greatest difficulty came
+in pressing upon the typesetter the fact that the various characters of
+these letters could not be used with mathematical precision, but that
+the change should come only when he felt his hand would naturally alter
+the design if he were writing the line instead of setting the type.
+The experiments required to perfect an ink that should successfully
+print on the oily parchment were not completed without disappointments
+and misgivings; the scrupulous care required in reading proofs and
+perfecting the spacing, was laborious and monotonous; the scrutinizing
+of the sheets as they came from the press was made happier when the
+success of the _lapis lazuli_ ink was assured.
+
+[Illustration: _A Page from an Autograph Letter from Charles Eliot
+Norton_]
+
+The rewards came when Professor Norton gave the volume his unqualified
+approval--“so interesting and original in its typography and in its
+illustrations, so admirable in its presswork, its paper, its binding,
+and its minor accessories, ... a noble and exemplary work of the
+printers’ art”; when George W. Jones, England’s artist-printer,
+pronounced the Humanistic type “the most beautiful face in the world,”
+and promised to use it in what he hopes to be his masterpiece, an
+edition of Shakespeare’s _Sonnets_; when the jury appointed by the
+Italian Government to select “the most beautiful and most appropriate
+type face to perpetuate the divine Dante” chose the Humanistic type,
+and placed the important commission of producing the definitive edition
+of the great poet, to commemorate his sexcentenary, in the hands
+of that splendid printer, Bertieri, at Milan. Such rewards are not
+compliments, but justification. Such beauty as the Humanistic type
+possesses lies in the artistic ability and the marvelous skill in
+execution of the scribes. My part was simply seizing the development of
+a period apparently overlooked, and undertaking the laborious task
+of translating a beautiful thing from one medium to another.
+
+[Illustration: PETRARCH’S _TRIUMPHS_
+
+Illuminated Page (10 × 6 inches)
+
+Set in Humanistic Type designed by the Author]
+
+The Quest of the Perfect Book must necessarily lead the seeker into
+far varying roads, the greatest rewards being found in straying from
+the main street into the fascinating bypaths. My quest has resulted
+in giving me greater appreciation of the accomplishments of those who
+successfully withstood opposition and persecution in order to make the
+printed book a living vehicle to convey the gems of thought from great
+minds to the masses, never forgetful of the value of beauty in its
+outward aspect. I believe it possible today to perpetuate the basic
+principles of the early artist master-printers by applying beauty to
+low-cost books as well as to limited _editions de luxe_. The story of
+the printed book itself is greater than that contained between the
+covers of any single volume, for without it the history of the world
+would show the masses still plodding on, swathed in theological and
+encyclopædic bonds, while the few would still be jealously hoarding
+their limited knowledge
+
+
+
+
+                                  II
+
+                         THE KINGDOM OF BOOKS
+
+
+A paraphrase of, “Would that mine adversary had written a book,” might
+well be, “Would that mine enemy had _printed_ a book”; for the
+building of books has always yielded smaller financial returns for the
+given amount of labor and ability than is offered in any other line of
+intelligent human effort.
+
+“Are all the workmen in your establishment blank fools?” an irate
+publisher demanded of a printer after a particularly aggravating error.
+
+“If they were not,” was the patient rejoinder, “they would not be
+engaged in making books!”
+
+There is an intangible lure that keeps all those associated with the
+book under subjection. There is a mysterious fascination in being a
+party to the perpetuation of a human thought that yields something
+in addition to pecuniary returns. To the author, the inestimable
+gratification of conveying a message to the world makes him forget
+the tedious hours of application required before that message can be
+adequately expressed. To the publisher, the satisfaction of offering
+the opportunity for occasional genius to come into its own more
+than balances the frequent disappointments. To the book architect,
+the privilege of supplying the vehicle for thought, and of creating
+the physical form of its expression, yields returns not altogether
+measurable in coin of the realm.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In 1891, during my apprenticeship at the old University Press, in
+Cambridge, Massachusetts, John Wilson, its famous head, permitted me to
+sit in at a conference with Eugene Field and his friend and admirer,
+Francis Wilson, the actor, booklover, and collector. The subject under
+discussion was the manufacture of a volume of Field’s poems, then
+called _A New Book of Verses_, which later became famous under the
+title of _Second Book of Verse_.
+
+Field’s personal appearance made a deep impression that first time I
+saw him. I was then an undergraduate at Harvard, and this was a live
+author at close range! He entered the office with a peculiar, ambling
+walk; his clothes were ill-fitting, accentuating his long legs and
+arms; his hands were delicate, with tapering fingers, like a woman’s;
+his face was pallid; his eyes blue, with a curiously child-like
+expression. I remember my feeling of respect, tinged somewhat with
+awe, as I saw the pages of manuscript spread out upon the table, and
+listened eagerly to the three-cornered conversation.
+
+[Illustration: Autograph Page of Eugene Field Manuscript
+
+From _Second Book of Verse_, New York, 1892]
+
+In considering the manufacture of his book, Eugene Field had clearly
+defined ideas of the typographical effect he wished to gain; John
+Wilson possessed the technical knowledge that enabled him to translate
+those ideas into terms of type. The examination of the various faces
+of type, the consideration of the proportions of the page, the
+selection of the paper, the plan for the design of the cover and the
+binding,--all came into the discussion.
+
+As I listened, I was conscious of receiving new impressions which gave
+me a fuller but still incomplete understanding. Until that moment I had
+found little of interest in the adventure of making books. Now came a
+realization that the building of a book, like the designing of a house,
+offered opportunity for _creative_ work. This possibility removed
+the disturbing doubts, and I undertook to discover for myself how that
+creative element could be crystallized.
+
+Years later came an unexpected echo to the Field episode. After the
+publication of the _Second Book of Verse_, the manuscript was
+returned to Field, who had it bound in half leather and placed it
+in his library. Upon his death many of his books went by bequest to
+his life-long friend, Horace Fletcher, the genial philosopher and
+famous apostle of dietetics. When Fletcher died, he bequeathed Field’s
+personal volumes to me. By this curious chain of circumstances,
+thirty-three years after I had seen the manuscript spread out upon the
+table at the University Press, it came into my possession, bearing the
+identical memoranda of instruction made upon it by John Wilson, whose
+large, flowing hand contrasted sharply with the small, copper-plate
+characters of the author’s handwriting.
+
+[Illustration: Autograph Verse in Eugene Field’s Own Copy of _Trumpet
+and Drum_]
+
+The present generation of booklovers would think themselves transported
+back ages rather than decades were they to glance into a great
+book-printing office of thirty-five years ago. The old University Press
+at that time acknowledged competition only from the Riverside and the
+De Vinne Presses, and conditions that obtained there were typical
+of the times. The business office was called the “counting-room”;
+the bookkeeper and the head-clerk were perched up on stools at high,
+sloping desks, and wore long, linen dusters and black skull caps. John
+Wilson sat at a low table desk, and his partner, who was the financial
+executive, was the proud possessor of the only roll-top desk in the
+establishment. Near him, perhaps because of its value as a novelty and
+thus entitled to the same super-care as the cash, was installed the
+telephone. Most of the letters were written by Mr. Wilson in his own
+hand. One of my first responsibilities was to copy these letters on the
+wetted tissue pages of the copy-book with the turn-screw press.
+
+[Illustration: JOHN WILSON IN 1891
+
+_Master-Printer_]
+
+There was no particular system in effect, and scientific management
+was unknown. Mr. Wilson used to make out his orders on fragments of
+paper,--whatever came to hand. When the telephone was first installed
+he refused to use it, as he considered this method of conducting
+business as “sloppy” and even discourteous. To employ a stenographer
+would have been an evidence of a lazy disposition, and a dictated
+letter was an offence against dignity and decorum.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A week’s work at that time consisted of fifty-nine hours instead of the
+present forty-eight. Hand composition and electrotyping were figured
+together as one process and charged at from 80 cents to $1 per thousand
+ems. Changes required in the type by authors cost 50 cents an hour. An
+author could afford in those days to rewrite his book after it was in
+type, but today, with alterations costing five times as much, it is a
+different proposition!
+
+The wages were as ridiculously low as the prices charged to customers.
+The girls in the composing room made from $9 to $12 a week, and those
+receiving the maximum considered themselves potential Hetty Greens.
+Today, receiving $40 to $45 a week, they find difficulty in making both
+ends meet. The make-up man, with the “fat” he received in addition
+to his wage of $16, actually earned about $20 a week, as against $50
+to $60 a week now. The foreman of the composing room, with more than
+two hundred employees under him, received a weekly return of $23, as
+against $75 to $100 now.
+
+Typesetting, thirty-five years ago, was almost entirely by hand, as
+this was before the day of the linotype and the monotype. Thorne
+typesetting machines, which then seemed marvels of mechanical
+ingenuity, failed to prove economical because they required two
+operatives and so easily got out of order. The composing room itself
+was laid out with its main avenues and side streets like a well-ordered
+town, divisions being marked by the frames bearing the cases of type in
+various faces and sizes. The correcting stones ran down the center.
+
+The foreman of the composing room was the king of his domain and a
+power unto himself. Each side street was an “alley,” in which from four
+to eight typesetters worked, back to back. These were sometimes boys
+or men, but usually girls or women. The “crew” in each alley was in
+charge of an experienced typesetter. It was he who received from the
+foreman the manuscript to be put into type; who distributed the copy,
+a few pages at a time to each of his subordinates; who supervised the
+work, and arranged for the galleys to be collated in their proper order
+for proofing; and who was generally responsible for the product of his
+alley. As was characteristic of the times in well-conducted industrial
+plants, the workers in this department, as in the others, were simply
+a large family presided over by the foreman, who interpreted the
+instructions from the management; and by the heads of the crews, who
+carried out the detailed instructions of the foreman.
+
+There was a pride in workmanship that is mostly lacking in
+manufacturing plants today, due largely to the introduction of
+labor-saving machinery, and again to the introduction of efficiency
+methods. Both were inevitable, but the price paid for the gain in
+production was high. I am old-fashioned enough to hope that modern
+ideas of efficiency will never be applied in the printing industry to
+the extent of robbing the workman of his individuality. Books are such
+personal things! I am in full sympathy with that efficiency which cuts
+out duplication of effort. I believe in studying methods of performing
+each operation to discover which one is the most economical in time and
+effort. I realize that in great manufacturing plants, where machines
+have replaced so largely the work of the human hand, it is obviously
+necessary for workmen to spend their days manufacturing only a part
+of the complete article; but when the organization of any business
+goes so far as to substitute numbers for names I feel that something
+has been destroyed, and that in taking away his individuality from the
+workman the work suffers the same loss.
+
+I have even asked myself whether the greatest underlying cause of
+strikes and labor disturbances during the past ten years has not been
+the unrest that has come to the workman because he can no longer
+take actual pride in the product of his hand. Years ago, after the
+death of one of my oldest employees, I called upon his widow, and
+in the simple “parlor” of the house where he had lived, prominently
+placed on a marble-top table as the chief ornament in the room, lay
+a copy of Wentworth’s “Geometry.” When I picked it up the widow said
+proudly, “Jim set every page of that book with his own hands.” It was
+a priceless heirloom in which the workman’s family took continued and
+justifiable pride.
+
+The old University Press family was not only happy but loyal. When
+the business found itself in financial difficulties, owing to outside
+speculations by Mr. Wilson’s partner, the workmen brought their
+bankbooks, with deposits amounting to over twenty thousand dollars,
+and laid them on Mr. Wilson’s desk, asking him to use these funds in
+whatever way he chose. The sum involved was infinitesimal compared to
+the necessities, but the proffer was a human gesture not calculable in
+financial digits.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Proofreading was an art in the eighteen-nineties instead of an annoying
+necessity, as it now seems to be considered. The chief readers
+were highly educated men and women, some having been clergymen or
+schoolteachers. One proofreader at the University Press at that time
+could read fourteen languages, and all the readers were competent to
+discuss with the authors points that came up in the proof. The proof
+was read, not only to discover typographical errors, but also to query
+dates, quotations, and even statements of fact. Well-known authors were
+constantly running in and out of the Press, frequently going directly
+to the proofreaders, and sometimes even to the compositors themselves,
+without coming in touch with the counting-room. Mr. Wilson looked
+upon the authors and publishers as members of his big family, and “No
+Admittance” signs were conspicuous by their absence.
+
+The modern practice of proofreading cannot produce as perfect volumes
+as resulted from the deliberate, painstaking, and time-consuming
+consideration which the old-time proofreaders gave to every book
+passing through their hands. Today the proof is read once, and then
+revised and sent out to the author. When made up into page form and
+sent to foundry it is again revised, but not re-read. No proof used to
+go out from a first-class printing office without a first and a second
+reading by copy. It was then read a third time by a careful foundry
+reader before being made into plates. Unfortunately, with labor at its
+present cost, no publisher could produce a volume at a price that the
+public would pay, if the old-time care were devoted to its manufacture.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Time was when a reputation for careful proofreading was an asset to a
+Press. One day the office boy came to my private office and said that
+there was a man downstairs who insisted upon seeing me personally, but
+who declined to give his name. From the expression on the boy’s face I
+concluded that the visitor must be a somewhat unique character, and I
+was not disappointed.
+
+As he came into my office he had every aspect of having stepped off
+the vaudeville stage. He had on the loose garments of a farmer, with
+the broad hat that is donned only on state occasions. He wore leather
+boots over which were rubbers, and carried a huge, green umbrella.
+
+He nodded pleasantly as he came in, and sat down with great
+deliberation. Before making any remarks he laid his umbrella on the
+floor and placed his hat carefully over it, then he somewhat painfully
+removed his rubbers. This done, he turned to me with a broad smile of
+greeting, and said, “I don’t know as you know who I am.”
+
+When I confirmed him in his suspicions, he remarked, “Well, I am Jasper
+P. Smith, and I come from Randolph, New Hampshire.”
+
+(_The names and places mentioned are, for obvious reasons, not
+correct._)
+
+I returned his smile of greeting and asked what I could do for him.
+
+“Well,” he said, “my home town of Randolph, New Hampshire, has decided
+to get out a town history, and I want to have you do the printin’ of
+it. The selectmen thought it could be printed at ----, but I says to
+them, ‘If it’s worth doin’ at all it’s worth doin’ right, and I want
+the book to be made at the University Press in Cambridge.’”
+
+I thanked Mr. Smith for his confidence, and expressed my satisfaction
+that our reputation had reached Randolph, New Hampshire.
+
+“Well,” he said, chuckling to himself, “you see, it was this way.
+You made the history of Rumford, and I was the feller who wrote
+the genealogies. That’s what I am, a genealogy feller. Nobody in
+New Hampshire can write a town history without comin’ to me for
+genealogies.”
+
+After pausing for a moment he continued, “It was your proofreadin’ that
+caught me. On that Rumford book your proofreader was a smart one, she
+was, but I got back at her in good style.”
+
+His memory seemed to cause him considerable amusement, and I waited
+expectantly.
+
+“It was in one of the genealogies,” he went on finally. “I gave the
+date of the marriage as so and so, and the date of the birth of the
+first child as two months later. Did she let that go by? I should say
+not. She drew a line right out into the margin and made a darned big
+question mark. But I got back at her! I just left that question mark
+where it was, and wrote underneath, ‘Morally incorrect, historically
+correct!’”
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When the first Adams flat-bed press was installed at the University
+Press, President Felton of Harvard College insisted that no book of his
+should ever be printed upon this modern monstrosity. Here was history
+repeating itself, for booklovers of the fifteenth century in Italy for
+a long time refused to admit that a printed volume had its place in a
+gentleman’s library. In the eighteen-nineties one whole department at
+the University Press consisted of these flat-bed presses, which today
+can scarcely be found outside of museums. If a modern publisher were
+to stray into the old loft where the wetted sheets from these presses
+were hung over wooden rafters to dry, he would rub his eyes and wonder
+in what age he was living. The paper had been passed through tubs of
+water, perhaps half a quire at a time, and partially dried before being
+run through the press. The old Adams presses made an impression that
+could have been read by the blind, and all this embossing, together
+with the wrinkling of the sheet from the moisture, had to be taken out
+under hydraulic pressure. Today wetted sheets and the use of hydraulic
+presses for bookwork are practically obsolete. The cylinder presses,
+that run twice as fast, produce work of equal quality at lower cost.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In those days the relations between publishers and their printers were
+much more intimate. Scales of prices were established from time to
+time, but a publisher usually sent all his work to the same printer. It
+was also far more customary for a publisher to send an author to the
+printer to discuss questions of typography with the actual maker of the
+book, or to argue some technical or structural point in his manuscript
+with the head proofreader. The headreader in a large printing
+establishment at that time was a distinct personality, quite competent
+to meet authors upon their own ground.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+One of my earliest and pleasantest responsibilities was to act as Mr.
+Wilson’s representative in his business relations with Mrs. Mary Baker
+Eddy, which required frequent trips to “Pleasant View” at Concord, New
+Hampshire. Mrs. Eddy always felt under deep obligation to Mr. Wilson
+for his interest in the manuscript of _Science and Health_ when
+she first took it to him with a view to publication, and any message
+from him always received immediate and friendly consideration.
+
+In the past there have been suggestions made that the Rev. James Henry
+Wiggin, a retired Unitarian clergyman and long a proofreader at the
+University Press, rewrote _Science and Health_. Mr. Wiggin was
+still proofreader when I entered the Press, and he always manifested
+great pride in having been associated with Mrs. Eddy in the revision of
+this famous book. I often heard the matter referred to, both by him
+and by John Wilson, but there never was the slightest intimation that
+Mr. Wiggin’s services passed beyond those of an experienced editor. I
+have no doubt that many of his suggestions, in his editorial capacity,
+were of value and possibly accepted by the author,--in fact, unless
+they had been, he would not have exercised his proper function; but
+had he contributed to the new edition what some have claimed, he would
+certainly have given intimation of it in his conversations with me.
+
+The characteristic about Mrs. Eddy that impressed me the first time
+I met her was her motherliness. She gave every one the impression of
+deepest interest and concern in what he said, and was sympathetic
+in everything that touched on his personal affairs. When I told her
+of John Wilson’s financial calamity, she seemed to regard it as a
+misfortune of her own. Before I left her that day she drew a check for
+a substantial sum and offered it to me.
+
+“Please hand that to my old friend,” she said, “and tell him to be of
+good cheer. What he has given of himself to others all these years will
+now return to him a thousand-fold.”
+
+At first one might have been deceived by her quiet manner into thinking
+that she was easily influenced. There was no suggestion to which she
+did not hold herself open. If she approved, she accepted it promptly;
+if it did not appeal, she dismissed it with a graciousness that left no
+mark; but it was always settled once and for all. There was no wavering
+and no uncertainty.
+
+After Mrs. Eddy moved from Concord to Boston, her affairs were
+administered by her Trustees, so I saw her less frequently. To many her
+name suggests a great religious movement, but when I think of her I
+seem to see acres of green grass, a placid little lake, a silver strip
+of river, and a boundary line of hills; and within the unpretentious
+house a slight, unassuming woman,--very real, very human, very
+appealing, supremely content in the self-knowledge that, no matter what
+others might think, she was delivering her message to the world.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+By this time, I had discovered what was the matter with American
+bookmaking. It was a contracting business, and books were conceived and
+made by the combined efforts of the publisher, the manufacturing man,
+the artist, the decorator, the paper mills’ agent, and, last of all,
+the printer and the binder. This was not the way the old-time printers
+had planned their books. With all their mechanical limitations,
+they had followed architectural lines kept consistent and harmonious
+because controlled by a single mind, while the finished volume of
+the eighteen-nineties was a composite production of many minds, with
+no architectural plan. No wonder that the volumes manufactured, even
+in the most famous Presses, failed to compare with those produced in
+Venice by Jenson and Aldus four centuries earlier!
+
+When I succeeded John Wilson as head of the University Press in 1895,
+I determined to carry out the resolution I had formed four years
+earlier, while sitting in on the Eugene Field conference, of following
+the example of the early master-printers so far as this could be done
+amidst modern conditions. Some of my publisher friends were partially
+convinced by my contention that if the printer properly fulfilled his
+function he must know how to express his clients’ mental conception
+of the physical attributes of prospective volumes in terms of type,
+paper, presswork, and binding better than they could do it themselves.
+The Kelmscott publications, which appeared at this time, were of great
+value in emphasizing my contention, for William Morris placed printing
+back among the fine arts after it had lapsed into a trade.
+
+I had no idea, when I presented my plan, of persuading my friends
+to produce typographical monuments. No demand has ever existed for
+volumes of this type adequate to the excessive cost involved by the
+perfection of materials, the accuracy of editorial detail, the supreme
+excellence of typography and presswork, and the glory of the binding.
+Sweynheim and Pannartz, Gutenberg’s successors, were ruined by their
+experiments in Greek; the Aldine Press in Venice was saved only by the
+intervention of Jean Grolier; Henri Étienne was ruined by his famous
+_Thesaurus_, and Christophe Plantin would have been bankrupted by
+his _Polyglot Bible_ had he not retrieved his fortunes by later
+and meaner publications. Nor was I unmindful of similar examples that
+might have been cited from more modern efforts, made by ambitious
+publishers and printers.
+
+What I wanted to do was to build low-cost volumes upon the same
+principles as _de luxe_ editions, eliminating the expensive
+materials but retaining the harmony and consistency that come from
+designing the book from an architectural standpoint. It adds little
+to the expense to select a type that properly expresses the thought
+which the author wishes to convey; or to have the presses touch the
+letters into the paper in such a way as to become a part of it,
+without that heavy impression which makes the reverse side appear like
+an example of Braille; or to find a paper (even made by machine!) soft
+to the feel and grateful to the eye, on which the page is placed with
+well-considered margins; or to use illustrations or decorations, if
+warranted at all, in such a way as to assist the imagination of the
+reader rather than to divert him from the text; to plan a title page
+which, like the door to a house, invites the reader to open it and
+proceed, its type lines carefully balanced with the blank; or to bind
+(even in cloth!) with trig squares and with design or lettering in
+keeping with the printing inside.
+
+By degrees the publishers began to realize that this could be done,
+and when once established, the idea of treating the making of books
+as a manufacturing problem instead of as a series of contracts with
+different concerns, no one of which knew what the others were doing,
+found favor. The authors also preferred it, for their literary children
+now went forth to the world in more becoming dress. Thus serving in the
+capacity of book architect and typographical advisor, instead of merely
+as a contrasting printer, these years have been lived in a veritable
+Kingdom of Books, in company with interesting people,--authors and
+artists as well as publishers,--in a delightfully intimate way because
+I have been permitted to be a part of the great adventure.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+During these years I have seen dramatic changes. Wages were somewhat
+advanced between 1891 and the outbreak of the World War, but even at
+this latter date the cost of manufacturing books was less than half of
+what it is now. This is the great problem which publishers have to face
+today. When the cost of everything doubled after the World War, the
+public accepted the necessity of paying twice the price for a theater
+ticket as a matter of course; but when the retail price of books was
+advanced in proportion to the cost of manufacture, there was a great
+outcry among buyers that authors, publishers, and booksellers were
+opportunists, demanding an unwarranted profit. As a matter of fact, the
+novel which used to sell at $1.35 per copy should now sell at $2.50 if
+the increased costs were properly apportioned. The publisher today is
+forced to decline many promising first novels because the small margin
+of profit demands a comparatively large first edition.
+
+Unless a publisher can sell 5,000 copies as a minimum it is impossible
+for him to make any profit upon a novel. Taking this as a basis,
+and a novel as containing 320 pages, suppose we see how the $2.00
+retail price distributes itself. The cost of manufacture, including
+the typesetting, electrotype plates, cover design, jacket, brass
+dies, presswork, paper, and binding, amounts to 42 cents per copy (in
+England, about 37 cents). The publisher’s cost of running his office,
+which he calls “overhead,” is 36 cents per copy. The minimum royalty
+received by an author is 10 per cent. of the retail price, which would
+give him 20 cents. This makes a total cost of 98 cents a copy, without
+advertising. But a book must be advertised.
+
+Every fifty dollars spent in advertising on a five thousand edition
+adds a cent to the publisher’s cost. The free copies distributed for
+press reviews represent no trifling item. A thousand dollars is not
+a large amount to be spent for advertising, and this means 20 cents
+a copy on a 5000 edition, making a total cost of $1.18 per copy and
+reducing the publisher’s profit to 2 cents, since he sells a two-dollar
+book to the retail bookseller for $1.20. The bookseller figures that
+his cost of doing business is one-third the amount of his sales, or, on
+a two-dollar book, 67 cents. This then shows a net profit to the retail
+bookseller of 13 cents, to the publisher of 2 cents, and to the author
+of 20 cents a copy.
+
+Beyond this, there is an additional expense to both bookseller and
+publisher which the buyer of books is likely to overlook. It is
+impossible to know just when the demand for a book will cease, and this
+means that the publisher and the bookseller are frequently left with
+copies on hand which have to be disposed of at a price below cost. This
+is an expense that has to be included in the book business just as much
+as in handling fruit, flowers, or other perishable goods.
+
+When a publisher is able to figure on a large demand for the first
+edition, he can cut down the cost of manufacture materially; but, on
+the other hand, this is at least partially offset by the fact that
+authors whose books warrant large first editions demand considerably
+more than 10 per cent. royalty, and the advertising item on a big
+seller runs into large figures.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I wish I might say that I had seen a dramatic change in the methods
+employed in the retail bookstores! There still exists, with a few
+notable exceptions, the same lack of realization that familiarity with
+the goods one has to sell is as necessary in merchandizing books as
+with any other commodity. Salesmen in many otherwise well-organized
+retail bookstores are still painfully ignorant of their proper
+functions and indifferent to the legitimate requirements of their
+prospective customers.
+
+Some years ago, when one of my novels was having its run, I happened
+to be in New York at a time when a friend was sailing for Europe. He
+had announced his intention of purchasing a copy of my book to read
+on the steamer, and I asked him to permit me to send it to him with
+the author’s compliments. Lest any reader be astonished to learn that
+an author ever buys a copy of his own book, let me record the fact
+that except for the twelve which form a part of his contract with
+the publisher, he pays cash for every copy he gives away. Mark Twain
+dedicated the first edition of _The Jumping Frog_ to “John Smith.”
+In the second edition he omitted the dedication, explaining that in
+dedicating the volume as he did, he had felt sure that at least all the
+John Smiths would buy books. To his consternation he found that they
+all expected complimentary copies, and he was hoist by his own petard!
+
+With the idea of carrying out my promise to my friend, I stepped into
+one of the largest bookstores in New York, and approached a clerk,
+asking him for the book by title. My pride was somewhat hurt to find
+that even the name was entirely unfamiliar to him. He ran over various
+volumes upon the counter, and then turned to me, saying, “We don’t
+carry that book, but we have several others here which I am sure you
+would like better.”
+
+“Undoubtedly you have,” I agreed with him; “but that is beside the
+point. I am the author of the book I asked for, and I wish to secure a
+copy to give to a friend. I am surprised that a store like this does
+not carry it.”
+
+Leaning nonchalantly on a large, circular pile of books near him, the
+clerk took upon himself the education of the author.
+
+“It would require a store much larger than this to carry every book
+that is published, wouldn’t it?” he asked cheerfully. “Of course each
+author naturally thinks his book should have the place of honor on the
+bookstalls, but we have to be governed by the demand.”
+
+It was humiliating to learn the real reason why this house failed to
+carry my book. I had to say something to explain my presumption even in
+assuming that I might find it there, so in my confusion I stammered,
+
+“But I understood from the publishers that the book was selling very
+well.”
+
+“Oh, yes,” the clerk replied indulgently; “they have to say that to
+their authors to keep them satisfied!”
+
+With the matter thus definitely settled, nothing remained but to make
+my escape as gracefully as circumstances would permit. As I started to
+leave, the clerk resumed his standing position, and my eye happened to
+rest on the pile of perhaps two hundred books upon which he had been
+half-reclining. The jacket was strikingly familiar. Turning to the
+clerk I said severely,
+
+“Would you mind glancing at that pile of books from which you have just
+risen?”
+
+“Oh!” he exclaimed, smiling and handing me a copy, “that is the very
+book we were looking for, isn’t it?”
+
+It seemed my opportunity to become the educator, and I seized it.
+
+“Young man,” I said, “if you would discontinue the practice of letting
+my books support you, and sell a few copies so that they might support
+me, it would be a whole lot better for both of us.”
+
+“Ha, ha!” he laughed, graciously pleased with my sally; “that’s a good
+line, isn’t it? I really must read your book!”
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The old-time publisher is passing, and the author is largely to
+blame. I have seen the close association--in many cases the profound
+friendship--between author and publisher broken by the commercialism
+fostered by some literary agents and completed by competitive bids
+made by one publishing house to beguile a popular author away from
+another. There was a time when a writer was proud to be classified as
+a “Macmillan,” or a “Harper” author. He felt himself a part of the
+publisher’s organization, and had no hesitation in taking his literary
+problems to the editorial advisor of the house whose imprint appeared
+upon the title pages of his volumes. A celebrated Boston authoress
+once found herself absolutely at a standstill on a partially completed
+novel. She confided her dilemma to her publisher, who immediately sent
+one of his editorial staff to the rescue. They spent two weeks working
+together over the manuscript, solved the problems, and the novel, when
+published, was the most successful of the season.
+
+Several publishers have acknowledged to me that in offering unusually
+high royalties to authors they have no expectation of breaking even,
+but that to have a popular title upon their list increases the sales
+of their entire line. The publisher from whom the popular writer
+is filched has usually done his share in helping him attain his
+popularity. The royalty he pays is a fair division of the profits. He
+cannot, in justice to his other authors, pay him a further premium.
+
+Ethics, perhaps, has no place in business, but the relation between
+author and publisher seems to me to be beyond a business covenant. A
+publisher may deliberately add an author to his list at a loss in order
+to accomplish a specific purpose, but this practice cannot be continued
+indefinitely. A far-sighted author will consider the matter seriously
+before he becomes an opportunist.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In England this questionable practice has been of much slower growth.
+The House of Murray, in London, is one of those still conducted on the
+old-time basis. John Murray IV, the present head of the business, has
+no interest in any author who comes to him for any reason other than
+a desire to have the Murray imprint upon his book. It is more than
+a business. The publishing offices at 50_a_, Albemarle Street
+adjoin and open out of the Murray home. In the library is still shown
+the fireplace where John Murray III burned Byron’s Memoirs, after
+purchasing them at an enormous price, because he deemed that their
+publication would do injury to the reputation of the writer and of the
+House itself.
+
+John Murray II was one of the publishers of Scott’s _Marmion_. In
+those days it was customary for publishers to share their contracts.
+Constable had purchased from Scott for £1,000 the copyright of
+_Marmion_ without having seen a single line, and the _honorarium_
+was paid the author before the poem was completed or the manuscript
+delivered. Constable, however, promptly disposed of a one-fourth
+interest to Mr. Miller of Albemarle Street, and another one fourth to
+John Murray, then of Fleet Street.
+
+By 1829 Scott had succeeded in getting into his own hands nearly all
+his copyrights, one of the outstanding items being this one-quarter
+interest in _Marmion_ held by Mr. Murray. Longmans and Constable
+had tried in vain to purchase it. When, however, Scott himself
+approached Murray through Lockhart, the following letter from Mr.
+Murray was the result:
+
+    _So highly do I estimate the honour of being even in so small
+    a degree the publisher of the author of the poem that no
+    pecuniary consideration whatever can induce me to part with it.
+    But there is a consideration of another kind that would make it
+    painful to me if I were to retain it a moment longer. I mean
+    the knowledge of its being required by the author, into whose
+    hands it was spontaneously resigned at the same instant that I
+    read the request._
+
+There has always been a vast difference in authors in the attitude they
+assume toward the transformation of their manuscripts into printed
+books. Most of them leave every detail to their publishers, but a few
+take a deep and intelligent personal interest. Bernard Shaw is to be
+included in the latter group.
+
+A leading Boston publisher once telephoned me that an unknown English
+author had submitted a manuscript for publication, but that it was too
+socialistic in its nature to be acceptable. Then the publisher added
+that the author had asked, in case this house did not care to publish
+the volume, that arrangements be made to have the book printed in this
+country in order to secure American copyright.
+
+“We don’t care to have anything to do with it,” was the statement; “but
+I thought perhaps you might like to manufacture the book.”
+
+“Who is the author?” I inquired.
+
+“It’s a man named Shaw.”
+
+“What is the rest of his name?”
+
+“Wait a minute and I’ll find out.”
+
+Leaving the telephone for a moment, the publisher returned and said,
+
+“His name is G. Bernard Shaw. Did you ever hear of him?”
+
+“Yes,” I replied; “I met him last summer in London through
+Cobden-Sanderson, and I should be glad to undertake the manufacture of
+the book for Mr. Shaw.”
+
+“All right,” came the answer. “Have your boy call for the manuscript.”
+
+This manuscript was _Man and Superman_.
+
+From that day and for many years, Shaw and I carried on a desultory
+correspondence, his letters proving most original and diverting. On
+one occasion he took me severely to task for having used two sizes of
+type upon a title page. He wrote four pages to prove what poor taste
+and workmanship this represented, and then ended the letter with these
+words, “But, after all, any other printer would have used sixteen
+instead of two, so I bless you for your restraint!”
+
+We had another lengthy discussion on the use of apostrophes in
+printing. “I have made no attempt to deal with the apostrophes you
+introduce,” he wrote; “but my own usage is carefully considered and
+the inconsistencies are only apparent. For instance, _Ive_, _youve_,
+_lets_, _thats_, are quite unmistakable, but _Ill_, _hell_, _shell_,
+for _I’ll_, _he’ll_, _she’ll_, are impossible without a phonetic
+alphabet to distinguish between long and short _e_. In such cases I
+retain the apostrophe, in all others I discard it. Now you may ask
+me why I discard it. Solely because it spoils the printing. If you
+print a Bible you can make a handsome job of it because there are no
+apostrophes or inverted commas to break up the letterpress with holes
+and dots. Until people are forced to have some consideration for a book
+as something to look at as well as something to read, we shall never
+get rid of these senseless disfigurements that have destroyed all the
+old sense of beauty in printing.”
+
+“Ninety-nine per cent. of the secret of good printing,” Shaw continued,
+“is not to have patches of white or trickling rivers of it trailing
+down a page, like rain-drops on a window. Horrible! _White_ is the
+enemy of the printer. _Black_, rich, fat, even black, without gray
+patches, is, or should be, his pride. Leads and quads and displays of
+different kinds of type should be reserved for insurance prospectuses
+and advertisements of lost dogs....”
+
+His enthusiasm for William Morris’ leaf ornaments is not shared by all
+booklovers. Glance at any of the Kelmscott volumes, and you will find
+these glorified oak leaves scattered over the type page in absolutely
+unrelated fashion,--a greater blemish, to some eyes, than occasional
+variation in spacing. Shaw writes:
+
+    _If you look at one of the books printed by William Morris,
+    the greatest printer of the XIX century, and one of the
+    greatest printers of all the centuries, you will see that he
+    occasionally puts in a little leaf ornament, or something of
+    the kind. The idiots in America who tried to imitate Morris,
+    not understanding this, peppered such things all over their
+    “art” books, and generally managed to stick in an extra large
+    quad before each to show how little they understood about the
+    business. Morris doesn’t do this in his own books. He rewrites
+    the sentence so as to make it justify, without bringing one gap
+    underneath another in the line above. But in printing other
+    people’s books, which he had no right to alter, he sometimes
+    found it impossible to avoid this. Then, sooner than spoil the
+    rich, even color of his block of letterpress by a big white
+    hole, he filled it up with a leaf._
+
+    _Do not dismiss this as not being “business.” I assure you, I
+    have a book which Morris gave me, a single copy, by selling
+    which I could cover the entire cost of printing my books, and
+    its value is due_ solely _to its having been manufactured
+    in the way I advocate; there’s absolutely no other secret
+    about it; and there is no reason why you should not make
+    yourself famous through all the ages by turning out editions
+    of standard works on these lines whilst other printers are
+    exhausting themselves in dirty felt end papers, sham Kelmscott
+    capitals, leaf ornaments in quad sauce, and then wondering why
+    nobody in Europe will pay twopence for them, whilst Kelmscott
+    books and Doves Press books of Morris’ friends, Emery Walker
+    and Cobden-Sanderson, fetch fancy prices before the ink is
+    thoroughly dry.... After this I shall have to get you to print
+    all my future books, so please have this treatise printed in
+    letters of gold and preserved for future reference_
+
+
+
+
+                                  III
+
+                         FRIENDS THROUGH TYPE
+
+
+In 1903 I again visited Italy to continue my study of the art of
+printing in the old monasteries and libraries, sailing on the S. S.
+_Canopic_ from Boston to Naples. Among the passengers on board I
+met Horace Fletcher, returning to his home in Venice. At that time his
+volume _Menticulture_ was having a tremendous run. I had enjoyed
+reading the book, and in its author I discovered a unique and charming
+personality; in fact, I have never met so perfect an expression of
+practical optimism. His humor was infectious, his philosophy appealing,
+his quiet persistency irresistible.
+
+To many people the name of Horace Fletcher has become associated with
+the Gladstonian doctrine of excessive chewing, but this falls far
+short of the whole truth. His scheme was the broadest imaginable, and
+thorough mastication was only the hub into which the other spokes of
+the wheel of his philosophy of life were to be fitted. The scheme
+was nothing less than a cultivation of progressive human efficiency.
+Believing that absolute health is the real basis of human happiness
+and advancement, and that health depends upon an intelligent treatment
+of food in the mouth together with knowledge of how best to furnish the
+fuel that is actually required to run the human engine, Horace Fletcher
+sought for and found perfect guides among the natural human instincts
+and physiologic facilities, and demonstrated that his theories were
+facts.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+During the years that followed I served as his typographic mentor.
+He was eager to try weird and ingenious experiments to bring out the
+various points of his theories through unique typographical arrangement
+(see _opp. page_). It required all my skill and diplomacy to
+convince him that type possessed rigid limitations, and that to
+gain his emphasis he must adopt less complicated methods. From this
+association we became the closest of friends, and presuming upon this
+relation I used to banter him upon being so casual. His copy was never
+ready when the compositors needed it; he was always late in returning
+his proofs. The manufacture of a Fletcher book was a hectic experience,
+yet no one ever seemed to take exceptions. This was characteristic of
+the man. He moved and acted upon suddenly formed impulses, never
+planning ahead yet always securing exactly what he wanted, and those
+inconvenienced the most always seemed to enjoy it.
+
+[Illustration: A Page of Horace Fletcher Manuscript]
+
+“I believe,” he used to say, “in hitching one’s wagon to a star, but I
+always keep my bag packed and close at hand ready to change stars at a
+moment’s notice. It is only by doing this that you can give things a
+chance to happen to you.”
+
+Among the volumes Fletcher had with him on board ship was one he
+had purchased in Italy, printed in a type I did not recognize but
+which greatly attracted me by its beauty. The book bore the imprint:
+_Parma: Co’tipi Bodoniani._ Some weeks later, in a small,
+second-hand bookstore in Florence, I happened upon a volume printed in
+the same type, which I purchased and took at once to my friend, Doctor
+Guido Biagi, at the Laurenziana Library.
+
+“The work of Giambattista Bodoni is not familiar to you?” he inquired
+in surprise. “It is he who revived in Italy the glory of the Aldi. He
+and Firmin Didot in Paris were the fathers of modern type design at the
+beginning of the nineteenth century.”
+
+“Is this type still in use?” I inquired.
+
+“No,” Biagi answered. “When Bodoni died there was no one worthy to
+continue its use, so his matrices and punches are kept intact,
+exactly as he left them. They are on exhibition in the library at
+Parma, just as the old Plantin relics are preserved in the museum at
+Antwerp.”
+
+[Illustration: GIAMBATTISTA BODONI, 1740-1813
+
+From Engraving at the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris]
+
+I immediately took steps through our Ambassador at Rome to gain
+permission from the Italian Government to recut this face for use in
+America. After considerable difficulty and delay this permission was
+granted, with a proviso that I should not allow any of the type made
+from my proposed matrices to get into the hands of Italian printers,
+as this would detract from the prestige of the city of Parma. It was a
+condition to which I was quite willing to subscribe! Within a year I
+have received a prospectus from a revived Bodoni Press at Montagnola di
+Lugano, Switzerland, announcing that the exclusive use of the original
+types of Giambattista Bodoni has been given them by the Italian
+Government. This would seem to indicate that the early governmental
+objections have disappeared.
+
+While searching around to secure the fullest set of patterns, I
+stumbled upon the fact that Bodoni and Didot had based their types upon
+the same model, and that Didot had made use of his font particularly
+in the wonderful editions published in Paris at the very beginning
+of the nineteenth century. I then hurried to Paris to see whether
+these matrices were in existence. There, after a search through the
+foundries, I discovered the original punches, long discarded, in the
+foundry of Peignot, to whom I gave an order to cast the different sizes
+of type, which I had shipped to America.
+
+This was the first type based on this model ever to come into this
+country. The Bodoni face has since been recut by typefounders as well
+as for the typesetting machines, and is today one of the most popular
+faces in common use. Personally I prefer the Bodoni letter to that of
+Didot (see _opp. page_). The Frenchman succumbed to the elegance
+of his period, and by lightening the thin lines robbed the design
+of the virility that Bodoni retained. I am not in sympathy with the
+excessive height of the ascending letters, which frequently extend
+beyond the capitals; but when one considers how radical a departure
+from precedent this type was, he must admire the skill and courage of
+the designers. William Morris cared little for it,--“The sweltering
+hideousness of the Bodoni letter,” he exclaimed; “the most illegible
+type that was ever cut, with its preposterous thicks and thins”; while
+Theodore L. De Vinne, in his _Practice of Typography_, writes:
+
+    _The beauty of the Bodoni letters consists in their regularity,
+    in their clearness, and in their conformity to the taste of the
+    race, nation, and age in which the work was first written, and
+    finally in the grace of the characters, independent of time or
+    place._
+
+When authorities differ to such a wide extent, the student of type
+design must draw his own conclusions!
+
+[Illustration: The Bodoni Letter (bottom) compared with the Didot
+Letter (top)]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Fletcher’s idea of an appointment was something to be kept if or when
+convenient, yet he never seemed to offend any one. He did nothing
+he did not wish to do, and his methods of extricating himself from
+unwelcome responsibilities always amused rather than annoyed. “If you
+don’t want to do a thing very badly,” he confided to me on one such
+occasion, “do it very badly.”
+
+[Illustration: HORACE FLETCHER IN 1915]
+
+On board the _Canopic_ Fletcher was surrounded by an admiring
+and interested group. General Leonard Wood was on his way to study
+colonial government abroad before taking up his first administration
+as Governor of the Philippines. On his staff was General Hugh Lennox
+Scott, who later succeeded General Wood as Chief of Staff of the United
+States Army. The conversations and discussions in the smokeroom each
+evening after dinner were illuminating and fascinating. General
+Wood had but recently completed his work as Governor of Cuba, and he
+talked freely of his experiences there, while General Scott was full
+of reminiscences of his extraordinary adventures with the Indians. He
+later played an important part in bringing peace to the Philippines.
+
+It was at one of these four-cornered sessions in the smokeroom that we
+first learned of Fletcher’s ambition to revolutionize the world in its
+methods of eating. That he would actually accomplish this no one of
+us believed, but the fact remains. The smokeroom steward was serving
+the coffee, inquiring of each one how many lumps of sugar he required.
+Fletcher, to our amazement, called for five! It was a grand-stand
+play in a way, but he secured his audience as completely as do the
+tambourines and the singing of the Salvation Army.
+
+“Why are you surprised?” he demanded with seeming innocence. “I am
+simply taking a coffee liqueur, in which there is less sugar now than
+there is in your chartreuse or benedictine. But I am mixing it with the
+saliva, which is more than you are doing. The sugar, as you take it,
+becomes acid in the stomach and retards digestion; by my method, it is
+changed into grape sugar, which is easily assimilated.”
+
+“To insalivate one’s liquor,” he explained to us, “gives one the most
+exquisite pleasure imaginable, but it is a terrific test of quality.
+It brings out the richness of flavor, which is lost when one gulps the
+wine down. Did you ever notice the way a tea-taster sips his tea?”
+
+As he talked he exposed the ignorance of the entire group on
+physiological matters to an embarrassing extent, clinching his remarks
+by asking General Wood the question,
+
+“Would you engage as chauffeur for your automobile a man who knew as
+little about his motor as you know about your own human engine?”
+
+No one ever loved a practical joke better than Horace Fletcher. I was
+a guest at a dinner he once gave at the Graduates’ Club in New Haven.
+Among the others present were President Hadley of Yale, John Hays
+Hammond, Walter Camp, and Professor Lounsbury. There was considerable
+curiosity and some speculation concerning what would constitute a
+Fletcher dinner. At the proper time we were shown into a private room,
+where the table was set with the severest simplicity. Instead of china,
+white crockery was used, and the chief table decorations were three
+large crockery pitchers filled with ice water. At each plate was a
+crockery saucer, containing a shredded-wheat biscuit. It was amusing
+to glance around and note the expressions of dismay upon the faces of
+the guests. Their worst apprehensions were being confirmed! Just as we
+were well seated, the headwaiter came to the door and announced that
+by mistake we had been shown into the wrong room, whereupon Fletcher,
+with an inimitable twinkle in his eye, led the way into another private
+dining room, where we sat down to one of the most sumptuous repasts I
+have ever enjoyed.
+
+Today, twenty years after his campaign, it is almost forgotten that
+the American breakfast was at that time a heavy meal. Horace Fletcher
+revolutionized the practice of eating, and interjected the word
+_fletcherize_ into the English language. As a disciple of Fletcher
+Sir Thomas Barlow, physician-in-chief to King Edward VII, persuaded
+royalty to set the style by cutting down the formal dinner from three
+hours to an hour and a half, with a corresponding relief to the
+digestive apparatus of the guests. In Belgium, during the World War,
+working with Herbert Hoover, Fletcher taught the impoverished people
+how to sustain themselves upon meager rations. Among his admirers and
+devoted friends were such profound thinkers as William James who, in
+response to a letter from him, wrote, “Your excessive reaction to the
+stimulus of my grateful approval makes you remind me of those rich
+soils which, when you tickle them with a straw, smile with a harvest”;
+and Henry James, who closes a letter: “Come and bring with you plenary
+absolution to the thankless subject who yet dares light the lamp of
+gratitude to you at each day’s end of his life.”
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+My acquaintance with Henry James came through my close association
+with the late Sir Sidney Lee, the Shakesperian authority, and Horace
+Fletcher.
+
+“Don’t be surprised if he is brusque or uncivil,” Sir Sidney whispered
+to me just before I met him at dinner; “one can never tell how he is
+going to act.”
+
+As a matter of fact, I found Henry James a most genial and enjoyable
+dinner companion, and never, during the few later occasions when I had
+the pleasure of being with him, did he display those characteristics of
+ill humor and brusqueness which have been attributed to him. It may not
+be generally known that all his life--until he met Horace Fletcher--he
+suffered torments from chronic indigestion, or that it was in
+Fletcherism that he found his first relief. In a typically involved
+Jamesian letter to his brother William he writes (February, 1909):
+
+    _It is impossible save in a long talk to make you understand how
+    the blessed Fletcherism--so extra blessed--lulled me, charmed
+    me, beguiled me, from the first into the convenience of not
+    having to drag myself out into eternal walking. One must have
+    been through what it relieved me from to know how not suffering
+    from one’s food all the while, after having suffered all one’s
+    life, and at last having it cease and vanish, could make one
+    joyously and extravagantly relegate all out-of-door motion to a
+    more and more casual and negligible importance. To live without
+    the hell goad of needing to walk, with time for reading and
+    indoor pursuits,--a delicious, insidious bribe! So, more and
+    more, I gave up locomotion, and at last almost completely. A
+    year and a half ago the thoracic worry began. Walking seemed to
+    make it worse, tested by short spurts. So I thought non-walking
+    more and more the remedy, and applied it more and more, and ate
+    less and less, naturally. My heart was really disgusted all
+    the while at my having ceased to call upon it. I have begun to
+    do so again, and with the most luminous response. I am better
+    the second half hour of my walk than the first, and better the
+    third than the second.... I am, in short, returning, after an
+    interval deplorably long and fallacious, to a due amount of
+    reasonable exercise and a due amount of food for the same._
+
+[Illustration: _A Page from an Autograph Letter from Henry James to
+Horace Fletcher_]
+
+My one visit to Lamb House was in company with Horace Fletcher. The
+meeting with Henry James at dinner had corrected several preconceived
+ideas and confirmed others. Some writers are revealed by their books,
+others conceal themselves in their fictional prototypes. It had always
+been a question in my mind whether Henry James gave to his stories his
+own personality or received his personality from his stories. This
+visit settled my doubts.
+
+The home was a perfect expression of the host, and possessed an
+individuality no less unique. I think it was Coventry Patmore who
+christened it “a jewel set in the plain,”--located as it was at the
+rising end of one of those meandering streets of Rye, in Sussex,
+England, Georgian in line and perfect in appointment.
+
+In receiving us, Henry James gave one the impression of performing a
+long-established ritual. He had been reading in the garden, and when
+we arrived he came out into the hall with hand extended, expressing a
+massive cordiality.
+
+“Welcome to my beloved Fletcher,” he cried; and as he grasped my hand
+he said, as if by way of explanation,
+
+“He saved my life, you know, and what is more, he improved my
+disposition. By rights he should receive all my future royalties,--but
+I doubt if he does!”
+
+His conversation was much more intelligible than his books. It
+was ponderous, but every now and then a subtle humor relieved the
+impression that he felt himself on exhibition. One could see that he
+was accustomed to play the lion; but with Fletcher present, toward whom
+he evidently felt a deep obligation, he talked intimately of himself
+and of the handicap his stomach infelicities had proved in his work.
+The joy with which he proclaimed his emancipation showed the real
+man,--a Henry James unknown to his characters or to his public.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+If William James had not taken up science as a profession and thus
+become a philosopher, he would have been a printer. No other commercial
+pursuit so invited him as “the honorable, honored, and productive
+business of printing,” as he expressed it in a letter to his mother
+in 1863. Naturally, with such a conception of the practice of book
+manufacture, he was always particularly concerned with the physical
+_format_ of his volumes. He once told me that my ability to
+translate his “fool ideas” into type showed the benefit of a Harvard
+education! He had no patience with any lapse on the part of the
+proofreader, and when the galleys of his books reached this point in
+the manufacture even my most experienced readers were on the anxious
+seat. On the other hand, he was generous in his appreciation when a
+proofreader called his attention to some slip in his copy that he had
+overlooked.
+
+After his volume _Pragmatism_ appeared and created such universal
+attention, a series of “popular” lectures on the subject was announced
+at Cambridge. The Harpers had just published a novel of mine entitled
+_The Spell_, in connection with which I had devoted much time
+to the study of humanism and the humanists of the fifteenth century.
+Because of my familiarity with a kindred subject, I must confess to
+a sense of mortification that in reading _Pragmatism_ I found
+myself beyond my depth. A “popular” presentation appealed to me as
+an opportunity for intellectual development, so I attended the first
+lecture, armed with pencil and notebook. Afterwards it so happened that
+Professor James was on the trolley car when I boarded it at Harvard
+Square, and I sat down beside him.
+
+“I was surprised to see you at my lecture,” he remarked. “Don’t you get
+enough of me at your office?”
+
+I told him of my excursions into other philosophic pastures, and of my
+chagrin to find so little in pragmatic fields upon which my hungry mind
+could feed. He smiled at my language, and entered heartily into the
+spirit.
+
+“And today?” he inquired mischievously.--“I hope that today I guided
+you successfully.”
+
+“You did,” I declared, opening my notebook, and showing him the entry:
+“Nothing is the only resultant of the one thing which is not.”
+
+“That led me home,” I said soberly, with an intentional double meaning.
+
+Professor James laughed heartily.
+
+“Did I really say that? I have no doubt I did. It simply proves my
+contention that philosophers too frequently exercise their prerogative
+of concealing themselves behind meaningless expressions.”
+
+Two of Professor James’ typographic hobbies were paper labels and as
+few words as possible on the title page. In the matter of supplying
+scant copy for the title, he won my eternal gratitude, for many a
+book, otherwise typographically attractive, is ruined by overloading
+the title with too much matter. This is the first page that catches
+the eye, and its relation to the book is the same as the door of a
+house. Only recently I opened a volume to a beautiful title page. The
+type was perfectly arranged in proportion and margin, the decoration
+was charming and in complete harmony with the type. It was set by an
+artist-printer and did him credit; but turning a few more pages I
+found myself face to face with a red-blooded story of western life,
+when the title had prepared me for something as delicate as Milton’s
+_L’Allegro_. A renaissance door on a New England farmhouse would
+have been equally appropriate!
+
+I commend to those who love books the fascinating study of title pages.
+I entered upon it from curiosity, and quickly found in it an abiding
+hobby. The early manuscripts and first printed volumes possessed no
+title pages, due probably to the fact that the handmade paper and
+parchment were so costly that the saving of a seemingly unnecessary
+page was a consideration. The _incipit_ at the top of the first
+page, reading “Here beginneth” and then adding the name of the author
+and the subject, answered every purpose; and on the last page the
+_explicit_ marked the conclusion of the work, and offered the
+printer an excellent opportunity to record his name and the date of
+the printing. Most of the early printers were modest in recording
+their achievements, but in the famous volume _De Veritate Catholicæ
+Fidei_ the printer says of himself:
+
+    _This new edition was furnished us to print in Venice by Nicolas
+    Jenson of France.... Kind toward all, beneficent, generous,
+    truthful and steadfast in the beauty, dignity, and accuracy
+    of his printing, let me (with the indulgence of all) name him
+    the first in the whole world; first likewise in his marvelous
+    speed. He exists in this, our time, as a special gift from
+    Heaven to men. June thirteen, in the year of Redemption 1489.
+    Farewell_
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Bibliographers contend that the first title page was used in a book
+printed by Arnold Ther Hoernen of Cologne in 1470. In this volume an
+extra leaf is employed containing simply an introduction at the top.
+It has always seemed to me that this leaf is more likely to have been
+added by the printer to correct a careless omission of the introduction
+on his first page of text. Occasionally, in the humanistic manuscript
+volumes in the Laurenziana Library, at Florence, there occurs a
+“mirror” title (see _opp. page_), which consists of an illuminated
+page made up of a large circle in the center containing the name of the
+book, sometimes surrounded by smaller circles, in which are recorded
+the titles of the various sections. This seems far more likely to have
+been suggestive of what came to be the formal title page.
+
+[Illustration: MIRROR TITLE
+
+From Augustinus: _Opera_, 1485.
+
+Laurenziana Library, Florence]
+
+By the end of the fifteenth century the title page was in universal
+use, and printers showed great ingenuity in arranging the type in
+the form of wine cups, drinking glasses, funnels, inverted cones,
+and half-diamonds. During the sixteenth century great artists like
+Dürer, Holbein, Rubens, and Mantegna executed superbly engraved
+titles entirely out of keeping with the poor typography of the books
+themselves. In many of the volumes the title page served the double
+purpose of title and full-page illustration (see _pages_ 228 and
+241). What splendid examples would have resulted if the age of engraved
+titles had coincided with the high-water mark in the art of printing!
+
+As the art of printing declined, the engraved title was discarded, and
+the printer of the seventeenth century seemed to feel it incumbent
+upon him to cover the entire page with type. If you recall the early
+examples of American Colonial printing, which were based upon the
+English models of the time, you will gain an excellent idea of the
+grotesque tendency of that period. The Elzevirs were the only ones who
+retained the engraved title (_page_ 241). The Baskerville volumes
+(_page_ 247), in the middle of the eighteenth century, showed a
+return to good taste and harmonious co-ordination with the text; but
+there was no beauty in the title until Didot in Paris and Bodoni
+in Parma, Italy, introduced the so-called “modern” face, which is
+peculiarly well adapted to display (_page_ 253). William Morris,
+in the late nineteenth century, successfully combined decoration with
+type,--over-decorated, in the minds of many, but in perfect keeping
+with the type pages of the volumes themselves. Cobden-Sanderson,
+at the Doves Press, returned to the extreme in simplicity and good
+taste (_page_ 265), excelling all other printers in securing
+from the blank space on the leaf the fullest possible value. One
+of Cobden-Sanderson’s classic remarks is, “I always give greater
+attention, in the typography of a book, to what I leave out than to
+what I put in.”
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The name of William Morris today may be more familiar to booklovers
+than that of Cobden-Sanderson, but I venture to predict that within
+a single decade the latter’s work as printer and binder at the
+Doves Press at Hammersmith, London, will prove to have been a more
+determining factor in printing as an art than that of William Morris
+at the Kelmscott Press, and that the general verdict will be that
+Cobden-Sanderson carried out the splendid principles laid down by
+Morris more consistently than did that great artist-craftsman himself.
+
+[Illustration: T. J. COBDEN-SANDERSON, 1841-1922
+
+From Etching by Alphonse Legros, 1893]
+
+The story of Cobden-Sanderson’s life is an interesting human document.
+He told it to me one evening, its significance being heightened by
+the simplicity of the recital. At seventeen he was apprenticed to
+an engineer, but he worked less than a year in the draft room. He
+disliked business as business, and began to read for Cambridge, with
+the idea of entering the Church. While at Trinity College he read for
+mathematical honors, but three years later, having given up all idea
+of going into the Church, he left Cambridge, refusing honors and a
+degree, which he might have had, as a protest against the competitive
+system and the “warp” it gave to all university teaching. Then, for
+seven or eight years, he devoted himself to Carlyle and the study of
+literature, “Chiefly German philosophy,” he said, “which is perhaps not
+literature,” supporting himself by desultory writing and practicing
+medicine. When he was thirty years old he was admitted to the Bar,
+which profession he abandoned thirteen years later to become a manual
+laborer. The following is quoted from notes which I made after this
+conversation:
+
+    _I despaired of knowledge in a philosophical sense, yet I
+    yearned to do or to make something. This was the basic idea
+    of my life. At this time it was gradually revealed to me that
+    the arts and crafts of life might be employed to make society
+    itself a work of art, sound and beautiful as a whole, and in
+    all its parts._
+
+It is difficult to associate Cobden-Sanderson’s really tremendous
+contributions to bookmaking as an art with his self-effacing
+personality. If I had met the man before I had become intimately
+acquainted with his work, I should have been disappointed; having
+had him interpreted to me by his books before I met him, his unique
+personality proved a definite inspiration and gave me an entirely new
+viewpoint on many phases of the art of typography in its application to
+human life.
+
+In person, Cobden-Sanderson was of slight build, with sloping
+shoulders, his most noticeable feature being his reddish beard tinged
+with gray. He was nervous and shy, and while talking seldom looked
+one squarely in the eye, yet at no time could one doubt the absolute
+sincerity of his every word and act. He was hopelessly absent-minded.
+Invited to dine with me in London, he appeared the evening before the
+date set, retiring overwhelmed with embarrassment when he discovered
+his mistake. On the following evening he forgot the appointment
+altogether! Later, when in Boston, he accepted an invitation to dine
+with a literary society, but failed to appear because he could not
+remember where the dinner was to be held. He had mislaid his note of
+invitation and could not recall the name of the man who sent it. On
+that evening he dashed madly around the city in a taxicab for over an
+hour, finally ending up at his hotel in absolute exhaustion while the
+members of the literary society dined without their lion!
+
+While president of the Society of Printers in Boston, I arranged for
+Cobden-Sanderson to come to America to deliver some lectures on _The
+Ideal Book_. Among these were four given at Harvard University. At
+the conclusion of the last lecture he came to my library, thoroughly
+tired out and completely discouraged. Seated in a great easy chair he
+remained for several moments in absolute silence, resting his face upon
+his hands. Suddenly, without a moment’s warning, he straightened up and
+said with all the vehemence at his command,
+
+“I am the veriest impostor who ever came to your shores!”
+
+Seeing my surprise and incredulity, he added,
+
+“I have come to America to tell you people how to make books. In
+New York they took me to see the great Morgan Library and other
+collections. They showed me rare _incunabula_. They expected me to
+know all about them, and to be enthusiastic over them. As a matter of
+fact, I know nothing about the work of the great master-printers, and
+care less!”
+
+My face must have disclosed my thoughts, for he held up a restraining
+hand.
+
+“Don’t think me such an egotist as my words imply. It isn’t that
+at all. It is true that I am interested only in my own work, but
+that is because my work means something more to me than the books
+I produce. When I print a book or bind one it is because I have a
+message in my soul which I am impelled to give mankind, and it comes
+out through my fingers. Other men express their messages in different
+_media_,--in stone or on canvas. I have discovered that the book
+is my medium. When I bind and decorate a volume I seem to be setting
+myself, like a magnetized needle, or like an ancient temple, in line
+and all square, not alone with my own ideal of society, but with that
+orderly and rhythmical whole which is the revelation of science and
+the normal of developed humanity. You asked me a while ago to explain
+certain inconsistencies in my work, and I told you that there was no
+explanation. That is because each piece of work represents me at the
+time I do it. Sometimes it is good and sometimes poor, but, in any
+case, it stands as the expression of myself at the time I did it.”
+
+As he spoke I wondered if Cobden-Sanderson had not explained why, in
+the various arts, the work of those master-spirits of the past had not
+been surpassed or even equaled during the intervening centuries. It is
+a matter for consideration, when the world has shown such spectacular
+advance along material lines, that in painting, in sculpture, in
+architecture, in printing, the work of the old masters still stands
+supreme. In their time, when men had messages in their souls to give
+the world, the interpretation came out through their fingers, expressed
+in the medium with which each was familiar. Before the invention of
+printing, the masses received those messages directly from the marble
+or the canvas, or from the design of some great building. The printed
+book opened to the world a storehouse of wisdom hitherto unavailable,
+and made individual effort less conspicuous and therefore less
+demanded. The few outstanding figures in every art have been those who,
+like Cobden-Sanderson, have set themselves “in line and all square,
+not alone with their own ideals of society, but with that orderly and
+rhythmical whole which is the revelation of science and the normal of
+developed humanity.” It is what Cobden-Sanderson has done rather than
+his written words, that conveys the greatest message.
+
+While Theodore Roosevelt was President of the United States, and on the
+occasion of one of his several visits to Boston, his secretary wrote
+that the President would like to examine with me some of the special
+volumes I had built. I knew him to be an omnivorous reader, but until
+then did not realize his deep interest in the physical side of books.
+
+He came to the University Press one bitterly cold day in January, and
+entered my office wrapped in a huge fur coat. After greeting him I
+asked if he wouldn’t lay the coat aside.
+
+“Of course I will,” he replied briskly; “it is just as easy to catch
+hot as it is to catch cold.”
+
+We devoted ourselves for an hour to an examination and discussion of
+certain volumes I had produced. One of these was a small twelve-mo
+entitled _Trophies of Heredia_ containing poems by José-Maria
+de Heredia, brought out in artistic _format_ for a Boston
+publishing house, which had proved a complete failure from a commercial
+standpoint. Probably not over two hundred copies of the book were ever
+sold. Evidently one of these had fallen into the President’s hands, for
+he seized my copy eagerly, saying,
+
+“Hello! I didn’t remember that you made this. Extraordinary volume,
+isn’t it? I want to show you something.”
+
+Quickly turning to one of the pages he pointed to the line, _The
+hidden warmth of the Polar Sea_.
+
+“What do you think of that?” he demanded. “Did you ever think of the
+Polar Sea as being warm? And by Jove he’s right,--it _is_ warm!”
+
+Later, in Washington, I accepted his invitation for luncheon at the
+White House and for an afternoon in his library, where we continued our
+discussion of books. Before we turned to the volumes, he showed me some
+of the unusual presents which various potentates had given him, such as
+a jade bear from the Tzar of Russia, a revolver from Admiral Togo, and
+line drawings made personally by the Kaiser, showing in detail every
+ship in our Navy. When I expressed surprise that such exact knowledge
+should be in the possession of another country, my host became serious.
+
+“The Kaiser is a most extraordinary fellow,” he said deliberately,--“not
+every one realizes how extraordinary. He and I have corresponded ever
+since I became President, and I tell you that if his letters were ever
+published they would bring on a world war. Thank God I don’t have to
+leave them behind when I retire. That’s one prerogative the President
+has, at any rate.”
+
+I often thought of these comments after the World War broke out. An
+echo of them came while the desperate struggle was in full force.
+Ernest Harold Baynes, nature-lover and expert on birds, was visiting
+at my house, having dined with the ex-President at Oyster Bay the week
+before. In speaking of the dinner, Baynes said that Roosevelt declared
+that had he been President, Germany would never have forced the war at
+the time she did. When pressed to explain, Roosevelt said:
+
+“The Kaiser would have remembered what he outlined to me in some
+letters he wrote while I was President. Bill knows me, and I know Bill!”
+
+From the library we extended our examination to the family living-room,
+where there were other volumes of interest on the tables or in the
+bookcases. From these, the President picked up a hand-lettered,
+illuminated manuscript which he had just received as a present from
+King Menelik of Abyssinia. Some one had told him that it was a
+manuscript of the twelfth or thirteenth century, but to a student
+of the art of illumination it was clearly a modern copy of an old
+manuscript. The hand lettering was excellent, but the decoration
+included colors impossible to secure with the ancient pigments, and the
+parchment was distinctly of modern origin.
+
+“You are just the one to tell me about this,” Mr. Roosevelt exclaimed.
+“Is it an original manuscript?”
+
+He so obviously wished to receive an affirmative reply that I
+temporized by asking if some letter of description had not come with it.
+
+“Oh, yes,” he replied, immediately divining the occasion of my question
+and showing his disappointment; “there was a missive, which is now in
+the archives of the State Department. I saw a translation of it, but
+it is only one of those banal expressions similar to any one of my
+own utterances, when I cable, for instance, to my imperial brother,
+the Emperor of Austria, how touched and moved I am to learn that his
+cousin, the lady with the ten names, has been safely delivered of a
+child!”
+
+The President was particularly interested in the subject of
+illustration, and he showed me several examples, asking for a
+description of the various processes. From that we passed on to a
+discussion of the varying demand from the time when I first began to
+make books. I explained that the development of the halftone plate
+and of the four-color process plates had been practically within this
+period,--that prior to 1890 the excessive cost of woodcuts, steel
+engravings, or lithography confined illustration to expensive volumes.
+The halftone opened the way for profuse illustration at minimum expense.
+
+The President showed me an impression from one of Timothy Cole’s
+marvelous woodcuts, and we agreed that the halftone had never taken the
+place of any process that depends upon the hand for execution. The very
+perfection to which the art of halftone reproduction has been carried
+is a danger point in considering the permanence of its popularity.
+This does not apply to its use in newspapers, but in reproducing with
+such slavish fidelity photographs of objects perpetuated in books
+of permanent value. It seemed paradoxical to say that the nearer
+perfection an art attains the less interesting it becomes, because the
+very variation incidental to hand work in any art is what relieves the
+monotony of that perfection attained through mechanical means. Since
+then, a few leading engravers have demonstrated how the halftone may be
+improved by hand work. This combination has opened up new possibilities
+that guarantee its continued popularity.
+
+With the tremendous increase in the cost of manufacturing books
+during and since the World War, publishers found that by omitting
+illustrations from their volumes they could come nearer to keeping the
+cost within the required limits, so for a period illustrated volumes
+became limited in number
+
+There is no question that the public loves pictures, and the
+development during recent years of so-called newspapers from which
+the public gleans the daily news by means of halftone illustrations,
+is, in a way, a reversion to the time before the printing press, when
+the masses received their education wholly through pictorial design.
+The popularity of moving pictures is another evidence. I have always
+wished that this phase had developed at the time of our discussion,
+for I am sure Mr. Roosevelt would have had some interesting comments
+to make on its significance. I like to believe that this tendency will
+correct itself, for, after all, the pictures which are most worth while
+are those which we ourselves draw subconsciously from impressions made
+through intellectual exploits
+
+
+
+
+                                  IV
+
+                       THE LURE OF ILLUMINATION
+
+
+Sitting one day in the librarian’s office in the Laurenziana Library,
+in Florence, the conversation turned upon the subject of illumination.
+Taking a key from his pocket, my friend Guido Biagi unlocked one of the
+drawers in the ancient wooden desk in front of him, and lifted from it
+a small, purple vellum case, inlaid with jewels. Opening it carefully,
+he exposed a volume similarly bound and similarly adorned. Then, as he
+turned the leaves, and the full splendor of the masterpiece was spread
+out before me,--the marvelous delicacy of design, the gorgeousness of
+color, the magnificence of decoration and miniature,--I drew in my
+breath excitedly, and bent nearer to the magnifying glass which was
+required in tracing the intricacy of the work.
+
+This was a _Book of Hours_ illuminated by Francesco d’Antonio
+del Cherico, which had once belonged to Lorenzo de’ Medici, and was
+representative of the best of the fifteenth-century Italian work
+(_page 146_). The hand letters were written by Antonio Sinibaldi
+in humanistic characters upon the finest and rarest parchment; the
+illumination, with its beaten gold and gorgeous colors, was so close a
+representation of the jewels themselves as to make one almost believe
+that the gems were inlaid upon the page! And it was the very volume
+that had many times rested in the hands of Lorenzo the Magnificent, as
+it was at that moment resting in mine!
+
+For the first time the art of illumination became real to me,--not
+something merely to be gazed at with respect and admiration, but an
+expression of artistic accomplishment to be studied and understood, and
+made a part of one’s life.
+
+The underlying thought that has inspired illumination in books from
+its very beginning is more interesting even than the splendid pages
+which challenge one’s comprehension and almost pass beyond his power of
+understanding. To the ancients, as we have seen, the rarest gems in all
+the world were gems of thought. The book was the tangible and visible
+expression of man’s intellect, worthy of the noblest presentation.
+These true lovers of books engaged scribes to write the text in
+_minium_ of rare brilliancy brought from India or Spain, or in
+Byzantine ink of pure Oriental gold; they selected, to write upon,
+the finest material possible,--sometimes nothing less than virgin
+parchment, soft as velvet, made from the skins of still-born kids; they
+employed the greatest artists of the day to draw decorations or to
+paint miniatures; and they enclosed this glorified thought of man, now
+perpetuated for all time, in a cover devised sometimes of tablets of
+beaten gold, or of ivory inlaid with precious jewels (_page_ 112).
+
+[Illustration: CARVED IVORY BINDING
+
+_Jeweled with Rubies and Turquoises_
+
+From _Psalter_ (12th Century). Brit. Mus. Eger. MS. 1139 (Reduced in
+size)]
+
+For centuries, this glorification was primarily bestowed upon religious
+manuscripts, and illumination came to be associated with the Church,
+but by the fourteenth century the art ceased to be confined to the
+cloister. Wealthy patrons recognized that it offered too splendid
+a medium of expression to permit limitation; and lay artists were
+employed to add their talents in increasing the illuminated treasures
+of the world.
+
+There would seem to be no reason why so satisfying an art as that of
+illumination should not continue to be employed to make beautifully
+printed books still more beautiful, yet even among those who really
+love and know books there is a surprising lack of knowledge concerning
+this fascinating work. The art of Raphael and Rubens has been a part of
+our every-day life and is familiar to us; but the names of Francesco
+d’Antonio, Jean Foucquet, and Jean Bourdichon have never become
+household words, and the masterpieces of the illuminator’s art which
+stand to their credit seem almost shrouded in a hazy and mysterious
+indefiniteness.
+
+I have learned from my own experience that even fragmentary study
+brings rich rewards:--the interest in discovering that instead of
+being merely decorative, the art of illumination is as definitive in
+recording the temporary or fashionable customs of various periods as
+history itself. There is a satisfaction in learning to distinguish
+the characteristics of each well-defined school:--of recognizing the
+fretted arcades and mosaics of church decoration in the Romanesque
+style; the stained glass of the Gothic cathedrals in the schools of
+England, France, Germany, or Italy; the love of flower cultivation in
+the work of the Netherlandish artists; the echo of the skill of the
+goldsmith and enameller in the French manuscripts; and the glory of the
+gem cutter in those of the Italian Renaissance. There is the romance
+connected with each great masterpiece as it passes from artist to
+patron, and then on down the centuries, commemorating loyal devotion to
+saintly attributes; expressing fealty at coronations or congratulations
+at Royal marriages; conveying expressions of devotion and affection
+from noble lords and ladies, one to the other. Illuminated
+volumes were not the playthings of the common people, and in their
+peregrinations to their final resting places in libraries and museums,
+they passed along a Royal road and became clothed with fascinating
+associations.
+
+There was a time when I thought I knew enough about the various schools
+to recognize the locality of origin or the approximate date of a
+manuscript, but I soon learned my presumption. Illuminators of one
+country, particularly of France, scattered themselves all over Europe,
+retaining the basic principles of their own national style, yet adding
+to it something significant of the country in which they worked. Of
+course, there are certain external evidences which help. The vellum
+itself tells a story: if it is peculiarly white and fine, and highly
+polished, the presumption is that it is Italian or dates earlier than
+the tenth century; if very thin and soft, it was made from the skins
+of still-born calves or kids, and is probably of the thirteenth or
+fourteenth centuries.
+
+The colors, too, contribute their share. Each old-time artist ground
+or mixed his own pigments,--red and blue, and less commonly yellow,
+green, purple, black, and white. Certain shades are characteristic of
+certain periods. The application of gold differs from time to time:
+in England, for instance, gold powder was used until the twelfth
+century, after which date gold leaf is beautifully laid on the sheet.
+The raised-gold letters and decorations were made by building up with a
+peculiar clay, after the design had been drawn in outline, over which
+the gold leaf was skilfully laid and burnished with an agate.
+
+As the student applies himself to the subject, one clue leads him
+to another, and he pursues his search with a fascination that soon
+becomes an obsession. That chance acquaintance with Francesco d’Antonio
+inspired me to become better acquainted with this art. It took me into
+different monasteries and libraries, always following “the quest,” and
+lured me on to further seeking by learning of new beauties for which
+to search, and of new examples to be studied. Even as I write this,
+I am told that at Chantilly, in the Musée Condé, the _Très Riches
+Heures_ of the Duc de Berry is the most beautiful example of the
+French school. I have never seen it, and I now have a new objective on
+my next visit to France!
+
+In this quest, covering many years, I have come to single out certain
+manuscripts as signifying to me certain interesting developments in the
+art during its evolution, and I study them whenever the opportunity
+offers. It is of these that I make a record here. Some might select
+other examples as better illustrative from their own viewpoints; some
+might draw conclusions different from mine from the same examples,--and
+we might all be right!
+
+There is little for us to examine in our pilgrimage until the Emperor
+Justinian, after the conflagration in the year 532, which completely
+wiped out Constantinople with its magnificent monuments, reconstructed
+and rebuilt the city. There are two copies of _Virgil_ at the
+Vatican Library in Rome, to be sure, which are earlier than that,
+and form links in the chain between illumination as illustration
+and as book decoration; there is the _Roman Calendar_ in the
+Imperial Library at Vienna, in which for the first time is combined
+decoration with illustration; there is the _Ambrosiana Homer_ at
+Milan, of which an excellent reproduction may be found in any large
+library,--made under the supervision of Achille Ratti, before he
+became Pope Pius XI; there are the burnt fragments of the _Cottonian
+Genesis_ at the British Museum in London,--none more than four
+inches square, and running down to one inch, some perforated with
+holes, and almost obliterated, others still preserving the ancient
+colors of the design, with the Greek letters clearly legible after
+sixteen centuries.
+
+These are historical and interesting, but we are seeking beauty. In the
+splendor of the rebirth of Constantinople, to which all the known world
+contributed gold, and silver, and jewels, medieval illumination found
+its beginning. Artists could now afford to send to the Far East and to
+the southern shores of Europe for their costly materials. Brilliant
+_minium_ came from India and from Spain, _lapis lazuli_ from
+Persia and Bokhara, and the famous Byzantine gold ink was manufactured
+by the illuminators themselves out of pure Oriental gold. The vellum
+was stained with rose and scarlet tints and purple dyes, upon which the
+gold and silver inks contrasted with marvelous brilliancy.
+
+Gorgeousness was the fashion of the times in everything from
+architecture to dress, and in the wealth and sumptuous materials at
+their command the artists mistook splendor for beauty. The Byzantine
+figure work is based upon models as rigid as those of the Egyptians,
+and shows little life or variety (_opp. page_). Landscapes and
+trees are symbolic and fanciful. Buildings have no regard for relative
+proportions, and are tinted merely as parts of the general color
+scheme. The illuminators adhered so closely to mechanical rules that
+the volumes lack even individuality.
+
+[Illustration: PSALTER IN GREEK. _Byzantine_, 11th Century
+
+_Solomon, David, Gideon, and the Annunciation_
+
+(Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 19352. 9¼ × 8 inches)]
+
+There are comparatively few of these extravagant relics now in
+existence. Their intrinsic value made them favorite objects of pillage,
+and hundreds were destroyed for their jewels and precious metals. In
+many of those that have endured, like the _Codex Argenteus_, at
+Upsala, in Sweden, the silver letters have turned black, the gold ink
+has become a rusty red, and the stained vellum now supplies a tawdry
+background.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+After passing the early stages of the art, there are ten examples I
+particularly like to keep fresh in my mind as showing the evolution of
+that insatiable desire on the part of booklovers of all ages to enrich
+the book. Four of these are in the British Museum in London, four in
+the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, one in the Library of San Marco
+in Venice, and one in the Laurenziana Library in Florence. In each of
+these storehouses of treasure there are many other manuscripts worthy
+of all the time a pilgrim can spare; but these ten represent different
+schools and different epochs, and in my own study have combined to make
+illumination a living art and a romantic history.
+
+The _Lindisfarne Gospels_ is where I start my illuminated
+pilgrimage. It takes me back to the seventh century, when the world was
+shrouded in darkest ignorance, and is a reminder that except for the
+development in the Irish monasteries, as typified by early illuminated
+volumes such as this, knowledge of books might have almost wholly
+disappeared. It recalls the asceticism of those early Irish monks
+carried even to a point of fanaticism; their toilsome pilgrimages to
+Rome, visiting the different monasteries and collecting, one by one,
+the manuscripts to bring back to form those early libraries that kept
+alive the light of learning.
+
+The Irish school of writing and painting passed over to England through
+the monasteries established by the Irish monks in Scotland, and the
+earliest of the English settlements was Lindisfarne. It was here that
+the _Gospels_, one of the most characteristic examples of the
+Celtic School, as translated to northern England, was produced. Such
+knowledge of its date and origin as exists rests upon a colophon added
+at the end of the manuscript, probably in the tenth century, which
+would seem to place the date of the execution of the work at about the
+year 700. For nearly two centuries it remained as the chief treasure
+of Lindisfarne. In 875, so the tradition runs, in order to escape
+from the invasion of the Danes, it was decided to remove the body of
+Saint Cuthbert and the most valued relics to the mainland, and the
+_Gospels_ was included. When the attempt was made to cross over to
+Ireland, according to the legend, the ship was driven back by storm,
+and the chest containing the precious volume was lost overboard. Here
+is the quaint chronicle:
+
+    _In this storm, while the ship was lying over on her side, a
+    copy of the_ Gospels, _adorned with gold and precious
+    stones, fell overboard and sank into the depths of the sea.
+    Accordingly, after a little while, they bend their knees and
+    prostrate themselves at full length before the feet of the
+    sacred body, asking pardon for their foolish venture. Then
+    they seize the helm and turn the ship back to the shore and
+    to their fellows, and immediately they arrive there without
+    any difficulty, the wind blowing astern.... Amidst their
+    lamentations in this distress, at length the accustomed help of
+    their pious patron came to their aid, whereby their minds were
+    relieved from grief and their bodies from labor, seeing that
+    the Lord is a refuge of the poor, a helper in time of trouble.
+    For, appearing in a vision to one of them, Hunred by name, he
+    bade them seek, when the tide was low, for the manuscript...;
+    for, perchance, beyond the utmost they could hope, they would,
+    by the mercy of God, find it.... Accordingly they go to the
+    sea and find that it had retired much farther than it was
+    accustomed; and after walking three miles or more they find the
+    sacred manuscript of the_ Gospels _itself, exhibiting all
+    its outer splendor of jewels and gold and all the beauty of its
+    pages and writing within, as though it had never been touched
+    by water.... And this is believed to be due to the merits
+    of Saint Cuthbert himself and of those who made the book,
+    namely Bishop Eadfrith of holy memory, who wrote it with his
+    own hand in honor of the blessed Cuthbert; and the venerable
+    Æthelwald, his successor, who caused it to be adorned with gold
+    and precious stones; and Saint Billfrith the anchorite, who,
+    obeying with skilled hands the wishes of his superior, achieved
+    an excellent work. For he excelled in the goldsmith’s art._
+
+This quotation from Mr. Eric George Millar’s Introduction to the
+facsimile reproduction of this famous manuscript, published by the
+British Museum, is given at such length to emphasize at the very
+beginning of this pilgrimage the important place given to these
+manuscripts in the communities for which they were prepared. The fact
+that such a legend exists at all attests the personality the manuscript
+had assumed. It was my very great pleasure, the last time I studied
+the _Gospels_, to have Mr. Millar, who is an Assistant in the
+Department of Manuscripts at the British Museum, explain many things in
+connection with it which could not be gleaned without the exhaustive
+study which he has given to it.
+
+The _Gospels_ includes 258 leaves of heavy vellum, measuring about
+13 by 10 inches. The Latin text is written in beautifully designed,
+_semi-uncial_ characters. These differ from the capital letters
+only by their relatively greater roundness, inclination, and inequality
+in height. This style of lettering obtained until the eighth or ninth
+century, when the semi-uncial character became the transition to the
+minuscule. There are five full pages of decoration, in cruciform design
+of most extraordinary elaboration; six pages of ornamented text; four
+full-page miniatures of the Evangelists, in which the scribes are drawn
+in profile, seated, with cushion, desk, and footstool; sixteen pages of
+Canon tables, decorated in pure Celtic style; and numerous initials of
+various sizes.
+
+The great interest in this manuscript lies in the cruciform pages. When
+I first saw them I thought the work a marvelous example of the amount
+of intricate design an artist could devise within a given area of
+space. Then, as I studied them, came the realization that, complicated
+as they were, there was a definite plan the artist had established and
+followed which preserved the balance of coloring and design.
+
+In the illustration here given (_page 124_), Mr. Millar showed
+me how he has ingeniously unraveled the knots. It is peculiarly
+interesting as it demonstrates the methods by which the expert is able
+to understand much that the casual observer fails to see. He pointed
+out that the background of the page is occupied by a design of no less
+than 88 birds, arranged in a perfect pattern, with 7 at the top, 7 at
+the bottom, 9 on each side, 12 in the gaps between the outer panels,
+four groups of 10 surrounding the rectangular panels, and 4 single
+birds in the gaps between the points of the cross and the T panels.
+The necks and the bodies are so cleverly balanced that even when at
+first the scheme seems inconsistent, further examination shows that
+the artist adhered religiously to his plan. The color arrangement is
+carried out with equal thought and care.
+
+[Illustration: THE LINDISFARNE GOSPELS. _Celtic_, about A.D. 700
+
+(Brit. Mus. Cotton MS. Nero. D. iv. 12½ × 10 inches)]
+
+The four miniatures of the Evangelists show Byzantine influence, but
+in the features, and the hair, and in the frames, the Celtic style
+prevails. Gold is used only on two pages.
+
+The _Lindisfarne Gospels_ cannot be called beautiful when compared
+with the work of later centuries, but can we fully appreciate the
+beauty we are approaching without becoming familiar, step by step,
+with what led up to it? In this manuscript the precious Gospels were
+enriched by the labor of devoted enthusiasts in the manner they
+knew best, and with an ingenuity and industry that staggers us
+today. Taking what the past had taught them, they gave to it their own
+interpretation, and thus advanced the art toward its final consummation
+and glory.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Taken merely as an example of illumination, few would share my interest
+in the _Alcuin Bible_, a Carolingian manuscript of the ninth
+century; but to any one interested in printing, this huge volume
+at the British Museum cannot be overlooked. In the eighth century
+the Irish and Anglo-Saxon missionary artists transplanted their
+work to their settlements on the Continent, out of which sprang the
+Carolingian School in France,--so named in honor of Charlemagne. Sacred
+compositions, derived largely from Latin and Byzantine sources, were
+now added to the highly ornamental letters. Solid backgrounds were
+abandoned, and handsome architectural designs were used to frame the
+miniatures.
+
+If you will examine the _Alcuin Bible_ with me, you will note
+what a tremendous advance has been made. The manuscript is a copy
+of the Vulgate said to be revised and amended by Alcuin of York to
+present to Charlemagne on the occasion of that monarch’s coronation.
+Some dispute this tradition altogether; some claim that a similar
+Bible, now in Rome, is entitled to the honor; but the controversy does
+not detract from the interest in the book itself. This Alcuin of York
+was the instrument of Charlemagne in establishing the reform in hand
+lettering, which has been of the utmost importance in the history of
+printing. Starting with the foundation of the School of Tours in 796,
+the _minuscule_, or lower-case letter, which is the basis of our
+modern styles, superseded all other forms of hand lettering. By the
+twelfth century the clear, free-flowing form that developed from the
+Caroline minuscule was the most beautiful hand ever developed, and was
+never surpassed until the humanistic scribes of the fifteenth century
+took it in its Italian form as their model and perfected it.
+
+The volume is a large quarto, 20 by 14¼ inches in size, splendidly
+written in double column in minuscule characters with uncial initials
+(_opp. page_). There are four full-page illuminations, and many
+smaller miniatures, with characteristic architectural detail that show
+Roman influence, while the decorations themselves are reminiscent of
+the Byzantine and the Celtic Schools.
+
+[Illustration: ALCUIN BIBLE. _Carolingian_, 9th Century
+
+_Showing the Caroline Minuscule_
+
+(Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 10546. 20 × 14¼ inches)]
+
+It is the hand lettering rather than the illumination or the decoration
+that particularly interests me. When I first began my work in
+designing my Humanistic type, I was amazed that the humanistic scribes
+of the fifteenth century, upon whose letters I based my own, could have
+so suddenly taken such a stride forward. The mere fact that there was a
+greater demand for their work did not seem to explain the phenomenon.
+Then I discovered that these fifteenth-century artists, instead of
+adapting or copying the Caroline minuscule, set about to perfect it.
+They mastered the principles upon which it was based, and with the
+technical advantages that had come to them through the intervening
+centuries, brought the design to its fullest beauty.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+To supplement my study of the _Alcuin Bible_, I turn to the
+masterpiece of the Carolingian School in the Bibliothèque Nationale
+in Paris. _The Golden Gospels of Saint Médard_ belongs to the
+same period as the _Alcuin Bible_, and its hand letters are of
+the same beautiful design, but more brilliant in that they are written
+throughout in gold. In spite of the crude and unnatural figures, I am
+always impressed with a feeling that the artist is, for the first time,
+making a definite effort to break away from past tradition toward more
+natural design. The Byzantine atmosphere still clings to the work as a
+whole (_opp. page_), but in the frames and the backgrounds there
+is an echo of the ivory carving and the architecture of the new Church
+of San Vitale at Ravenna, and the powerful influence of the early
+Christian symbolism asserts itself in the miniatures.
+
+[Illustration: GOLDEN GOSPELS OF ST. MÉDARD.
+
+_Carolingian_, 9th Century
+
+(Bibl. Nat. MS. Lat. 8850. 12 × 7½ inches)]
+
+The hand-lettered pages are enclosed in plain borders of green or red
+tint, with outside rules of gold. Each picture page covers the entire
+leaf. Every now and then, superimposed upon the solid background of the
+margins, are tiny figures so far superior in freedom of design to the
+major subjects as to make one wonder why the more pretentious efforts
+are not farther advanced than they are. Yet why should we be surprised
+that an artist, under the influence of centuries of precedent and the
+ever-present aversion to change, should move slowly in expressing
+originality? As it is, the pages of _Saint Médard_ give us for the
+first time motivation for the glorious development of the art to come
+in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The rise of Gothic influence forms the great dividing line between the
+old, or ecclesiastic, and the new, or naturalistic, spirit in monastic
+art. The _Psalter of Saint Louis_, a Gothic manuscript of the
+thirteenth century, in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, is an
+example of this transition that I like to study.
+
+By the beginning of the thirteenth century the initial--which in the
+Celtic style had dominated the entire page--was losing its supremacy,
+becoming simply one factor in the general scheme. A delicate fringe
+work or filigree of pen flourishes, which had sprung up around the
+initial as it became reduced in size, was later to be converted into a
+tendril or cylindrical stem, bearing a succession of five leaves and
+leaflets of ivy, usually entirely filled with burnished gold. Small
+figures, and, later, groups of figures, take the place of the linear
+ornament in the interior of the letter, and calligraphy and miniature
+painting become successfully fused. An exact date cannot be assigned,
+as it was the result of a slow and gradual growth.
+
+From certain references made in the Calendar pages of the
+_Psalter_, it is evident that the manuscript was copied and
+illuminated between the year 1252, when Queen Blanche of Castile died,
+and the death of Saint Louis in 1270. What a story this book could
+tell! Written in French in red ink on one of the front end leaves is
+this inscription:
+
+    _This Psalter of Saint Louis was given by Queen Jeanne d’Evreux
+    to King Charles, son of King John, in the year of our Master,
+    1369; and the present King Charles, son of the said King
+    Charles, gave it to Madame Marie of France, his daughter, a nun
+    at Poissy, on Saint Michel’s Day, in the year 1400_
+
+The _Psalter_ contains 260 leaves of parchment, 8½ by 6 inches.
+Of these, seventy-eight are small, beautiful miniatures, depicting the
+principal scenes in the early books of the Old Testament, and eight are
+illustrations to the Psalms (_page 132_), the remaining leaves
+being occupied by the text. In these miniatures is shown a refinement
+and delicacy of treatment combined with unusual freedom in execution.
+Here is one of the best examples of the reflection of the stained-glass
+windows of the Gothic cathedrals (_opp. page_), to which reference
+has already been made. There is no shading whatever. The body color is
+laid on the design in flat tints, finished by strokes of the pen.
+
+[Illustration: PSALTER OF SAINT LOUIS. _Gothic_, 13th Century
+
+_Abraham and Isaac_
+
+(Bibl. Nat. MS. Lat. 10525. 8½ × 6 inches)]
+
+[Illustration: PSALTER OF SAINT LOUIS. _Gothic_, 13th Century
+
+_Psalms_ lxviii. 1-3
+
+(Bibl. Nat. MS. Lat. 10525. 8½ × 6 inches)]
+
+All this is interesting because this period marks the end of the
+needless limitations illuminators placed upon themselves. Working on
+vellum as a medium instead of in glass with lead outlines, should be a
+much simpler operation! Still, one can’t help reveling in the bright
+scarlet and the rich blue of the stained glass, and would be loath to
+give it up.
+
+The volume is bound in old boards, covered with blue and rose material
+embossed with silver and reinforced with velvet. The clasps are gone.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The style of illumination in the thirteenth century shows no distinct
+national characteristics, for, even in England, some of the work was
+executed by French artists. The initial is usually set within a frame
+shaped to its outline, the ground being either of gold, slightly raised
+or burnished, or of color, especially dark blue and pale tints of
+salmon, gray, or violet, sometimes edged with gold.
+
+_Queen Mary’s Psalter_, a superb example of the English School in
+the early fourteenth century, is a landmark in our pilgrimage because,
+in addition to its surpassing beauty, it is an example of illumination
+sought for its own artistic value instead of being associated wholly
+with devotional manuscripts. No one can examine the charming series
+of little tinted drawings in the margins of the Litany without being
+convinced that the artist, whoever he may have been, was quite familiar
+with the world outside the Church (see _frontispiece_).
+
+The earliest note of ownership in this manuscript is of the sixteenth
+century:
+
+    _This boke was sume tyme the Erle of Rutelands, and it was his
+    wil that it shulde by successioun all way go to the lande
+    of Ruteland or to him that linyally suceedes by reson of
+    inheritaunce in the saide lande._
+
+How fascinating these records are, made by different hands as the
+precious manuscripts are passed on down the ages! Even though we have
+no absolute knowledge of which Rutland is meant, an added personality
+is given to the pages we are now permitted to turn and to admire. In
+this manuscript there is also a second note, written in Latin on the
+fly leaf at the end, paying a tribute to a certain Baldwin Smith, “an
+honest customs officer,” who frustrated an attempt to ship the volume
+out of England, and presented it to Queen Mary. It is now in the
+British Museum.
+
+Whether or not this was Queen Mary’s first acquaintance with the
+manuscript is not known, but from the binding she put on it she surely
+considered it a highly prized personal possession. It would naturally
+be of special interest to her because of its connection with the old
+liturgy she was so anxious to restore. The silver-gilt clasp fittings
+are missing now. The crimson velvet with the pomegranate, the Queen’s
+badge, worked in colored silks and gold thread on each cover, are
+worn and shabby; but on the corner plates the engraved lion, dragon,
+portcullis, and fleur-de-lys of the Tudors are still triumphant.
+
+The manuscript, executed upon thin vellum, and consisting of 320 leaves
+about 11 by 7 inches, opens with a series of 228 pen and ink drawings.
+In most cases there are two designs on each page, illustrating Bible
+history from the Creation down to the death of Solomon (_page
+134_). With the drawings is a running description in French,
+sometimes in prose, sometimes in rhyme, which in itself is interesting,
+as the story does not always confine itself strictly to the Biblical
+records but occasionally embodies apocryphal details.
+
+The drawings themselves are exquisite, and in the skill of execution
+mark another tremendous advance in the art of illumination. They are
+delicately tinted with violet, green, red, and brown. The frame is a
+plain band of vermilion, from each corner of which is extended a stem
+with three leaves tinted with green or violet.
+
+Following the series of drawings comes a full page showing the Tree of
+Jesse, and three other full pages depicting the Saints,--one page of
+four compartments and two of six. The text, from this point, represents
+the usual form of the liturgical Psalter, the Psalms being preceded
+by a Calendar, two pages to a month, and followed by the Canticles,
+including the Athanasian Creed, and then by the Litany. In the Psalter,
+the miniatures show incidents from the life of Christ; the Canticles
+depict scenes from the Passion; while in the Litany are miniatures
+of the Saints and Martyrs. The initials themselves are elaborate,
+many containing small miniatures, and all lighted up with brilliant
+colors and burnished gold. In the Litany, in addition to the religious
+subjects, there are splendid little scenes of every-day life painted
+in the lower margins which make the manuscript unique,--illustrations
+of the Bestiary, tilting and hunting scenes, sports and pastimes,
+grotesque figures and combats, dancers and musicians. The manuscript
+ends with the Miracles of the Virgin and the Lives and Passions of the
+Saints.
+
+In _Queen Mary’s Psalter_, and in manuscripts from this period
+to those of the sixteenth century, we find ourselves reveling in
+sheer beauty. “Why not have started here?” asks my reader. Perhaps we
+should have done so; but this is a record not of what I ought to do,
+but of what I’ve done! To see one beautiful manuscript after another,
+without being able to recognize what makes each one different and
+significant, would take away my pleasure, for the riotous colors and
+gold would merge one into another. Is it not true that there comes
+greater enjoyment in better understanding? We admire what we may not
+understand, but without understanding there can be no complete
+appreciation. In this case, familiarity breeds content!
+
+[Illustration: QUEEN MARY’S PSALTER. _English_, 14th Century
+
+_From the Life of Joseph_
+
+(Brit. Mus. Royal MS. 2B vii. 11 × 7 inches)]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+After studying the best of fourteenth-century English illumination in
+_Queen Mary’s Psalter_, I like to turn to the _Bedford Book of
+Hours_, to make comparison with one of the most beautiful French
+manuscripts of a century later. This is also at the British Museum,
+so in the brief space of time required by the attendant to change the
+volumes on the rack in front of me, I am face to face with the romance
+and the beauty of another famous volume, which stands as a memorial of
+English domination in France.
+
+Fashions change in illuminated manuscripts, as in all else, and books
+of hours were now beginning to be the vogue in place of psalters. This
+one was written and decorated for John, Duke of Bedford, son of Henry
+IV, and was probably a wedding gift to Anne, his wife. This marriage,
+it will be remembered, was intended to strengthen the English alliance
+with Anne’s brother, Philip of Burgundy. On the blank page on the back
+of the Duke’s portrait is a record in Latin, made by John Somerset,
+the King’s physician, to the effect that on Christmas Eve, 1430, the
+Duchess, with her husband’s consent, presented the manuscript to the
+young King Henry VI, who was then at Rouen, on his way to be crowned
+at Paris. Such notes, made in these later illuminated volumes, are
+interesting as far as they go, but there is so much left unsaid! In
+the present instance, how came the manuscript, a hundred years later,
+in the possession of Henri II and Catherine de’ Medici, of France?
+After being thus located, where was it for the next hundred years,
+before it was purchased by Edward Harley, 2d Earl of Oxford, from Sir
+Robert Worsley’s widow, to be presented to his daughter, the Duchess
+of Portland? These are questions that naturally arise in one’s mind
+as he turns the gorgeous pages, for it seems incredible that such
+beauty could remain hidden for such long periods. Now, happily, through
+purchase in 1852, the manuscript has reached its final resting place.
+
+[Illustration: BEDFORD BOOK OF HOURS. _French_, 15th Century
+
+_Showing one of the superb Miniature Pages_
+
+(Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 18850. 10¼ × 7¼ inches)]
+
+Like other books of hours, the _Bedford_ opens with the Calendar
+pages, combining the signs of the Zodiac with beautifully executed
+scenes typical of each month. Then follow four full-page designs
+showing the Creation and Fall, the Building of the Ark, the Exit from
+the Ark, and the Tower of Babel. The Sequences of the Gospels come
+next; then the Hours of the Virgin, with Penitential Psalms and Litany;
+the Shorter Hours; the Vigils of the Dead; the Fifteen Joys; the
+Hours of the Passion; the Memorials of the Saints; and various Prayers.
+Throughout the 289 leaves, a little larger than 10 by 7 inches, are
+thirty-eight full-page miniatures that are masterpieces,--particularly
+the Annunciation, with which the Hours of the Virgin begin. Every page
+of text is surrounded by a magnificent border, rich in colors and
+gold, with foliage and birds, and with the daintiest little miniatures
+imaginable. While these borders are based upon the ivy-leaf pattern,
+it resembles the style that carries the illumination through the leaf,
+bud, and flower up to the fruit itself, which one associates more with
+the Flemish than the French School. The work is really a combination
+of the French and Flemish Schools, but is essentially French in its
+conception and execution.
+
+It was the custom, in these specially created manuscripts, to
+immortalize the heads of the family by including them with other,
+and, perhaps in some cases, more religious subjects. In this _Book
+of Hours_, the Duke of Bedford is depicted, clad in a long,
+fur-lined gown of cloth-of-gold, kneeling before Saint George, and the
+portrait is so fine that it has been frequently copied. The page which
+perpetuates the Duchess is reproduced here (at _page 136_). Clad
+in a sumptuous gown of cloth-of-gold, lined with ermine, she kneels
+before Saint Anne; her elaborate head-dress supports an artificial
+coiffure, rich in jewels; on her long train, her two favorite dogs are
+playing. The Saint is clad in a grey gown, with blue mantle and white
+veil, with an open book in front of her. At her left stands the Virgin
+in white, with jeweled crown, and the infant Christ, in grey robe. His
+mother has thrown her arm affectionately about Him, while He, in turn,
+beams on the kneeling Duchess. In His hand He carries an orb surmounted
+by a cross. Saint Joseph stands at the right of the background, and
+four angels may be seen with musical instruments, appearing above the
+arras, on which is stamped the device and motto of the Duchess.
+
+Surrounding the miniature, worked into the border, in addition to
+the Duke’s shield and arms, are exquisite smaller pictures, in
+architectural backgrounds, showing Saint Anne’s three husbands and her
+sons-in-law. The pages must be seen in their full color, and in their
+original setting, to be appreciated.
+
+The manuscript is bound in red velvet, with silver-gilt clasps, bearing
+the Harley and the Cavendish arms, and dates back to the time of the
+Earl of Oxford.
+
+[Illustration: ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. _French Renaissance_, 15th
+Century
+
+_Cyrus permits the Jews to return to their own Country, and to rebuild
+the Temple of Jerusalem_
+
+(Bibl. Nat. MS. Français 247. 16¼ × 11½ inches)]
+
+In the _Antiquities of the Jews_, Jean Foucquet’s masterpiece at
+the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, we find the French Renaissance
+School. This manuscript interests me for several and different reasons.
+In the first place, Foucquet was one of the founders of the French
+School of painting, and had his masterpieces been painted on canvas
+instead of on vellum, his name would have been much more familiar
+to art lovers than it is today. The high degree attained by the art
+at Tours, which had become the center of the Renaissance in France,
+demanded a setting for the miniatures different from the Flemish type
+of decoration that had so dominated illumination in general. This it
+found in the Italian style, which at that time was first attaining its
+glory.
+
+The book itself was originally bound in two volumes, being a
+French translation by an unknown writer of Flavius Josephus’
+_Antiquities_ and _War of the Jews_, the subject being the
+clemency of Cyrus toward the captive Jews in Babylon. It is in folio
+(a little larger than 16 by 11 inches), written in double column, and
+contains superb initials, vignettes, and miniatures (_page 138_).
+The work was begun for the Duc de Berry, but was left unfinished at
+his death in 1416. Later it came into the possession of the Duc de
+Nemours. Can one imagine a more aristocratic treasure for a cultured
+gentleman to own! It was probably begun very early in the fifteenth
+century, and completed between the years 1455 and 1477. A note at
+the end of the first volume (which contains 311 leaves) by François
+Robertet, secretary of Pierre II, Duc de Bourbon, states that nine of
+the miniatures are “by the hand of that good painter of King Louis XI,
+Jean Foucquet, native of Tours.”
+
+For over two hundred years this first volume, containing Books I to XIV
+of the _Antiquities of the Jews_, has been in the Bibliothèque
+Nationale. It is bound in yellow morocco, and bears the arms of
+Louis XV. The second volume was considered lost. In 1903 the English
+collector, Mr. Henry Yates Thompson, purchased the missing copy in
+London, at a sale at Sotheby’s. This contained Books XV to XX of the
+_Antiquities of the Jews_ and Books I to VII of the _War of the
+Jews_; but it was imperfect in that a dozen pages of miniatures had
+been cut out. Two years later, Sir George Warner discovered ten of
+these filched leaves in an album of miniatures that at some time had
+been presented to Queen Victoria, and were in her collection at Windsor
+Castle.
+
+As soon as Mr. Thompson heard of this discovery, he begged King Edward
+VII to accept his volume, in order that the leaves might be combined.
+The English monarch received the gift with the understanding that he,
+in turn, might present the restored manuscript to the President of
+the French Republic. This gracious act was accomplished on March 4,
+1906, and now the two volumes rest side by side in the Bibliothèque
+Nationale, reunited for all time after their long separation. If books
+possess personalities, surely no international romance ever offered
+greater material for the novelist’s imagination!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Now our pilgrimage takes us from Paris to Venice, to study that
+priceless treasure of the Library of San Marco, the _Grimani
+Breviary_, the gem of the Flemish School (which should properly
+be called “Netherlandish”). This style overlapped, distinctly,
+into Germany and France, and further complicated any certainty
+of identification by the fact that the number of Netherlandish
+illuminators was large, and they scattered themselves over Europe,
+practising their art and style in France, Germany, and Italy. They all
+worked with the same minute care, and it is practically impossible to
+identify absolutely the work even of the most famous artists. There
+has always been a question whether the chief glory of the _Grimani
+Breviary_ belonged to Hans Memling or to Gerard Van-der-Meire, but
+from a study of the comparative claims the Memling enthusiasts would
+seem to have the better of the argument.
+
+Internal and external evidence place the date of the execution of the
+_Grimani Breviary_ at 1478 to 1489,--ten years being required for
+its completion. It is believed that the commission was given by Pope
+Sixtus IV. The Pontiff, however, died before the volume was finished,
+and it was left in the hands of one of the artists engaged upon it.
+Antonello di Messina purchased it from this artist, who is supposed to
+have been Hans Memling, and brought it to Venice, where he sold it for
+the sum of 500 ducats to Cardinal Domenico Grimani, whose name it bears.
+
+[Illustration: GRIMANI BREVIARY. _Flemish_, 15th Century
+
+_La Vie au Mois de Janvier_
+
+(Biblioteca San Marco, Venice. 10 × 9 inches)]
+
+This Cardinal Grimani was a man noted not only for his exemplary piety
+but also as a literary man of high repute, and a collector of rare
+judgment. When he died, the _Breviary_ was bequeathed to his
+nephew, Marino Grimani, Patriarch of Aquileia, on the condition that
+at his death the precious manuscript should become the property of the
+Venetian Republic. Marino carried the _Breviary_ with him to Rome,
+where it remained until his death in 1546. In spite of his precautions,
+however, this and several other valuable objects would have been
+irretrievably lost had not Giovanni Grimani, Marino’s successor as
+Patriarch at Aquileia, searched for it, and finally recovered it at
+great cost to himself.
+
+In recognition of his services, Venice granted Giovanni the privilege
+of retaining the manuscript in his possession during his lifetime.
+Faithful to his trust, Giovanni, fearing lest the volume be again
+lost, on October 3, 1593, sent for his great friend, Marco Antonio
+Barbaro, Procurator of Saint Mark’s, placed the treasure in his hands,
+and charged him to deliver it to the Doge Pasquale Cicogna in full
+Senate. This was done, and the volume was stored in the Treasury of
+the Basilica for safe keeping. Here it remained through the many
+vicissitudes of Venice, and even after the fall of the Republic, until
+the librarian Morelli persuaded the authorities to allow its removal to
+the Library of San Marco, whither it was transferred October 4, 1797.
+
+When the _Breviary_ was delivered to the Doge Pasquale, the
+Republic voted to entrust the binding to one Alessandro Vittoria. The
+cover is of crimson velvet, largely hidden by ornaments of silver
+gilt. On one side are the arms and the medallion of Cardinal Domenico
+Grimani, and on the other those of his father, the Doge Antonio. Both
+covers contain further decorations and Latin inscriptions, relating in
+the first case to the gift, and in the other to its confirmation. In
+the small medallions in the border one sees a branch of laurel, the
+emblem of vigilance and protection, crossed by a branch of palm,--the
+symbol of the religious life. The dove typifies purity, and the dragon
+stands for defense.
+
+The volume itself contains 831 pages about 10 by 9 inches in size.
+There are the usual Calendar pages, containing the signs of the Zodiac,
+and further decorated with small miniatures (_opp. page_),
+alternating with twelve superb full-page illuminations (_page
+142_), showing the occupations of the months. Following these, come
+the Prayers, with sixty additional full-page miniatures based on Bible
+history or the lives of the Saints. At the end are eighteen pages with
+smaller miniatures assigned to the saints of special devotion, placed
+at the beginning of the office dedicated to each.
+
+[Illustration: GRIMANI BREVIARY. _Flemish_, 15th Century
+
+_Text Page showing Miniature and Decoration_
+
+(Biblioteca San Marco, Venice. 10 × 9 inches)]
+
+The marginal decorations throughout the book are wonderfully wrought.
+Some pages are adorned with perpendicular bands, with constantly
+varying color combinations. Arabesques of all kinds are used, and
+interspersed among the ornamentation are flowers and fruits, animals,
+birds, fishes, and all kinds of natural objects. In addition to
+these, one finds little buildings, landscapes, architectural ornaments,
+statues, church ornaments, frames, vases, cameos, medals, and scenes
+from Bible history and from every-day life as well,--all showing the
+genius of the artists who put themselves into the spirit of their work.
+
+When the old Campanile fell in 1902, one corner of the Library of
+San Marco was damaged. Immediately telegrams poured in from all over
+the world, anxiously inquiring for the safety of the _Grimani
+Breviary_. Fortunately it was untouched. The last time I saw this
+precious manuscript was in 1924. Doctor Luigi Ferrari, the librarian,
+courteously took the volume from its case and laid it tenderly on a low
+table, extending to me the unusual privilege of personal examination.
+Thus I could turn the pages slowly enough to enjoy again the exquisite
+charm of its miniatures, the beauty of its coloring, and to assimilate
+the depth of feeling which pervades it throughout. My friends at the
+British Museum think that in the Flemish pages of the _Sforza Book
+of Hours_ they have the finest example of the Flemish School. They
+may be right; but no miniatures I have ever seen have seemed to me more
+marvelously beautiful than those in the _Grimani Breviary_.
+
+Whenever I examine a beautiful manuscript, and take delight in it, I
+find myself comparing it with the Italian masterpiece of Francesco
+d’Antonio del Cherico. It may be that this is due to my dramatic
+introduction to that volume, as recorded at the beginning of this
+chapter. Its date is perhaps half a century earlier than the _Hours
+of Anne of Brittany_; it is of the same period as the _Grimani
+Breviary_ and the _Antiquities of the Jews_; it is fifty years
+later than the _Bedford Book of Hours_, and a century and a half
+later than _Queen Mary’s Psalter_. Which of all these magnificent
+manuscripts is the most beautiful? Who would dare to say! In all
+there is found the expression of art in its highest form; in each
+the individual admirer finds some special feature--the beauty of the
+designs, the richness of the composition, the warmth of the coloring,
+or the perfection of the execution--that particularly appeals.
+
+[Illustration: BOOK OF HOURS. _Italian_, 15th Century
+
+By Francesco d’Antonio del Cherico
+
+(R. Lau. Bibl. Ashb. 1874. 7 × 5 inches)]
+
+When one considers the early civilization of Italy, and the heights
+finally attained by Italian illuminators, it is difficult to understand
+why the intervening centuries show such tardy recognition of the art.
+Even as late as the twelfth century, with other countries turning
+out really splendid examples, the Italian work is of a distinctly
+inferior order; but by the middle of the thirteenth century, the
+great revival in art brought about by Cimabue and Giotto stimulated
+the development in illumination. During the next hundred years the art
+became nationalized. The ornament diverged from the French type, and
+assumed the peculiar straight bar or rod, with profile foliages, and
+the sudden reversions of the curves with change of color, which are
+characteristic of fourteenth-century Italian work. The miniatures,
+introducing the new Tuscan manner of painting, entirely re-fashioned
+miniature art. The figure becomes natural, well-proportioned, and
+graceful, the heads delicate in feature and correct in expression. The
+costumes are carefully wrought, the drapery folds soft, yet elaborately
+finished. The colors are vivid but warm, the blue being particularly
+effective.
+
+The vine-stem style immediately preceded the Classic revival which
+came when the Medici and other wealthy patrons recognized the artistic
+importance of illumination. In this style the stems are coiled most
+gracefully, slightly tinted, with decorative flowerets. The grounds
+are marked by varying colors, in which the artists delicately traced
+tendrils in gold or white.
+
+The great glory of Italy in illumination came after the invention
+of printing. Aside from the apprehensions of the wealthy owners of
+manuscript libraries that they would lose prestige if books became
+common, beyond the danger to the high-born rulers of losing their
+political power if the masses learned argument from the printed
+book,--these true lovers of literature opposed the printing press
+because they believed it to cheapen something that was so precious as
+to demand protection. So they vied with one another in encouraging the
+scribes and the illuminators to produce hand-written volumes such as
+had never before been seen.
+
+Certainly the _Book of Hours_ of d’Antonio is one of the marvels
+of Florentine art. The nine full-page miniatures have never been
+surpassed. No wonder that Lorenzo de’ Medici, lover of the beautiful,
+should have kept it ever beside him! The delicate work in the small
+scenes in the Calendar is as precise as that in the larger miniatures;
+the decoration, rich in the variety of its design, really surpassed
+the splendor and glory of the goldsmith’s art (_page 146_). Some
+deplore the fact that England lost this treasure when the Italian
+government purchased the Ashburnham Collection in 1884; but if there
+ever was a manuscript that belongs in Florence, it is this.
+
+You may still see d’Antonio’s masterpiece at the Laurenziana
+Library, but it is no longer kept in the ancient wooden desk. The
+treasures of illumination are now splendidly arrayed in cases, where
+all may study and admire. There are heavy choir-books, classic
+manuscripts, books of hours, and breviaries, embellished by Lorenzo
+Monaco, master of Fra Angelico; by Benozzo Gozzoli, whose frescoes
+still make the Riccardi famous; by Gherado, and Clovio, and by other
+artists whose names have long since been forgotten, but whose work
+remains as an everlasting monument to a departed art that should be
+revived.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Experts, I believe, place the work of Jean Foucquet, in the
+_Antiquities of the Jews_, ahead of that of Jean Bourdichon
+(probably Foucquet’s pupil) in the _Hours of Anne of Brittany_;
+but frankly this sixteenth century manuscript at the Bibliothèque
+Nationale, in Paris, always yields me greater pleasure. Perhaps this
+is in compensation for not knowing too much! I will agree with them
+that the decorative borders of Foucquet are much more interesting than
+Bourdichon’s, for the return of the Flemish influence to French art
+at this time was not particularly fortunate. In the borders of the
+_Grimani Breviary_ realism in reproducing flowers, vegetables,
+bugs, and small animal life, would seem to have been carried to the
+limit, but Bourdichon went the _Grimani_ one better, and on a
+larger scale. The reproductions are marvelously exact, but even a
+beautifully painted domesticated onion, on which a dragon-fly crawls,
+with wing so delicately transparent that one may read the letter it
+seems to cover, is a curious accompaniment for the magnificently
+executed portraits of Anne and her patron saints in the miniature
+pages! Here the artist has succeeded in imparting a quality to his
+work that makes it appear as if done on ivory instead of vellum (see
+_page 148_). The costumes and even the jewels are brilliant in
+the extreme. The floral decorations shown in the reproduction opposite
+are far more decorative than the vegetables, but I still object to the
+caterpillar and the bugs!
+
+[Illustration: HOURS of ANNE of BRITTANY. _French Renaissance_,
+16th Century
+
+_The Education of the Child Jesus by the Virgin and Saint Joseph_
+
+(Bibl. Nat. MS. Lat. 9474. 12 × 7½ inches)]
+
+[Illustration: HOURS of ANNE of BRITTANY. _French Renaissance_,
+16th Century
+
+_Page showing Text and Marginal Decoration_
+
+(Bibl. Nat. MS. Lat. 9474. 12 × 7¼ inches)]
+
+In 1508 there is a record that Anne of Brittany, Queen of Louis XII,
+made an order of payment to Bourdichon of 1050 _livres tournois_
+for his services in “richly and sumptuously historiating and
+illuminating a great Book of Hours for our use.” This consists of
+238 leaves of vellum, 12 by 7½ inches in size. There are sixty-three
+full pages, including forty-nine miniatures, twelve reproductions for
+the various months, and a leaf containing ornaments and figures at
+the beginning and end of the volume. Of the text, there are some
+350 pages surrounded by borders. The Italian influence shows in the
+architectural and sculptural decorations, just as the Flemish obtains
+in the borders.
+
+The manuscript is bound in black shagreen, with chased silver clasps.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The question naturally arises as to the reason for the decline and
+practically the final extinction of the art. I believe it to be that
+which the princely Italian patrons foresaw. Their apprehensions, though
+selfish in motive, have been confirmed by history. The invention of
+printing did make the book common, and as such, its true significance
+came to be forgotten because of greater familiarity. The book as the
+developer of the people in science and in literature crowded out the
+book as an expression of art.
+
+I wonder if it is too late to revive illumination. Never has there
+existed in America or England a keener appreciation of beautiful books;
+never have there been so many lovers of the book blessed with the
+financial ability to gratify their tastes. There are still artists
+familiar with the art, who, if encouraged, could produce work worthy
+of the beautifully printed volumes the best Presses are capable of
+turning out. What is lacking is simply a realization that illumination
+stands side by side with art at its best. In America, the opportunities
+for studying illumination are restricted, but a student would have
+no difficulty in finding in certain private collections and in a few
+public libraries more than enough to establish his basic understanding
+of the art. The great masterpieces are permanently placed now, and
+strictly enforced laws prevent national monuments from being further
+transferred from one country to another; but even of these, excellent
+facsimile reproductions have been made and distributed throughout the
+world
+
+No true lover of art visits Europe without first preparing himself by
+reading and study for a fuller understanding and more perfect enjoyment
+of what he is to find in the various galleries. Assuming that no one
+can be an art lover without also being a lover of books, it is perhaps
+a fair question to ask why he should not make an equal effort to
+prepare himself to understand and enjoy those rich treasures in the art
+of illumination which are now so easily accessible
+
+[Illustration: HOURS OF ANNE OF BRITTANY
+
+Order of payment of 1050 _livres tournois_ to Jean Bourdichon, 1508]
+
+
+
+
+                                   V
+
+                        FRIENDS THROUGH THE PEN
+
+
+Maurice Hewlett combined to an unusual degree those salient
+characteristics that go to make the great writer: he was a discerning
+observer, and had formed the habit of analyzing what he observed; his
+personal experiences had taught him the significance of what he had
+seen and enabled him to assess its valuation. Beyond all,--having
+observed, analyzed, and understood,--he possessed the power to
+interpret to others.
+
+At the time I first met him, _The Queen’s Quair_ was having a
+tremendous run, and the volume naturally came into the conversation.
+
+“In spite of its success,” he said with much feeling, “I am
+disappointed over its reception. I have always wanted to write history,
+but not the way history has always been written. There are certain
+acts attributed to the chief characters which, if these characters are
+studied analytically, are obviously impossible; yet because a certain
+event has once been recorded it keeps on being repeated and magnified
+until history itself becomes a series of distortions. Mary, Queen
+of Scots, has always been my favorite historical figure, and I know
+that in _The Queens Quair_ I have given a truer picture of her
+character than any that at present exists. But alas,” he added with a
+sigh, “no one accepts it as other than fiction.”
+
+After this statement from him I turned again to my copy of _The
+Queen’s Quair_ and re-read the author’s prologue, in which I found:
+
+    _A hundred books have been written and a hundred songs sung; men
+    enough of these latter days have broken their hearts over Queen
+    Mary’s; what is more to the point is that no heart but hers was
+    broken at the time. All the world can love her now, but who
+    loved her then? Not a man among them. A few girls went weeping;
+    a few boys laid down their necks that she might fall free of
+    the mire. Alas, the mire swallowed them up and she needs must
+    conceal her pretty feet. This is the note of the tragedy; pity
+    is involved, rather than terror. But no song ever pierced the
+    fold of her secret, no book ever found out the truth because
+    none ever sought her heart. Here, then, is a book which has
+    sought nothing else, and a song which springs from that only._
+
+I wonder if every writer in his heart does not feel the same ambition.
+The novelist is a story-teller who recites bed-time stories to his
+audience of grown-up children, while the humorist plays the clown; but
+in writing history one is dealing with something basic. Within a year
+a volume has been published containing alleged documentary evidence to
+prove that Mary, Queen of Scots, was innocent of the charge of treason.
+What a triumph if an author through character analysis could correct
+tradition! It was a loss to the world that Hewlett permitted himself to
+be discouraged by unsympathetic critics from carrying out a really big
+idea.
+
+To meet Maurice Hewlett at his home at Broad Chalke, a little English
+village nearly ten miles from a railroad station, and to walk with
+him in his garden, one might recognize the author of _The Forest
+Lovers_; but an afternoon with him at a London club would develop
+another side which was less himself. Instead of discussing flowers
+and French memoirs and biography in a delightfully whimsical mood,
+Hewlett’s slight, wiry figure became tense, his manner alert, his eyes
+keen and watchful. In the country he was the dreamer, the bohemian,
+wholly detached from the world outside; in the city he was confident
+and determined in approaching any subject, his voice became crisp and
+decisive, his bearing was that of the man of the world.
+
+His early life was more or less unhappy, due partly to his
+precociousness which prevented him from fitting in with youth of his
+own age. This encouraged him to reach beyond his strength and thus find
+disappointment.
+
+“I was never a boy,” he said once, “except possibly after the time when
+I should have been a man. As I look back on my youth, it was filled
+with discouragements.”
+
+The classics fascinated him, and he absorbed Dante. Then Shelley and
+Keats shared the place of the Italian poet in his heart. Even after
+he married, he continued to gratify his love of Bohemia, and his wife
+wandered with him through Italy, with equal joy; while in England they
+camped out together in the New Forest,--the scene of _The Forest
+Lovers_.
+
+The peculiar style which Hewlett affected in many of his volumes
+resulted, he told me, from his daily work in the Record Office in
+London, as Keeper of Land Revenue Records and Enrolments, during which
+period he studied the old parchments, dating back to William the
+Conqueror. In this respect his early experience was not unlike that of
+Austin Dobson’s, and just as the work in the Harbours Department failed
+to kill Dobson’s poetic _finesse_, so did Hewlett rise above the
+deadly grind of ancient records and archives. In fact it was during
+this period that Hewlett produced _Pan and the Young Shepherd_,
+which contains no traces of its author’s archaic environment.
+
+One point of sympathy that drew us closely together was our mutual
+love for Italy. My first desire to know Maurice Hewlett better was
+after reading his _Earthwork Out of Tuscany_, _Little Novels
+of Italy_, and _The Road in Tuscany_. I have always preferred
+these volumes to any of his later ones, as to me they have seemed more
+spontaneous and more genuine expressions of himself. We were talking
+about Italy, one day, when he made a remark which caused me to suggest
+that what he said was the expression of a modern humanist. Hewlett was
+obviously surprised yet pleased by my use of this expression.
+
+“I don’t often meet any one interested in the subject of humanism,” he
+said. “It is one of my hobbies.”
+
+I explained my association with Doctor Guido Biagi, librarian of the
+Laurenziana Library at Florence, and the work I had done there in
+connection with my designs for a special face of type, based upon the
+beautiful hand letters of the humanistic scribes (see _page 16_).
+With that introduction we discussed the great importance of the
+humanistic movement as the forerunner and essence of the Renaissance.
+We talked of Petrarch, the father of humanism, and of the courageous
+fight he and his sturdy band of followers made to rescue the classics.
+We both had recently read Philippe Monnier’s _Le Quattrocento_,
+which gave additional interest to our discussion.
+
+“Monnier is the only writer I have ever read who has tried to define
+humanism,” Hewlett continued. “He says it is not only the love of
+antiquity, but the worship of it,--a worship carried so far that it is
+not limited to adoration alone, but which forces one to reproduce.”
+
+“And the humanist,” I added, picking up the quotation from Monnier,
+which I knew by heart, “is not only the man who knows intimately the
+ancients and is inspired by them; it is he who is so fascinated by
+their magic spell that he copies them, imitates them, rehearses their
+lessons, adopts their models and their methods, their examples and
+their gods, their spirit and their tongue.”
+
+“Well, well!” he laughed; “we _have_ struck the same street,
+haven’t we! But does that exactly express the idea to you? It isn’t
+antiquity we worship, but rather the basic worth for which the ancients
+stand.”
+
+[Illustration: Autograph Letter from Maurice Hewlett]
+
+“Monnier refers to the obsession that comes from constant contact
+with the learning of the past, and the atmosphere thus created,” I
+replied. “Only last year Biagi and I discussed that very point, sitting
+together in his luxuriant garden at Castiglioncello, overlooking the
+Gulf of Leghorn. The ‘basic worth’ you mention is really Truth, and
+taking this as a starting point, we worked out a modern application of
+Monnier’s definition:
+
+    _“The humanist is one who holds himself open to receive Truth,
+    unprejudiced as to its source, and, after having received
+    Truth, realizes his obligation to give it out again, made
+    richer by his personal interpretation.”_
+
+“There is a definition with a present application,” Hewlett exclaimed
+heartily. “I like it.--Did you have that in mind when you called me a
+modern humanist, just now?”
+
+“No one could read _Earthwork Out of Tuscany_ and think otherwise,” I
+insisted.
+
+Hewlett held out his hand impulsively. “I wish I might accept that
+compliment with a clear conscience,” he demurred.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Meeting Austin Dobson after he became interpreter-in-chief of the
+eighteenth century, it was difficult to associate him with his
+earlier experiences as a clerk in the Board of Trade office, which
+he entered when he was sixteen years old, and to which service he
+devoted forty-five useful but uneventful years, rising eventually
+to be a principal in the Harbours Department. With so quiet and
+unassuming a personality, it seems incredible that he could have lifted
+himself bodily from such unimaginative environment, and, through his
+classic monographs, bring Steele, Goldsmith, Richardson, Fielding,
+Horace Walpole, Fanny Burney, Bewick, and Hogarth, out of their hazy
+indefiniteness, and give to them such living reality. Perhaps Dobson’s
+very nature prevented him from seeing the coarseness and indecency
+of the period, and enabled him to introduce, or perhaps reintroduce,
+to England from France the _ballade_ and the _chante royal_, the
+_rondeau_ and the _rondel_, the _triolet_, the _villanelle_, and other
+fascinating but obsolete poetical forms in which he first became
+interested through his French grandmother.
+
+Dobson was the most modest literary man I ever met. I happened to be
+in London at the time when the English government bestowed upon him an
+annuity of £1,000, “for distinguished service to the crown.” When I
+congratulated him upon this honor his response was characteristic:
+
+“I don’t know why in the world they have given me this, unless it is
+because I am the father of ten children. I have no doubt that would be
+classified under ‘distinguished service to the crown.’”
+
+One afternoon Austin Dobson and Richard Garnett, then Keeper of the
+Printed Books at the British Museum, happened to come to my hotel in
+London for tea at the same time. On a table in the apartment was a
+two-volume quarto edition in French of _Don Quixote_, a prize I
+had unearthed at a bookstall on the Quai Voltaire in Paris. It was
+beautifully printed, the letterpress just biting into the paper, and
+making itself a part of the leaf, which is so characteristic of the
+best French presswork. The edition also contained the famous Doré
+illustrations. Dobson picked up one of the volumes and exclaimed over
+its beauty.
+
+“This edition,” he said, “is absolutely perfect.”
+
+“Not quite,” I qualified his statement. “It is lacking in one
+particular. It requires your _Ode to Cervantes_ to make it
+complete.”
+
+Dobson laughed. “Send the book to me,” he said, “and I will transcribe
+the lines on the fly leaf.”
+
+When the volume was returned a few days later, a letter of apology came
+with it. “When I copied out the _Ode_ on the fly leaf,” Dobson
+wrote, “it looked so lost on the great page that I ventured to add the
+poem which I composed for the tercentenary. I hope you won’t mind.”
+
+My eleven-year-old son came into the reception room while our guests
+were drinking their tea. Dobson took him on his lap, and after quite
+winning his affection by his gentleness, he quietly called his
+attention to Garnett, who was conversing with my wife in another part
+of the room.
+
+“Never forget that man, my boy,” Dobson said in a low voice. “We have
+never had in England, nor shall we ever have again, one who knows so
+much of English literature. If the record of every date and every fact
+were to be lost by fire, Garnett could reproduce them with absolute
+accuracy if his life were spared long enough.”
+
+Within fifteen minutes the youngster found himself on Garnett’s knee.
+Without knowing what Dobson had said, the old man whispered in the
+child’s ear, “It is a privilege you will be glad to remember that you
+have met such a man as Austin Dobson. Except for Salisbury’s desire
+to demean the post of poet laureate, Dobson would hold that position
+today. Never forget that you have met Austin Dobson.”
+
+A few months after our return to America, Garnett died, and Dobson sent
+me the following lines. I have never known of their publication:
+
+                 _RICHARD GARNETT_
+
+                Sit tibi terra levis
+
+    _Of him we may say justly: Here was one
+      Who knew of most things more than any other,--
+    Who loved all Learning underneath the sun,
+      And looked on every Learner as a brother._
+
+    _Nor was this all. For those who knew him, knew,
+      However far his love’s domain extended,
+    It held its quiet “poet’s corner,” too,
+      Where Mirth, and Song, and Irony, were blended._
+
+[Illustration: _Autograph Poem by Austin Dobson_]
+
+Garnett was a rare spirit, and the British Museum has never seemed
+the same since he retired in 1899. Entrance to his private office was
+cleverly concealed by a door made up of shelf-backs of books, but
+once within the sanctum the genial host placed at the disposal of his
+guest, in a matter-of-fact way, such consummate knowledge as to stagger
+comprehension. But, far beyond this, the charm of his personality will
+always linger in the minds of those who knew him, and genuine affection
+for the man will rival the admiration for his scholarship.
+
+One afternoon at Ealing, after tennis on the lawn behind the Dobson
+house, we gathered for tea. Our little party included Hugh Thomson,
+the artist who so charmingly illustrated much of Dobson’s work, Mr. and
+Mrs. Dobson, and one of his sons. The poet was in his most genial mood,
+and the conversation led us into mutually confidential channels.
+
+“I envy you your novel writing,” he said. “Fiction gives one so much
+wider scope, and prose is so much more satisfactory as a medium than
+poetry. I have always wanted to write a novel. Mrs. Dobson would never
+have it. But she is always right,” he added; “had I persisted I should
+undoubtedly have lost what little reputation I have.”
+
+He was particularly impressed by the fact that I wrote novels as
+an avocation. It seemed to him such a far cry from the executive
+responsibility of a large business, and he persisted in questioning
+me as to my methods. I explained that I devoted a great deal of time
+to creating mentally the characters who would later demand my pen;
+that with the general outline of the plot I intended to develop, I
+approached it exactly as a theatrical manager approaches a play he is
+about to produce, spending much time in selecting my cast, adding,
+discarding, changing, just so far as seemed to me necessary to secure
+the actors best suited to the parts I planned to have them play. He
+expressed surprise when I told him that I had long since discarded the
+idea of working out a definite scenario, depending rather upon creating
+interesting characters, and having them sufficiently alive so that
+when placed together under interesting circumstances they are bound to
+produce interesting dialogue and action.
+
+“Of course my problem, writing essays and poetry, is quite different
+from yours as a novelist,” he said; “but I do try to assume a relation
+toward my work that is objective and impersonal. In a way, I go farther
+than you do.”
+
+Then he went on to say that not only did he plan the outline of what
+he had to write, whether triolet or poem, wholly in his head, but (in
+the case of the poetry) even composed the lines and made the necessary
+changes before having recourse to pen and paper.
+
+“When I actually begin to write,” he said, “I can see the lines clearly
+before me, even to the interlinear corrections, and it is a simple
+matter for me to copy them out in letter-perfect form.”
+
+Dobson’s handwriting and his signature were absolutely dissimilar.
+Unless one had actually seen him transcribe the text of a letter or
+the lines of a poem in that beautiful designed script, he would think
+it the work of some one other than the writer of the flowing autograph
+beneath.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Posterity is now deciding whether Mark Twain’s fame will rest upon
+his humor or his philosophy, yet his continuing popularity would seem
+to have settled this much-mooted question. Humor is fleeting unless
+based upon real substance. In life the passing quip that produces a
+smile serves its purpose, but to bring to the surface such human notes
+as dominate Mark Twain’s stories, a writer must possess extraordinary
+powers of observation and a complete understanding of his fellow-man.
+Neither Tom Sawyer nor Huckleberry Finn is a fictional character, but
+is rather the personification of that leaven which makes life worth
+living.
+
+When an author has achieved the dignity of having written “works”
+rather than books, he has placed himself in the hands of his friends
+in all his varying moods. A single volume is but the fragment of any
+writer’s personality. I have laughed over _Innocents Abroad_, and
+other volumes which helped to make Mark Twain’s reputation, but when I
+seek a volume to recall the author as I knew him best it is _Joan of
+Arc_ that I always take down from the shelf. This book really shows
+the side of Mark Twain, the man, as his friends knew him, yet it was
+necessary to publish the volume anonymously in order to secure for it
+consideration from the reading public as a serious story.
+
+[Illustration: MARK TWAIN, 1835-1910
+
+_At the Villa di Quarto, Florence_
+
+From a Snap-shot]
+
+“No one will ever accept it seriously, over my signature,” Mark Twain
+said. “People always want to laugh over what I write. This is a serious
+book. It means more to me than anything I have ever undertaken.”
+
+Mark Twain was far more the humorist when off guard than when on
+parade. The originality of what he did, combined with what he said,
+produced the maximum expression of himself. At one time he and his
+family occupied the Villa di Quarto in Florence (_page 172_), and
+while in Italy Mrs. Orcutt and I were invited to have tea with them.
+The villa is located, as its name suggests, in the four-mile radius
+from the center of the town. It was a large, unattractive building,
+perhaps fifty feet wide and four times as long. The location was
+superb, looking out over Florence toward Vallombrosa and the Chianti
+hills.
+
+[Illustration: AUTOGRAPH LETTER FROM MARK TWAIN
+
+With Snap-shot of Villa di Quarto]
+
+In greeting us, Mark Twain gave the impression of having planned out
+exactly what he was going to say. I had noticed the same thing on other
+occasions. He knew that people expected him to say something humorous
+or unusual, and he tried not to disappoint them.
+
+“Welcome to the barracks,” he exclaimed. “Looks like a hotel, doesn’t
+it? You’d think with twenty bedrooms on the top floor and only four in
+my family there would be a chance to put up a friend or two, wouldn’t
+you? But there isn’t any one I think so little of as to be willing to
+stuff him into one of those cells.”
+
+We had tea out of doors. Miss Clara Clemens, who later became Mrs.
+Gabrilowitch, served as hostess, as Mrs. Clemens was confined to her
+bed by the heart trouble that had brought the family to Italy. As we
+sipped our tea and nibbled at the delicious Italian cakes, Mark Twain
+continued his comments on the villa, explaining that it was alleged
+to have been built by the first Cosimo de’ Medici (“If it was, he had
+a bum architect,” Mark Twain interjected); later it was occupied by
+the King of Württemberg (“He was the genius who put in the Pullman
+staircase”); and still later by a Russian Princess (“She is responsible
+for that green majolica stove in the hall. When I first saw it I
+thought it was a church for children”); and then it fell into the hands
+of his landlady (“Less said about her the better. You never heard such
+profanity as is expressed by the furniture and the carpets she put in
+to complete the misery. I’m always thankful when darkness comes on to
+stop the swearing”).
+
+The garden was beautiful, but oppressive,--due probably to the tall
+cypresses (always funereal in their aspect), which kept out the sun,
+and produced a mouldy luxuriance. The marble seats and statues were
+covered with green moss, and the ivy ran riot over everything. One felt
+the antiquity unpleasantly, and, in a way, it seemed an unfortunate
+atmosphere for an invalid. But so far as the garden was concerned, it
+made little difference to Mrs. Clemens,--the patient, long-suffering
+“Livy” of Mark Twain’s life,--for she never left her sick chamber, and
+died three days later.
+
+After tea, Mr. Clemens offered me a cigar and watched me while I
+lighted it.
+
+“Hard to get good cigars over here,” he remarked. “I’m curious to know
+what you think of that one.”
+
+I should have been sorry to tell him what my opinion really was, but I
+continued to smoke it with as cheerful an expression as possible.
+
+“What kind of cigars do you smoke while in Europe?” he inquired.
+
+I told him that I was still smoking a brand I had brought over from
+America, and at the same time I offered him one, which he promptly
+accepted, throwing away the one he had just lighted. He puffed with
+considerable satisfaction, and then asked,
+
+“How do you like that cigar I gave you?”
+
+It seemed a matter of courtesy to express more enthusiasm than I really
+felt.
+
+“Clara,” he called across to where the ladies were talking, “Mr. Orcutt
+likes these cigars of mine, and he’s a judge of good cigars.”
+
+Then turning to me he continued, “Clara says they’re rotten!”
+
+He relapsed into silence for a moment.
+
+“How many of those cigars of yours have you on your person at the
+present time?”
+
+I opened my cigar case, and disclosed four.
+
+“I’ll tell you what I’ll do,” he said suddenly. “You like my cigars and
+I like yours. I’ll swap you even!”
+
+In the course of the afternoon Mark Twain told of a dinner that Andrew
+Carnegie had given in his New York home, at which Mr. Clemens had been
+a guest. He related with much detail how the various speakers had
+stammered and halted, and seemed to find themselves almost tongue-tied.
+His explanation of this was their feeling of embarrassment because of
+the presence of only one woman, Mrs. Carnegie.
+
+Sir Sidney Lee, who was lecturing on Shakesperian subjects in America
+at the time, was the guest of honor. When dinner was announced,
+Carnegie sent for Archie, the piper, an important feature in the
+Carnegie _ménage_, who appeared in full kilts, and led the
+procession into the dining-room, playing on the pipes. Carnegie,
+holding Sir Sidney’s hand, followed directly after, giving an imitation
+of a Scotch dance, while the other guests fell in behind, matching the
+steps of their leader as closely as possible. Mark Twain gave John
+Burroughs credit for being the most successful in this attempt.
+
+Some weeks later, at a dinner which Sir Sidney Lee gave in our honor
+in London, we heard an echo of this incident. Sir Sidney included the
+story of Mark Twain’s speech on that occasion, which had been omitted
+in the earlier narrative. When called upon, Mr. Clemens had said,
+
+“I’m not going to make a speech,--I’m just going to reminisce. I’m
+going to tell you something about our host here when he didn’t have as
+much money as he has now. At that time I was the editor of a paper in
+a small town in Connecticut, and one day, when I was sitting in the
+editorial sanctum, the door opened and who should come in but Andrew
+Carnegie. Do you remember that day, Andy?” he inquired, turning to his
+host; “wasn’t it a scorcher?”
+
+Carnegie nodded, and said he remembered it perfectly.
+
+“Well,” Mark Twain continued, “Andrew took off his hat, mopped his
+brow, and sat down in a chair, looking most disconsolate.
+
+“‘What’s the matter?’ I inquired. ‘What makes you so melancholy?’--Do
+you remember that, Andy?” he again appealed to his host.
+
+“Oh, yes,” Carnegie replied, smiling broadly; “I remember it as if it
+were yesterday.”
+
+“‘I am so sad,’ Andy answered, ‘because I want to found some libraries,
+and I haven’t any money. I came in to see if you could lend me a
+million or two.’ I looked in the drawer and found that I could let
+him have the cash just as well as not, so I gave him a couple of
+million.--Do you remember that, Andy?”
+
+“No!” Carnegie answered vehemently; “I don’t remember that at all!”
+
+“That’s just the point,” Mark Twain continued, shaking his finger
+emphatically. “I have never received one cent on that loan, interest or
+principal!”
+
+I wonder if so extraordinary an assemblage of literary personages was
+ever before gathered together as at the seventieth anniversary birthday
+dinner given to Mark Twain by Colonel George Harvey at Delmonico’s
+in New York! Seated at the various tables were such celebrities as
+William Dean Howells, George W. Cable, Brander Matthews, Richard
+Watson Gilder, Kate Douglas Wiggin, F. Hopkinson Smith, Agnes Repplier,
+Andrew Carnegie, and Hamilton W. Mabie.
+
+It was a long dinner. Every one present would have been glad to express
+his affection and admiration for America’s greatest man-of-letters,
+and those who must be heard were so numerous that it was nearly two
+o’clock in the morning before Mark Twain’s turn arrived to respond.
+As he rose, the entire company rose with him, each standing on his
+chair and waving his napkin enthusiastically. Mark Twain was visibly
+affected by the outburst of enthusiasm. When the excitement subsided, I
+could see the tears streaming down his cheeks, and all thought of the
+set speech he had prepared and sent to the press for publication was
+entirely forgotten. Realizing that the following quotation differs from
+the official report of the event, I venture to rely upon the notes I
+personally made during the dinner. Regaining control of himself, Mark
+Twain began his remarks with words to this effect:
+
+    _When I think of my first birthday and compare it with this
+    celebration,--just a bare room; no one present but my mother
+    and one other woman; no flowers, no wine, no cigars, no
+    enthusiasm,--I am filled with indignation!_
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Charles Eliot Norton is a case in point in my contention that to
+secure the maximum from a college course a man should take two years
+at eighteen and the remaining two after he has reached forty. I was
+not unique among the Harvard undergraduates flocking to attend his
+courses in Art who failed utterly to understand or appreciate him. The
+ideals expressed in his lectures were far over our heads. The estimate
+of Carlyle, Ruskin, and Matthew Arnold, that Mr. Norton was foremost
+among American thinkers, scholars, and men of culture, put us on the
+defensive, for to have writers such as these include Norton as one of
+themselves placed him entirely outside the pale of our undergraduate
+understanding. He seemed to us a link connecting our generation with
+the distant past. As I look back upon it, this was not so much because
+he appeared old as it was that what he said seemed to our untrained
+minds the vagaries of age. Perhaps we were somewhat in awe of him,
+as we knew him to be the intimate of Oliver Wendell Holmes and James
+Russell Lowell, as he had been of Longfellow and George William Curtis,
+and thus the last of the Cambridge Immortals. I have always wished that
+others might have corrected their false impressions by learning to know
+Norton, the man, as I came to know him, and have enjoyed the inspiring
+friendship that I was so fortunate in having him, in later years,
+extend to me.
+
+In the classroom, sitting on a small, raised platform, with as many
+students gathered before him as the largest room in Massachusetts Hall
+could accommodate, he took Art as a text and discussed every subject
+beneath the sun. His voice, though low, had a musical quality which
+carried to the most distant corner. As he spoke he leaned forward
+on his elbows with slouching shoulders, with his keen eyes passing
+constantly from one part of the room to another, seeking, no doubt,
+some gleam of understanding from his hearers. He told me afterwards
+that it was not art he sought to teach, nor ethics, nor philosophy, but
+that he would count it success if he instilled in the hearts of even a
+limited number of his pupils a desire to seek the truth.
+
+As I think of the Norton I came to know in the years that followed,
+he seems to be a distinctly different personality, yet of course the
+difference was in me. Even at the time when Senator Hoar made his
+terrific attack upon him for his public utterances against the Spanish
+War, I knew that he was acting true to his high convictions, even
+though at variance with public opinion. I differed from him, but by
+that time I understood him.
+
+“Shady Hill,” his home in Norton’s Woods on the outskirts of Cambridge,
+Massachusetts, exuded the personality of its owner more than any
+house I was ever in. There was a restful dignity and stately culture,
+a courtly hospitality that reflected the individuality of the host.
+The library was the inner shrine. Each volume was selected for its
+own special purpose, each picture was illustrative of some special
+epoch, each piece of furniture performed its exact function. Here,
+unconsciously, while discussing subjects far afield, I acquired from
+Mr. Norton a love of Italy which later was fanned into flame by my
+Tuscan friend, Doctor Guido Biagi, the accomplished librarian of the
+Laurenziana Library, in Florence, to whom I have already frequently
+referred.
+
+Our real friendship began when I returned from Italy in 1902, and told
+him of my plans to design a type based upon the wonderful humanistic
+volumes. As we went over the photographs and sketches I brought home
+with me, and he realized that a fragment of the fifteenth century,
+during which period hand lettering had reached its highest point of
+perfection, had actually been overlooked by other type designers (see
+_page 16_), he displayed an excitement I had never associated
+with his personality. I was somewhat excited, too, in being able to
+tell him something which had not previously come to his attention,--of
+the struggle of the Royal patrons, who tried to thwart the newborn art
+of printing by showing what a miserable thing a printed book was when
+compared with the beauty of the hand letters; and that these humanistic
+volumes, whose pages I had photographed, were the actual books which
+these patrons had ordered the scribes to produce, regardless of
+expense, to accomplish their purpose.
+
+The romance that surrounded the whole undertaking brought out from
+him comments and discussion in which he demonstrated his many-sided
+personality. The library at “Shady Hill” became a veritable Florentine
+rostrum. Mr. Norton’s sage comments were expressed with the vigor
+and originality of Politian; when he spoke of the tyranny of the old
+Florentine despots and compared them with certain political characters
+in our own America, he might have been Machiavelli uttering his famous
+diatribes against the State. Lorenzo de’ Medici himself could not have
+thrilled me more with his fascinating expression of the beautiful or
+the exhibition of his exquisite taste.
+
+Each step in the development of the Humanistic type was followed by Mr.
+Norton with the deepest interest. When the first copy of Petrarch’s
+_Triumphs_ came through the bindery I took it to “Shady Hill,” and
+we went over it page by page, from cover to cover. As we closed the
+volume he looked up with that smile his friends so loved,--that smile
+Ruskin called “the sweetest I ever saw on any face (unless perhaps a
+nun’s when she has some grave kindness to do),”--and then I knew that
+my goal had been attained (_page 32_).
+
+While the Humanistic type was being cut, Doctor Biagi came to America
+as the official representative from Italy to the St. Louis Exposition.
+Later, when he visited me in Boston, I took him to “Shady Hill” to
+see Mr. Norton. It was an historic meeting. The Italian had brought
+to America original, unpublished letters of Michelangelo, and at my
+suggestion he took them with him to Cambridge. Mr. Norton read several
+of these letters with the keenest interest and urged their publication,
+but Biagi was too heavily engaged with his manifold duties as librarian
+of the Laurenziana and Riccardi libraries, as custodian of the
+Buonarroti and the da Vinci archives, and with his extensive literary
+work, to keep the promise he made us that day.
+
+The conversation naturally turned upon Dante, Biagi’s rank in his own
+country as interpreter of the great poet being even greater than was
+Norton’s in America. Beyond this they spoke of books, of art, of
+music, of history, of science. Norton’s knowledge of Italy was profound
+and exact; Biagi had lived what Norton had acquired. No matter what
+the subject, their comments, although simply made, were expressions of
+prodigious study and absolute knowledge; of complete familiarity, such
+as one ordinarily has in every-day affairs, with subjects upon which
+even the well-educated man looks as reserved for profound discussion.
+Norton and Biagi were the two most cultured men I ever met. In
+listening to their conversation I discovered that a perfectly trained
+mind under absolute control is the most beautiful thing in the world.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Climbing the circular stairway in the old, ramshackle Harper plant at
+Franklin Square, New York, I used to find William Dean Howells in his
+sanctum.
+
+“Take this chair,” he said one day after a cordial greeting; “the only
+Easy Chair we have is in the _Magazine_.”
+
+Howells loved the smell of printer’s ink. “They are forever talking
+about getting away from here,” he would say, referring to the long
+desire at Harpers’--at last gratified--to divorce the printing from the
+publishing and to move uptown. “Here things are so mixed up that you
+can’t tell whether you’re a printer or a writer, and I like it.”
+
+Our acquaintance began after the publication by the Harpers in 1906 of
+a novel of mine entitled _The Spell_, the scene of which is laid
+in Florence. After reading it, Howells wrote asking me to look him up
+the next time I was in the Harper offices.
+
+“We have three reasons to become friends,” he said smiling, after
+studying me for a moment with eyes that seemed probably more piercing
+and intent than they really were: “you live in Boston, you love Italy,
+and you are a printer. Now we must make up for lost time.”
+
+After this introduction I made it a habit to “drop up” to his sanctum
+whenever I had occasion to go to Franklin Square to discuss printing
+or publishing problems with Major Leigh or Mr. Duneka. Howells always
+seemed to have time to discuss one of the three topics named in his
+original analysis, yet curiously enough it was rarely that any mention
+of books came into our conversation.
+
+[Illustration: Autograph Letter from William Dean Howells]
+
+Of Boston and Cambridge he was always happily reminiscent: of
+entertaining Mr. and Mrs. John Hay while on their wedding journey,
+and later Bret Harte, in the small reception room in the Berkeley
+Street house, where the tiny “library” on the north side was without
+heat or sunlight when Howells wrote his _Venetian Days_ there in
+1870; of early visits with Mark Twain before the great fireplace in
+“the Cabin” at his Belmont home, over the door of which was inscribed
+the quotation from _The Merchant of Venice_, “From Venice as far
+as Belmont.”--“In these words,” Howells said, “lies the history of my
+married life”;--of the move from Belmont to Boston as his material
+resources increased.
+
+“There was a time when people used to think I didn’t like Boston,” he
+would chuckle, evidently enjoying the recollections that came to him;
+“but I always loved it. The town did take itself seriously,” he added
+a moment later; “but it had a right to. That was what made it Boston.
+Sometimes, when we know a place or a person through and through, the
+fine characteristics may be assumed, and we may chaff a little over the
+harmless foibles. That is what I did to Boston.”
+
+He chided me good-naturedly because I preferred Florence to Venice.
+“Italy,” he quoted, “is the face of Europe, and Venice is the eye
+of Italy. But, after all, what difference does it make?” he asked.
+“We are both talking of the same wonderful country, and perhaps the
+intellectual atmosphere of antiquity makes up for the glory of the
+Adriatic.”
+
+Then he told me a story which I afterwards heard Hamilton Mabie repeat
+at the seventy-fifth birthday anniversary banquet given Howells at
+Sherry’s by Colonel George Harvey in 1912.
+
+Two American women met in Florence on the Ponte Vecchio. One of them
+said to the other, “Please tell me whether this is Florence or Venice.”
+
+“What day of the week is it?” the other inquired.
+
+“Wednesday.”
+
+“Then,” said the second, looking at her itinerary, “this is Venice.”
+
+“I was born a printer, you know,” Howells remarked during one of my
+visits. “I can remember the time when I couldn’t write, but not the
+time when I couldn’t set type.”
+
+He referred to his boyhood experiences in the printing office at
+Hamilton, Ohio. His father published there a Whig newspaper, which
+finally lost nearly all its subscribers because its publisher had the
+unhappy genius of always taking the unpopular side of every public
+question. Howells immortalized this printing office in his essay _The
+Country Printer_,--where he recalls “the compositors rhythmically
+swaying before their cases of type; the pressman flinging himself back
+on the bar that made the impression, with a swirl of his long hair; the
+apprentice rolling the forms; and the foreman bending over them.”
+
+The Lucullan banquet referred to outrivaled that given by Colonel
+Harvey to Mark Twain. How Mark Twain would have loved to be there,
+and how much the presence of this life-long friend would have meant
+to Howells! More than four hundred men and women prominent in letters
+gathered to do honor to the beloved author, and President Taft conveyed
+to him the gratitude of the nation for the hours of pleasure afforded
+by his writings.
+
+In the course of his remarks, Howells said:
+
+    _I knew Hawthorne and Emerson and Walt Whitman; I knew
+    Longfellow and Holmes and Whittier and Lowell; I knew Bryant
+    and Bancroft and Motley; I knew Harriet Beecher Stowe and Julia
+    Ward Howe; I knew Artemus Ward and Stockton and Mark Twain; I
+    knew Parkman and Fiske._
+
+As I listened to this recapitulation of contact with modern humanists,
+I wondered what Howells had left to look forward to. No one could
+fail to envy him his memories, nor could he fail to ask himself
+what twentieth-century names would be written in place of those the
+nineteenth century had recorded in the Hall of Fame
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+My library has taken on a different aspect during all these years. When
+I first installed my books I looked upon it as a sanctuary, into which
+I could escape from the world outside. Each book was a magic carpet
+which, at my bidding, transported me from one country to another, from
+the present back to centuries gone by, gratifying my slightest whim in
+response to the mere effort of changing volumes. My library has lost
+none of that blissful peace as a retreat, but in addition it has become
+a veritable meeting ground. The authors I have known are always waiting
+for me there,--to disclose to me through their works far more than
+they, in all modesty, would have admitted in our personal conferences
+
+
+
+
+                                  VI
+
+                        TRIUMPHS OF TYPOGRAPHY
+
+
+In gathering together his book treasures, a collector naturally
+approaches the adventure from a personal standpoint. First editions may
+particularly appeal to him, or Americana, or his bibliomania may take
+the form of subject collecting. I once had a friend who concentrated
+on whales and bees! My hobby has been to acquire, so far as possible,
+volumes that represent the best workmanship of each epoch, and from
+them I have learned much of fascinating interest beyond the history of
+typography. A book in itself is always something more than paper and
+type and binder’s boards. It possesses a subtle friendliness that sets
+it apart from other inanimate objects about us, and stamps it with
+an individuality which responds to our approach in proportion to our
+interest. But aside from its contents, a typographical monument is a
+barometer of civilization. If we discover what economic or political
+conditions combined to make it stand out from other products of its
+period, we learn contemporaneous history and become acquainted with
+the personalities of the people and the manners and customs of the
+times.
+
+No two countries, since Gutenberg first discovered the power of
+individual types when joined together to form words down to the present
+day, have stood pre-eminent in the same epoch in the art of printing.
+The curve of supremacy, plotted from the brief triumph of Germany
+successively through Italy, France, the Netherlands, England, France,
+and back again to England, shows that the typographical monuments of
+the world are not accidental, but rather the natural results of cause
+and effect. In some instances, the production of fine books made the
+city of their origin the center of culture and brought luster to the
+country; in others, the great master-printers were attracted from one
+locality to another because of the literary atmosphere in a certain
+city, and by their labors added to the reputation it had already
+attained. The volumes themselves sometimes produced vitally significant
+effects; sometimes their production was the result of conditions
+equally important.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The first example I should like to own for my collection of
+typographical triumphs is, of course, the _Gutenberg Bible_
+(_opp. page_); but with only forty-five copies known to be in
+existence (of which twelve are on vellum), I must content myself
+with photographic facsimile pages. The copy most recently offered for
+sale brought $106,000 in New York in February, 1926, and was later
+purchased by Mrs. Edward S. Harkness for $120,000, who presented it to
+the Yale University Library. This makes the _Gutenberg Bible_ the
+most valuable printed book in the world,--six times as precious as a
+Shakespeare first folio. Fortunately, the copies are well distributed,
+so that one need not deny himself the pleasure of studying it. In
+America, there are two examples (one on vellum) in the Pierpont Morgan
+Library, in New York; another in the New York Public Library, and
+still another in the library of the General Theological School; while
+the private collections of Henry E. Huntington and Joseph E. Widener
+are also fortunate possessors. In England, one may find a copy at
+the British Museum or the Bodleian Library; on the Continent, at the
+Bibliothèque Nationale at Paris, at the Vatican Library in Rome, or in
+the libraries of Berlin, Leipzig, Munich, or Vienna. Over twenty of the
+forty-five copies are imperfect, and only four are still in private
+hands. Of these four, one is imperfect, and two are already promised to
+libraries; so the copy sold in New York may be the last ever offered.
+
+[Illustration: Part of a Page from the Vellum Copy of the _Gutenberg
+Bible_, Mayence, 1455
+
+Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris (Exact size)]
+
+[Illustration: Rubricator’s Mark at End of First Volume of a Defective
+Copy in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris]
+
+[Illustration: Rubricator’s Mark at End of Second Volume of a Defective
+Copy in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris]
+
+The copy I love best to pore over is that bound in four volumes of
+red morocco, stamped with the arms of Louis XVI, in the Bibliothèque
+Nationale. This perhaps is not so historical as the one De Bure
+discovered in the library of Cardinal Mazarin in Paris in 1763,--three
+hundred years after it was printed, and until then unknown; but the
+dignity of those beautifully printed types on the smooth, ivory surface
+of the vellum possesses a magnificence beyond that of any other copy
+I have seen. Also at the Bibliothèque Nationale is a defective paper
+copy in two volumes in which appear rubricator’s notes marking the
+completion of the work as August 15, 1456. Think how important this
+is in placing this marvel of typography; for the project of printing
+the _Bible_ could not have been undertaken earlier than August,
+1451, when Gutenberg formed his partnership with Fust and Schoeffer in
+Mayence.
+
+[Illustration: GUTENBERG, FUST, COSTER, ALDUS, FROBEN
+
+From Engraving by Jacob Houbraken (1698-1780)]
+
+To a modern architect of books the obstacles which the printer at
+that time encountered, with the art itself but a few years old, seem
+insurmountable. There was the necessity of designing and cutting the
+first fonts of type, based upon the hand lettering of the period.
+As is always inevitable in the infancy of any art, this translation
+from one medium to another repeated rather than corrected the errors
+of the human hand. The typesetter, instead of being secured from
+an employment office, had to be made. Gutenberg himself perhaps, had
+to teach the apprentice the method of joining together the various
+letters, in a roughly made composing stick of his own invention, in
+such a way as to maintain regularity in the distances between the
+stems of the various letters, and thus produce a uniform and pleasing
+appearance. There existed no proper iron chases in which to lock up the
+pages of the type, so that while the metal could be made secure at the
+top and bottom, there are frequent instances where it bulges out on the
+sides.
+
+[Illustration: John Fust, from an Old Engraving]
+
+From the very beginning the printed book had to be a work of art.
+The patronage of kings and princes had developed the hand-lettered
+volumes to the highest point of perfection, and, on account of this
+keen competition with the scribes and their patrons, no printer could
+afford to devote to any volume less than his utmost artistic taste and
+mechanical ingenuity. Thus today, if a reader examines the _Gutenberg
+Bible_ with a critical eye, he will be amazed by the extraordinary
+evenness in the printing, and the surprisingly accurate alignment of
+the letters. The glossy blackness of the ink still remains, and the
+sharpness of the impression is equal to that secured upon a modern
+cylinder press.
+
+It has been estimated that no less than six hand presses were employed
+in printing the 641 leaves, composed in double column without numerals,
+catch words, or signatures. What binder today would undertake to
+collate such a volume in proper sequence! After the first two divisions
+had come off the press it was decided to change the original scheme of
+the pages from 40 to 42 lines. In order to get these two extra lines
+on the page it was necessary to set all the lines closer together. To
+accomplish this, some of the type was recast, with minimum shoulder,
+and the rest of it was actually cut down in height to such an extent
+that a portion of the curved dots of the _i_’s was clipped off.
+
+Monographs have been written to explain the variation in the size of
+the type used in different sections of this book, but what more natural
+explanation could there be than that the change was involuntary and due
+to natural causes? In those days the molds which the printer used for
+casting his types were made sometimes of lead, but more often of wood.
+As he kept pouring the molten metal into these matrices, the very heat
+would by degrees enlarge the mold itself, and thus produce lead type of
+slightly larger size. From time to time, also, the wooden matrices wore
+out, and the duplicates would not exactly correspond with those they
+replaced.
+
+In printing these volumes, the precedent was established of leaving
+blank spaces for the initial letters, which were later filled in by
+hand. Some of these are plain and some elaborate, serving to make the
+resemblance to the hand-lettered book even more exact; but the glory of
+the _Gutenberg Bible_ lies in its typography and presswork rather
+than in its illuminated letters.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Germany, in the _Gutenberg Bible_, proved its ability to produce
+volumes worthy of the invention itself, but as a country it possessed
+neither the scholars, the manuscripts, nor the patrons to insure the
+development of the new art. Italy, at the end of the fifteenth century,
+had become the home of learning, and almost immediately Venice became
+the Mecca of printers. Workmen who had served their apprenticeships
+in Germany sought out the country where princes might be expected to
+become patrons of the new art, where manuscripts were available for
+copy, and where a public existed both able and willing to purchase the
+products of the press. The Venetian Republic, quick to appreciate this
+opportunity, offered its protection and encouragement. Venice itself
+was the natural market of the world for distribution of goods because
+of the low cost of sea transportation.
+
+I have a fine copy of Augustinus: _De Civitate Dei_ (_page
+205_) that I discovered in Rome in its original binding years ago,
+printed in Jenson’s Gothic type in 1475. On the first page of text,
+in bold letters across the top, the printer has placed the words,
+_Nicolaus Jenson, Gallicus_. In addition to this signature, the
+_explicit_ reads:
+
+    _This work_ De Civitate Dei _is happily completed, being
+    done in Venice by that excellent and diligent master, Nicolas
+    Jenson, while Pietro Mocenigo was Doge, in the year after the
+    birth of the Lord, one thousand four hundred and seventy-five,
+                 on the sixth day before the nones
+                      of October (2 October)_
+
+[Illustration: _Nicolas Jenson’s Explicit and Mark_]
+
+[Illustration: Jenson’s Gothic Type. From Augustinus: _De Civitate
+Dei_, Venice, 1475
+
+(Exact size)]
+
+Jenson was a printer who not only took pride in his art but also in the
+country of his birth! He was a Frenchman, who was sent to Mayence by
+King Charles VII of France to find out what sort of thing this new art
+of printing was, and if of value to France to learn it and to bring it
+home. Jenson had been an expert engraver, so was well adapted to this
+assignment. At Mayence he quickly mastered the art, and was prepared
+to transport it to Paris; but by this time Charles VII had died, and
+Jenson knew that Louis XI, the new monarch, would have little interest
+in recognizing his father’s mandate. The Frenchman then set himself up
+in Venice, where he contributed largely to the prestige gained by this
+city as a center for printing as an art, and for scholarly publications.
+
+Jenson had no monopoly on extolling himself in the _explicits_ of
+his books. The cost of paper in those days was so high that a title
+page was considered an unnecessary extravagance, so this was the
+printer’s only opportunity to record his imprint. In modern times we
+printers are more modest, and leave it to the publishers to sound our
+praises, but we do like to place our signatures on well-made books!
+
+The _explicit_ in the hand-written book also offered a favorite
+opportunity for gaining immortality for the scribe. I once saw in
+an Italian monastery a manuscript volume containing some 600 pages,
+in which was recorded the fact that on such and such a day Brother
+So-and-So had completed the transcribing of the text; and inasmuch as
+he had been promised absolution, one sin for each letter, he thanked
+God that the sum total of the letters exceeded the sum total of his
+sins, even though by but a single unit!
+
+Among Jenson’s most important contributions were his type designs,
+based upon the best hand lettering of the day. Other designers had
+slavishly copied the hand-written letter, but Jenson, wise in his
+acquired knowledge, eliminated the variations and produced letters not
+as they appeared upon the hand-written page, but standardized to the
+design which the artist-scribe had in mind and which his hand failed
+accurately to reproduce. The Jenson Roman (_page 22_) and his
+Gothic (_page 205_) types have, through all these centuries, stood
+as the basic patterns of subsequent type designers.
+
+Jenson died in 1480, and the foremost rival to his fame is Aldus
+Manutius, who came to Venice from Carpi and established himself there
+in 1494. I have often conjectured what would have happened had this
+Frenchman printed his volumes in France and thus brought them into
+competition with the later product of the Aldine Press. The supremacy
+of Italy might have suffered,--but could Jenson have cut his types or
+printed his books in the France of the fifteenth century? As it was,
+the glories of the Aldi so closely followed Jenson’s superb work that
+Italy’s supreme position in the history of typography can never be
+challenged.
+
+For his printer’s mark Aldus adopted the famous combination of the
+Dolphin and Anchor, the dolphin signifying speed in execution and
+the anchor firmness in deliberation. As a slogan he used the words
+_Festina lente_, of which perhaps the most famous translation is
+that by Sir Thomas Browne, “Celerity contempered with Cunctation.”
+Jenson’s printer’s mark (_page 203_), by the way, has suffered
+the indignity of being adopted as the trademark of a popular brand of
+biscuits!
+
+[Illustration: Device of Aldus Manutius]
+
+The printing office of Aldus stood near the Church of Saint Augustus,
+in Venice. Here he instituted a complete revolution in the existing
+methods of publishing. The clumsy and costly folios and quartos, which
+had constituted the standard forms, were now replaced by crown octavo
+volumes, convenient both to the hand and to the purse.
+
+“I have resolved,” Aldus wrote in 1490, “to devote my life to the cause
+of scholarship. I have chosen, in place of a life of ease and freedom,
+an anxious and toilsome career. A man has higher responsibilities than
+the seeking of his own enjoyment; he should devote himself to honorable
+labor. Living that is a mere existence can be left to men who are
+content to be animals. Cato compared human existence to iron. When
+nothing is done with it, it rusts; it is only through constant activity
+that polish or brilliancy is secured.”
+
+[Illustration: GROLIER IN THE PRINTING OFFICE OF ALDUS
+
+After Painting by François Flameng
+
+Courtesy The Grolier Club, New York City]
+
+The weight of responsibility felt by Aldus in becoming a printer may
+be better appreciated when one realizes that this profession then
+included the duties of editor and publisher. The publisher of today
+accepts or declines manuscripts submitted by their authors, and the
+editing of such manuscripts, if considered at all, is placed in the
+hands of his editorial department. Then the “copy” is turned over to
+the printer for manufacture. In the olden days the printer was obliged
+to search out his manuscripts, to supervise their editing--not from
+previously printed editions, but from copies transcribed by hand,
+frequently by careless scribes. Thus his reputation depended not only
+on his skill as a printer, but also upon his sagacity as a publisher,
+and his scholarship as shown in his text. In addition to all this, the
+printer had to create the demand for his product and arrange for its
+distribution because there were no established bookstores.
+
+The great scheme that Aldus conceived was the publication of the Greek
+classics. Until then only four of the Greek authors, Æsop, Theocritus,
+Homer, and Isocrates, had been published in the original. Aldus gave
+to the world, for the first time in printed form, Aristotle, Plato,
+Thucydides, Xenophon, Herodotus, Aristophanes, Euripides, Sophocles,
+Demosthenes, Lysias, Æschines, Plutarch, and Pindar. Except for what
+Aldus did at this time, most of these texts would have been irrevocably
+lost to posterity.
+
+When you next see Italic type you will be interested to know that it
+was first cut by Aldus, said to be inspired by the thin, inclined,
+cursive handwriting of Petrarch; when you admire the beauty added to
+the page by the use of small capitals, you should give Aldus credit for
+having been the first to use this attractive form of typography. Even
+in that early day Aldus objected to the inartistic, square ending of a
+chapter occupying but a portion of the page, and devised all kinds of
+type arrangements, half-diamond, goblet, and bowl, to satisfy the eye.
+
+To me, the most interesting book that Aldus produced was the
+_Hypnerotomachia Poliphili_,--“Poliphilo’s Strife of Love in
+a Dream.” It stands as one of the most celebrated in the annals of
+Venetian printing, being the only illustrated volume issued by the
+Aldine Press. This work was undertaken at the very close of the
+fifteenth century at the expense of one Leonardo Crasso of Verona, who
+dedicated the book to Guidobaldo, Duke of Urbino. It was written by a
+Dominican friar, Francesco Colonna, who adopted an ingenious method of
+arranging his chapters so that the successive initial letters compose
+a complete sentence which, when translated, read, “Brother Francesco
+Colonna greatly loved Polia.” Polia has been identified as one Lucrezia
+Lelio, daughter of a jurisconsult of Treviso, who later entered a
+convent.
+
+[Illustration: Text Page from Aldus’ _Hypnerotomachia Poliphili_,
+Venice, 1499 (11 × 7 inches).
+
+It is on this model that the type used in this volume is based]
+
+[Illustration: Illustrated Page of Aldus’ _Hypnerotomachia
+
+Poliphili_, Venice, 1499 (11 × 7 inches)]
+
+[Illustration: GROLIER BINDING
+
+Castiglione: _Cortegiano_. Aldine Press, 1518
+
+Laurenziana Library, Florence]
+
+The volume displays a pretentious effort to get away from the
+commonplace. On every page Aldus expended his utmost ingenuity in the
+arrangement of the type,--the use of capitals and small capitals,
+and unusual type formations. In many cases the type balances the
+illustrations in such a way as to become a part of them. Based on
+the typographical standards of today, some of these experiments
+are indefensible, but in a volume issued in 1499 they stand as
+an extraordinary exhibit of what an artistic, ingenious printer
+can accomplish within the rigid limitations of metal type. The
+illustrations themselves, one hundred and fifty-eight in number, run
+from rigid architectural lines to fanciful portrayals of incidents in
+the story. Giovanni Bellini is supposed to have been the artist, but
+there is no absolute evidence to confirm this supposition.
+
+Some years ago the Grolier Club of New York issued an etching entitled,
+_Grolier in the Printing Office of Aldus_ (_page 208_). I
+wish I might believe that this great printer was fortunate enough
+to have possessed such an office! In spite of valuable concessions
+he received from the Republic, and the success accorded to him as
+a printer, he was able to eke out but a bare existence, and died a
+poor man. The etching, however, is important as emphasizing the close
+relation which exited between the famous ambassador of François I at
+the Court of Pope Clement VII, at Rome, and the family of Aldus, to
+which association booklovers owe an eternal debt of gratitude. At one
+time the Aldine Press was in danger of bankruptcy, and Grolier not only
+came to its rescue with his purse but also with his personal services.
+Without these tangible expressions of his innate love for the book,
+collectors today would be deprived of some of the most interesting
+examples of printing and binding that they count among their richest
+treasures.
+
+The general conception that Jean Grolier was a binder is quite
+erroneous; he was as zealous a patron of the printed book as of the
+binder’s art. His great intimacy in Venice was with Andrea Torresani
+(through whose efforts the Jenson and the Aldus offices were finally
+combined), and his two sons, Francesco and Federico, the father-in-law
+and brothers-in-law of the famous Aldus. No clearer idea can be gained
+of Grolier’s relations at _Casa Aldo_ than the splendid letter
+which he sent to Francesco in 1519, intrusting to his hands the making
+of Budé’s book, _De Asse_:
+
+[Illustration: GROLIER BINDING
+
+Capella: _L’Anthropologia Digaleazzo_. Aldine Press, 1533
+
+_From which the Cover Design of this Volume was adapted_
+
+(Laurenziana Library, Florence. 7½ × 4¼ inches)]
+
+    _You will care with all diligence, _he writes_, O most
+    beloved Francesco, that this work, when it leaves your printing
+    shop to pass into the hands of learned men, may be as correct
+    as it is possible to render it. I heartily beg and beseech this
+    of you. The book, too, should be decent and elegant; and to
+    this will contribute the choice of the paper, the excellence
+    of the type, which should have been but little used, and the
+    width of the margins. To speak more exactly, I should wish it
+    were set up with the same type with which you printed your_
+    Poliziano. _And if this decency and elegance shall
+    increase your expenses, I will refund you entirely. Lastly, I
+    should wish that nothing be added to the original or taken from
+    it._
+
+What better conception of a book, or of the responsibility to be
+assumed toward that book, both by the printer and by the publisher,
+could be expressed today!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The early sixteenth century marked a crisis in the world in which the
+book played a vital part. When Luther, at Wittenberg, burned the papal
+bull and started the Reformation, an overwhelming demand on the part of
+the people was created for information and instruction. For the first
+time the world realized that the printing press was a weapon placed in
+the hands of the masses for defence against oppression by Church or
+State. François I was King of France; Charles V, Emperor of the Holy
+Roman Empire; and Henry VIII, King of England. Italy had something to
+think about beyond magnificently decorated volumes, and printing as an
+art was for the time forgotten in supplying the people with books at
+low cost.
+
+François I, undismayed by the downfall of the Italian patrons, believed
+that he could gain for himself and for France the prestige which had
+been Italy’s through the patronage of learning and culture. What a
+pity that he had not been King of France when Jenson returned from
+Mayence! He was confident that he could become the Mæcenas of the arts
+and the father of letters, and still control the insistence of the
+people, which increased steadily with their growing familiarity with
+their new-found weapon. He determined to have his own printer, and was
+eager to eclipse even the high Standard the Italian master-printers had
+established.
+
+[Illustration: ROBERT ÉTIENNE, 1503-1559
+
+_Royal Printer to François I_
+
+From Engraving by Étienne Johandier Desrochers (c. 1661-1741)]
+
+Robert Étienne (or Stephens), who in 1540 succeeded Néobar as “Printer
+in Greek to the King,” while not wholly accomplishing his monarch’s
+ambitions, was the great master-printer of his age. He came from a
+family of printers, and received his education and inspiration largely
+from the learned men who served as correctors in his father’s
+office. François proved himself genuinely interested in the productions
+of his _Imprimerie Royale_, frequently visiting Étienne at the
+Press, and encouraging him by expending vast sums for specially
+designed types, particularly in Greek. The story goes that on one
+occasion the King found Étienne engaged in correcting a proof sheet,
+and refused to permit the printer to be disturbed, insisting on waiting
+until the work was completed.
+
+For my own collection of great typographical monuments I would select
+for this period the _Royal Greeks_ of Robert Étienne. A comparison
+between the text page, so exquisitely balanced (_page 222_), and
+the title page (_page 220_), where the arrangement of type and
+printer’s mark could scarcely be worse, gives evidence enough that
+even the artist-printer of that time had not yet grasped the wonderful
+opportunity a title page offers for self-expression. Probably Étienne
+regarded it more as a chance to pay his sovereign the compliment of
+calling him “A wise king and a valiant warrior.” But are not the Greek
+characters marvelously beautiful! They were rightly called the _Royal
+Greeks_! The drawings were made by the celebrated calligrapher
+Angelos Vergetios, of Candia, who was employed by François to make
+transcripts of Greek texts for the Royal Collection, and whose
+manuscript volumes may still be seen in the Bibliothèque Nationale
+in Paris. Earlier fonts had been based upon this same principle of
+making the Greek letters reproductions as closely as possible of the
+elaborate, involved, current writing hand of the day; but these new
+designs carried out the principle to a degree until then unattained.
+The real success of the undertaking was due to the skill of Claude
+Garamond, the famous French punchcutter and typefounder. Pierre
+Victoire quaintly comments:
+
+    _Besides gathering from all quarters the remains of Hellenic
+    literature, François I added another benefit, itself most
+    valuable, to the adornment of this same honorable craft of
+    printing; for he provided by the offer of large moneys for
+    the making of extremely graceful letters, both of Greek and
+    Latin. In this also he was fortunate, for they were so nimbly
+    and so delicately devised that it can scarce be conceived that
+    human wit may compass anything more dainty and exquisite;
+    so that books printed from these types do not merely invite
+    the reader,--they draw him, so to say, by an irresistible
+    attraction._
+
+[Illustration: ÉTIENNE’S _ROYAL GREEKS_, Paris, 1550
+
+_Title Page_ (10¼ × 6 inches)]
+
+[Illustration: Page showing Étienne’s Roman Face (Exact size)]
+
+[Illustration: ÉTIENNE’S _ROYAL GREEKS_
+
+_Text Page_ (10¼ × 6 inches)
+
+From _Novum Jesu Christi D. N. Testamentum_, Paris, 1550]
+
+Of course, they were too beautiful to be practical. In the Roman
+letters typecutters had already found that hand lettering could no more
+be translated directly into the form of type than a painting can be
+translated directly into a tapestry, without sacrificing some of the
+characteristic features of each. With the Greek letters, the problem
+was even more difficult, and the _Royal Greeks_ offered no end of
+complications to the compositors, and added disastrously to the expense
+of the production. When Plantin came along, he based his Greek type
+upon Étienne’s, but his modifications make it more practical. Compare
+the _Royal Greeks_ with Plantin’s Greek on page 231 and see how
+much beauty and variety was lost in the revision.
+
+François I found himself in an impossible position between his desire
+to encourage Étienne in his publications and the terrific pressure
+brought to bear by the ecclesiastical censors. Just as the people
+had awakened to the value of books, not to put on shelves, but to
+read in order to know, so had the Church recognized the importance of
+controlling and influencing what those books contained. Throughout
+Robert Étienne’s entire tenure of office there raged a conflict which
+not only seriously interfered with his work, but distinctly hampered
+the development of literature. Had François lived longer, Étienne’s
+volumes might have reached a level equal to that attained by his
+Italian predecessors, but Henri II was no match for the censors. In
+1552 Robert Étienne, worn out by the constant struggles, transferred
+his office to Geneva, where he died seven years later. His son Henri
+continued his work, but except for his _Thesaurus_ produced little
+of typographical interest.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Had it not been for this bitter censorship, France might have held her
+supremacy for at least another half-century; but with the experiences
+of Robert Étienne still in mind, it is easily understood why the
+Frenchman, Christophe Plantin, in whom surged the determination to
+become a master-printer, sought to establish himself elsewhere.
+
+By the middle of the sixteenth century Antwerp had assumed the proud
+position of leading city of Europe. The success that came to the
+Netherlanders in commerce as a result of their genius and enterprise
+later stimulated their interest in matters of religion, politics, and
+literature. Just as the tendencies of the times caused the pendulum to
+swing away from Italy to France, so now it swung from France toward
+the Netherlands. I had never before realized that, with the possible
+exception of certain communities in Italy, where the old intellectual
+atmosphere still obtained, there was no country in the world in which
+culture and intelligence were so generally diffused during the
+sixteenth century. How much more than typography these volumes have
+taught me!
+
+It was inevitable that the art of printing should find in Belgium its
+natural opportunity for supreme expression. At the time Plantin turned
+his eyes in the direction of Antwerp, one entire quarter of that city
+was devoted to the manufacture of books. This apparently discouraged
+him, for at first he established himself as a bookbinder a little way
+out of the city. Later he added a shop for the sale of books; but in
+1555 he moved boldly into Antwerp, becoming a full-fledged printer
+and publisher, soon demonstrating his right to recognition as the
+master-printer of his time.
+
+By this time the words of Luther had attracted the attention of
+the Christian world more particularly than ever to the Bible. The
+people considered it the single basis of their faith, and upon their
+familiarity with it depended their present and future welfare. It
+was natural that they should attach the greatest importance to the
+possession of the most authentic edition of the original text. What
+more glorious task, then, could a printer take upon himself than to
+provide correct texts, to translate them with scrupulous exactitude,
+and to produce with the greatest perfection the single book upon which
+was based the welfare of men and of empires!
+
+[Illustration: CHRISTOPHE PLANTIN, 1514-1589
+
+From Engraving by Edme de Boulonois (c. 1550)]
+
+This was the inspiration that came to Christophe Plantin, and which
+gradually took form in the _Biblia Polyglotta_, the great
+typographic achievement of the sixteenth century. On the left-hand
+page should appear the original Hebrew text, and in a parallel column
+should be a rendering into the Vulgate (_page 230_). On the
+right-hand page the Greek version would be printed, and beside it a
+Latin translation (_page 231_). At the foot of each page should be
+a Chaldean paraphrase.
+
+Antwerp was then under Spanish domination. Plantin at once opened
+negotiations with Philip II of Spain, and was finally successful
+in securing from that monarch an agreement to subsidize the
+undertaking,--a promise which unfortunately was never kept. It is
+probable that the King was influenced toward a favorable decision by
+the struggle that occurred between Frankfort, Heidelberg, and even
+Paris, for the honor of being associated with the great work. Philip
+subscribed for thirteen copies upon parchment, and agreed to pay
+Plantin 21,200 florins. He stipulated, however, that the work should
+be executed under the personal supervision of one Arias Montanus, whom
+he would send over from Spain. Plantin accepted this condition with
+some misgivings, but upon his arrival Montanus captivated all by his
+personal charm and profound learning.
+
+In February, 1565, Plantin employed Robert Grandjon, an engraver of
+Lyons, to cut the Greek characters for the work, basing his font
+upon the _Royal Greeks_. They are still beautiful because they
+are still unpractical, but they cannot compare with their models any
+more than later fonts of Greek, cut with the rigid requirements of
+typography in mind, can compare with these. Grandjon also supplied
+Plantin with all his Roman, and part of his Hebrew types, the balance
+being cut by Guillaume Le Bé, of Paris, Hautin of Rochelle, Van der
+Keere of Tours, and Corneille Bomberghe of Cologne.
+
+[Illustration: PLANTIN’S _BIBLIA POLYGLOTTA_, Antwerp, 1568
+
+_Title Page_ (13¼ × 8¼ inches)]
+
+[Illustration: Page of Preface from Plantin’s _Biblia Polyglotta_,
+
+Antwerp, 1568 (13¼ × 8¼ inches)]
+
+[Illustration: Text Page of Plantin’s _Biblia Polyglotta_,
+
+Antwerp, 1568 (13¼ × 8¼ inches)]
+
+[Illustration: Text Page of Plantin’s _Biblia Polyglotta_,
+
+Antwerp, 1568 (13¼ × 8¼ inches)]
+
+[Illustration: PLANTIN’S _BIBLIA POLYGLOTTA_, Antwerp, 1568
+
+_Second Page_ (13¼ × 8¼ inches)]
+
+The eight massive parts of the _Biblia Polyglotta_ appeared during
+the years 1568 to 1573. The first volume opens with a splendid engraved
+title, representing the union of the people in the Christian faith,
+and the four languages of the Old Testament (_opp. page_). In the
+lower, right-hand corner appears the famous Plantin mark. Immediately
+following are two other engraved plates (_page 232_), illustrative
+as well as decorative in their nature. One of these pages gives to
+the faithless Philip an undeserved immortality. There are also single
+full-page engravings at the beginning of the fourth and fifth volumes.
+Twelve copies were printed on vellum for King Philip. A thirteenth
+copy on vellum was never completed. In addition to these, ten other
+copies were printed on large Italian imperial paper, and were sold
+at 200 florins per copy. There were 300 copies on imperial paper at
+100 florins, and 960 printed on fine royal Troyes paper, which were
+offered to the public at 70 florins each, with ten florins discount to
+libraries. One of the vellum copies was presented by the King to the
+Pope, another to the Duke of Alba, and still a third to the Duke of
+Savoy, the remaining copies being left in the library of the Escurial.
+
+King Philip was so pleased with the volumes that he created Plantin
+_Prototypographe_, ruler over all the printers in the city,--a
+polite and inexpensive way of escaping his obligations. The world
+acclaimed a new master-printer; but these honors meant little to
+pressing creditors.
+
+What a series of misfortunes Plantin endured! Stabbed by a miscreant
+who mistook him for some one else; hampered by censorship in spite of
+previous assurances of liberty in publications; his property wiped
+out again and again by the clashes of arms which finally cost Antwerp
+her pre-eminence; forever in debt, and having to sell his books
+below cost, and to sacrifice his library to meet pressing financial
+obligations;--yet always rising above his calamities, he carried on
+his printing office until his death in 1589, when he left a comfortable
+fortune of above $200,000.
+
+Historically, Plantin’s contribution to the art of printing can
+scarcely be overestimated, yet technically he should be included in
+the second rather than the first group of early master-printers. The
+century that had elapsed since Gutenberg had removed many of the
+mechanical difficulties which had been obstacles to his predecessors.
+The printer could now secure printed copy to be edited and improved.
+Scholars were easily obtainable from the universities for editing
+and proofreading. Printing machinery could be purchased instead of
+being manufactured from original models. The sale of books had been
+greatly systematized. A printer could now devote himself to his art
+without dividing himself into various semi-related parts. Plantin
+proved himself a business man. Who else ever established a printing
+or publishing business on such an enduring basis that it continued
+for three hundred years! In bequeathing it to his daughter and his
+son-in-law, Moretus, Plantin made the interesting injunction that the
+printing office was always to be maintained by the son or successor
+who was most competent to manage it. If no son qualified, then the
+successor must be selected outside the family. Fortunately, however,
+there were sons who, each in his generation but with diminishing
+ability, proved his right to assume the responsibility, and the
+business was actually continued in the family down to 1867. A few years
+later the property was purchased by the city of Antwerp for 1,200,000
+francs, and turned into a public museum.
+
+[Illustration: Device of Christophe Plantin]
+
+I never visit the Plantin Museum at Antwerp without feeling that I have
+come closer to the old master-printers and their ideals. Here is the
+only great printing establishment of the past that time and the inroads
+of man have left intact. The beauty of the building, the harmony of
+the surroundings, the old portraits, the comfort yet the taste shown
+in the living-rooms,--all show that the artist-printer sought the same
+elements in his life that he expressed in his work. Entering from the
+Marché du Vendredi, I find myself face to face with a small tablet
+over the door on which is the device of Christophe Plantin, “first
+printer to the King, and the king of printers.” Here the familiar hand,
+grasping a pair of compasses, reaches down from the clouds, holding the
+compasses so that one leg stands at rest while the other describes a
+circle, enclosing the legend _Labore et Constantia_. Within the
+house one finds the actual types, and presses, and designs by Rubens
+and other famous artists, that were employed in making the Plantin
+books. The rooms in which the master printer lived make his personality
+very real. In those days a man’s business was his life, and the home
+and the workshop were not far separated. Here the family life and
+the making of books were so closely interwoven that the visitor can
+scarcely tell where one leaves off and the other begins.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In the vocabulary of booklovers, the name _Elzevir_ suggests
+something particularly choice and unique in the making of books. These
+volumes cannot compare favorably with many products of the press
+which preceded and followed them, yet the prestige which attended
+their publication has endured down to the present day. The original
+popularity of the Elzevirs was due to the fact that after a century of
+degradation, some one at last undertook to reclaim printing from the
+depths.
+
+Printing, after reaching such heights so soon after its beginnings, had
+steadily declined. The art may really be said to have had its origin
+in Italy, as the work from Gutenberg’s office, while extraordinary and
+epoch-making, could not rank with the best of the fifteenth-century
+Italian productions. The French volumes of the early sixteenth century
+were splendid examples of typography and presswork, but they did not
+equal those of their Italian predecessors. Christophe Plantin’s work
+in Antwerp was typographically unimportant except for his _Biblia
+Polyglotta_; and after Plantin, which takes us to the end of the
+sixteenth century, printing passed from an art into a trade. The
+Elzevirs were craftsmen rather than artists, but the best craftsmen of
+their period.
+
+All this was a natural reaction. The book-buying public had come to
+demand the contents of the book at a cheaper price rather than volumes
+of greater technical excellence at a correspondingly higher cost. As
+we have seen, Sweynheim and Pannartz had ruined themselves by their
+experiments in Greek; the Aldine Press was saved from bankruptcy only
+by the intervention of Grolier. Henri Étienne, son of the great Robert
+Étienne, who endeavored to emulate his father’s splendid work, came to
+financial grief in producing his _Thesaurus_; and Plantin could
+not have withstood the drain of his _Biblia Polyglotta_ had it not
+been that he was commercially far-sighted enough to turn his plant over
+to the manufacture of inexpensive and less carefully made books.
+
+By the end of the sixteenth century cheaper paper, made in Switzerland,
+came into the market, and this inferior, unbleached product largely
+replaced the soft, fine paper of Italian and French manufacture which
+had contributed in no small part to the beauty of the printed pages.
+Ink manufacturers had learned how to produce cheaper and poorer ink,
+and the types themselves, through constant use, had become worn down to
+such an extent that real excellence was impossible.
+
+Holland was the natural successor to Belgium in the supremacy of
+printing. The devastations of war had brought trade to a standstill
+in the Netherlands, while the city of Leyden had won the attention
+and admiration of the world for its heroic resistance during the long
+Spanish siege. To commemorate this event, William of Orange, in 1575,
+founded the University of Leyden, which quickly took high rank among
+scholars, and became the intellectual and literary center of Europe.
+
+Thither the battle-scarred Plantin betook himself at the suggestion of
+Lipsius, the historian, who was now a professor in the new University.
+In Leyden, Plantin established a branch printing office. He was made
+Printer to the University, and for a time expected to remain here,
+but the old man could not bring himself to voluntary exile from his
+beloved Antwerp. Plantin’s Leyden printing office had been placed in
+charge of Louis Elzevir, and when the veteran printer determined to
+return to Antwerp it would have seemed natural for him to leave it in
+Louis Elzevir’s hands instead of turning it over to his son-in-law,
+Raphelengius. This Elzevir, however, although the founder of the great
+Elzevir house, was not a practical printer, being more interested in
+bookselling and publishing; so distinction in printing did not come to
+the family until Isaac, Louis Elzevir’s grandson, became Printer to
+the University in 1620. Fifteen years later, Bonaventura and Abraham
+Elzevir made the name famous through their editions of _Terence_,
+_Cæsar_, and _Pliny_.
+
+Up to this time the favorite _format_ had been the quarto volume,
+running about 12 by 18 inches in size. The Elzevirs boldly departed
+from the beaten path, and produced volumes running as small as 2 by 4
+inches. They cut types of small size, showing no special originality
+but based on good Italian models, and issued editions which at first
+met with small favor. “The Elzevirs are certainly great typographers,”
+the scholar Deput wrote to Heinsius in 1629. “I can but think, however,
+that their reputation will suffer in connection with these trifling
+little volumes with such slender type.”
+
+Contrary to this prediction, the new _format_ gradually gained favor,
+and finally became firmly established. The best publisher-printers in
+France and Italy copied the Elzevir model, and the folios and the
+quartos of the preceding ages went entirely out of style.
+
+[Illustration: ELZEVIR’S _TERENCE_, 1635
+
+Engraved Title Page (Exact size)]
+
+[Illustration: ELZEVIR’S _TERENCE_, Leyden, 1635
+
+Text Pages (4 × 2 inches)]
+
+The _Terence_ of 1635 is the volume I selected for my collection
+(_page 242_). While not really beautiful, it is a charming
+little book. The copper-plate title (_page 241_) serves not
+only its original purpose but is also an illustration. The Elzevirs
+were wise enough to go back a hundred years and revive the practice
+of the copper-plate title, which had been discarded by intermediate
+printers because of its expense. The types themselves, far superior
+to other fonts in use at that time by other printers, were especially
+designed for the Elzevirs by Christoffel van Dyck. The interspacing of
+the capitals and the small capitals, the arrangement of the margins,
+and the general layout all show taste and knowledge of typographical
+precedent. The presswork would appear to better advantage except for
+the impossibility of securing ink of consistent quality.
+
+The Elzevirs showed a great advance in business organization over any
+of their predecessors. Freed from oppressive censorship, they were
+able to issue a long list of volumes which were disposed of through
+connections established in the principal book centers of Italy, France,
+Germany, and Scandinavia, as well as throughout the Netherlands
+themselves. There is no record of any Elzevir publication proving a
+failure; but, by the same token, one cannot say that the Elzevirs
+accomplished as much for the art to which they devoted themselves as
+did the master-printers in whose steps they followed.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Curiously enough, it was not until the eighteenth century that England
+produced volumes which were pre-eminent in any period. Caxton’s work,
+extraordinary as it was, competed against books made at the same time
+in Venice by Jenson, and were not equal to these Italian masterpieces.
+I have a leaf from a Caxton volume which I often place beside my Jenson
+volume, and the comparison always increases my wonder and admiration
+for the great Italian printer. Caxton’s work was epoch-making, but
+until John Baskerville issued his _Virgil_ in Birmingham, in 1757,
+England had not produced a volume that stood out, at the moment of its
+publication, as the best of its time.
+
+[Illustration: John Baskerville (1706-1775)]
+
+John Baskerville is one of the most unique characters to be found
+in the annals of printing. He had been in turn a footman, a writing
+teacher, an engraver of slate gravestones, and the proprietor of a
+successful japanning establishment. He showed no special interest
+in types or books until middle age, and after he had amassed
+a fortune. Then, suddenly, he designed and cut types which
+competed successfully with the famous Caslon fonts, and produced his
+_Virgil_, which, as Benjamin Franklin wrote in presenting a copy
+to the Harvard College Library, was “thought to be the most curiously
+printed of any book hitherto done in the world.” Macaulay called it,
+“The first of those magnificent editions which went forth to astonish
+all the librarians of Europe.”
+
+The Baskerville types were at first received with scant praise,
+although even the severest critics admitted that the Italic characters,
+from which was eliminated that cramped design seen in the Italics of
+other foundries of the period, were essentially beautiful. A letter
+written by Benjamin Franklin to Baskerville in 1760 is of amusing
+interest:
+
+    _Let me give you a pleasant instance of the prejudice some
+    have entertained against your work. Soon after I returned,
+    discoursing with a gentleman concerning the artists of
+    Birmingham, he said you would be the means of blinding all the
+    readers of the nation, for the strokes of your letters being
+    too thin and narrow, hurt the eye, and he could never read
+    a line of them without pain. “I thought,” said I, “you were
+    going to complain of the gloss on the paper some object to.”
+    “No, no,” said he, “I have heard that mentioned, but it is not
+    that; it is in the form and cut of the letters themselves, they
+    have not that height and thickness of the stroke which makes
+    the common printing so much more comfortable to the eye.” You
+    see this gentleman was a connoisseur. In vain I endeavored
+    to support your character against the charge; he knew what
+    he felt, and could see the reason of it, and several other
+    gentlemen among his friends had made the same observation, etc._
+
+    _Yesterday he called to visit me, when, mischievously bent to
+    try his judgment, I stepped into my closet, tore off the top
+    of Mr. Caslon’s Specimen, and produced it to him as yours,
+    brought with me from Birmingham, saying, I had been examining
+    it, since he spoke to me, and could not for my life perceive
+    the disproportion he mentioned, desiring him to point it out
+    to me. He readily undertook it, and went over the several
+    founts, showing me everywhere what he thought instances of
+    that disproportion; and declared, that he could not then read
+    the specimen without feeling very strongly the pain he had
+    mentioned to me. I spared him that time the confusion of being
+    told, that these were the types he had been reading all his
+    life, with so much ease to his eyes; the types his adored
+    Newton is printed with, on which he has pored not a little;
+    nay, the very types his own book is printed with (for he is
+    himself an author), and yet never discovered the painful
+    disproportion in them, till he thought they were yours._
+
+[Illustration: Title Page of Baskerville’s _Virgil_, Birmingham, 1757
+(8½ × 5⅜ inches)]
+
+[Illustration: Text Page of Baskerville’s _Virgil_, Birmingham, 1757
+(8½ × 5⅜ inches)]
+
+The _Virgil_ itself, beyond the interest that exists in its type,
+shows grace and dignity in its composition and margins. For the first
+time we have a type title (_page 247_) that shows a printer’s
+appreciation of its possibilities. Baskerville affected extreme
+simplicity, employing no head or tail pieces and no ornamental initials
+to accomplish his effects (_page 249_).
+
+The copy of Baskerville’s _Virgil_ in my library contains a
+copper-plate frontispiece. The advertisement which particularly
+emphasized this feature excited my curiosity, as no book of
+Baskerville’s is known to have contained illustrations. When I secured
+the copy I found that the frontispiece was a steel engraving stamped on
+water-marked paper which indicated its age to be at least two hundred
+years earlier than the publication of the book. The owner of this
+particular copy had inserted the illustration in re-binding, and it was
+no part of the original edition!
+
+The glossy paper referred to in Franklin’s letter was an outcome of
+Baskerville’s earlier business experience. It occurred to him that
+type would print better upon highly finished paper, and that this
+finish could be secured by pressing the regular book paper of the time
+between heated japan plates made at his own establishment. Baskerville
+is entitled to the credit of having been the first printer to use
+highly finished paper, and, beyond this, as Dibdin says of him, “He
+united, in a singularly happy manner, the elegance of Plantin with the
+clearness of the Elzevirs.”
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Interest in the Baskerville books, and in fact in all books printed
+in what is known as “old-style” type, ceased suddenly with the
+inexplicable popularity attained about 1800 by the so-called “modern”
+face. The characteristics of the old-style letter are heavy ascending
+and descending strokes with small serifs, whereas the modern face
+accentuates the difference between the light and the heavy lines,
+and has more angular serifs. The engraved work of Thomas Bewick, in
+England, the publication of the _Racine_ by the Didots, and the
+Bodoni volumes in Italy, offered the public an absolute innovation
+from the types with which they had been familiar since the invention
+of printing, and the new designs leaped into such popular favor that
+many of the foundries destroyed the matrices of their old-style faces,
+believing that the call for them had forever disappeared. As a matter
+of fact, it was not until the London publisher Pickering revived the
+old-style letter in 1844, that the modern face had any competition.
+Since then the two styles have been maintained side by side.
+
+Thus the second supremacy of France came from a change in public taste
+rather than from economic causes. For a time there was a question
+whether Bodoni would win the distinction for Italy or the Didots for
+France, but the French printers possessed a typographical background
+that Bodoni lacked, and in their _Racine_ produced a masterpiece
+which surpasses any production from the Bodoni Press. The Didots
+were not only printers and publishers, but manufactured paper and
+invented the process of stereotyping. While Minister to France, in
+1780, Benjamin Franklin visited the Didot establishment, and, seizing
+the handle of a press, struck off several copies of a form with such
+professional familiarity as to cause astonishment.
+
+“Don’t be surprised,” Franklin exclaimed smiling. “This, you know, is
+my real business.”
+
+In 1797, the French Minister of the Interior placed at the disposal
+of Pierre Didot _l’aîné_ that portion of the Louvre which had
+formerly been occupied by the _Imprimerie Royale_. Here was
+begun, and completed in 1801, an edition of _Racine_ in three
+volumes that aroused the enthusiasm of booklovers all over the world,
+and brought to Pierre Didot the glory of being recognized as a
+master-printer worthy to assume the mantle of Robert Étienne. This is
+the typographic achievement I would select as the masterpiece of its
+period.
+
+[Illustration: DIDOT’S _RACINE_, Paris, 1801
+
+_A Frontispiece_
+
+Designed by Prud’hon. Engraved by Marius (12 × 8 inches)]
+
+[Illustration: Title Page of Didot’s _Racine_, Paris, 1801 (12 × 8
+inches)]
+
+[Illustration: Opening Page of Didot’s _Racine_, Paris, 1801]
+
+[Illustration: Text Page of Didot’s _Racine_, Paris, 1801]
+
+[Illustration: FIRMIN DIDOT, 1730-1804
+
+From Engraving by Pierre Gustave Eugene Staal (1817-1882)]
+
+The large quarto volumes contain nearly five hundred pages each. The
+type was designed and cut by Firmin Didot in conjunction with, or
+possibly in collaboration with Giambattista Bodoni, of Parma, Italy.
+So closely do the two faces match that the similarity of their design
+could scarcely have been a coincidence (see _page 81_). There is
+a peculiar charm in the unusual length of the ascending and descending
+characters; there is a grace in the slender capitals in spite of the
+ultra-refinement; there is satisfaction in having the weight of the
+Italic letter approach that of the Roman, thus preventing the usual
+blemish which the lighter faced Italic gives to an otherwise perfectly
+balanced page. The figures, really a cross between the old style
+and the modern, have a distinct individuality entirely lost in the
+so-called “lining” figures which those who have copied this face in
+America have introduced as an “improvement.”
+
+The _Racine_ contains magnificent steel engravings, of which
+one is reproduced at page 253. The handmade paper is a return to the
+beautiful sheets of the fifteenth century, and the presswork--the type
+just biting into the paper without leaving an impression on the reverse
+side--is superbly characteristic of the best French workmanship. The
+vellum copies show the work at its best. The engravings stand out
+almost as original etchings. The ink is the densest black I ever saw.
+Didot succeeded in overcoming the oil in the vellum without the chalk
+surface that is given to the Morris vellum, the ink being so heavy that
+it is slightly raised. I was particularly interested in this after my
+own experiments in printing my humanistic _Petrarch_ on vellum.
+
+At the Exposition of 1801, in Paris, the _Racine_ was proclaimed
+by a French jury the “most perfect typographic product of any country
+and of any age.” Is this not too high praise? To have equaled the
+Italian masterpieces of the fifteenth century would have been enough
+glory for any printer to claim!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The _Racine_ was a step in the direction of reclaiming typography
+from the trade which it had become, but it was left for William Morris
+to place printing squarely back among the arts.
+
+[Illustration: WILLIAM MORRIS, 1834-1896
+
+From Portrait by G. F. Watts, R. A. Painted in 1880
+
+National Portrait Gallery, London]
+
+Morris was nearly sixty years of age when he finally settled upon the
+book as the medium through which to express his message to the world.
+The Morris wall papers, the Morris chair, the Morris end papers,
+are among his earlier experiments, all sufficiently unique to
+perpetuate his name; yet his work as a printer is what gave him undying
+glory. The _Kelmscott Chaucer_ is his masterpiece, and must be
+included whenever great typographic monuments are named. For this the
+decorator-printer cut a smaller size of his Gothic font, secured the
+co-operation of Sir Edward Burne-Jones as illustrator, and set himself
+the task of designing the initial letters, borders, and decorations.
+This was in 1892, and for four years they worked upon it, one delay
+following another to make Morris fearful that the work might never be
+completed.
+
+[Illustration: SIR EDWARD BURNE-JONES, _Bart._, 1833-1898
+
+From Photograph at the British Museum]
+
+The decoration for the first page was finished in March, 1893. Morris
+was entirely satisfied with it, exclaiming, “My eyes! how good it is!”
+Then he laid the whole project aside for over a year, while he devoted
+himself to his metrical version of _Beowulf_. In the meantime
+Burne-Jones was experiencing great difficulty in having his designs
+satisfactorily translated onto wood, and Morris dolefully remarked,
+after comparing notes with his friend and collaborator, “We shall be
+twenty years at this rate in getting it out!”
+
+It was June, 1894, before the great work was fairly under way.
+“_Chaucer_ getting on well,” Morris notes in his diary,--“such
+lovely designs.” At the end of June he records his expectation of
+beginning the actual printing within a month, and that in about three
+months more all the pictures and nearly all the borders would be ready
+for the whole of the Canterbury Tales.
+
+About this time Morris was asked if he would accept the
+poet-laureateship of England, made vacant by Tennyson’s death, if
+offered to him, and he unhesitatingly declined. His health and strength
+were noticeably failing, yet at the beginning of 1895, less than two
+years before his death, he was completely submerged by multifarious
+occupations. Two presses were running upon the _Chaucer_ and still
+a third upon smaller books. He was designing new paper hangings
+and writing new romances; he was collaborating in the translation
+of _Heimskringla_ and was supervising its production for the Saga
+Library; he was engaged in getting together his splendid collection of
+thirteenth- and fourteenth-century illuminated manuscripts.
+
+It was not all smooth sailing with the _Chaucer_. In 1895 Morris
+discovered that many of the sheets had become discolored by some
+unfortunate ingredient of the ink, but to his immense relief he
+succeeded in removing the yellow stains by bleaching. “The check of
+the _Chaucer_,” he writes, “flattens life for me somewhat, but I am
+going hard into the matter, and in about a fortnight hope to know the
+worst of it.”
+
+In December the _Chaucer_ was sufficiently near completion to
+encourage him to design a binding for it. Even here he found another
+difficulty. “Leather is not good now,” he complained; “what used to
+take nine months to cure is now done in three. They used to say ‘What’s
+longest in the tanyard stays least time in the market,’ but that no
+longer holds good. People don’t know how to buy now; they’ll take
+anything.”
+
+Morris’ anxiety over the _Chaucer_ increased as it came nearer
+to completion. “I’d like it finished tomorrow!” he exclaimed. “Every
+day beyond tomorrow that it isn’t done is one too many.” To a visitor,
+looking through the printed sheets in his library, who remarked upon
+the added beauty of those sheets that follow the Canterbury Tales,
+where the picture pages face one another in pairs, Morris exclaimed in
+alarm, “Now don’t you go saying that to Burne-Jones or he’ll be wanting
+to do the first part over again; and the worst of that would be that
+he’d want to do all the rest over again because the other would be so
+much better, and then we should never get done, but be always going
+round and round in a circle.”
+
+The daily progress of the work upon the _Chaucer_ was the one
+interest that sustained his waning energies. The last three blocks were
+brought to him on March 21, 1896. The Easter holidays almost killed
+him. “Four mouldy Sundays in a mouldy row,” he writes in his diary.
+“The press shut and _Chaucer_ at a standstill.”
+
+On May 6 all the picture sheets were printed and the block for the
+title page was submitted for Morris’ approval, the final printing being
+completed two days later. On June 2 the first two bound copies were
+delivered to him, one of which he immediately sent to Burne-Jones, the
+other he placed in his own library.
+
+Thus the _Kelmscott Chaucer_ came to completion. Four months later
+William Morris was dead. The _Chaucer_ had been nearly five years
+in preparation and three and a half years in execution. The printing
+alone had consumed a year and nine months. The volumes contain, besides
+eighty-seven illustrations by Burne-Jones, a full-page woodcut title,
+fourteen large borders, eighteen frames for pictures, and twenty-six
+large initial words, all designed by Morris, together with the smaller
+initials and the design for binding, which was in white pigskin with
+silver clasps, executed by Douglas Cockerell.
+
+[Illustration: Text Page of Kelmscott _Chaucer_, London, 1896 (15 × 10¼
+inches)]
+
+I have never felt that the Kelmscott volumes were books at all, but
+were, rather, supreme examples of a master-decorator’s taste and skill.
+After all, a book is made to read, and the _Kelmscott Chaucer_ is
+made to be looked at. The principles which should control the design of
+the ideal book as laid down by William Morris cannot be improved upon,
+but when he undertook to put them into execution he found himself so
+wholly under the control of his decorating tendencies that he departed
+far from his text. William Morris’ work is far greater than is shown in
+the volumes he printed. He awoke throughout the world an interest in
+printing as an art beyond what any other man has ever accomplished, the
+results of which have been a vital factor in bringing modern bookmaking
+to its present high estate.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It remained for T. J. Cobden-Sanderson, Morris’ friend, admirer, and
+disciple, to put Morris’ principles into operation at the Doves Press,
+London, supplemented by Emery Walker, who designed the Doves type,--to
+me the most beautiful type face in existence. Cobden-Sanderson,
+undisturbed by counter interests, plodded along, producing volumes
+into which he translated Morris’ ideals far more consistently than
+did Morris himself. “The Book Beautiful,” Cobden-Sanderson wrote in
+his little masterpiece, _The Ideal Book_, “is a composite thing
+made up of many parts and may be made beautiful by the beauty of each
+of its parts--its literary content, its material or materials, its
+writing or printing, its illumination or illustration, its binding
+and decoration--of each of its parts in subordination to the whole
+which collectively they constitute; or it may be made beautiful by
+the supreme beauty of one or more of its parts, all the other parts
+subordinating or even effacing themselves for the sake of this one or
+more, and each in turn being capable of playing this supreme part and
+each in its own peculiar and characteristic way. On the other hand
+each contributory craft may usurp the functions of the rest and of the
+whole, and growing beautiful beyond all bounds ruin for its own the
+common cause.”
+
+The _Doves Bible_ is Cobden-Sanderson’s masterpiece, and one
+turns to it with relief after the riotous beauty of the Morris pages.
+It is printed throughout in one size of type with no leads between
+the lines and with no paragraphs, the divisions being indicated by
+heavy paragraph marks. The only decorative feature of any description
+consists of exceedingly graceful initial letters at the beginning of
+each new book. The type is based flatly upon Jenson’s Roman face, and
+exactly answers Morris’ definition of the type ideal, “Pure in form,
+severe, without needless excrescences, solid without the thickening and
+thinning of the lines, and not compressed laterally.” The presswork is
+superb.
+
+[Illustration: Title Page of _Doves Bible_, London, 1905 (8 × 6
+inches)]
+
+[Illustration: Text Page of _Doves Bible_, London, 1905 (8 × 6
+inches)]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Surely no form of bibliomania can yield greater rewards in return for
+study and perseverance. The great typographical monuments, dating from
+1456 to 1905, have given me a composite picture of man’s successful
+struggle to free himself from the bonds of ignorance. I have mingled
+with Lorenzo the Magnificent and with the oppressed people of Florence;
+I have been a part of François I’s sumptuous Court, and have seen the
+anxious faces of the clerical faction as they read the writing on
+the wall; I have listened to the preaching of Luther, and have heard
+the Spanish guns bombarding Antwerp; I have stood with the brave
+defenders of Leyden, and have watched the center of learning find its
+place in Holland; I have enjoyed Ben Franklin’s participation in the
+typographical efforts of Baskerville and Didot; I have received the
+inspiration of seeing William Morris and Cobden-Sanderson put a great
+art back into its rightful place. These triumphs of the printing press
+are far more than books. They stand as landmarks charting the path of
+culture and learning through four marvelous centuries
+
+What volume of the twentieth century and what master-printer shall
+be included? That is yet to be determined by the test of retrospect;
+but the choice will be more difficult to make. In America and England
+history is being made in printing as an art, and the results are full
+of hopefulness and promise
+
+
+
+
+                                  VII
+
+                     THE SPELL OF THE LAURENZIANA
+
+
+The most fascinating city in all Europe is Florence, and the most
+alluring spot in all Florence is the Laurenziana Library. They say
+that there is something in the peculiar atmosphere of antiquity that
+reacts curiously upon the Anglo-Saxon temperament, producing an
+obsession so definite as to cause indifference to all except the magic
+lure of culture and learning. This is not difficult to believe after
+working, as I have, for weeks at a time, in a cell-like alcove of
+the Laurenziana; for such work, amid such surroundings, possesses an
+indescribable lure.
+
+Yet my first approach to the Laurenziana was a bitter disappointment;
+for the bleak, unfinished façade is almost repelling. Perhaps it was
+more of a shock because I came upon it directly from the sheer beauty
+of the Baptistery and Giotto’s Campanile. Michelangelo planned to make
+this façade the loveliest of all in Florence, built of marble and
+broken by many niches, in each of which was to stand the figure of a
+saint. The plans, drawn before America was discovered, still exist,
+yet work has never even been begun. The façade remains unfinished,
+without a window and unbroken save by three uninviting doors.
+
+Conquering my dread of disillusionment, I approached the nearest
+entrance, which happened to be that at the extreme right of the
+building and led me directly into the old Church of San Lorenzo.
+Drawing aside the heavy crimson curtains, I passed at once into a
+calm, majestic quiet and peace which made the past seem very near. I
+drew back into the shadow of a great pillar in order to gain my poise.
+How completely the twentieth century turned back to the fifteenth! On
+either side, were the bronze pulpits from which Savonarola thundered
+against the tyranny and intrigue of the Medici. I seemed to see the
+militant figure standing there, his eyes flashing, his voice vibrating
+as he proclaimed his indifference to the penalty he well knew he drew
+upon himself by exhorting his hearers to oppose the machinations of the
+powerful family within whose precincts he stood. Then, what a contrast!
+The masses vanished, and I seemed to be witnessing the gorgeous beauty
+of a Medici marriage procession. Alessandro de’ Medici was standing
+beneath a _baldacchino_, surrounded by the pomp and glory of all
+Florence, to espouse the daughter of Charles V. Again the scene changes
+and the colors fade. I leave my place of vantage and join the reverent
+throng surrounding the casket which contains the mortal remains of
+Michelangelo, and listen with bowed head to Varchi’s eloquent tribute
+to the great humanist.
+
+The spell was on me! Walking down the nave, I turned to the left and
+found myself in the Old Sacristy. Verrocchio’s beautiful sarcophagus
+in bronze and porphyry recalled for a moment the personalities and
+deeds of Piero and Giovanni de’ Medici. Then on, into the “New”
+Sacristy,--new, yet built four centuries ago! Again I paused, this
+time before Michelangelo’s tomb for Lorenzo the Magnificent, from
+which arise those marvelous monuments, “Day and Night” and “Dawn and
+Twilight,”--the masterpieces of a super-sculptor to perpetuate the
+memory of a superman!
+
+A few steps more took me to the Martelli Chapel, and, opening an
+inconspicuous door, I passed out into the cloister. It was a relief
+for the moment to breathe the soft air and to find myself in the
+presence of nature after the tenseness that came from standing before
+such masterpieces of man. Maurice Hewlett had prepared me for the
+“great, mildewed cloister with a covered-in walk all around it, built
+on arches. In the middle a green garth with cypresses and yews dotted
+about; when you look up, the blue sky cut square and the hot tiles of a
+huge dome staring up into it.”
+
+From the cloister I climbed an ancient stone staircase and found myself
+at the foot of one of the most famous stairways in the world. At that
+moment I did not stop to realize how famous it was, for my mind had
+turned again on books, and I was intent on reaching the Library itself.
+At the top of the stairway I paused for a moment at the entrance to the
+great hall, the _Sala di Michelangiolo_. At last I was face to
+face with the Laurenziana!
+
+[Illustration: SALA DI MICHELANGIOLO
+
+Laurenziana Library, Florence]
+
+Before I had completed my general survey of the room, an attendant
+greeted me courteously, and when I presented my letter of introduction
+to the librarian he bowed low and led me the length of the hall. The
+light came into the room through beautiful stained-glass windows,
+bearing the Medici arms and the cipher of Giulio de’ Medici, later
+Pope Clement VII, surrounded by arabesque Renaissance designs. We
+passed between the _plutei_, those famous carved reading-desks
+designed by Michelangelo. As we walked down the aisle, the pattern of
+the nutwood ceiling seemed reflected on the brick floor, so cleverly
+was the design reproduced in painted bricks. Gradually I became
+impressed by the immense size of the room, which before I had not felt
+because the proportions are so perfect.
+
+Doctor Guido Biagi, who was at that time librarian, was seated at
+one of the _plutei_, studying a Medicean illuminated manuscript
+fastened to the desk by one of the famous old chains (see _page
+14_). He was a Tuscan of medium height, rather heavily built, with
+full beard, high forehead, and kindly, alert eyes. The combination of
+his musical Italian voice, his eyes, and his appealing smile, made
+me feel at home at once. Letters of introduction such as mine were
+every-day affairs with him, and no doubt he expected, as did I, to
+have our meeting result in a few additional courtesies beyond what
+the tourist usually receives, and then that each would go his way. I
+little realized, as I presented my letter, that this meeting was to be
+so significant,--that the man whose hand I clasped was to become my
+closest friend, and that through him the Laurenziana Library was to be
+for me a sanctuary.
+
+[Illustration: _Dott. Comm._ GUIDO BIAGI in 1924
+
+Librarian of the Laurenziana Library, Florence]
+
+After the first words of greeting, I said,
+
+“I am wondering how much more I can absorb today. By mistake I came
+in through the church, and found myself confronted by a series
+of masterpieces so overpowering that I am almost exhausted by the
+monuments of great personages and the important events they recall.”
+
+“A fortunate mistake,” he replied smiling. “The entrance to the Library
+should be forever closed, and every one forced to come in through the
+church as you did, in order to absorb the old-world atmosphere, and be
+ready to receive what I can give.--So this is your first visit? You
+know nothing of the history of the Library?”
+
+“Simply that everything was designed by Michelangelo,--and the names of
+some of the priceless manuscripts in your collection.”
+
+“It is not quite exact to say that everything was designed by the great
+Buonarroti,” he corrected. “It was Michelangelo who conceived, but
+Vasari who designed and executed. Let me show you the letter the great
+artist wrote to Vasari about the stairway you just ascended” (_page
+280_).
+
+Leaving me for a moment he returned with a manuscript in his hand which
+he read aloud:
+
+    _There is a certain stair that comes into my thoughts like a
+    dream, _the letter ran_; but I don’t think it is exactly
+    the one which I had planned at the time, seeing that it appears
+    to be but a clumsy affair. I will describe it for you here,
+    nevertheless. I took a number of oval boxes, each about one
+    palm deep, but not of equal length and breadth. The first and
+    largest I placed on a pavement at such distance from the wall
+    of the door as seemed to be required by the greater or lesser
+    degree of steepness you may wish to give the stair. Over this
+    was placed another, smaller in all directions, and leaving
+    sufficient room on that beneath for the foot to rest on in
+    ascending, thus diminishing each step as it gradually retires
+    towards the door; the uppermost step being of the exact width
+    required for the door itself. This part of the oval steps must
+    have two wings, one right and one left, the steps of the wings
+    to rise by similar degree, but not be oval in form._
+
+“Who but a great artist could visualize that marvelous staircase
+through a collection of wooden boxes!” Biagi exclaimed. “Vasari built
+this great room, but the designs were truly Michelangelo’s,--even to
+the carving of these _plutei_,” he added, laying his hand on the
+reading-desk from which he had just risen. “See these chains, which
+have held these volumes in captivity for over four hundred years.”
+
+He asked me how long I was to be in Florence.
+
+“For a week,” I answered, believing the statement to be truthful; but
+the seven days stretched out into many weeks before I was able to break
+the chains which held me to the Library as firmly as if they were the
+links which for so many years had kept the Medicean treasures in their
+hallowed places.
+
+“Return tomorrow,” he said. “Enter by the private door, where Marinelli
+will admit you. I want to keep your mind wholly on the Library.”
+
+[Illustration: VESTIBULE of the LAURENZIANA LIBRARY, FLORENCE
+
+Designed by Michelangelo]
+
+The private door was the entrance in the portico overlooking the
+cloister, held sacred to the librarian and his friends. At the
+appointed hour I was admitted, and Marinelli conducted me immediately
+to the little office set apart for the use of the librarian.
+
+“Before I exhibit my children,” he said, “I must tell you the romantic
+story of this collection. You will enjoy and understand the books
+themselves better if I give you the proper background.”
+
+Here is the story he told me. I wish you might have heard the words
+spoken in the musical Tuscan voice:
+
+Four members of the immortal Medici family contributed to the greatness
+of the Laurenziana Library, their interest in which would seem to be a
+curious paradox. Cosimo _il Vecchio_, father of his country, was
+the founder. “Old” Cosimo was unique in combining zeal for learning
+and an interest in arts and letters with political corruption. As his
+private fortune increased through success in trade he discovered the
+power money possessed when employed to secure political prestige. By
+expending hundreds of thousands of florins upon public works, he gave
+employment to artisans, and gained a popularity for his family with the
+lower classes which was of the utmost importance at critical times.
+Beneath this guise of benefactor existed all the characteristics of
+the tyrant and despot, but through his money he was able to maintain
+his position as a Mæcenas while his agents acted as catspaws in
+accomplishing his political ambitions. Old Cosimo acknowledged to Pope
+Eugenius that much of his wealth had been ill-gotten, and begged him to
+indicate a proper method of restitution. The Pope advised him to spend
+10,000 florins on the Convent of San Marco. To be sure that he followed
+this advice thoroughly, Cosimo contributed more than 40,000 florins,
+and established the basis of the present Laurenziana Library.
+
+“Some of your American philanthropists must have read the private
+history of Old Cosimo,” Biagi remarked slyly at this point.
+
+Lorenzo the Magnificent was Old Cosimo’s grandson, and his contribution
+to the Library was far beyond what his father, Piero, had given.
+Lorenzo was but twenty-two years of age when Piero died, in 1469. He
+inherited no business ability from his grandfather, but far surpassed
+him in the use he made of literary patronage. Lorenzo had no idea of
+relinquishing control of the Medici tyranny, but he was clever enough
+to avoid the outward appearance of the despot. Throughout his life he
+combined a real love of arts and letters with a cleverness in political
+manipulation, and it is sometimes difficult correctly to attribute
+the purpose behind his seeming benevolences. He employed agents to
+travel over all parts of the world to secure for him rare and important
+codices to be placed in the Medicean Library. He announced that it was
+his ambition to form the greatest collection of books in the world, and
+to throw it open to public use. Such a suggestion was almost heresy in
+those days! So great was his influence that the Library received its
+name from his.
+
+The third Medici to play an important part in this literary history was
+Lorenzo’s son, Cardinal Giovanni, afterwards Pope Leo X. The library
+itself had been confiscated by the Republic during the troublous times
+in which Charles VIII of France played his part, and sold to the
+monks of San Marco; but when better times returned Cardinal Giovanni
+bought it back into the family, and established it in the Villa Medici
+in Rome. During the fourteen years the collection remained in his
+possession, Giovanni, as Pope Leo X, enriched it by valuable additions.
+On his death, in 1521, his executor, a cousin, Giulio de’ Medici,
+afterwards Pope Clement VII, commissioned Michelangelo to erect a
+building worthy of housing so precious a collection; and in 1522 the
+volumes were returned to Florence.
+
+Lorenzo’s promise to throw the doors open to the public was
+accomplished on June 11, 1571. At that time there were 3,000 precious
+manuscripts, most of which are still available to those who visit
+Florence. A few are missing.
+
+The princes who followed Cosimo II were not so conscious of their
+responsibilities, and left the care of the Library to the Chapter of
+the Church of San Lorenzo. During this period the famous manuscript
+copy of Cicero’s work, the oldest in existence, disappeared. Priceless
+miniatures were cut from some of the volumes, and single leaves from
+others. Where did they go? The _Cicero_ has never since been heard
+of, but the purloining of fragments of Laurenziana books undoubtedly
+completed imperfections in similar volumes in other collections.
+
+The House of Lorraine, which succeeded the House of Medici, guarded the
+Laurenziana carefully, placing at its head the learned Biscioni. After
+him came Bandini, another capable librarian, under whose administration
+various smaller yet valuable collections were added in their entirety.
+Del Furia continued the good work, and left behind a splendid catalogue
+of the treasures entrusted to him. These four volumes are still to be
+found in the Library. In 1808, and again in 1867, the libraries of
+the suppressed monastic orders were divided between the Laurentian
+and the Magliabecchian institutions; and in 1885, through the efforts
+of Pasquale Villari, the biographer of Machiavelli, the Ashburnham
+collection, numbering 1887 volumes, was added through purchase by the
+Italian Government.
+
+“Now,” said Biagi, as he finished the story, “I am ready to show you
+some of the Medici treasures. I call them my children. They have always
+seemed that to me. My earliest memory is of peeping out from the back
+windows of the Palazzo dei della Vacca, where I was born, behind the
+bells of San Lorenzo, at the campanile of the ancient church, and at
+the Chapel or the Medici. The Medici coat of arms was as familiar to me
+as my father’s face, and the ‘pills’ that perpetuated Old Cosimo’s fame
+as a chemist possessed so great a fascination that I never rested until
+I became the Medicean librarian.”
+
+Biagi led the way from his private office through the Hall of
+Tapestries. As we passed by the cases containing such wealth of
+illumination, only partially concealed by the green curtains drawn
+across the glass, I instinctively paused, but my guide insisted.
+
+“We will return here, but first you must see the Tribuna.”
+
+We passed through the great hall into a high-vaulted, circular
+reading-room.
+
+“This was an addition to the Library in 1841,” Biagi explained, “to
+house the 1200 copies of original editions from the fifteenth-century
+Presses, presented by the Count Angiolo Maria d’Elchi. Yes--” he added,
+reading my thoughts as I glanced around; “this room is a distinct
+blemish. The great Buonarroti must have turned in his grave when it
+was finished. But the volumes themselves will make you forget the
+architectural blunder.”
+
+He showed me volumes printed from engraved blocks by the Germans,
+Sweynheym and Pannartz, at Subiaco, in the first Press established in
+Italy. I held in my hand Cicero’s _Epistolæ ad Familiares_, a
+volume printed in 1469. In the _explicit_ the printer, not at all
+ashamed of his accomplishment, adds in Latin:
+
+    _John, from within the town of Spires, was the first to print
+    books in Venice from bronze types. See, O Reader, how much hope
+          there is of future works when this, the first,
+               has surpassed the art of penmanship_
+
+There was Tortelli’s _Orthographia dictionum e Græcia tractarum_,
+printed in Venice by Nicolas Jenson, showing the first use of Greek
+characters in a printed book. The Aldine volumes introduced me to the
+first appearance of Italic type. No wonder that Italy laid so firm a
+hand upon the scepter of the new art, when Naples, Milan, Ferrara,
+Florence, Piedmont, Cremona, and Turin vied with Venice in producing
+such examples!
+
+“You must come back and study them at your leisure,” the librarian
+suggested, noting my reluctance to relinquish the volume I was
+inspecting to receive from him some other example equally interesting.
+“Now I will introduce you to the prisoners, who have never once
+complained of their bondage during all these centuries.”
+
+In the great hall we moved in and out among the _plutei_, where
+Biagi indicated first one manuscript and then another, with a few words
+of explanation as to the significance of each.
+
+“No matter what the personal bent of any man,” my guide continued,
+“we have here in the Library that which will satisfy his intellectual
+desires. If he is a student of the Scriptures, he will find inspiration
+from our sixth-century _Syriac Gospels_, or the _Biblia Amiatina_. For
+the lawyer, we have the _Pandects of Justinian_, also of the sixth
+century, which even today form the absolute basis of Roman law. What
+classical scholar could fail to be thrilled by the fourth-century
+_Medicean Virgil_, with its romantic history, which I will tell
+you some day; what lover of literature would not consider himself
+privileged to examine Boccaccio’s manuscript copy of the _Decameron_,
+or the Petrarch manuscript on vellum, in which appear the famous
+portraits of Laura and Petrarch; or Benvenuto Cellini’s own handwriting
+in his autobiography? We must talk about all these, but it would be too
+much for one day.”
+
+Leading the way back to his sanctum, Biagi left me for a moment. He
+returned with some manuscript poems, which he turned over to me.
+
+“This shall be the climax of your first day in the Laurenziana,” he
+exclaimed. “You are now holding Michelangelo in your lap!”
+
+Can you wonder that the week I had allotted to Florence began to seem
+too brief a space of time? In response to the librarian’s suggestion I
+returned to the Library day after day. He was profligate in the time he
+gave me. Together we studied the _Biblia Amiatina_, the very copy
+brought from England to Rome in 716 by Ceolfrid, Abbot of Wearmouth,
+intended as a votive offering at the Holy Sepulchre of Saint Peter. By
+this identification at the Laurenziana in 1887 the volume became one of
+the most famous in the world. In the plate opposite, the Prophet Ezra
+is shown by the artist sitting before a book press filled with volumes
+bound in crimson covers of present-day fashion, and even the book in
+which Ezra is writing has a binding. It was a new thought to me that
+the binding of books, such as we know it, was in practice as early as
+the eighth century.
+
+[Illustration: THE PROPHET EZRA. From _Codex Amiatinus_, (8th Century)
+
+_Showing earliest Volumes in Bindings_
+
+Laurenziana Library, Florence (12 × 8)]
+
+At another time we examined the _Medicean Virgil_ written on
+vellum, dating back to the fourth century, and the oldest Codex of the
+Latin poet.
+
+“This is a veritable treasure for the classical scholar, is it not?”
+Biagi inquired. “While the Medicean collection remained in the hands
+of the Chapter of San Lorenzo some vandal cut out the first leaves.
+See,--the text now begins at the 48th line of the 6th Eclogue.”
+
+I felt almost as if I were looking at a mutilated body, so precious did
+the manuscript seem.
+
+“In 1799,” the librarian continued, “these sheets were carried to
+France as part of the Napoleonic booty. Later, through the good
+offices of Prince Metternich, under a special article in the Treaty of
+Vienna, the volume was returned to Italy. In 1816 a solemn festival
+was held here in Florence to celebrate its restoration to the Library.
+Such events as these,” Biagi added, “show you the place the book holds
+in the hearts of the Italian people. Look!” he exclaimed, pointing
+disgustedly at the stiff, ugly binding placed upon the _Virgil_ in
+Paris during its captivity. “See how little the French appreciated what
+this volume really is!”
+
+The Petrarch manuscript yielded me the originals of the famous
+portraits of Madonna Laura de Noves de Sale and of Messer Francesco
+Petrarca which had hung in my library for years; my friend’s comments
+made them assume a new meaning. The poet’s likeness so closely
+resembles other more authentic portraits that we may accept that of
+Madonna Laura as equally correct, even though the same opportunity for
+comparison is lacking. What could be more graceful or original than the
+dressing of the hair, recalling the elegance of the _coiffures_
+worn by the ladies of Provence and France rather than of Italy, even
+as the little pearl-sewn cap is absolutely unknown in the fashions
+of Petrarch’s native country. After looking at the painting, we can
+understand the inspiration for Petrarch’s lines:
+
+    Say from what vein did Love procure the gold
+    To make those sunny tresses? From what thorn
+    Stole he the rose, and whence the dew of morn,
+    Bidding them breathe and live in Beauty’s mould?
+
+So we discussed the treasures which were laid out before me as I
+returned again and again to the Library. The illuminated volumes showed
+me that marvelous Book of Hours Francesco d’Antonio made for Lorenzo
+the Magnificent, which is described in an earlier chapter (_page
+146_); I became familiar with the gorgeous pages of Lorenzo Monaco,
+master of Fra Angelico; of Benozzo Gozzoli, whose frescoes give the
+Riccardi its greatest fame; of Gherado and Clovio, and other great
+artists whose names are unknown or forgotten.
+
+Besides being librarian of the Laurenziana, Biagi was also custodian
+of the Buonarroti and the da Vinci archives. Thus it was that during
+some of my visits I had the opportunity to study the early sketches of
+the great Leonardo, and the manuscript letters of Michelangelo. Such
+intimacies gave me an understanding of the people and the times in
+which they worked that has clothed that period with an everlasting halo.
+
+As our friendship expanded through our work together, Biagi introduced
+me to other fascinations, outside the Library. I came to know Pasquale
+Villari and other great Italian intellects. My friend and I planned
+Odysseys together,--to Vallombrosa, to Pisa, to Perugia, to Siena. We
+visited the haunts of Dante.
+
+Nor was our conversation devoted wholly to the literary spirits of
+antiquity. One day something was said about George Eliot. I had always
+shared the common fallacy that she was entitled to be classified as the
+greatest realist of the analytical or psychological school; yet I had
+always marveled at the consummate skill which made it possible for her,
+in _Romola_, to draw her characters and to secure the atmosphere
+of veritable Italians and the truest Italy without herself having lived
+amongst the Florentines and assimilating those unique peculiarities
+which she so wonderfully portrayed. For I had accepted the myth that
+she had only passed through Italy on her memorable trip with the Brays
+in 1849, and secured her local color by study.
+
+I made some allusion to this, and Biagi smiled.
+
+“Where did you get that idea?” he asked. “Her diary tells you to the
+contrary.”
+
+I could only confess that I had never read her diary.
+
+“George Eliot and Lewes were in Florence together in 1861,” he
+continued; “and it was because they were here that _Romola_ became
+a fact.”
+
+Enjoying my surprise, the librarian became more communicative:
+
+“They studied here together from May 4 until June 7, 1861, at the
+Magliabecchian Library,” said he, “and I can tell you even the titles
+of the books they consulted.”
+
+Perhaps I showed my incredulity.
+
+“I have discovered the very slips which Lewes signed when he took out
+the volumes,” he continued. “Would you like to see them?”
+
+By this time Biagi knew me too well to await my response. So we walked
+together over to the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, the library which
+became famous two hundred and fifty years ago through the reputation
+of a jeweler’s shop boy, Antonio Magliabecchi, and was known as
+the Biblioteca Magliabecchiana for more than a century before the
+Biblioteca Palatina was joined with it in 1860 under its present modern
+and unromantic name.
+
+[Illustration: ANTONIO MAGLIABECCHI
+
+_Founder of the Magliabecchia Library, Florence_]
+
+As we walked along Biagi told me of the unique personality of this
+Magliabecchi, which attracted the attention of the literary world while
+he was collecting the nucleus of the library. Dibdin scouted him,
+declaring that his existence was confined to the “parade and pacing of
+a library,” yet so great was his knowledge and so prodigious his memory
+that when the Grand Duke of Florence asked him one day for a particular
+volume, he was able to reply:
+
+“The only copy of this work is at Constantinople, in the Sultan’s
+library, the seventeenth volume in the second bookcase on the right as
+you go in.”
+
+We entered the old reading hall, which is almost the only portion of
+the building still remaining as it was when George Eliot and George
+Henry Lewes pursued their studies at one of the massive walnut tables.
+The jeering bust of Magliabecchi is still there; the same volumes,
+resting upon their ornamental shelves, still await the arrival of
+another genius to produce another masterpiece--but except for these the
+Library has become as modernized as its name.
+
+“I was going over some dusty receipts here one day,” my friend
+explained, “which I found on the top of a cupboard in the office of the
+archives. It was pure curiosity. I was interested in the names of many
+Italian writers who have since become famous, but when I stumbled upon
+a number of receipts signed ‘G. H. Lewes,’ I realized that I was on
+the track of some valuable material. These I arranged chronologically,
+and this is what I found.”
+
+Now let me go back a little, before, with Biagi’s help, I fit these
+interesting receipts into the story of the writing of the book as told
+by George Eliot’s diary, which I immediately absorbed.
+
+_Silas Marner_ was finished on March 10, 1861, and on April 19 the
+author and Lewes “set off on our second journey to Florence.” After
+arriving there, the diary tells us that they “have been industriously
+foraging in old streets and old books.” Of Lewes she writes: “He was in
+continual distraction by having to attend to my wants, going with me to
+the Magliabecchian Library, and poking about everywhere on my behalf.”
+
+[Illustration: Library Slips used by George Eliot in the Magliabecchia
+
+Library, Florence, while writing _Romola_]
+
+The first slip signed by Lewes is dated May 15, 1861, and called for
+Ferrario’s _Costume Antico e Moderno_. This book is somewhat
+dramatic and superficial, yet it could give the author knowledge of
+the historical surroundings of the characters which were growing in
+her mind. The following day they took out Lippi’s _Malmantile_,
+a comic poem filled with quaint phrases and sayings which fitted well
+in the mouths of those characters she had just learned how to dress.
+Migliore’s _Firenze Illustrata_ and Rastrelli’s _Firenze
+Antica e Moderna_ gave the topography and the aspect of Florence at
+the end of the fifteenth century.
+
+From Chiari’s _Priorista_ George Eliot secured the idea of the
+magnificent celebration of the Feast of Saint John, the effective
+descriptions of the cars, the races, and the extraordinary tapers. “It
+is the habit of my imagination,” she writes in her diary, “to strive
+after as full a vision of the medium in which a character moves as of
+the character itself.” Knowledge of the Bardi family, to which the
+author added Romola, was secured from notes on the old families of
+Florence written by Luigi Passerini.
+
+“See how they came back on May 24,” Biagi exclaimed, pointing to a slip
+calling for _Le Famiglie del Litta_, “to look in vain for the
+pedigree of the Bardi. But why bother,” he continued with a smile; “for
+Romola, the Antigone of Bardo Bardi, was by this time already born in
+George Eliot’s mind, and needed no further pedigree.”
+
+Romance may have been born, but the plot of the story was far from
+being clear in the author’s mind. Back again in England, two months
+later, she writes, “This morning I conceived the plot of my novel with
+new distinction.” On October 4, “I am worried about my plot,” and on
+October 7, “Began the first chapter of my novel.”
+
+Meanwhile George Eliot continued her reading, now at the British
+Museum. _La Vita di G. Savonarola_, by Pasquale Villari, gave her
+much inspiration. The book had just been published, and it may well
+have suggested the scene where Baldassarre Calvo meets Tito Melema on
+the steps of the Cathedral. No other available writer had previously
+described the struggle which took place for the liberation of the
+Lunigiana prisoners, which plays so important a part in the plot of
+_Romola_.
+
+In January, 1862, George Eliot writes in her diary, “I began again my
+novel of _Romola_.” By February the extraordinary proem and the
+first two chapters were completed. “Will it ever be finished?” she
+asks herself. But doubt vanished as she proceeded. In May, 1863, she
+“killed Tito with great excitement,” and June 9, “put the last stroke
+to _Romola_--Ebenezer!”
+
+Since then I have re-read _Romola_ with the increased interest
+which came from the new knowledge, and the story added to my love of
+Florence. Many times have I wandered, as George Eliot and Lewes did, to
+the heights of Fiesole, and looked down, even as they, in sunlight, and
+with the moon casting shadows upon the wonderful and obsessing city,
+wishing that my vision were strong enough to extract from it another
+story such as _Romola_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Such were the experiences that extended my stay in Florence. The memory
+of them has been so strong and so obsessing that no year has been
+complete without a return to Biagi and the Laurenziana. Once, during
+these years, he came to America, as the Royal representative of Italy
+at the St. Louis Exposition (see also _page 182_). In 1916 his
+term as librarian expired through the limitation of age, but before
+he retired he completely rearranged that portion of the Library which
+is now open to visitors (see _page 149_). The treasures of no
+collection are made so easily accessible except at the British Museum.
+
+I last visited Biagi in May, 1924. His time was well occupied by
+literary work, particularly on Dante, which had already given him high
+rank as a scholar and writer; but a distinct change had come over him.
+I could not fathom it until he told me that he was planning to leave
+Florence to take up his residence in Rome. I received the news in
+amazement. Then the mask fell, and he answered my unasked question.
+
+“I can’t stand it!” he exclaimed. “I can’t stay in Florence and not be
+a part of the Laurenziana. I have tried in vain to reconcile myself,
+but the Library has been so much a fiber of my being all my life,
+that something has been taken away from me which is essential to my
+existence.” The spell of the Laurenziana had possessed him with a
+vital grip! The following January (1925) he died, and no physician’s
+diagnosis will ever contain the correct analysis of his decease
+
+I shall always find it difficult to visualize Florence or the
+Laurenziana without Guido Biagi. When next I hold in my hands those
+precious manuscripts, still chained to their ancient _plutei_, it
+will be with even greater reverence. They stand as symbols of the
+immutability of learning and culture compared with the brief span of
+life allotted to Prince or Librarian
+
+
+
+
+                                 INDEX
+
+
+Adams Presses, 50
+
+Æthelwald, 122
+
+Alba, the Duke of, 233
+
+_Alcuin Bible_, the, described, 125-127
+
+Alcuin, Bishop, of York, 125, 126
+
+Aldine Press, the, at Venice, saved by intervention of Jean Grolier,
+    56, 238;
+  printing at, 206-215;
+  the Jenson office combined with, 214
+
+Aldus Manutius, legend over office of, 10;
+  his confidence in permanence of the printed book, 11-12;
+  his type designs, 17;
+  establishes his office in Venice, 206;
+  his printer’s mark and slogan, 207, 208;
+  changes _format_ of the book, 207;
+  his aims, 208;
+  the Greek classics of, 209;
+  his contributions to typography, 210;
+  his _Hypnerotomachia Poliphili_, 210-213;
+  Jean Grolier’s friendship with family of, 214-215
+
+_Allegro, l’_, Milton’s, 93
+
+_Ambrosiana Iliad_, the, 24, 25
+
+Ambrosiana Library, the, humanistic manuscripts in, 24, 25
+
+Angelico, Fra, 149, 290
+
+Anglo-Saxon missionary artists, the, 125
+
+Anne, of Brittany, _Hours_ of, described, 149-151
+
+Anne, Saint, 138
+
+_Antiquities of the Jews_, the, described, 138-141, 146
+
+Antonio del Cherico, Francesco d’, _Book of Hours_ illuminated by, 111,
+    113, 116, 146-149, 290
+
+Antwerp, the leading city in Europe, 223;
+  book manufacture in, 224;
+  under Spanish domination, 227;
+  loses her pre-eminence, 233;
+  purchases the Plantin office, 235;
+  referred to, 239
+
+Apostrophes, Bernard Shaw’s ideas concerning, 68
+
+Arnold, Matthew, 178
+
+Ashburnham Collection, the, 148, 284
+
+Augustinus, 202
+
+Austria, the Emperor of, 105
+
+Authors, relations between publishers and, 51, 63;
+  their attitude toward the physical _format_ of their books, 67
+
+
+Bandini, librarian of the Laurenziana Library, 284
+
+Baptistery, the, at Florence, 273
+
+Barbaro, Marco Antonio, Procurator of Saint Mark’s, 143
+
+Bardi, the, 297
+
+Bardi, Bardo, 297
+
+Barlow, Sir Thomas, 85
+
+Baskerville, John, his editions, 245;
+  letter from Benjamin Franklin to, 245;
+  his types, 245-246;
+  his _Virgil_, 246-250;
+  first to introduce glossy paper, 250;
+  Dibdin’s estimate of, 251;
+  referred to, 95, 244
+
+Baynes, Ernest Harold, 104
+
+Bedford, Anne, Duchess of, 135, 137
+
+_Bedford Book of Hours_, the, described, 135-138, 146
+
+Bedford, John, Duke of, 135, 137
+
+Belgium, see _Netherlands, the_
+
+Bellini, Giovanni, 213
+
+_Beowulf_, William Morris’, 259
+
+Berlin, library of, 196
+
+Berry, the Duc de, the _Très Riches Heures_ of, 116;
+  the _Antiquities of the Jews_ begun for, 139
+
+Bertieri, Raffaello, 32
+
+Bewick, Thomas, 163, 251
+
+Biagi, Dr. Guido, custodian of the Buonarroti and the da Vinci archives,
+    14, 182, 290;
+  defines the humanist, 15, 162;
+  his association with the designing of the Humanistic type, 17-33;
+  his comments on Bodoni, 78;
+  his meeting with Charles Eliot Norton, 180-183;
+  described, 277;
+  in the Laurenziana Library, 277-300;
+  his early ambition to become librarian of the Laurenziana, 284;
+  in America, 299;
+  his last days, 299-300;
+  his death, 300;
+  referred to, 14, 16, 17, 111
+
+Bible, the, welfare of men and of empires based upon, 224
+
+_Biblia Amiatina_, the, 287, 288
+
+_Biblia Polyglotta_, Plantin’s, 227;
+  the story of, 227-233;
+  pages from, 229-231
+
+Bibliothèque Nationale, the, Paris, 119, 127, 128, 139, 140, 141, 149,
+    196, 198, 220
+
+Billfrith, Saint, 122
+
+Bindings, 113, 288
+
+Birmingham, England, 244
+
+Biscioni, librarian of the Laurenziana Library, 283
+
+Bisticci, quoted, 12
+
+Blanche, Queen, of Castile, 129
+
+Boccaccio, 287
+
+Bodleian Library, the, 196
+
+Bodoni, Giambattista, the father of modern type design, 78-82, 251;
+  compared with Didot, 252, 257;
+  referred to, 95
+
+Bodoni Press, the revived, in Montagnola di Lugano, 79
+
+Bodoni type, the, 78;
+  compared with the Didot type, 79-82;
+  William Morris’ dislike of, 80;
+  De Vinne’s admiration for, 80, 82;
+  estimate of, 257
+
+Bokhara, 118
+
+Bomberghe, Corneille, type designer, 228
+
+Book, the, conception of early patrons of, 11;
+  lure of, 37;
+  the tangible expression of man’s intellect, 112.
+  See also, _Illuminated book_, _Printed book_, _Written book_
+
+Bookmaking, in 1891, 42-54;
+  the weakness of method in, 54
+
+_Book of Hours_, by Francesco d’Antonio del Cherico, 111;
+  described, 146-149;
+  referred to, 290
+
+Books, cost of making, 58
+
+Bookselling, inadequate methods in, 60
+
+Boston, Howell’s comments on, 186
+
+Boston Society of Printers, the, 99
+
+Bourbon, Pierre II, Duc de, 140
+
+Bourdichon, Jean, 113, 149, 150
+
+Boyd, Henry, 26, 27
+
+Brays, the, 292
+
+British Museum, the, 27, 28, 117, 119, 122, 125, 132, 135, 166, 196,
+    298, 299
+
+Broad Chalke, England, Maurice Hewlett’s home at, 157
+
+Browne, Sir Thomas, 207
+
+Budé, Guillaume, 214
+
+Buonarroti, see _Michelangelo_
+
+Buonarroti archives, the, 14, 182, 290
+
+Burne-Jones, Sir Edward, and the _Kelmscott Chaucer_, 259, 261, 262;
+  referred to, 6
+
+Burney, Fanny, 163
+
+Byron, Lord, manuscript of his letters burned by John Murray III, 65
+
+Byzantine illumination, see _Illumination, Byzantine_
+
+Byzantine ink, 112
+
+
+“Cabin,” the, Howell’s, 186
+
+Cable, George W., 177
+
+_Cæsar_, Elzevir’s, 240
+
+Cambridge Immortals, the, 178
+
+Camp, Walter, 84
+
+Campanile, Giotto’s, at Florence, 273
+
+Campanile, the, at Venice, 145
+
+Carlyle, Thomas, 178
+
+Carnegie, Andrew, 174-177
+
+Carnegie, Mrs. Andrew, 174
+
+Caroline minuscule, the, 126
+
+Carolingian illumination, see _Illumination, Carolingian_
+
+Carolingian School, the, in France, 125
+
+Caslon foundry, the, 245, 246
+
+Castiglioncello, Italy, 162
+
+Cato, quoted, 208
+
+Caxton, William, work of, compared with Jenson’s, 244
+
+Cellini, Benvenuto, autobiography of, 287
+
+Celtic illumination, see _Illumination, Celtic_
+
+Censors, the, 221
+
+Ceolfrid, Abbot of Wearmouth, 288
+
+Ceriani, Monsignor, librarian of the Ambrosiana Library at Milan,
+    described, 24;
+  his work on the _Ambrosiana Iliad_, 24, 25;
+  quoted, 25
+
+Chantilly, the Musée Condé at, 116
+
+Charlemagne, Emperor, 125
+
+Charles, King, of France, son of King John, 129
+
+Charles, King, of France, son of King Charles, 129
+
+Charles V, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, 216, 276
+
+Charles VIII, of France, 282
+
+_Chaucer_, the _Kelmscott_, the story of, 259-268
+
+Chaucer type, the, designed by William Morris, 20
+
+Chianti Hills, the, 171
+
+Chiari, 297
+
+Chinese, the, 7
+
+_Cicero_, the _Medicean_, 283
+
+Cicogna, Doge Pasquale, 143
+
+Cimabue, Giovanni, 147
+
+Clemens, Clara, 172, 174
+
+Clemens, Samuel L., see _Twain, Mark_
+
+Clemens, Mrs. Samuel L., 172, 173
+
+Clement VII, Pope, 214, 276
+
+Clovio, Giulio, 149, 290
+
+Cobden-Sanderson, T. J., quoted, 96, 97;
+  estimate of, 96-101;
+  described, 98;
+  in Boston, 98-99;
+  importance of his work, 263;
+  his _Ideal Book_ quoted, 264;
+  his _Doves Bible_, 264-268;
+  referred to, 3, 68, 71, 95
+
+Cockerell, Douglas, 262
+
+_Codex Argenteus_, the, 119
+
+Cole, Timothy, 106
+
+Colonna, Francesco, 210
+
+Colvin, Sir Sidney, 27, 28
+
+Constable, Archibald, publisher, 66
+
+Constantinople, might have become center of learning of XV century, 8;
+  destroyed by fire, 117;
+  the rebirth of, 118
+
+Cosimo _il Vecchio_, and the Laurenziana Library, 280;
+  his personality and history, 280-281;
+  his fame as a chemist, 284
+
+Cosimo II, and the Laurenziana Library, 283
+
+Costs of making books, in 1891, compared with present costs, 48
+
+_Costume Antico e Moderno_, Ferrario’s, 296
+
+_Country Printer_, the, Howell’s, 187
+
+Crasso, Leonardo, 210
+
+Cremona, early printing at, 286
+
+Curtis, George William, 178
+
+Cuthbert, Saint, 120, 121, 122
+
+Cyrus, King, 139
+
+
+Danes, the, 120
+
+Dante, proposed edition in Humanistic type of, 19, 32;
+  referred to, 158, 182;
+  Biagi’s work on, 182, 299;
+  the haunts of, 291
+
+“Dawn and Twilight,” Michelangelo’s, 275
+
+“Day and Night,” Michelangelo’s, 275
+
+_De Asse_, Budé’s, 214
+
+De Bure, discoverer of the _Gutenberg Bible_, 198
+
+_Decameron_, the, manuscript copy of, 287
+
+_De Civitate Dei_, Augustinus’, 202
+
+Decorations, 116
+
+Del Furia, librarian of the Laurenziana Library, 284
+
+Delmonico’s, in New York City, 176
+
+Deput, quoted on the innovations of the Elzevirs, 240
+
+_De Veritate Catholicæ Fidei_, 93
+
+De Vinne Press, the, New York, 42
+
+De Vinne, Theodore L., 6;
+  his admiration for the Bodoni type, 80, 82
+
+Dibdin, quoted on Baskerville, 251;
+  on Antonio Magliabecchi, 295
+
+Didot, Firmin, the father of modern type design, 78-82;
+  his type discussed, 79-82, 257;
+  referred to, 39, 95, 257
+
+Didot, Pierre, his _Racine_, 252-258
+
+Didot Press, the, Benjamin Franklin at, 252
+
+Didot type, the, compared with the Bodoni type, 79-82
+
+Didots, the, in Paris, 251;
+  compared with Bodoni, 252
+
+Dobson, Austin, 158, 162-169;
+  his lines on Richard Garnett, 166, 167;
+  his ideas on fiction, 168;
+  his methods of work, 169;
+  his handwriting, 169
+
+Dobson, Mrs. Austin, 168
+
+_Doves Bible_, Cobden-Sanderson’s, described, 264-268
+
+Doves Press, the, in London, 3, 70, 96, 263
+
+Doves type, the, designed by Emery Walker, 18, 19;
+  specimen page of, 23;
+  in the _Doves Bible_, 264-268
+
+Duneka, Frederick, 184
+
+Dürer, Albrecht, 95
+
+Dyck, Christoffel van, 243
+
+
+Eadfrith, Bishop, 122
+
+_Earthwork Out of Tuscany_, Hewlett’s, 159, 162
+
+Eddy, Mrs. Mary Baker, 52-54
+
+Edward VII, King, of England, 85, 140, 141
+
+Egyptians, the, 118
+
+Elchi, Count Angiolo Maria d’, 285
+
+Eliot, George, in the Magliabecchian Library, 291-298;
+  her diary quoted, 296;
+  volumes consulted in writing _Romola_, 296-298
+
+Elzevir, Abraham, editions of, 240;
+  his _Terence_, 241-243
+
+Elzevir, Bonaventura, editions of, 240;
+  his _Terence_, 241-243
+
+Elzevir, Isaac, becomes printer to the University of Leyden, 240
+
+Elzevir, Louis, founder of the House of Elzevir, 239, 240
+
+Elzevir, the House of, craftsmen rather than artists, 238;
+  in Leyden, 240;
+  adopt new _format_ for the book, 240;
+  their editions, 240-243;
+  their types, 243;
+  their business organization, 243;
+  estimate of importance of their work, 243;
+  referred to, 95, 237, 251
+
+England, typographical supremacy of, 194, 244-250;
+  second supremacy of, 258-268
+
+English illumination, see _Illumination, English_
+
+Engravings, steel, 105
+
+_Epistolæ ad Familiares_, Cicero’s, 285
+
+Ethics, in business, 65
+
+Étienne, Henri, ruined by his _Thesaurus_, 56, 238;
+  in Geneva, 223
+
+Étienne, Robert, becomes “printer in Greek” to François I of France,
+    216;
+  the _Royal Greeks_ of, 219-222;
+  leaves France, 223;
+  death of, 223;
+  his Roman type, 222;
+  referred to, 252
+
+Eugenius, Pope, 281
+
+Evreux, Queen Jeanne d’, 129
+
+_Explicit_, the, 92;
+  examples of, 94, 202, 204, 206, 285
+
+Ezra, the Prophet, portrait of, 288
+
+
+_Famiglie del Litta, Le_, 297
+
+Felton, Cornelius Conway, President of Harvard University, 50
+
+Ferrara, early printing at, 286
+
+Ferrari, Dr. Luigi, librarian of the San Marco Library, Venice, 145
+
+Ferrario, 296
+
+Field, Eugene, described, 38;
+  manuscript of, 39, 41;
+  referred to, 38, 55
+
+Fielding, Henry, 163
+
+Fiesole, the heights of, 298
+
+_Firenze Antica e Moderna_, Rastrelli’s, 297
+
+_Firenze Illustrata_, Migliore’s, 296
+
+Fiske, Willard, 26, 27
+
+Flemish illumination, see _Illumination, Flemish_
+
+Fletcher, Horace, friend of Eugene Field, 41;
+  philosophy of, 75, 82, 84;
+  his ideas of typography, 75;
+  page of his manuscript, 77;
+  his dinner at Graduates’ Club, New Haven, 84;
+  importance of his work, 85;
+  his friendship with William James and Henry James, 86;
+  letter from Henry James to, 87;
+  visit to Lamb House, 89
+
+Fletcherism, 75, 83
+
+Florence, Italy, the most fascinating city in Europe, 273;
+  early printing at, 286
+
+Florence, the Grand Duke of, 295
+
+_Forest Lovers_, the, Hewlett’s, 157, 158
+
+Foucquet, Jean, 113, 138, 140, 149
+
+France, typographical supremacy of, 194, 215-223;
+  loses supremacy, 223;
+  second supremacy of, 251-258
+
+François I, of France, becomes patron of learning and culture, 216;
+  makes Robert Étienne “printer in Greek to the King,” 216;
+  his interest in printing, 216-221;
+  his relations with the censors, 221;
+  referred to, 214, 216
+
+Frankfort, 227
+
+Franklin, Benjamin, quoted on the Baskerville editions, 245;
+  his letter to Baskerville, 245;
+  at the Didot Press, 252
+
+French illumination, see _Illumination, French_
+
+French Republic, the, 141
+
+French School of Painting, the, 139
+
+Fust, John, 198, 199
+
+
+Gabrilowitch, Mrs. Ossip, 172
+
+Garamond, Claude, 220
+
+Garnett, Dr. Richard, 164, 165;
+  lines written by Dobson on, 166, 167;
+  estimate of, 166
+
+General Theological School Library, the, New York, 196
+
+_Genesis_, the _Cottonian_, 117
+
+Geneva, the Étiennes at, 223
+
+George, Saint, 137
+
+Germany, not sufficiently developed as nation to take advantage of
+    Gutenberg’s discovery, 8, 9;
+  brief typographical supremacy of, 194-201;
+  loses supremacy, 201
+
+Gherado, 149, 290
+
+Gilder, Richard Watson, 177
+
+Giotto, 147, 273
+
+_Golden Gospels of Saint Médard_, the, described, 127-128
+
+Golden type, the, designed by William Morris, 18
+
+Gold leaf, 116
+
+Gold, Oriental, 112
+
+Goldsmith, Oliver, 163
+
+Gothic illumination, see _Illumination, Gothic_
+
+Gozzoli, Benozzo, 149, 290
+
+Graduates’ Club, the, in New Haven, 84
+
+Grandjon, Robert, 228
+
+Greece, the rich humanities of, 15
+
+Greek classics, the, first printed by Aldus, 209
+
+Greeks, the, 7
+
+Greek types, 56, 219-221, 238
+
+_Grimani Breviary_, the, described, 141-145, 146, 149
+
+Grimani, Cardinal Domenico, 142, 143
+
+Grimani, Doge Antonio, 143
+
+Grimani, Giovanni, Patriarch of Aquileia, 142
+
+Grimani, Marino, Patriarch of Aquileia, 142
+
+Grolier Club of New York, the, 213
+
+Grolier, Jean, saves the Aldine Press by his intervention, 56, 238;
+  his friendship with family of Aldus, 214-215;
+  his letter to Francesco Torresani, 215
+
+Guidobaldo, Duke of Urbino, 210
+
+_Gutenberg Bible_, the, described, 194-201;
+  rubricator’s notes, 196, 197
+
+Gutenberg, John; the _Bible_ printed by, 194-201;
+  referred to, 7, 194, 198, 234, 237
+
+
+Hadley, Pres. Arthur T., 84
+
+Halftones, 105-107
+
+Hammond, John Hays, 84
+
+Hand lettering, the art of, 10.
+  See also, _Humanistic hand lettering_, _Semi-uncial characters_,
+    _Minuscule characters_
+
+Harkness, Mrs. Edward S., 196
+
+Harper and Brothers, 90, 183, 184
+
+_Harper’s Magazine_, 183
+
+Harte, Bret, 184
+
+Harvard College Library, the, 245
+
+Harvard University, Cobden-Sanderson’s lectures at, 99
+
+Harvey, Col. George, gives birthday dinner to Mark Twain, 176;
+  gives birthday dinner to William Dean Howells, 187
+
+Hautin, 228
+
+Hay, John, 184
+
+Hay, Mrs. John, 184
+
+Heidelberg, 227
+
+_Heimskringla_, the, William Morris’ translation of, 260
+
+Heinsius, letter from Deput to, 240
+
+Henri II, of France, 136, 221
+
+Henry IV, of England, 135
+
+Henry VI, of England, 136
+
+Henry VIII, of England, 216
+
+Hewlett, Maurice, 155-162;
+  describes the cloister of San Lorenzo, Florence, 275
+
+Hoar, Senator George F., makes attack on Charles Eliot Norton, 179
+
+Hogarth, William, 163
+
+Holbein, Hans, 95
+
+Holland, the natural successor to Belgium in supremacy of printing, 239.
+  See also _Netherlands, the_
+
+Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 178
+
+_Homer_, the _Ambrosiana_, see _Iliad, the Ambrosiana_
+
+Hoover, Herbert, 85
+
+Houghton, Henry O., 6
+
+_Hours of Anne of Brittany_, the, 146;
+  described, 149-151
+
+Howells, William Dean, 177;
+  recollections and reflections on, 183-188;
+  the Harvey birthday dinner, 188
+
+Humanism, Petrarch the father of, 15
+
+Humanist, the, defined, 15, 160-162
+
+Humanistic hand lettering, 16, 21, 24, 126
+
+Humanistic manuscripts, the, in the Laurenziana Library, 16, 21;
+  in the Ambrosiana Library, 24
+
+Humanistic movement, the, far-reaching influence of, 15;
+  the forerunner and essence of the Renaissance, 15;
+  significance of, 16, 160
+
+Humanistic scribes, the, see _Scribes, the humanistic_
+
+Humanistic type, the, first idea of design of, 17;
+  proposed edition of Dante in, 19, 32;
+  work upon, 19-24, 126, 159, 180, 181
+
+Huntington, Henry E., library of, 196
+
+_Hypnerotomachia Poliphili_, the, printed by Aldus, 210;
+  described, 210-213
+
+
+_Ideal Book, The_, Cobden-Sanderson’s, 3, 99;
+  quoted, 264
+
+_Iliad_, the _Ambrosiana_, 24, 25, 117
+
+Illuminated book, the, attitude of Italian patrons toward, 11-12
+
+Illumination, the art of, encouraged by Italian patrons in XV century,
+    11-13;
+  the underlying thought in, 112;
+  rich rewards in study of, 114;
+  various schools of, 114;
+  means of identifying various schools and periods, 115;
+  manuscripts which mark the evolution of, 116-119;
+  the Celtic School, 119-125;
+  the Carolingian School, 125-128;
+  the Gothic School, 128-131;
+  the English School, 131-134;
+  the French School, 135-141, 149-151;
+  the Flemish School, 141-145;
+  the Italian School, 146-149;
+  cause for the decline of, 151;
+  opportunities for studying, 152
+
+Illumination, Byzantine, described, 118;
+  referred to, 124, 125, 127
+
+Illumination, Carolingian, 125-128
+
+Illumination, Celtic, 119-125, 126, 129
+
+Illumination, English, 114, 131-134
+
+Illumination, Flemish, 114, 137, 139, 141-145, 149, 150
+
+Illumination, French, 114, 135-141
+
+Illumination, Gothic, 114, 128-131
+
+Illumination, Italian Renaissance, 114, 146-149, 150
+
+Illumination, Romanesque, 114
+
+Illustration, 105
+
+Imperial Library, the, in Vienna, 117
+
+_Incipit_, the, 93
+
+India, 112, 118
+
+Ink, Byzantine gold, 112, 118;
+  inferior quality introduced, 238;
+  Didot’s, 258
+
+_Innocents Abroad_, Mark Twain’s, 170
+
+Ireland, 121
+
+Irish monks, the, see _Monks, the Irish_
+
+Irish School of Writing and Painting, the, 120
+
+Italian illumination, see _Illumination, Italian_
+
+Italic type, first used by Aldus, 17, 286;
+  said to be based on handwriting of Petrarch, 17, 210;
+  Baskerville’s, 245;
+  Didot’s, 257
+
+Italy, life and customs of people of, in XV century, 8;
+  illumination slow in getting a hold in, 146;
+  typographical supremacy of, 194, 201-215;
+  loses supremacy, 215;
+  culture in the XVI century in, 223
+
+
+James, Henry, Horace Fletcher’s friendship with, 86;
+  quoted, 86;
+  estimate of, 86;
+  letter to Horace Fletcher from, 87;
+  quoted, 88
+
+James, William, Horace Fletcher’s friendship with, 86;
+  quoted, 86;
+  letter from Henry James to, 88;
+  his interest in printing, 90, 92
+
+Jenson, Nicolas, type designs of, 18, 19, 22, 202, 205, 206;
+  the _explicit_ in books printed by, 94, 202;
+  printer’s mark of, 203, 207;
+  sent to Germany by Charles VII of France, 204;
+  establishes his office in Venice, 204;
+  death of, 206;
+  his office combined with the Aldine Press, 214;
+  Caxton’s work compared with, 244;
+  referred to, 216, 286
+
+Jenson’s Gothic type, 202, 205, 206
+
+Jenson Roman type, the, 18, 19, 206, 268;
+  sample page of, 22
+
+_Joan of Arc_, Mark Twain’s, 170
+
+John of Spires, 285
+
+Jones, George W., 32
+
+Joseph, Saint, 138
+
+Josephus, Flavius, 139
+
+Justinian, the Emperor, 117
+
+_Justinian_, the _Pandects of_, 287
+
+
+Keats, John, 158
+
+Keere, Van der, 228
+
+_Kelmscott Chaucer_, the, see _Chaucer, the Kelmscott_
+
+Kelmscott Press, the, 6, 55, 70, 96, 259-268
+
+Kelmscott volumes, the, 259-268;
+  estimate of, 263
+
+Koreans, the, 7
+
+
+Labels, paper, 92
+
+Lamb House, Rye, Henry James’ home, 89
+
+_Lapis lazuli_, used in printing ink, 30;
+  in illumination, 118
+
+Laura, see _Sale, Madonna Laura de Noves de_
+
+Laurenziana Library, the, humanistic volumes at, 16;
+  illuminated volumes at, 119, 148, 287;
+  uninviting approach to, 273;
+  the _Sala di Michelangiolo_, 276;
+  Dr. Guido Biagi at, 277-300;
+  the great staircase, 278;
+  Vasari’s work in, 278;
+  the story of, 280-284;
+  the treasures of, 284-289;
+  the Hall of Tapestries, 285;
+  the Tribuna, 285;
+  the printed books in, 285;
+  the spell of, 300;
+  referred to, 14, 21, 94, 111, 182
+
+Le Bé, Guillaume, 228
+
+Lee, Sir Sidney, 86, 174, 175
+
+Leigh, Maj. Frederick T., 184
+
+Leipzig, library of, 196
+
+Lelio, Lucrezia, 213
+
+Leo X, Pope, 282.
+  See also _Medici, Giovanni de’_
+
+Lettering, see _Hand lettering_
+
+Letters, raised gold, 116
+
+Lewes, George Henry, in the Magliabecchian Library, 292-298
+
+Leyden, heroic resistance to Spanish siege, 239;
+  becomes the intellectual and literary center of Europe, 239;
+  Plantin in, 239;
+  the Elzevirs in, 239-240
+
+Leyden, the University of, 239;
+  Plantin made printer to, 239;
+  Isaac Elzevir made printer to, 240
+
+_Lindisfarne Gospels_, the, described, 119-125
+
+Lippi, 296
+
+Lippi, Fra Filippo, 28
+
+Lipsius, the historian, 239
+
+Lithography, 105
+
+_Little Novels of Italy_, Hewlett’s, 159
+
+Lockhart, John Gibson, 66
+
+Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, 178
+
+Longmans, London publishers, 66
+
+Lorenzo the Magnificent, see _Medici, Lorenzo de’_
+
+Lorraine, the House of, and the Laurenziana Library, 283
+
+Louis XI, of France, 140
+
+Louis XII, of France, 150
+
+Louis XIV, of France, 198
+
+Louis XV, of France, 140
+
+Louis, Saint, _Psalter_ of, described, 128-131;
+  death of, 129
+
+Lounsbury, Professor, of Yale, 84
+
+Lowell, James Russell, 178
+
+Luther, Martin, 215, 224
+
+
+Mabie, Hamilton W., 177, 187
+
+Macaulay, Thomas B., quoted on Baskerville editions, 245
+
+Machiavelli, Niccolo, 181, 284
+
+Macmillan Company, the, 26
+
+Magliabecchi, Antonio, 292-295
+
+Magliabecchian Library, the, 284;
+  George Eliot in, 291-298
+
+_Malmantile_, Lippi’s, 296
+
+_Man and Superman_, Shaw’s, the making of, 67
+
+Mantegna, Andrea, 95
+
+Manuscripts, methods of reproducing, 9
+
+Manuscripts, illuminated, romance of, 114;
+  not the playthings of the common people, 115
+
+Manutius, Aldus, see _Aldus Manutius_
+
+Marie, Madame, of France, 130
+
+Marinelli, 280
+
+_Marmion_, Scott’s, 66
+
+Martelli Chapel, the, in the Church of San Lorenzo, Florence, 275
+
+Mary, Queen, of England, _Psalter_ of, described, 131-134;
+  referred to, 132
+
+Mary, Queen of Scots, 156-157
+
+Matthews, Brander, 177
+
+Mayence, printing at, 198, 204, 216
+
+Mazarin, Cardinal, 198
+
+Médard, Saint, the _Golden Gospels of_, 127-128
+
+Medicean Library, the, see _Laurenziana Library, the_
+
+Medici, the, 147;
+  Savonarola’s diatribes against, 274;
+  and the Laurenziana Library, 280
+
+Medici, Alessandro de’, 274
+
+Medici archives, the, 14
+
+Medici, Catherine de’, 136
+
+Medici, the Chapel of the, in Florence, 284
+
+Medici, Cosimo I de’, see _Cosimo il Vecchio_
+
+Medici, Cosimo II de’, see _Cosimo II_
+
+Medici, Giovanni de’ (later Pope Leo X), 275;
+  and the Laurenziana Library, 282, 283
+
+Medici, Giulio de’ (later Pope Clement VII), 276;
+  commissions Michelangelo to erect building for the Laurenziana
+    Library, 283
+
+Medici, Lorenzo de’, _Book of Hours_ made by d’Antonio for, 111,
+    146-149, 290;
+  tomb of, 275;
+  and the Laurenziana Library, 281-283;
+  his personality, 281-282;
+  referred to, 111, 112, 148
+
+Medici, Piero de’, 275
+
+Memling, Hans, 142
+
+Menelik, King, of Abyssinia, 104
+
+Mentelin, types of, 19
+
+_Menticulture_, Horace Fletcher’s, 75
+
+Messina, Antonello di, 142
+
+Metternich, Prince, 289
+
+Michelangelo, letters of, 182, 290;
+  his plan for the façade of S. Lorenzo, 273;
+  Varchi’s tribute to, 275;
+  his tomb for Lorenzo de’ Medici, 175;
+  his work in the Laurenziana Library, 276;
+  his letter to Vasari, 278;
+  manuscript poems of, 287;
+  referred to, 14
+
+Michelangelo archives, the, 14, 182
+
+Migliore, 296
+
+Milan, early printing at, 286
+
+Millar, Eric George, quoted, 122, 123
+
+Miller, Mr., London publisher, 66
+
+_Minium_, 112, 118
+
+Minuscule characters, described, 123;
+  introduced, 126
+
+“Mirror” title, the, 94
+
+Mochenicho, Doge Pietro, 202
+
+“Modern” type, the introduction of, 251
+
+Molds, early type, 201
+
+Monaco, Lorenzo, 149, 290
+
+Monks, the Irish, 120, 125
+
+Monnier, Philippe, 160
+
+Montanus, Arias, 227
+
+Morelli, librarian of the San Marco Library, Venice, 143
+
+Moretus, inherits the Plantin office, 234
+
+Morgan Library, the, see _Pierpont Morgan Library, the_
+
+Morris chair, the, 258
+
+Morris end papers, the, 258
+
+Morris wall papers, the, 258, 260
+
+Morris, William, demonstrates possibilities of printing as an art, 14;
+  Golden type of, 18;
+  his other type designs, 18-20;
+  placed printing back among the fine arts, 55, 258;
+  Bernard Shaw’s enthusiasm for, 69-70;
+  his dislike of the Bodoni type, 80;
+  his title pages, 96;
+  early experiments of, 258;
+  the _Kelmscott Chaucer_, 259-268;
+  declines the poet-laureateship of England, 260;
+  death of, 262;
+  estimate of his work, 263;
+  his definition of the type ideal, 268;
+  referred to, 6, 96, 258
+
+Munich, library of, 196
+
+Murray, the House of, 65
+
+Murray II, John, and Walter Scott, 66;
+  letter to Scott from, 66
+
+Murray III, John, burns manuscript of Byron’s memoirs, 65
+
+Murray IV, John, 26, 27, 65
+
+Musée Condé, the, at Chantilly, 116
+
+
+Naples, early printing at, 286
+
+Nazionale Centrale, the Biblioteca, in Florence, see _Magliabecchian
+    Library, the_
+
+Nemours, the Duc de, 139
+
+Néobar, Royal printer to François I of France, 216
+
+Netherlandish illumination, see _Illumination, Flemish_
+
+Netherlands, the, typographical supremacy of, 194, 223-244;
+  commercial supremacy of, 223;
+  devastated by war, 239
+
+New Forest, the, in England, 158
+
+New York Public Library, the, 196
+
+Norton, Charles Eliot, 26;
+  autograph letter of, 31;
+  his association with the design of the Humanistic type, 32, 180-181;
+  recollections and reflections on, 178-183;
+  his meeting with Guido Biagi, 182-183
+
+
+_Ode to Cervantes_, Dobson’s, 164
+
+“Old-style” type, the passing of, 251;
+  revived by Pickering, 251
+
+Orcutt, Reginald Wilson, 165
+
+Orcutt, William Dana, first visit to Italy, 14;
+  meeting with Guido Biagi, 14, 277;
+  his work designing the Humanistic type, 17-33;
+  in the Ambrosiana Library, 24-25;
+  experiences with Willard Fiske, 26, 27;
+  apprenticeship at old University Press, 38;
+  experience with Eugene Field, 38-41;
+  experiences with Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, 52;
+  becomes head of University Press, 55;
+  his ambition to emulate methods of early printers, 55;
+  experiences with Bernard Shaw, 67-71;
+  returns to Italy in 1903, 75;
+  his interest in the Bodoni and Didot types, 78;
+  his acquaintance with Horace Fletcher, 75, 82, 84, 86;
+  his acquaintance with Henry James, 86;
+  visit to Lamb House, 89;
+  experiences with William James, 90-92;
+  experiences with Cobden-Sanderson, 96-101;
+  experiences with Theodore Roosevelt, 101-106;
+  becomes interested in illumination, 111;
+  meeting with Maurice Hewlett, 155-162;
+  experiences with Austin Dobson, 162-169;
+  experiences with Mark Twain, 170-177;
+  experiences with Charles Eliot Norton, 178-183;
+  experiences with William Dean Howells, 183-188;
+  experiences in the Laurenziana Library, 273-300;
+  last visit with Guido Biagi, 299-300
+
+Orcutt, Mrs. William Dana, 165, 171
+
+Oriental gold, 112
+
+_Orthographia dictionum e Græcia tractarum_, Tortelli’s, 286
+
+Oxford, Edward Harley, 2d Earl of, 136
+
+
+Palatina, the Biblioteca, at Florence, 293
+
+_Pan and the Young Shepherd_, Hewlett’s, 159
+
+Paper, poorer quality introduced, 238;
+  Italian handmade, 238;
+  French handmade, 238, 257;
+  Baskerville the first to introduce glossy, 250
+
+Parchment, English, 29;
+  Florentine, 28;
+  Roman, 28;
+  virgin, 113
+
+Paris, 227
+
+Paris Exposition of 1801, the, 258
+
+Passerini, Luigi, 297
+
+Patmore, Coventry, 89
+
+Patrons, Italian, attitude toward printed book of, 11;
+  their conception of a book, 11;
+  their real reasons for opposing the art of printing, 12, 151
+
+Peignot foundry, the, in Paris, 80
+
+Persia, 118
+
+Perugia, 291
+
+Petrarca, Francesco, the father of humanism, 15;
+  Italic type said to be based upon handwriting of, 17, 210;
+  portrait of, 287, 289;
+  quoted, 290
+
+Petrarch, see _Petrarca, Francesco_
+
+_Petrarch_, the _Humanistic_, the type design, 17-26;
+  the copy, 26, 27;
+  the illustrations, 28;
+  the parchment, 28;
+  the ink, 29, 30;
+  the composition, 30;
+  Norton’s estimate of, 32
+
+Philip, of Burgundy, 135
+
+Philip II, of Spain, 227;
+  his interest in Plantin’s _Biblia Polyglotta_, 227-228, 233;
+  makes Plantin _prototypographe_, 233
+
+Pickering, the London publisher, revives the old-style type, 251
+
+Piedmont, early printing at, 286
+
+Pierpont Morgan Library, the, New York, 99, 196
+
+Pisa, 291
+
+Pius XI, Pope, see _Ratti, Achille_
+
+Plantin, Christophe, financially embarrassed by his _Biblia
+    Polyglotta_, 56, 238;
+  his Greek types, 221;
+  leaves France, 223;
+  conception and making of his _Biblia Polyglotta_, 227-233;
+  his types, 228;
+  his printer’s mark, 228, 236;
+  made _prototypographe_ by Philip II, 233;
+  the value of his work estimated, 233;
+  misfortunes endured by, 233;
+  in Leyden, 239;
+  made printer to University of Leyden, 239;
+  referred to, 79, 237
+
+Plantin-Moretus Museum, the, at Antwerp, 235
+
+_Pliny_, Elzevir’s, 240
+
+_Plutei_, in the Laurenziana Library, designed by Michelangelo, 14,
+    276, 286, 300
+
+Politian, 181.
+  See also _Poliziano, Angelo_
+
+Poliziano, Angelo, 215.
+  See also _Politian_
+
+Pollard, Alfred W., 27
+
+_Polyglot Bible_, Plantin’s, see _Biblia Polyglotta_
+
+Portland, the Duchess of, 136
+
+_Pragmatism_, William James’, 90
+
+Printed book, the, attitude of Italian patrons toward, 11-12;
+  competed against the written book, 199;
+  Aldus changes _format_ of, 207;
+  Elzevirs change _format_ of, 240;
+  important part played in XVI century by, 215
+
+Printer, the, responsibilities of, in early days, 208
+
+Printing, as an art, opposed by the Italian patrons, 11-13;
+  its possibilities demonstrated by William Morris, 14;
+  brief supremacy of Germany in, 194-201;
+  supremacy of Italy in, 201-215;
+  supremacy of France in, 215-223;
+  supremacy of the Netherlands in, 223-244;
+  lapses into a trade, 238;
+  supremacy of England in, 244-250;
+  second supremacy of France in, 251-258;
+  second supremacy of England in, 258-263
+
+Printing, invention of, made books common, 151
+
+_Priorista_, Chiari’s, 297
+
+Proofreading, in 1891, 47
+
+_Psalter of Saint Louis_, the, described, 128-131
+
+Publishers, relations between authors and, 51, 63
+
+
+_Quattrocento_, Le, Monnier’s, 160
+
+_Queen Mary’s Psalter_, described, 131-134, 146
+
+_Queen’s Quair_, The, Hewlett’s, 155-156
+
+
+_Racine_, Pierre Didot’s, 251;
+  described, 252-258
+
+Raphael, 113
+
+Raphelengius, 239
+
+Rastrelli, 297
+
+Ratti, Achille, 25, 117
+
+Ravenna, 128
+
+Reformation, the, 215
+
+Renaissance, the, humanistic movement the forerunner and essence of,
+    15, 160;
+  Tours becomes center of, in France, 139
+
+Repplier, Agnes, 177
+
+Riccardi Library, the, 14, 149, 182, 290
+
+Richardson, Samuel, 163
+
+Riverside Press, the, 42
+
+_Road in Tuscany_, the, Hewlett’s, 159
+
+Robertet, François, 140
+
+_Roman Calendar_, the, 117
+
+Romanesque illumination, see _Illumination, Romanesque_
+
+Romans, the, 7
+
+Rome, the rich humanities of, 15;
+  referred to, 126
+
+_Romola_, George Eliot’s, 292-299;
+  volumes consulted in writing, 296-298
+
+Roosevelt, Theodore, deeply interested in physical side of books, 102;
+  his interest in illustration, 105
+
+_Royal Greeks_, the, of Étienne, 219-222
+
+Rubens, Peter Paul, 95, 113
+
+Ruskin, John, 178, 182
+
+Russia, the Emperor of, 103
+
+Rutland, the Earl of, 131
+
+
+Sacristy, the New, in the Church of San Lorenzo, Florence, 275
+
+Sacristy, the Old, in the Church of San Lorenzo, Florence, 275
+
+Saga Library, the, 260
+
+Saint John, the Feast of, 297
+
+St. Louis Exposition, the, 182, 299
+
+Saint Peter, the Holy Sepulchre of, 288
+
+_Sala di Michelangiolo_, the, in the Laurenziana Library, Florence, 14;
+  described, 276
+
+Sale, Madonna Laura de Noves de, portrait of, 287, 289;
+  Petrarch’s verses to, 290
+
+Salisbury, the Marquis of, 165
+
+San Lorenzo, the Church of, in Florence, 274, 283
+
+San Marco, the Convent of, in Florence, 281, 282, 288
+
+San Marco, the Library of, Venice, 119, 141, 143, 145
+
+San Vitale, the Church of, at Ravenna, 128
+
+Saracens, the, 7
+
+Savonarola, 274, 284
+
+Savoy, the Duke of, 233
+
+Schoeffer, types of, 19;
+  referred to, 198
+
+_Science and Health_, 52
+
+Scott, Gen. Hugh Lennox, 82
+
+Scott, Walter, and John Murray II, 66;
+  letter from Murray to, 66
+
+Scribes, the humanistic, base their lettering on the Caroline
+    minuscule, 126;
+  referred to, 16, 21, 24
+
+Scribes, the monastic, in XV century, 9
+
+Scribes, the secular, in XV century, 10
+
+_Scriptorium_, the, 9
+
+_Second Book of Verse_, Eugene Field’s, 38
+
+Semi-uncial characters, described, 123
+
+_Sforza Book of Hours_, the, 145
+
+“Shady Hill,” in Cambridge, Mass., home of Charles Eliot Norton,
+    180, 181
+
+Shakespeare first folio, a, value of, 196
+
+Shaw, G. Bernard, his interest in printing, 67-71;
+  the making of his _Man and Superman_, 67;
+  his enthusiasm for William Morris, 69;
+  letters from, 68-71
+
+Shelley, Percy Bysshe, 158
+
+Sherry’s, in New York City, 187
+
+Siena, 291
+
+_Silas Marner_, George Eliot’s, 296
+
+Sinibaldi, Antonio, the _Virgil_ of, 16;
+  the _Book of Hours_ of, 112
+
+Sixtus IV, Pope, 142
+
+Smith, Baldwin, 132
+
+Smith, F. Hopkinson, 177
+
+Somerset, John, 135
+
+Sotheby’s, in London, 140
+
+Spain, the Netherlands under the domination of, 227;
+  referred to, 112, 118
+
+Spanish siege, the, of Leyden, 239
+
+Spanish War, the, 179
+
+_Spell, The_, Orcutt’s, 90, 184
+
+Spires, the town of, 286
+
+Steele, Sir Richard, 163
+
+Subiaco, early printing at, 285
+
+Sweynheim and Pannartz, ruined by experiments in Greek, 56, 238;
+  engraved blocks of, 285
+
+Switzerland, 238
+
+_Syriac Gospels_, the, 287
+
+
+Taft, President William H., 188
+
+Tapestries, the Hall of, in the Laurenziana Library, Florence, 285
+
+Tennyson, Alfred, Lord, 260
+
+_Terence_, Elzevir’s, 240;
+  described, 241-243
+
+Ther Hoernen, Arnold, 94
+
+_Thesaurus_, the, printed by Henri Étienne, 56, 238
+
+Thompson, Henry Yates, 140
+
+Thomson, Hugh, 166
+
+Title, the engraved, 95
+
+Title, the “mirror,” 94
+
+Title page, the, Bernard Shaw’s ideas concerning, 67;
+  William James’ ideas concerning, 92;
+  “the door to the house,” 92;
+  evolution of, 92-96.
+  See also _Title, the engraved_; _Title, the “mirror”_
+
+Togo, Admiral, 103
+
+Torresani, Andrea, 214
+
+Torresani, Federico, 214
+
+Torresani, Francesco, friendship of Jean Grolier with, 214;
+  letter from Jean Grolier to, 215
+
+Tortelli, 286
+
+Tours, becomes center of Renaissance in France, 139
+
+Tours, the School of, 126
+
+_Très Riches Heures_, the, of the Duc de Berry, 116
+
+Tribuna, the, in the Laurenziana Library, Florence, 285
+
+_Trionfi_, Petrarch’s, 26, 28, 181
+
+_Triumphs_, Petrarch’s, see _Trionfi, Petrarch’s_
+
+_Trophies of Heredia_, 102
+
+Troy type, the, designed by William Morris, 20
+
+Turin, early printing at, 286
+
+Twain, Mark, and the _Jumping Frog_, 61;
+  recollections and reflections on, 170-177;
+  the Harvey birthday dinner, 176;
+  referred to, 188
+
+Type design, difficulties of, 17
+
+Types, early designs of, 17;
+  Aldus’ designs of, 17;
+  Jenson’s designs of, 18;
+  William Morris’ designs of, 18;
+  William Morris’ definition of, the ideal, 268.
+  See also _Humanistic type_, _Jenson Roman type_, _Jenson Gothic type_,
+    _Golden type_, _Doves type_
+
+Typesetting, in 1891, 44
+
+
+University Press, the old, Cambridge, Mass., 5, 38, 41, 42, 46, 47,
+    49, 51, 102
+
+Upsala, Sweden, 119
+
+Urbino, the Duke of, 12
+
+
+Vacca, the Palazzo dei della, 284
+
+Vallombrosa, 171, 291
+
+Van-der-Meire, Gerard, 142
+
+Varchi, his tribute to Michelangelo, 275
+
+Vasari, his work in the Laurenziana Library, 278;
+  Michelangelo’s letter to, 278
+
+Vatican Library, the, at Rome, 117, 196
+
+Vellum, 115, 257.
+  See also, _Parchment_
+
+_Venetian Days_, Howells’, 186
+
+Venetian Republic, the, 142;
+  encourages the art of printing, 202
+
+Venice, early printing in, 94, 204, 206, 214, 286;
+  Howells’ love for, 186;
+  becomes the Mecca of printers, 202;
+  John of Spires in, 286
+
+Vergetios, Angelos, 219
+
+Verrocchio, 275
+
+Victoire, Pierre, quoted, 220
+
+Victoria, Queen, of England, 140
+
+Vienna, library of, 196
+
+Villa di Quarto, the, in Florence, Mark Twain at, 171
+
+Villa Medici, the, in Rome, 282
+
+Villari, Pasquale, 284, 291, 298
+
+Vinci, da, archives, the, 14, 182, 290
+
+Vinci, Leonardo da, sketches of, 290;
+  referred to, 14, 182
+
+_Virgil_, Baskerville’s, 244;
+  described, 246-250
+
+_Virgil_, illuminated by Sinibaldi, 16
+
+_Virgil_, the _Medicean_, 287;
+  the story of, 288-289
+
+_Virgil_, the Vatican, 117
+
+_Vita di G. Savonarola, La_, Villari’s, 298
+
+Vittoria, Alessandro, 143
+
+
+Wages, in 1891, 58
+
+Walker, Emery, designs the Doves type, 18, 19;
+  engraves plates for Humanistic _Petrarch_, 28;
+  at the Doves Press, 263;
+  referred to, 71
+
+Walpole, Horace, 163
+
+Warner, Sir George, 140
+
+Widener, Joseph E., library of, 196
+
+Wiggin, Rev. James Henry, 52
+
+Wiggin, Kate Douglas, 177
+
+Wilhelm, Kaiser, 103, 104
+
+William of Orange, founds the University of Leyden, 239
+
+William the Conqueror, 158
+
+Wilson, Francis, 38
+
+Wilson, John, 5, 6, 38, 40, 42, 46, 52, 53, 55
+
+Windsor Castle, 140
+
+Wood, Gen. Leonard, 82
+
+Wood cuts, 106
+
+Wordsworth, William, quoted, 20
+
+World War, the, 103
+
+Worsley, Sir Robert, 136
+
+Writing, see _Hand lettering_
+
+Written book, the printed book had to compete against, 199
+
+
+Yale University Library, the, 196
+
+
+Zainer, Gunther, types of, 20
+
+
+
+
+    THIS VOLUME is composed in Poliphilus type, reproduced by the
+      Lanston Monotype Corporation, London, from the Roman face
+      designed in 1499 by Francesco Griffo, of Bologna, for Aldus
+      Manutius, and originally used in the _Hypnerotomachia
+      Poliphili_. The Italic is based upon that designed for
+      Antonio Blado, Printer to the Holy See from 1515 to 1567.
+
+    The cover, a modern adaptation of the Grolier design used
+      on Capella: _L’Anthropologia_, is designed by Enrico
+      Monetti.
+
+    The illustrations, many now appearing in book form for the
+      first time, were secured chiefly through the courtesy
+      of the librarians of the British Museum, London; the
+      Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris; the Laurenziana Library,
+      Florence; the Ambrosiana Library, Milan; the Marciana
+      Library, Venice; the Vatican Library, Rome; and from
+      private collectors.
+
+    The plates of the illustrations were made by the Walker
+      Engraving Company, New York City, and are printed on
+      DeJonge’s Art Mat. The text paper is Warren’s Olde Style.
+
+    The typography, presswork, and binding are by the Plimpton
+      Press, Norwood, Massachusetts, under the personal
+      supervision of William Dana Orcutt.
+
+
+
+
+                          Transcriber’s Notes
+
+
+  - Italics denoted by _underscores_.
+
+  - Illustrations have been positioned near the relevant text.
+
+  - Silently corrected typographical errors in the List of Illustrations
+    and the Index.
+
+  - The ends of each chapter and some block quotes had line lengths that
+    tapered smaller and smaller in a decorative way and did not end with
+    a period. Because of the variable nature of electronic texts, the
+    author’s intention sadly cannot be reproduced as intended.
+
+  - Illustration captions on numbered pages were in italic while
+    captions on unnumbered pages were not. Italics removed to make
+    illustration captions consistent.
+
+  - In some captions measurements were in parenthesis and others were in
+    brackets.  Converted all to parenthesis for consistency.
+
+  - The book has half-title pages before each chapter that reproduce
+    the chapter number and title.  Removed the redundant half-title
+    content.
+
+  - Page 44: Corrected “Typsetting” to “Typesetting”.
+
+  - Page 170: Added a thought break as the topic changes from Dobson to
+    Twain.
+
+  - Page 178: Added a thought break as the topic changes from Twain to
+    Norton.
+
+  - Page 269: The word “hopefulness” is not hyphenated in the original
+    as part of the decorative tapered lines.  The word has been
+    rejoined.
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK ***
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