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IN "

QUEST

OF THE

PERFECT
BOOK

WILLIAM

DANA
ORCUTT

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IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

A book is a portion of the eternal mind
caught in its progress through the world
damped in an instant, and preserved for
eternity. — Lord Houghton (i809''i885)

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

REMINISCENCES
& REFLECTIONS
OF A BOOKMAN

WILLIAM DANA ORCUTT

PUBLISHED • MCMXXVI • BOSTON
LITTLE, BROWN & COMPANY

IIL>
0(o

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 fir^
chapter of this volume an essay which originally
appeared in that magazine; to the Chrifiian
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.y
G. Bernard Shaw, Esq., Henry James, Esq.,
Mrs. Anne Cobden-'Sanderson, and others,
for permission to print personal letters and
photographs.

'?7?y^

To ITALY

That great Country whose Ma^er^Spirits

in Art, Typography, and Literature

have contributed mo^ 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 ^ory, or is an insult to the intelligence of his
readers." Since then my own feelings have come
in such complete accord that the reque^ of my
publishers for a Foreword to this Third Edition
comes as a surprise. But, after all, this is not my
^ory, but the ^ory of the Book, so, as recorder, I
mu^ recognize my responsibility. I have claimed
that this ^ory 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

FOREWORD TO THE THIRD EDITION

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." An^
other says, " I feel that I have missed much, all
these years, in not knowing how fascinating the
^ory of the Book itself really is." Then there are
those who are good enough to say that the ^ory 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 Que^ to
be ended. Think of the tragedy of having so
alluring an adventure become an accomplished
fad, — even granting that it were possible! Where
is the Perfed Book to be found e 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 e In the charm of the paper or in the
beauty of the illumination or illu^ration ? It mu^,
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 intere^ another;

FOREWORD TO THE THIRD EDITION

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 ab^
sorbing adventure, for it quickens our senses to
perceive much that would otherwise be lo^. If
perfedion could become commonplace, the Que^
would end, — and God pity the world! Until then
each of us will define the Perfed 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 under^anding of Plato, the philosophy of
Emerson, and the ^yle of Montaigne. This manu/*
script may be transformed into a book by a printer
who can look beyond his cases of type, and in^
terpret what Aldus, and Jenson, and Etienne, and
Plantin saw, with the arti^ic temperament of
William Morris and the re^raint 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."

FOREWORD TO THE THIRD EDITION

Until then the Que^ will continue, going
con^antly onward and upward. Its lure will keep
us from slipping back upon false satisfaction and
a placid but — shall I say? — a dangerous contem^'
plation of the humani^ic idyll.

William Dana Orcutt

CONTENTS

I. IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK i
Gutenberg
Aldus Manutius
Guido Biagi
Ceriani
Pope Pius XJ
Sir Sidney Colvin

11. 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. TFIE LURE OF ILLUMINATION 109

Byzantine Psalter
Lindisfarne Gospels
Alcuin Bible

Golden Gospels of St. Medard
Psalter of St. Louis
Queen Mary's Psalter
Bedford Book of Hours
Grimani Breviary
Antiquities of the Jews
Hours of Francesco d*Antom'o
Hours of Anne of Brittany

CONTENTS

V. FRIENDS THROUGH THE PEN 151

Maurice Hewlett
Au^in Dobson
Richard Garnett
Mark Twain
Charles Eliot Norton
William Dean Howells

VI. TRIUMPHS OF TYPOGRAPHY 191

The Beginnings. Germany — The Gutenher£ Bible
Supremacy of Italy

Nicolas Jenson: Augu^inus: De Civitate Dei

Aldus Manutius: Hypnerotomachia Poliphili
Supremacy of France

Robert Etienne: The Koyal Greeks
Supremacy of the Netherlands

Chri^ophe Plantin: The Bihlia Poly^htta

The Elzevirs: Terence
Supremacy of England

John Baskerville: Virgil
Supremacy of France (second)

The Didots: Kacine
Supremacy of England (second)

William Morris: The Kehnscott Chaucer

Cobden^'Sanderson: The Doves Bible

VII. THE SPELL of die LAURENZIANA 271
INDEX 301

ILLUSTRATIONS

English Illumination, 14th Century. From Queen Mary's
Psaltery Brit. Mus. Royal MS. 2B vii (in colors and gold) Frontis.

John Gutenberg. From Engraving by Alphonse Descaves.

Bibliotheque 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

Handz-written Humani^ic Charaders. From Sinibaldi's
Vir^ily 1485. Laurenziana Library, Florence 16

Specimen Page of proposed Edition of Dante. To be
printed by Bertieri, of Milan, in Humani^ic Type 1 9

Jenson's Roman Type. From Cicero: Pjjetorica, 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 Human-'
i^ic Type designed by the Author 32

Autograph Page of Eugene Field Manuscript, From
Second Booh of Verse, New York, 1892 39

Autograph Verse in Field's own Copy of Trumpet and
Drum 41

John Wilson in 1891. Ma^er^Printer 42

Page of Horace Fletcher Manuscript 77

Giambatti^a Bodoni. From Engraving at the Bibliotheque
Nationale, Paris 78

ILLUSTRATIONS

The Bodoni Letter compared with the Didot Letter 8i

Horace Fletcher in 19 15 82

Autograph Letter from Henry James to Horace Fletcher 87

Mirror Title. From Augu^inus: Opera. 1485.

Laurenziana Library, Florence 94

T. J. Cobden^'Sanderson. From Etching by Alphonse
Legros, 1893 96

Carved Ivory Binding, Jeweled with Rubies and Tur^
quoises. From Psalter (12th Century). Brit. Mus.
Eger. MS. 11 39 112

Byzantine Illumination (i ith Century). Psalter in Greek.
Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 19352 118

Celtic Illumination (8th Century). Lindisfarne Go^els.
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 Go^els
ofSt.Medard. 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 Marys Psalter.
Brit. Mus. Royal MS. 2B. wii 134

French Illumination (15th Century). Bedford Booh of Hours.
Brit.. Mus. Add. MS. 18850 136

FrencK'^Renaissance Illumination (15th Century). An^
, tiquities of the Jews. Bibl. Nat. MS. Fran9ais 247 138

ILLUSTRATIONS

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). Booh of Hours, by
Francesco d* Antonio. R. Lau. Bibl. Ashb. 1874 146

French Illumination (i6th Century). Miniature from
Hours of Anne of Brittany. Bibl. Nat. MS. Lat. 9474 148

French Illumination (i6th Century). Text Page from
Hours of Anne of Brittany. Bibl. Nat. MS. Lat. 9474 150

Order for Payment o^^ 1050 livres tournois to Jean Bour^
dichon for the Hours of Anne of Brittany, 1508 152

Autograph Letter from Maurice Hewlett 161

Autograph Poem by Au^in 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
Bihle. Biblioth^que Nationale, Paris 195

.Rubricator*s Mark at end of Fir^ Volume of a Defedive
Copy of the Gutenberg Bible, Bibboth^quc Nationale,
Paris 196

Rubricator*s Mark at end of Second Volume of a
Defedive Copy of the Gutenberg Bible, Biblioth^quc
Nationale, Paris 197

Gutenberg, Fust, Co^er, Aldus Manutius, Frobcn.
From Engraving by Jacob Houbraken (1698^1780) 198

ILLUSTRATIONS

John Fust. From an Old Engraving 199

Device and Explicit of Nicolas Jenson 203

Jenson*s Gothic Type. From Augu^inus: De CivitateDei,
Venice, 1475. 205

Device of Aldus Manutius 208

Groher in the Printing Office of Aldus. After Painting
by Francois 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. Ca^iglione: Cortegiano. Aldine Press,
15 18. Laurenziana Library, Florence 212

Groher Binding. Capella: L'Anthropologia, Aldine Press,
1533. Laurenziana Library, Florence 214

Robert Etienne. From Engraving by Etienne Johandier
Desrochers (c. 1661^1741) 217

Tide Page showing Etienne*s Royal Greeks, Paris, 1550 22a

Text Page Showing Etienne*s Roman Face 222

Text Page showing Etienne*s Royal Greeks, from Novum
Jesu Chrifli D. N. Teflamentum, Paris, 1550 222

Chri^ophe Plantin. From Engraving by Edme de
Boulonois (c. 1550) 225

Tide Page of Plantin*s Bihlia Poly^lotta, Antwerp, 1568 228

Page of Preface of Plantin's Bihlia Polyglotta, Antwerp, 1 568 229

Text Pages of Plantin *s Bihlia Polyglotta, Antwerp, 1568 230

Second Page of Plantin*s Bihlia Poly^lotta, Antwerp, 1568 232

ILLUSTEATIONS

Device of Chri^ophe Plantin 236

Title Page of Elzevir's Terence, Leyden, 1635 -241

Text Pages of Elzevir *s Terence, Leyden, 1635 -24^

John Baskerville 244

Tide 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

Opem'ng Page of Didot's Racine, Paris, 1801 255

Text Page of Didot's Racine, Paris, i8oi 256

Firmin Didot, From Engraving by Pierre Gu^ave

Eugene 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, 1 896 262

Tide 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

Ve^ibule 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 Ehot while working on

Romola in Magliabecchian Library, Florence 296

CHAPTEK I

In Quefi of the PerJeEl Book

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 typog^
raphy, and the perfed impression upon the soft,
handmade paper with the satisfaction one always
feels when face to face with a work of art. "Have
you read ite"

"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 late^ acquisition irritated me; yet after
thirty years of similar disappointments I should
not have been surprised. How few, even among
those intere^ed in books, recognize the fine, arti^ic
touches that con^itute the difference between the
commonplace and the di^inguished ! The volume
under discussion was written by an authority

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

foremost in the art of bookmaking; its producer
was one of the few great ma^er>'printers and binders
in the hi^ory of the world; yet the only significance
it possessed to its owner was the fad that some one
in whom he had confidence had told him it was
rare! Being rare, he coveted the treasure, and ac^
quired it with no greater under^anding 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 co^ me nine
guineas — and I like the looks of it."

Re^raint was required not to say something that
might have afFeded 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

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

margins. Why, bookmaking is an art! Perhaps I
should have known that, but I never topped to
think about it."

One does have to ^op 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 broade^ 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 illus^
trations, the decorations, the paper, the binding,
simply combine to form the vehicle to convey that
expression to the reader. When, however, this fad
is once absorbed, one cannot fail to underhand
that if these various parts, which compositely com^
prise the whole, fail to harmonize with the subjed
and with each other, then the vehicle does not
perform its full and proper fundion.

I wondered afterward if I had not been a bit too
superior in my attitude toward my friend. As a
matter of fad, printing as an art has returned to its
own only within the la^ quarter^century. Look^
ing 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

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

my life's work had not as yet unfolded its un^
limited 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
perfed examples of the be^ 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 fir^ 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
produdions, made without appreciating the sig^
nificance of decoration combined with type, were
about as bad as they could be. I doubt if, at the
present moment, there exi^s a single one of these
sham Kelmscotts made in America that the printer
or the publisher cares to have recalled to him.

When the fir^ flair of Morris' popularity passed
away, and his volumes were judged on the basis
of real bookmaking, they were classified as mar^
velously beautiful ohjets i'art rather than books —
composites of Burne^Jones, the designer, and Wil^
liam Morris, the decorator^printer, co-workers in

lyn'MUKiy

JOHN GUTENBERG, c. 1400^1468

From Engraving by Alphonse Descaves

Bibliothequc Nationale, Paris

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

si^er arts; but from the very beginning Morris'
innovations showed the world that printing §till
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
exhau^ive ^udy of the hi^ory of printing.

Until then Gutenberg's name, in my mind, had
been preeminent. 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 fir^ foresaw the wonder^
ful 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
^amps centuries earlier, and that the Chinese
and the Koreans had cut individual charaders
in metal.

I well remember the thrill I experienced when I
fir^ realized — and at the time thought my discovery
was original ! — that, had the Chinese or the Sara^'
cens possessed Gutenberg's wit to join these letters

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

together into words, the art of printing must have
found its way to Con^antinople, which would
have thus become the center of culture and learns
ing in the fifteenth century.

From this point on, my que^ seemed a part of an
Arabian Nights' tale. Cautiously opening a door,
I would find myself in a room containing treasures
of absorbing intere^. From this room there were
doors leading in different diredions 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 Guten^
berg, 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 cu^oms 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 makers' 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

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

by which they felt themselves oppressed. I could
share with them their expedant enthusiasm and
confidence that the advent of the printing press
would afford opportunity to ^udy description and
argument where previously they had merely gazed
at pidorial 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 underhand
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 exited eager to purchase
their produds.

While driving to sense the significance of the
confliding elements I felt around me, I found
much of intere^ in watching the scribes fulfilling
their commissions to prepare copies of original
manuscripts, becoming familiar for the fir^ time
with the primitive methods of book manufac^
ture and di^ribution. A mona^ery 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 seleded for

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

the duty because of his familiarity with the subjed
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 mona^eries that possessed
other original manuscripts, of which copies had
been made in a similar manner. I was even more
intere^ed 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
humani^ic volumes. As they had taken up the
art of hand lettering from choice or natural ap^
titude in^ead of as a part of monadic routine,
they were greater arti^s and produced volumes
of surpassing beauty. A ^ill greater intere^ in
Undying this art of hand lettering lay in the
knowledge that it soon mu^ become a lo^ art,
for no one could doubt that the printing press
had come to ^ay.

Then, turning to the office of Aldus, I pause
for a moment to read the legend placed conspicu^
ously over the door:

Whoever thou art, thou art earnefily requeued hy Aldus
to flate thy business hriefy and to take thy departure
promptly. In this way thou mayefl he of service even as

ALDUS MANUTIUS, 1450-1515
From Engraving at the British Museum

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

was Hercules to the weary Atlas, for this is a place of work
for all who may enter

But inside the printing office I find Aldus and
his associates talking of other things than the books
in process of manufadure. 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 adual 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 co^ly gem.
They perpetuated it by having it written out on
parchment by the mo^ accomplished scribes; they
enriched it by illuminated embellishments executed
by the mo^ famous arti^s; they proteded it with
bindings in which they adually inlaid gold and
silver and jewels. To have this thought cheapened

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

by reprodudion through the commonplace me^
dium of mechanical printing wounded their
esthetic sense. It was an expression of real love
of the book that prompted Bi^icci, the agent of
so powerful a patron as the Duke of Urbino, to
write of the Duke's splendid colledion in the latter
part of the fifteenth century:

In that library the hooks are all heautiful in a superlative
degree, and all written by the pen. There is not a single one
ofthemprintedjfor 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 exi^ at all the printed
book must compete with the written volume;
and he has demon^rated that, by supplying to the
accomplished illuminators sheets carefully printed
on parchment, he can produce volumes of exquisite
beauty, of which no colledor need be ashamed.
Aldus knows that there are other reasons behind
the change of front on the part of the patrons. Li^
braries made up of priceless manuscript volumes
are symbols of wealth, and through wealth comes
power. With the multiplication of printed books
this pre^ige will be lessened, as the masses will be
enabled to possess the same gems of thought in less

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

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 intelledual 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 demon^rated 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 satis>
fadion 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
highe^ point of perfedion. This final druggie on
the part of the wealthy overlords resulted only in
redoubling the efforts of the arti^ ma^er^printers
to match the beauty of the written volumes with
the produds from their presses.

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

These Arabian Nights' experiences occupied
me from 1895, when Morris demon^rated the un^
hmited possibiHties of printing as an art, until 1901,
when I fir^ visited Italy and gave myself an oppor^
tunity to become personally acquainted with the
hi^orical landmarks of printing, which previously
I had known only from ^udy. In Florence it was
my great good fortune to become intimately ac^
quainted with the late Dodor Guido Biagi, at that
time librarian of the Laurenziana and the Riccardi
libraries, and the cu^odian of the Medici, the
Michelangelo, and the da Vinci archives. I like to
think of him as I fir^ saw him then, sitting on a
bench in front of one of the carved plutei designed
by Michelangelo, in the wonderful Sala di Micheh
an^iolo in the Laurenziana Library, Undying a
beautifully illuminated volume reding before him,
which was fa^ened to the desk by one of the famous
old chains. He greeted me with an old^school
courtesy. When he discovered my genuine intere^
in the books he loved, and realized that I came as
a indent eager to li^en to the maker's word, his
face lighted up and we were at once friends.

In the quarter of a century which passed from
this meeting until his death we werefellow^^udents,
and during that period I never succeeded in ex^
hauling the va^ ^ore of knowledge he possessed,

Dott. Coimii. GUIDO BIAGI

Seated at one of the plutei in the

Laurenziana Library, Florence (1906)

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

even though he gave of it with the free^ generosity.
From him I learned for the fir^ time of the far^
reaching influence of the humani^ic movement
upon everything that had to do with the littered
humanioreSj and this new knowledge enabled me
to cry^allize much that previously had been fugi^
tive. " The humani^," Dodor 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 humani^ic movement was the forerunner
and the essence of the Renaissance, being in reality
a revolt again^ the barrenness of mediaevalism.
Until then ignorance, super^ition, and tradition
had confined intelledual life on all sides, but the
little band of humani^s, 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 po^poned another fifty years, the adual man^
uscripts of many of the present standard classics
would have been lo^ to the world.

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

The significance of the humanistic movement in
its bearing upon the Que^ of the Perfed Book is
that the invention of printing fitted exadly 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
Dodor Biagi's revelation and my previous ^udy
met. The Laurenziana Library contains more
copies of the so-called humani^ic 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. Dodor Biagi proudly showed me some of
these treasures, notably Antonio Sinibaldi's Virgil
The contra^ between the hand lettering in these
volumes and the be^ I had ever seen before was
^artling. Here was a hand letter, developed under
the mo^ romantic and dramatic conditions, which
represented the apotheosis of the art. The thought
flashed through my mind that all the types in
exigence up to this point had been based upon
previous hand lettering less beautiful and not so
perfed in execution.

"Why is it," I demanded excitedly, "that no
type has ever been designed based upon this hand
lettering at its highe^ point of perfedionj"

.^^^

'. 4, l^M A \ IIVVMQ.C\
NO TIXOIAV C^V'I
vi \IVS A IN ORIS
I TAl.IAM TATO
rROF\'GVSIA''.'INA

' o V t \' F N' r r
L n roRAMVi;rvM

n ILI.RFTTf.RTVI TAC
T.MVS FT ALTO

I M u'.ra quoauc dlx-llo Mfe diim conHd^r'urtvi-n

ii)vnvrq-dix>! Lino.ca'nu! imcic l.^nniin;

\ Ib.wici-patrd ^.rniie'alr.^'moetiu. ix^mcc".

\? ufi mibi c^uLd memora . aiio riuminc' L^!o
i , '

1 ^ u:d i!C dolcnl rccnnadeiim tor iioliierc'irakrl
I ^

■ A\ ] f.iic^icm purrare'uinttn tot ,aciirc'labc»rc;

tiipiilcnr'. tantfCuc'amini! crfrfeftbu! tt.-c'.''

i \ rbrannoua fiin' t\'ni miuerccolcn! :

H ^■'i^iadiiiftopiitr! f^Lidiilci.alpcTTima belli

(If O ujiniir.iofrmiru-ml macil omnibiil Lin.^m

P ol^Habira coKii!7cS.'.mc> liR-iIhiil ann?^ •

H Lc c .a-iail fiiir'. hoc rermim dea ca-nnbuf d?c'

fci H i^ 'tHia Fata tinaiirtam ttnn tcndirq, truer c>

HAND-WRITTEN HUMANISTIC CHARACTERS
From Simbaldi's Virgil, 1485
Laurenziana Library, Florence [12 x 8 inches]

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

Dodor Biagi looked at me and shrugged his
shoulders. "This, my friend," he answered,
smiling, "is your opportunity."

At this point began one of the mo^ fascinating
and absorbing adventures in which any one inters
e^ed 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 Dodor
Biagi 's remark should sugge^ possibilities which
filled me with enthusiasm. I was familiar with the
hi^ory of the be^ 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 resped to the subjed of type design from the
beginning.

In ^udying the early fonts of type, I found them
exad counterfeits of the be^ exiting forms of hand
lettering at that time employed by the scribes. The
fir^ Italic font cut by Aldus, for in^ance, is said
to be based upon the thin, inclined handwriting
of Petrarch. The contra^ between these slavish
copies of hand^lettered models and the mechanical
precision of charaders turned out by modern type
founders made a deep impression. Of the two
I preferred the freedom of the earlie^ types, but

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

appreciated how ill adapted these models were to
the requirements of typography. A hand^lettered
page, even with the inevitable irregularities, is please
ing because the scribe makes a slight variation in
forming the various charaders. When, however, an
imperfed 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 fir^ to realize this, and in his famous
Roman type he made an exad interpretation of
what the scribe intended to accomplish in each of
the letters, in^ead of copying any single hand letter,
or making a composite of many hand designs of
the same charader. For this reason the Jenson type
has not only served as the basis of the be^ ^andard
Roman fonts down to the present time, but has
also proved the inspiration for later designs of dis^
tindive type faces, such as William Morris' Golden
type, and Emery Walker's Doves type.

William Morris' experience is an excellent illus>'
tration of the difficulties a designer experiences. He
has left a record of how he ^udied 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 adually pro^
duced his Golden type the design was far too much
inclined to the Gothic to resemble the model he

^f Q^^^ ^ lascmmmo, cf)e piu non ne narro;
ma neoli oreccH mi percosse un <Itiolo,
per cb'io avanti intento ToccHo sbarro.

«7

-68, "Dite"; la parte mfcrtorc
dcirinfemo, che prendc il norm
da Dire (latino "l^is"), o L.ucife-
ro, "rimpcrador del doloroso re-
gno"; confronta Inferno XI, 6 ?;

Lo bucn maestro dxssc: "Omat, figUuolo, XII, 39; XXXIV, 2.0. - ^9-
s'appressa la citta c'ba nome Dite,
cox OTaui cittadin, col grande sruolo. "

•70 E to: " Maestro, gia le sue mescHte
la entro certo nella mile cemo
vermiglie, come se dx ioco uscite

•73 fossero". Ed ei mi disse: "II foco etemo
cb'entro le affoca, le dimostra rosse,
come tu vedi in cjuesto basso Inferno. "

6^. "cbe": sicclTe. Dopo aucr narrato co-
me I'ira ba il suo inferno in se stessa, non
rimanefa aui a Dante altro da dire, * w.
6s-6i '' T_a citta cbe ba nome Dite". Dan-
te ode orida di dolore e spalanca gli occbi
ouardando auanti."t Dite"osserua il du-
ce. " "^eaap ma. " risponde Dante " le eaa
mescHte, rosse come ferro rouente". "Cio
deriua" epieoa Virmlio "dal fuoco etemo
cbe arde la dentro ". Giunti ai valli della
citta infemale, Hemas addita I'entrata, e
intima ai Poeti di sbarcare. - 65. "duolo";
doloroso lamento, cl?e ueniua da Dite, e pro-
priamente dai "oravi cittadini"dal "oran-
de stuolo " di cui Virmlio fa subito parola,
ucdendo Dante guardare in avanti con I'oc-
cbio sbarrato per capire donde e da cbi ven-
gae66o"duolo".-o6. •'^sbarro"; spalanco.

" graui : di colpa e di pena;
" stuolo ": moltitudine. " tst
cnim ista ciuitas populosa et ple-
ina gentibvis totius mundi auac
babitant in diuersis uicis"; Ben-
ucnuti. -no. "mescbite": mo-
scbee (confronta Parodi,"Bull/'
III, 1 5" 3 ); cosi cbiamansi le cbie-
se dei Mvissulmani; e simili ad
esse pare cbe Dante si fiourasse
le fortez2^e della citta infemale.
Porse vuol dire con cio, cbe la
religione di Maometto trae sua
orioine dall' Inferno, " T_a bar-
ca si e ona tanto accostata all'altra riua di
Stige, cbe Dante comincia a vedere nelle
fossateesteme della citta le sue torri info-
cate, cb'ei cbiama "mescbite", forse per
alludere ai miscredenti cbe la sono; poicbe
con un tal nome i Saraceni cbiamano i tem-
pli del f also lor culto"; R.ossctti, - 'j i ,"cer-
to": cbiaramente; "cemo" latinismo, i«do-
Cbiama " i«.lle " il sesto cercbio, il auale
sembra giacere sopra lo stesso ripiano del
quinto, ma ne e separato da fosse, tnura e
"mescbite", ed offre Taspetto di citta for-
tificata, - 7i- "i?ermiglie"; rosse infocate,
come le arcbe la dentro, — 7 5. "basso"; in
cui si puniscono i peccati di maliz^ia e di be-
stialita, mentre nell'alto Inferno, fuori di
Dite, sono puniti i peccati d'incontinenza;
confronta Inferno XI, To-^o.-^^/'pur":

INFEHNO VII e^-js

Specimen Page of proposed Edition of Dante. To he
printed hy Bertieri, of Milan, in Humaniftic Type [81: x 6]

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

seleded. His Troy and Chaucer types that followed
showed the ^rong effed 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 under^anding
and interpretation of the creator (pa^eszi, 23).

From this I came to realize that it is no more
necessary for a type designer to express his indi^
viduality by adding or subtrading from his model
than for a portrait painter to change the features of
his subjed because some other arti^ 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 type^*
setting machines. All this convinced me that, if I
were to make the humani^ic 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

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

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 out^
side seemed very far away, the pa^ 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 fir^ was confined to a ^udy of the
humani^ic volumes in the Laurenziana Library,
and the seledion of the best examples to be taken
as final models for the various letters. From pho^
tographed reprodudions of seleded manuscript
pages, I took out fifty examples of each letter.
Of these fifty, perhaps a half^'dozen would be
almo^ identical, and from these I learned the ex^
ad design the scribe endeavored to repeat. I also
decided to introduce the innovation of having
several charaders for certain letters that repeated
most frequently, in order to preserve the indi-^
viduality of the hand lettering, and ^ill keep my
design within the rigid limitations of type. Of the
letter e, for in^ance, eight different designs were

perperam coftitutas incelledla ueritace commutatas-
comgi poffe^Hac effe rem quae Ci fcmel Cit iudicata
ncquc alio iudido commutari:neque ulla pDteftatc
corrigi polTcSextus locus eft per quern confultotSC
dcinduftria fad:uniL oftenditur 6c lilud adiungitur :
uoluntario maleficio ueniam dari non oportereum^
prudenrias concedi nonnunqconuenire. Septimus
locus eft per que mdignaniur : quod tetru : crudele:
ncfariutn : tyrannicum facftum. efTe diamus p uim:
manu opuletam : qux res ab Iegibus:abarquali lure
rcmotifrima fic,0(ftauus locus eft p que demoftra^
mus no uulgare neque facflitatu eilemequeab auda^
dfflmis quidem hominibus id male fad:um de quo
agiuacqj id a fens homimbus:5i a tarbaris getibus
6C immanibus bcftiis efTe remotum^Hxc erunt quae
1 parentes:liberos:c6iuges«confagumeos:fupplicest
crudeliccr fadta dicuntur:<5d deinceps fiqua j^ferant^
inmaiores natu:in hofpites : in uicinos:in amicos :
in eos quibus cu uita egcris : in cos apudquos cdu/
catus fis : in eos a quibus eruditus: in miferos mor^'
tuosnn mifericordia dignos:in homines clarosino
biles: 8C honore ufos:in eos qui neque Issdere alium
uel defederefcpotuerut:in pueros:renes:mulieres:
quibus ex omnibus acriter excitata indignatio:rum''
mum in cum qui uiolarit horu aliquid odiu cdmo/
ucrc potent. Nonus locus eft per que cum. aliis c^ux
coftat effe peccata:hocde quo qaa^ftio eft coparat'':
6C ita per contentionem quanto atroaus 6d fdignius
fit id dc quo agitur oftenditunDedmus locus eft p
quern omnia quae in negocio gerendo adta fut qua;

Jenson's Roman Type From Cicero: Rhetorica, Venice, 1470 [Exad size]

TiVHOE'RE WHILE

THE HAPPY GARDEN SUNG,
BY ONE MANS DISOBEDIENCE

LOST, NOW SING
RECOVER'D PARADISE
TO ALL MANKIND,
BY ONE MANS FIRM OBEDIENCE

FULLY TRFD
THROUGH ALL TEMPTATION,

AND THE TEMPTER FOIL'D
IN ALL HIS WILES,

DEFEATED AND REPULST,
AND EDEN RAIS'D

IN THE WAST WILDERNESS.
f[Thou Spirit who ledst this glorious Eremite
Into the Desert, his Vid:orious Field
Against the Spiritual Foe, and broughtst him thence
By proof the undoubted Son of God, inspire.
As thou art wont, my prompted Song else mute.
And bear through highth or depth of natures bounds
With prosperous wing full summ'd to tell of deeds
Above Heroic, though in secret done.
And unrecorded left through many an Age,
Worthy t' have not remain'd so long unsung,
t[Now had the great Proclaimer with a Voice
More awful than the sound of Trumpet, cri'd
Repentance, and Heavens Kingdom nigh at hand
To all Baptiz'd : to his great Baptism flock'd

Emery Walker's Doves Type. From Paradise Regained, London, 1905 [Exad size]

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

finally seleded; there were Ewe as, two tn's, and
so on (see illu^ration 2ii page 32).

After becoming familiar with the individual
letters as shown in the Laurenziana humani^ic
volumes, I went on to Milan and the Ambrosiana
Library, with a letter from Dodor 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 ciiu
mate 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 affeded 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 intere^ in my under^
taking, he turned to a publication upon which he
himself was engaged, the reprodudion in facsimile
of the earlie^ known manuscript of Homer's Iliad.
The adual work on this, he explained, was being
carried on by his assi^ant, a younger prie^ whom
he desired to have me meet. His own contribution
to the work was an introdudion, upon which he
was then engaged, and which, he said, was to be

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

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 humani^ic
volumes in the Ambrosiana, and introduced me
to his assi^ant, whose co-'Operation was of the ut^
mo^ value in my work. I was particularly ^ruck
by the personality of this younger prie^. He was in
close touch with affairs outside the Church, and
asked searching que^ions 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, pa^
and present, surprised me. All in all, I found him
one of the mo^ 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.

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

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 intere^ed in the whole
undertaking, and as the proofs of the various
punches later came into my hands he became
more and more enthu sialic.

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 que^ion arose as to
what should be the fir^ title, and after careful
consideration I decided that as Petrarch was the
father of humanism his Trionji would obviously be
an ideal seledion. The volume was to be printed
in English rather than in the original Italian, and
I settled upon Henry Boyd's translation as the mo^
di^inguished.

Upon inve^igation 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 colledion of the late
Willard Fiske. I entered into correspondence with
him, and he invited me to be his gue^ at his villa
in Florence. With the type completed, and with
proofs in my possession, I undertook my second

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

humani^ic Odyssey, making Florence my fir^
obj edive. 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 prote^ed.

His answer was charaderifiic. "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 illu^rations. In Lon^
don 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 earlie^
proofs of the punches that I had sent to England.
After a careful examination of these, both men
sugge^ed 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

origmals !

" There is a fate about this," Colvin said, after

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

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 exadly the right
size for the format which you have determined
upon, and if you can have the reprodudions
made here at the Museum the drawings are at
your disposal."

I made arrangements with Emery Walker, the
designer of the Doves type and ju^ly famous as
an engraver, to etch these plates on ^eel, and the
reprodudions of the originals were extraordinarily
exad. Those Walker made for the parchment
edition looked as if drawn on ivory.

Parchment was required for the specially illu^
minated copies which were to form a feature of
the edition, and before leaving America I had been
told that the Roman grade was the be^. I naturally
assumed that I should find this in Rome, but my
research developed the fad that Roman parch^'
ment is prepared in Florence. Following this lead,
I examined the skins sold by Florentine dealers,
but Dodor Biagi assured me that the be^ 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,

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

but to Issoudun I went. In the meantime I learned
that there was a ^ill better grade prepared in
Brentford, England — this, in fad, being where
William Morris procured the parchment for his
Kelmscott publications.

At Brentford I secured my skins; and here I
learned something that intere^ed me exceedingly.
Owing to the oil which remains in the parchment
after it has been prepared for use, the difficulty in
printing is almoft as great as if on glass. To obviate
this, the concern at Brentford, in preparing parch^
ment 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 sub^ance, and the que^ion
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.

umes were to be printed in the two

e vo

humani^ic colors, black and blue. In the original

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

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 di^inguished from the black. To
reproduce the same effed in the printed volume
I secured in Florence a limited quantity of lapis
lazuli y and by special arrangement with the Italian
Government had it crushed into powder at the
Royal mint. This powder I took home to Amer^
ica, and arranged with a leading manufadurer to
produce what I believe to be the fir^ printing ink
mixed exadly 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
satisfadion. The greater difficulty came in im^
pressing upon the typesetter the fad that the
various charaders 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 in^ead of setting the type. The experiments
required to perfed 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

ftnrfC rrf-<^ ■
y^ic/lMcrt. /t^, IlTZ^^ A^riuxJ- #^^5rf-^a^ , ^.^x^ Ji^z/^

. — ■ ^

A Vagijrom an Autograph Letter from Charles Eliot Norton

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

perfeding the spacing, was laborious and monot^
onous; the scrutinizing of the sheets as they
came from the press was made happier when
the success of the lapis lazuli ink was assured.

The rewards came when Professor Norton gave
the volume his unquahfied approval — "so inter^'
e^ing and original in its typography and in its
illu^rations, 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 arti^^printer,
pronounced the Humani^ic type "the mo^ beau^
tiful face in the world," and promised to use it in
what he hopes to be his ma^erpiece, an edition
of Shakespeare's Sonnets; when the jury appointed
by the Italian Government to seled "the mo^
beautiful and most appropriate type face to per^
petuate the divine Dante" chose the Humani^ic
type, and placed the important commission of pro>'
ducing the definitive edition of the great poet, to
commemorate his sexcentenary, in the hands of
that splendid printer, Bertieri, at Milan. Such re^
wards are not compliments, but j unification. Such
beauty as the Humani^ic type possesses lies in the
artinic ability and the marvelous skill in execution
of the scribes. My part was simply seizing the de^
velopment of a period apparently overlooked, and

HE1LE AUST1CI0U5L.Y BEGIKNETH

•' I V M r U OF ^"'" ■ '-^,1 V
BY riLANCESCO TETILAILCH
TLEKTINE TOET LAUILEATE

, or?^ mnanzi

EHIKD AUfLOlLA'S
WHEELS THE ILlSlKa
SUN HIS YOYAG.E
PTLOM HIS GOLDEN
SHILINE BEGUN

With sucb etberea^l speed, as if the Hours
Had caught bim slumbering in ber rosy bowers,

I Witb lordly eye, tba.t reacb'd tbe world's extreme',
Metbougbt be look'd, u>ben, gliding on bis beam,

Tbat winged power approacb'd tbat wbeels bis car'
In its wide annual range from star to star'.

Measuring vicissitude; till, now more near',
Metbougbt tbese tbrilling accents met my ear;

PETRARCH'S TRIUMPHS

Illuminated Page [lo x 6 inches]

Set in Humani^ic Type designed by the Author

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

undertaking the laborious task of translating a

beautiful thing from one medium to another

The Que^ of the Perfed Book must necessarily

lead the seeker into far varying roads, the greate^

rewards being found in Graying from the main

^reet into the fascinating bypaths. My que^ has

resulted in giving me greater appreciation of the

accomplishments of those who successfully with^

^ood 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

asped. I believe it possible today to perpetuate the

basic principles of the early arti^ ma^er^printers

by applying beauty to low^co^ books as well as

to limited editions de luxe. The ^ory of the printed

book itself is greater than that contained between

the covers of any single volume, for without it the

hi^ory of the world would show the masses

^ill plodding on, swathed in theological

and encyclopaedic bonds, while the

few would ^ill be jealously

hoarding their limited

knowledge

CHAPTEK II

The Kingdom of Booh

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 e " 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 subjedion. There
is a my^erious fascination in being a party to the
perpetuation of a human thought that yields some^
thing 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

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

publisher, the satisfadion of offering the oppor^
tunity for occasional genius to come into its own
more than balances the frequent disappointments.
To the book archited, the privilege of supply^
ing the vehicle for thought, and of creating the
physical form of its expression, yields returns not
altogether measurable in coin of the realm.

In 1 891, 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 ador,
booklover, and colledor. The subject under dis-^
cussion was the manufadure of a volume of
Field's poems, then called A New Booh of Verses,
which later became famous under the title of
Second Booh of Verse.

Field's personal appearance made a deep im^
pression that fir^ 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

t4wl) />^t*/ ./&>v.^^^ vV ^tU// 'nvf&l ftM-l^ i^iHjA ttt*l^ )tVt

tftnA- Little M' ^ </ -TrTyTVivn^ Ofu^
"Oiytt ^jLU Mj^ ^ ^-»wwv<^ /

Autograph Page of Eugene FieU Mmuscript
From Second Book of Verse, New York, 1892

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

feeling of resped, tinged somewhat with awe, as
I saw the pages of manuscript spread out upon
the table, and likened eagerly to the three^'cornered
conversation.

In considering the manufadure of his book,
Eugene Field had clearly defined ideas of the
typographical efFed 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 seledion of the paper, the plan for the
design of the cover and the binding, — all came
into the discussion.

As I liilened, I was conscious of receiving
new impressions which gave me a fuller but ^ill
incomplete under^anding. Until that moment I
had found little of intere^ 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 di^urbing doubts, and I
undertook to discover for myself how that creative
element could be crystallized.

Years later came an unexpeded echo to the
Field episode. After the publication of the Second
Book of Verse, the manuscript was returned to

THE KINGDOM OF BOOKS

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,

.So t<n^ ; »^vw>^ a lu^ ■Hv^ -^ '<><^ ^-ttU ]j.**o

?^ -rni-vvuvw 'i^^'i *U rrn^ Su*^ -wJi^ '>j<'vtv ■fJ'O^ —
t/^ 'Vv»< -L-faV^ '4. 'Vs JivvuX<~ , ^c , -^^^ttit Jvt/C. tvTt**. ,

Autograph Verse in Eugene FleU's Own Copy of Trumpet and Drum

Horace Fletcher, the genial philosopher and fa^
mous apo^le of dietetics. When Fletcher died, he
bequeathed Field's personal volumes to me. By
this curious chain of circum^ances, 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 in^rudion made upon it by John Wilson,
whose large, flowing hand contra^ed sharply with
the small, copper^plate charaders of the author's
handwriting.

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

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 com^
petition 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^clcrk were perched up on ^ools at high,
sloping desks, and wore long, linen du^ers and
black skull caps. John Wilson sat at a low table
desk, and his partner, who was the financial ex^
ecutive, was the proud possessor of the only roll^
top desk in the e^ablishment. Near him, perhaps
because of its value as a novelty and thus entitled
to the same super-'care as the cash, was in^alled
the telephone. Mo^ of the letters were written by
Mr. Wilson in his own hand. One of my fir^
responsibilities was to copy these letters on the
wetted tissue pages of the copy-book with the
turn^'screw press.

There was no particular sy^em in effed, and
scientific management was unknown. Mr. Wil''
son used to make out his orders on fragments of
paper, — whatever came to hand. When the tele^
phone was fir^ in^alled he refused to use it, as he

JOHN WILSON IN 1891
Maflcr^Printer

THE KINGDOM OF BOOKS

considered this method of conduding business as
"sloppy" and even discourteous. To employ a
stenographer would have been an evidence of a
lazy disposition, and a didated letter was an offence
again^ dignity and decorum.

A week's work at that time consi^ed of fifty^
nine hours in^ead of the present forty^eight.
Hand composition and eledrotyping were figured
together as one process and charged at from 80
cents to $1 per thousand ems. Changes required
in the type by authors co^ 50 cents an hour. An
author could afford in those days to rewrite his
book after it was in type, but today, with alter-^
ations coding five times as much, it is a different
proposition!

The wages were as ridiculously low as the
prices charged to cu^omers. The girls in the
composing room made from $9 to $12 a week,
and those receiving the maximum considered
themselves potential Hetty Greens. Today, re^
ceiving $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, adually earned about $20 a week, as again^
$50 to $60 a week now. The foreman of the
composing room, with more than two hundred

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

employees under him, received a weekly return
of $23, as again^ $75 to $100 now.

Typsetting, 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 me^
chanical 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 Greets
like a well-ordered town, divisions being marked
by the frames bearing the cases of type in various
faces and sizes. The correcting ^ones ran down
the center.

The foreman of the composing room was the
king of his domain and a power unto himself
Each side ^reet 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 di^ributed 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 KINGDOM OF BOOKS

the produd of his alley. As was charaderistic
of the times in well-conducted indu^rial plants,
the workers in this department, as in the others,
were simply a large family presided over by the
foreman, who interpreted the infractions from
the management; and by the heads of the crews,
who carried out the detailed infractions of the
foreman.

There was a pride in workmanship that is
mo^ly lacking in manufacturing plants today,
due largely to the introdudion of labor-saving
machinery, and again to the introdudion of effi^
ciency methods. Both were inevitable, but the
price paid for the gain in produdion was high. I
am old-fashioned enough to hope that modern
ideas of efficiency will never be applied in the prints
ing indu^ry to the extent of robbing the work^
man 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
Undying methods of performing each operation
to discover which one is the mo^ economical in
time and effort. I realize that in great manufacture
ing plants, where machines have replaced so
largely the work of the human hand, it is obviously
necessary for workmen to spend their days manu^
faduring only a part of the complete article; but

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

when the organization of any business goes so
far as to sub^itute numbers for names I feel that
something has been de^royed, and that in taking
away his individuahty from the workman the
work suffers the same loss.

I have even asked myself whether the greater
underlying cause of ^rikes and labor di^urb^
ances during the pa^ ten years has not been the
unrest that has come to the workman because
he can no longer take adual pride in the prod^
ud of his hand. Years ago, after the death of
one of my olde^ 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 ju^ifiable
pride.

The old University Press family was not only
happy but loyal. When the business found itself
in financial difficulties, owing to outside specula^'
tions by Mr. Wilson's partner, the workmen
brought their bankbooks, with deposits amount^
ing to over twenty thousand dollars, and laid

THE KINGDOM OF BOOKS

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 necessi^
ties, but the proffer was a human ge^ure not
calculable in financial digits.

Proofreading was an art in the eighteen^nineties
in^ead 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 com^
petent 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 ^atements of fad.
Well-known authors were con^antly running
in and out of the Press, frequently going diredly
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 pradice of proofreading cannot
produce as perfed volumes as resulted from the

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

deliberate, painstaking, and time^'consuming con^'
sideration 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 firll 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 co^, no
publisher could produce a volume at a price that
the public would pay, if the old-time care were
devoted to its manufadure.

Time was when a reputation for careful proofs
reading was an asset to a Press. One day the office
boy came to my private office and said that there
was a man down^airs who insi^ed upon seeing
me personally, but who declined to give his name.
From the expression on the boy's face I concluded
that the visitor mu^ be a somewhat unique char^
ader, and I was not disappointed.

As he came into my office he had every asped
of having Pepped off the vaudeville ^age. He
had on the loose garments of a farmer, with the
broad hat that is donned only on ^ate occasions.

THE KINGDOM OF BOOKS

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 ohvious
reasons J not correEl)

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
hi^ory, and I want to have you do the printin'
of it. The seledmen 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

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

see, it was this way. You made the hi^ory 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
hi^ory 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 ^yle."

His memory seemed to cause him considerable
amusement, and I waited expedantly.

** 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 fir^ 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 que^ion mark.
But I got back at her! I ju^ left that que^ion
mark where it was, and wrote underneath, * Mor^
ally incorred, hi^orically corred ! ' "

When the first Adams Hatched press was in^
Called at the University Press, President Felton
of Harvard College insi^ed that no book of his
should ever be printed upon this modern mon^
^rosity. Here was hi^ory repeating itself, for book/'
lovers of the fifteenth century in Italy for a long

THE KINGDOM OF BOOKS

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 consi^ed of these flat^bed presses, which
today can scarcely be found outside of museums.
If a modern publisher were to ^ray 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 emboss^
ing, 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 practi^
cally obsolete. The cylinder presses, that run twice
as fa^, produce work of equal quality at lower
co^.

In those days the relations between publishers
and their printers were much more intimate.
Scales of prices were e^ablished from time to
time, but a publisher usually sent all his work to
the same printer. It was also far more cu^omary

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

for a publisher to send an author to the printer to
discuss que^ions of typography with the adual
maker of the book, or to argue some technical
or ^rudural point in his manuscript with the
head proofreader. The headreader in a large
printing e^ablishment at that time was a di^ind
personality, quite competent to meet authors upon
their own ground.

One of my earlie^ and pleasante^ responsi^
bilities was to ad 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 intere^ in the manuscript of Science and
Health when she fir^ took it to him with a view
to publication, and any message from him always
received immediate and friendly consideration.

In the pa^ there have been sugge^ions 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 ^ill 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

THE KINGDOM OF BOOKS

matter referred to, both by him and by JohnWil^
son, but there never was the sHghte^ intimation
that Mr.Wiggin's services passed beyond those of
an experienced editor. I have no doubt that many
of his sugge^ions, in his editorial capacity, were
of value and possibly accepted by the author, — in
fact, unless they had been, he would not have exer^
cised his proper fundion; 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 characteri^ic about Mrs. Eddy that im^
pressed me the fir^ time I met her was her mother^
liness. She gave every one the impression of deeped
intere^ 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 sub^antial 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 fir^ one might have been deceived by her
quiet manner into thinking that she was easily

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

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
Bo^on, her affairs were admini^ered by her Trus^
tees, so I saw her less frequently. To many her
name sugge^s a great religious movement, but
when I think of her I seem to see acres of green
grass, a placid little lake, a silver ^rip of river,
and a boundary line of hills; and within the un^
pretentious 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 con^
trading business, and books were conceived and
made by the combined efforts of the publisher,
the manufaduring man, the arti^, the decorator,
the paper mills' agent, and, la^ of all, the printer
and the binder. This was not the way the old^
time printers had planned their books. With all

THE KINGDOM OF BOOKS

their mechanical Hmitations, they had followed
architedural lines kept consi^ent and harmonious
because controlled by a single mind, while the
finished volume of the eighteen^nineties was a
composite produdion of many minds, with no
architectural plan. No wonder that the volumes
manufadured, even in the mo^ 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 ma^er^
printers so far as this could be done amid^ modern
conditions. Some of my publisher friends were
partially convinced by my contention that if the
printer properly fulfilled his fundion he mu^
know how to express his clients' mental con''
ception of the physical attributes of prospedive
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.

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

I had no idea, when I presented my plan, of
persuading my friends to produce typographical
monuments. No demand has ever exited for vol^
umes of this type adequate to the excessive co^
involved by the perfedion of materials, the accuracy
of editorial detail, the supreme excellence of typog^
raphy 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 in^
tervention of Jean Grolier; Henri Etienne was
ruined by his famous ThesauruSj and Chri^ophe
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 ie luxe
editions, eliminating the expensive materials but
retaining the harmony and consi^ency that come
from designing the book from an architedural
^andpoint. It adds little to the expense to seled 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

THE KINGDOM OF BOOKS

become a part of it, without that heavy impression
which makes the reverse side appear like an ex^
ample 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 illu^rations or decorations, if
warranted at all, in such a way as to assi^ 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 e^ablished,
the idea of treating the making of books as a manu^
faduring problem in^ead of as a series of contrads
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 archie
ted and typographical advisor, in^ead of merely
as a contrading printer, these years have been lived
in a veritable Kingdom of Books, in company
with intere^ing people, — authors and arti^s as

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

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 co^ 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 co^ 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 co^ of
manufadure, there was a great outcry among
buyers that authors, publishers, and booksellers
were opportuni^s, demanding an unwarranted
profit. As a matter of fad, the novel which used
to sell at $1.35 per copy should now sell at $2.50
if the increased co^s were properly apportioned.
The publisher today is forced to decline many
promising fir^ novels because the small margin of
profit demands a comparatively large fir^ 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

THE KINGDOM OF BOOKS

novel as containing 320 pages, suppose we see
how the $2.00 retail price di^ributes itself. The
co^ of manufadure, including the typesetting,
eledrotype plates, cover design, jacket, brass dies,
presswork, paper, and binding, amounts to 42
cents per copy (in England, about 37 cents). The
publisher's co^ 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 m.akes a total co^ of 98 cents
a copy, without advertising. But a book must be
advertised.

Every fifty dollars spent in advertising on a Rvc
thousand edition adds a cent to the publisher's
cost. The free copies di^ributed 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 co^ of $1.18 per copy and reducing the
pubhsher's profit to 2 cents, since he sells a two-^
dollar book to the retail bookseller for $1.20. The
bookseller figures that his co^ of doing business
is one^third the amount of his sales, or, on a two-'
dollar book, 6y cents. This then shows a net profit
to the retail bookseller of 1 3 cents, to the publisher
of 2 cents, and to the author of 20 cents a copy.

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

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 ju^ when the demand for a book will cease,
and this means that the publisher and the book^
seller are frequently left with copies on hand which
have to be disposed of at a price below co^. This
is an expense that has to be included in the book
business ju^ as much as in handling fruit, flowers,
or other perishable goods.

When a publisher is able to figure on a large
demand for the fir^ edition, he can cut down the
co^ of manufadure materially; but, on the other
hand, this is at lea^ partially offset by the fad that
authors whose books warrant large fir^ editions
demand considerably more than lo per cent, roy^
alty, 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
book^ores ! 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 book^ores are ^ill painfully

THE KINGDOM OF BOOKS

ignorant of their proper fundions and indifferent
to the legitimate requirements of their prospedive
cu^omers.

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 Reamer, and I
asked him to permit me to send it to him with the
author's compliments. Le^ any reader be a^on^
ished to learn that an author ever buys a copy of
his own book, let me record the fad that except
for the twelve which form a part of his contrad
with the publisher, he pays cash for every copy
he gives away. Mark Twain dedicated the fir^
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 lea^ all the John
Smiths would buy books. To his consternation
he found that they all expeded complimentary
copies, and he was hoi^ by his own petard !

With the idea of carrying out my promise to
my friend, I Pepped into one of the large^ book^
^ores in New York, and approached a clerk, ask^
ing him for the book by title. My pride was
somewhat hurt to find that even the name was

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

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 ^ore 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 ^ore much larger than this
to carry every book that is published, wouldn't
it? " he asked cheerfully. " Of course each au^
thor naturally thinks his book should have the
place of honor on the book^alls, 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 hammered,

" But I underwood from the publishers that the
book was selling very well."

"Oh, yes," the clerk replied indulgently; "they

THE KINGDOM OF BOOKS

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 Parted to leave,
the clerk resumed his landing position, and my
eye happened to re^ on the pile of perhaps two
hundred books upon which he had been half>'
reclining. The jacket was ^rikingly familiar.
Turning to the clerk I said severely,

"Would you mind glancing at that pile of
books from which you have ju^ risen? '*

" Oh! " he exclaimed, smiling and handing me
a copy, " that is the very book we were looking
tor, isn t It?

It seemed my opportunity to become the edu^
cator, and I seized it.

" Young man," I said, " if you would discon^
tinue the pradice 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 e I really mu^
read your book! "

The old-time publisher is passing, and the
author is largely to blame. I have seen the close

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

association — in many cases the profound friend^
ship — between author and publisher broken by
the commercialism fb^ered by some literary agents
and completed by competitive bids made by one
publishing house to beguile a popular author away
fiom 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 hesita^'
tion in taking his literary problems to the editorial
advisor of the house whose imprint appeared
upon the title pages of his volumes. A celebrated
Bo^on authoress once found herself absolutely
at a ^and^ill 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 mo^ successful
of the season.

Several publishers have acknowledged to me
that in offering unusually high royalties to authors
they have no expedation of breaking even, but
that to have a popular title upon their li^ in^
creases 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

THE KINGDOM OF BOOKS

popularity. The royalty he pays is a fair division
of the profits. He cannot, in ju^ice 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 pub^
lisher may deliberately add an author to his li^ at
a loss in order to accomplish a specific purpose,
but this pradice cannot be continued indefinitely.
A far-sighted author will consider the matter seri^
ously before he becomes an opportuni^.

In England this que^ionable pradice has been
of much slower growth. The House of Murray,
in London, is one of those ^ill conduded on the
oldz-time basis. John Murray IV, the present head
of the business, has no intere^ 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
$oa, Albemarle Street adjoin and open out of the
Murray home. In the library is ^ill 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

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

John Murray II was one of the pubhshers of
Scott's Marmion. In those days it was cu^omary
for pubhshers to share their contrads. Con^able
had purchased from Scott for -^1,000 the copy^
right of Marmion without having seen a single
line, and the honorarium was paid the author be^
fore the poem was completed or the manuscript
delivered. Con^able, however, promptly disposed
of a one^fourth intere^ to Mr. Miller of Albe^
marie Street, and another one fourth to John
Murray, then of Fleet Street.

By 1 829 Scott had succeeded in getting into his
own hands nearly all his copyrights, one of the
out^anding items being this one^quarter intere^
in Marmion held by Mr. Murray. Longmans and
Con^able had tried in vain to purchase it.
When, however, Scott himself approached Mur^
ray through Lockhart, the following letter from
Mr. Murray was the result:

So highly do I eflimate the honour of heing 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 inflant that I read the request.
66

THE KINGDOM OF BOOKS

There has always been a va^ difference in
authors in the attitude they assume toward the
transformation of their manuscripts into printed
books. Mo^ of them leave every detail to their
publishers, but a few take a deep and intelligent
personal intere^. Bernard Shaw is to be included
in the latter group.

A leading Bo^on publisher once telephoned
me that an unknown English author had sub^
mitted a manuscript for publication, but that it
was too sociali^ic in its nature to be acceptable.
Then the pubhsher 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 ^atement; " but I thought perhaps
you might like to manufadure the book."

" Who is the author? " I inquired.

" It's a man named Shaw."

" What is the re^ of his name? "

" Wait a minute and I'll find out."

Leaving the telephone for a moment, the pub-'
lisher returned and said,

" His name is G. Bernard Shaw. Did you ever
hear of him? "

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

" Yes," I replied; " I met him la^ summer
in London through Cobden^'Sanderson, and I
should be glad to undertake the manufadure 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 mo^ 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 ta^e and work^
manship this represented, and then ended the letter
with these words, " But, after all, any other printer
would have used sixteen in^ead of two, so I bless
you for your re^raint ! "

We had another lengthy discussion on the use of
apo^rophes in printing. " I have made no at^
tempt to deal with the apo^rophes you introduce,"
he wrote; " but my own usage is carefully con>
sidered and the inconsi^encies are only apparent.
For in^ance, Ive^ youve, lets, thats, are quite un^
mi^akable, but ///, hell shell for 1% hell shell
are impossible without a phonetic alphabet to
distinguish between long and short e. In such
cases I retain the apo^rophe, in all others I discard

THE KINGDOM OF BOOKS

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 apo^rophes 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 some^
thing to read, we shall never get rid of these senses
less 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 orna^
ments 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:

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

If you look at one of the hooks printed hy William
Morris, the ^reateft 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 underflanding 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 under flood
about the business. Morris doesnt 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 §poil the rich, even color of his block ofletter^
press 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 manufaElured 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
flandard works on these lines whilfi other printers are
exhau fling themselves in dirty felt endpapers, sham Kelm^
scott capitals, leaf ornaments in quad sauce, and then won^
dering why nobody in Europe will pay twopence for them,
whilfi Kelmscott books and Doves Press books of Morris'

THE KINGDOM OF BOOKS

friends, Emery Walker and Cobdeny Sanderson, fetch fancy

prices before the ink is thoroughly dry

Jifter 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

CHAPTER III

Friends through Type

Ill

FRIENDS THROUGH TYPE

IN 1903 I again visited Italy to continue my ^udy
of the art of printing in the old mona^eries and
libraries, sailing on the S. S. Canopic from Bo^on
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 charms
ing personality; in fad, I have never met so perfed
an expression of practical optimism. His humor
was infedious, his philosophy appealing, his quiet
persi^ency irresi^ible.

To many people the name of Horace Fletcher
has become associated with the Glad^onian doc^
trine of excessive chewing, but this falls far short
of the whole truth. His scheme was the broade^
imaginable, and thorough ma^ication 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 pro^*
gressive human efficiency. Believing that absolute

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

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 be^ to furnish the fuel
that is adually required to run the human engine,
Horace Fletcher sought for and found perfed
guides among the natural human in^inds and
physiologic facilities, and demon^rated that his
theories were fads.

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 typographic
cal arrangement (see opp. pa^e). It required all my
skill and diplomacy to convince him that type
possessed rigid limitations, and that to gain his
emphasis he mu^ adopt less complicated methods.
From this association we became the closed 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 ex^
perience, yet no one ever seemed to take exceptions.
This was characteri^ic of the man. He moved
and aded upon suddenly formed impulses, never

au(ryi4' cUuA^ S)jlAn/njb t^jUia/K,

A Pa^e of Horace Fletcher Manuscript

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

planning ahead yet always securing exadly what
he wanted, and those inconvenienced the most
always seemed to enjoy it.

" I believe," he used to say, " in hitching one's
wagon to a ^ar, but I always keep my bag packed
and close at hand ready to change ^ars at a mo^
ment'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 attraded me by its beauty. The book
bore the imprint: Parma: Co'tipi Boioniani Some
weeks later, in a small, second-hand book^ore in
Florence, I happened upon a volume printed in
the same type, which I purchased and took at
once to my friend, Dodor Guido Biagi, at the
Laurenziana Library.

" The work of Giambatti^a Bodoni is not
familiar to youe " 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 nine>'
teenth century."

" Is this type ^ill in use? " I inquired.

" No," Biagi answered. " When Bodoni died
there was no one worthy to continue its use, so

/f f'o/nn I ft tff/f Jr(iinno /

.Jc,,t /!(•.'(!. >/'i tun /ifif/f f/Zfi f//if<{/f"f"i It ve rj t< n ftt^arJt at

GIAMBATTISTA BODONI, 1740-1813
From Engraving at the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris

FRIENDS THROUGH TYPE

his matrices and punches are kept intad, exadly
as he left them. They are on exhibition in the
library at Parma, ju^ as the old Plantin relics are
preserved in the museum at Antwerp."

I immediately took ^eps through our Am^
bassador 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 detrad from the pre^ige of
the city of Parma. It was a condition to which I
was quite willing to subscribe! Within a year I
have received a prospedus from a revived Bodoni
Press at Montagnola di Lugano, Switzerland, an/'
nouncing that the exclusive use of the original
types of Giambatti^a Bodoni has been given them
by the Italian Government. This would seem to
indicate that the early governmental objedions
have disappeared.

While searching around to secure the fulled set
of patterns, I tumbled upon the fad 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

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

century. I then hurried to Paris to see whether
these matrices were in exigence. 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 ca^ the
different sizes of type, which I had shipped to
America.

This was the fir^ 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 mo^
popular faces in common use. Personally I pre^'
fer the Bodoni letter to that of Didot (see opp.pa^e).
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 be^
yond the capitals; but when one considers how
radical a departure, from precedent this type was,
he mu^ admire the skill and courage of the de^
signers. William Morris cared little for it, — " The
sweltering hideousness of the Bodoni letter," he
exclaimed; " the mo^ illegible type that was ever
cut, with its prepo^erous thicks and thins "; while
Theodore L. De Vinne, in his PraHice of Typo^y
raphy, writes:

Allons aux Grecs livrer le fils d'Hector.
ANDROMAQUE, s€ jctant aux pieds de Pjrrhus.
Ah, seigneur! arretez! que pretendez-vous faire?
Si vous livrez le fils, livrez-leur done la mere!
Yos serments m'ont tantot jure tant d'amitie!
Dieux! ne pourrai-je au moins toucher votre pitie?
Sans espoir de pardon m'avez-vous condamnee?

Cortona, petite, et
ancienne ville d' Ita-
lic en Toscane dans
leFlorentin avec un
Eveche Siif. de Flo-
rence et une celehre
Acad^mie, C est la
patrie de Pierre Ber-
retin ,'fameux pein-
tre du siecle passe'.

Cortona, citta d'lta-
Ha nellaToscana,la
quale ha Vescovado
ed una celebre Ac-
cademia,da cui esco-
no soventi disserta-
zioni dotte ed erudi-
te. II famoso pitto-
re Eietro Berettini
ebbe quivi i natali .

"Xht Bodoni Letter [bottom] compared with the Diddt Letter [top]

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

The beauty of the Bodoni letters consifis in their
regularity, in their clearness, and in their conformity to
the tafie of the race, nation, and age in which the work
was fir ^ written, and finally in the grace of the charaBers,
independent of time or place.

When authorities differ to such a wide extent,
the ^udent of type design must draw his own
conclusions !

Fletcher's idea of an appointment was some^
thing 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 extri^
eating himself from unwelcome responsibilities
always amused rather than annoyed. " If you
don't want to do a thing very badly," he con^
fided to me on one such occasion, "do it very
badly."

On board the Canopic Fletcher was surrounded
by an admiring and inter e^ed group. General
Leonard Wood was on his way to study colonial
government abroad before taking up his fir^ ad^
mini^ration as Governor of the Philippines. On
his ^aff 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

HORACE FLETCHER IN 1915

FRIENDS THROUGH TYPE

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 extraordi^
nary 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 fir^ learned of Fletcher's
ambition to revolutionize the world in its methods
of eating. That he would adually accomplish this
no one of us believed, but the fad remains. The
smokeroom Reward was serving the coffee, in^
quiring of each one how many lumps of sugar he
required. Fletcher, to our amazement, called for
five ! It was a grand^^and 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 benedidine. 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 ^omach and retards dige^ion; by my

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

method, it is changed into grape sugar, which is
easily assimilated."

"To insalivate one's liquor," he explained to
us, "gives one the mo^ exquisite pleasure imagi^
nable, but it is a terrific te^ of quality. It brings
out the richness of flavor, which is lo^ when
one gulps the wine down. Did you ever notice
the way a tea^ta^er 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 que^ion,

"Would you engage as chauffeur for your au^
tomobile a man who knew as little about his motor
as you know about your own human engine?"

No one ever loved a pradical joke better than
Horace Fletcher. I was a gue^ 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 consider/*
able curiosity and some speculation concerning
what would con^itute a Fletcher dinner. At the
proper time we were shown into a private room,
where the table was set with the severed sim^
plicity. In^ead of china, white crockery was used,
and the chief table decorations were three large

FRIENDS THROUGH TYPE

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 gue^s. Their wor^ apprehensions were
being confirmed ! Ju^ as we were well seated, the
headwaiter came to the door and announced that
by mi^ake 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
mo^ sumptuous repass I have ever enjoyed.

Today, twenty years after his campaign, it is
almo^ forgotten that the American breakfa^ was
at that time a heavy meal. Horace Fletcher revolu^*
tionized the pradice of eating, and interjeded the
word fetcherize into the English language. As a
disciple of Fletcher Sir Thomas Barlow, phy^
sician^in^chief to King Edward VII, persuaded
royalty to set the ^yle by cutting down the formal
dinner from three hours to an hour and a half,
with a corresponding relief to the dige^ive appa^
ratus of the gue^s. In Belgium, during the World
War, working with Herbert Hoover, Fletcher
taught the impoverished people how to su^ain
themselves upon meager rations. Among his ad^
mirers and devoted friends were such profound

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

thinkers as William James who, in response to a
letter from him, wrote, " Your excessive readion
to the ^imulus of my grateful approval makes you
remind me of those rich soils which, when you
tickle them with a ^raw, smile with a harve^ ";
and Henry James, who closes a letter: " Come
and bring with you plenary absolution to the
thankless subjed 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 un>
civil," Sir Sidney whispered to me ju^ before I
met him at dinner; " one can never tell how he is
going to ad."

As a matter of fad, I found Henry James a
mo^ 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
charaderi^ics of ill humor and brusqueness which
have been attributed to him. It may not be genera
ally known that all his life — until he met Horace
Fletcher — he suffered torments from chronic
indige^ion, or that it was in Fletcherism that

A Pa^efrom an Autograph Letter from Henry James to Horace Fletcher

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

he found his fir^ rehef. In a typically involved
Jamesian letter to his brother William he v^rites
(February, 1909):

It is impossible save in a long talk to make you undeu
stand how the hlessed Fletcherism—so extra blessed—
lulled me, charmed me, beguiled me, from thefrfi 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 ones food all the while,
after having suffered all ones life, and at lafi having it cease
and vanish, could make one joyously and extravagantly
relegate all out^ofdoor 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 lafi almost completely. A year and a
half ago the thoracic worry began. Walking seemed to make
it worse, tefled by short fpurts. 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 disy
gufled all the while at my having ceased to call upon it. I
have begun to do so again, and with the mofl 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.

FRIENDS THROUGH TYPE

My one visit to Lamb House was in company
with Horace Fletcher. The meeting with Henry
James at dinner had correded several preconceived
ideas and confirmed others. Some writers are re^
vealed by their books, others conceal themselves
in their fidional prototypes. It had always been
a que^ion in my mind whether Henry James gave
to his Tories his own personality or received his
personality from his Tories. This visit settled my
doubts.

The home was a perfed expression of the ho^,
and possessed an individuality no less unique. I
think it was Coventry Patmore who chri^ened it
"a jewel set in the plain," — located as it was at
the rising end of one of those meandering Greets of
Rye, in Sussex, England, Georgian in line and
perfed in appointment.

In receiving us, Henry James gave one the im^
pression of performing a long^e^ablished 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

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

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 accu^omed 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 ^omach infelicities had
proved in his work. The joy with which he pro^
claimed his emancipation showed the real man,
— a Henry James unknown to his charaders 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, hon^
ored, and produdive business of printing," as he
expressed it in a letter to his mother in 1863.
Naturally, with such a conception of the pradice
of book manufadure, he was always particularly
concerned with the fhysicil 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

FRIENDS THROUGH TYPE

any lapse on the part of the proofreader, and when
the galleys of his books reached this point in the
manufadure even my mo^ experienced readers
were on the anxious seat. On the other hand,
he was generous in his appreciation when a proof/*
reader 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 "popu^
lar " ledures on the subjed was announced at
Cambridge. The Harpers had ju^ published a
novel of mine entitled The Spell, in connedion
with which I had devoted much time to the ^udy
of humanism and the humani^s of the fifteenth
century. Because of my familiarity with a kindred
subjed, I mu^ confess to a sense of mortification
that in reading Pragmatism I found myself be^
yond my depth. A "popular" presentation ap^
pealed to me as an opportunity for intelledual
development, so I attended the fir^ ledure, armed
with pencil and notebook. Afterwards it so hap^
pened 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 ledure," he
remarked. " Don't you get enough of me at your
office e "

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

I told him of my excursions into other philo^
sophic pa^ures, and of my chagrin to find so little
in pragmatic fields upon which my hungry mind
could feed. He smiled at my language, and en^
tered 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 thate I have no doubt I did.
It simply proves my contention that philosophers
too frequently exercise their prerogative of conceal^
ing 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 attradive,
is ruined by overloading the title with too much
matter. This is the fir^ 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 perfedly ar^

FRIENDS THROUGH TYPE

ranged in proportion and margin, the decoration
was charming and in complete harmony with the
type. It was set by an arti^^printer and did him
credit; but turning a few more pages I found my^'
self face to face with a red-blooded ^ory of we^ern
life, when the title had prepared me for something
as delicate as Milton's V Allegro. A renaissance
door on a New England farmhouse would have
been equally appropriate !

I commend to those who love books the fascia
nating ^udy of title pages. I entered upon it from
curiosity, and quickly found in it an abiding
hobby. The early manuscripts and fir^ printed
volumes possessed no title pages, due probably to
the fad that the handmade paper and parchment
were so co^ly that the saving of a seemingly un^
necessary page was a consideration. The incipit at
the top of the fir^ p^gc> reading "Here begins
neth " and then adding the name of the author
and the subjed, answered every purpose; and on
the la^ 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. Mo^ of the early printers were mode^
in recording their achievements, but in the famous
volume De Veritate Caiholicce Fidel the printer
says of himself:

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

This new edition was furnished us to print in Venice hy
Nicolas Jenson of France. . . . Kind toward all, benefcent,
generous, truthful and fieadfafi in the beauty, dignity, and
accuracy of his printing, let me (with the indulgence of all)
name him thefrfi in the whole world; frfi likewise in his
marvelous §peed. He exifls in this, our time, as a special
gift from Heaven to men. June thirteen, in the year of
Redemption i/^8g. Farewell

Bibliographers contend that the fir^ 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 intro^
dudion at the top. It has always seemed to me that
this leaf is more likely to have been added by the
printer to corred a careless omission of the intro^
dudion on his fir^ page of text. Occasionally,
in the humani^ic manuscript volumes in the
Laurenziana Library, at Florence, there occurs a
"mirror" title (see opp.page ), which consi^s 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 re^
corded the titles of the various sedions. This
seems far more likely to have been sugge^ive of
what came to be the formal title page.

By the end of the fifteenth century the title page

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MIRROR TITLE
From Auguflinus: Opera, 1485. Laurenziana Library, Florence

FRIENDS THROUGH TYPE

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 arti^s like Diirer, 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 fuU^page illu^ration (seepages 22S 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 sevens
teenth 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 ta^e and har-'
monious co-ordination with the text; but there
was no beauty in the title until Didot in Paris and

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

Bodoni in Parma, Italy, introduced the so-called
" modern " face, which is pecuHarly well adapted
to display (pa^e 253). William Morris, in the late
nineteenth century, successfully combined decora^'
tion with type, — over /'decorated, in the minds of
many, but in perfed keeping with the type pages
of the volumes themselves. Cobden^Sanderson, at
the Doves Press, returned to the extreme in sim^
plicity and good ta^e (page 265), excelling all
other printers in securing from the blank space
on the leaf the fulled 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 predid 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 fador in
printing as an art than that of William Morris at
the Kelmscott Press, and that the general verdid
will be that Cobden^Sanderson carried out the
splendid principles laid down by Morris more
consi^ently than did that great arti^^craftsman
himself.

T. J. COBDEN-SANDERSON, 1841^1922
From Etching by Alphonse Legros, 1893

C-f. I^f^

FRIENDS THROUGH TYPE

The ^ory of Cobden^Sanderson's life is an in^
tere^ing human document. He told it to me one
evening, its significance being heightened by the
simplicity of the recital. At seventeen he was ap^
prenticed 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 prote^ again^ the competitive sy^em and the
" warp " it gave to all university teaching. Then,
for seven or eight years, he devoted himself to
Carlyle and the ^udy of literature, " Chiefly Ger-^
man 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 pro/*
fession he abandoned thirteen years later to become
a manual laborer. The following is quoted from
notes which I made after this conversation:

/ despaired of knowledge in a philosophical sense, yet I
yearned to do or to make something. This was the hasic
idea of my life. At this time it was gradually revealed to me
that the arts and crafts of life might he employed to make

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

society itself a work of art, sound and beautiful as a whole,
and in all its parts.

It is difficult to associate CobdeivSanderson's
really tremendous contributions to bookmaking as
an art with his selE^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 person^
ality 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 mosi: notice^
able feature beino- 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 ad. He was hopelessly absent^
minded. Invited to dine with me in London,
he appeared the evening before the date set, re^
tiring overwhelmed with embarrassment when he
discovered his mi^ake. On the following evening
he forgot the appointment altogether ! Later, when
in Bollon, 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
98

FRIENDS THROUGH TYPE

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 exhau^ion while the
members of the literary society dined without their
lion !

While president of the Society of Printers in
Bo^on, I arranged for Cobden^Sanderson to come
to America to deliver some ledures on The Ideal
Book. Among these were four given at Harvard
University. At the conclusion of the la^ ledure
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, reeling 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 verie^ impo^or 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 colledions.
They showed me rare incunahuh. They expeded
me to know all about them, and to be enthusia^ic
over them. As a matter of fad, I know nothing

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

about the work of the great ma^er sprinters, and
care less ! "

My face mu^ have disclosed my thoughts, for
he held up a retraining hand.

" Don't think me such an egoti^ as my words
imply. It isn't that at all. It is true that I am in^
tere^ed 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 mediaj — in ^one 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 inconsi^encies 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 ^ands as the expression of myself
at the time I did it."

100

FRIENDS THROUGH TYPE

As he spoke I wondered if Cobden^'Sanderson
had not explained why, in the various arts, the
work of those ma^erz-spirits of the pa^ had not
been surpassed or even equaled during the inters
vening centuries. It is a matter for consideration,
when the world has shown such spedacular ad^
vance along material lines, that in painting, in
sculpture, in architedure, in printing, the work of
the old makers ^ill ^ands 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 diredly from the
marble or the canvas, or from the design of some
great building. The printed book opened to the
world a Morehouse of wisdom hitherto unavail^
able, and made individual effort less conspicuous
and therefore less demanded. The few out^and^
ing figures in every art have been those who, like
Cob den^ 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.

lOI

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

While Theodore Roosevelt was President of the
United States, and on the occasion of one of his
several visits to Bo^on, 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 real^
ize his deep intere^ 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
ju^ as easy to catch hot as it is to catch cold."

We devoted ourselves for an hour to an exami^
nation and discussion of certain volumes I had
produced. One of these was a small twelve^'mo
entitled Trophies of Hereiia containing poems by
Jose^Maria de Heredia, brought out in arti^ic
format for a Bo^on publishing house, which had
proved a complete failure from a commercial ^and^
point. 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."

102

FRIENDS THROUGH TYPE

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 e " he demanded.
" Did you ever think of the Polar Sea as being
warme And by Jove he's right, — it is warm ! "

Later, in Washington, I accepted his invita^
tion 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 exad knowledge should be in the posses^
sion of another country, my ho^ became serious.

" The Kaiser is a mo^ 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 preroga^
tive the President has, at any rate."

I often thought of these comments after the
World War broke out. An echo of them came

103

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

while the desperate druggie was in full force.
Erne^ Harold Baynes, nature^lover and expert
on birds, was visiting at my house, having dined
with the ex^President at Oy^er 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 intere^ on the tables or in the book^
cases. From these, the President picked up a hand^
lettered, illuminated manuscript which he had
ju^ 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 indent 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 an>
cient pigments, and the parchment was di^indly
of modern origin.

104

FRIENDS THROUGH TYPE

" You are ju^ the one to tell me about this,"
Mr. Roosevelt exclaimed. "Is it an original
manuscript? "

He so obviously wished to receive an affirma^
tive 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 que^ion 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 in^ance, to my
imperial brother, the Emperor of Anuria, how
touched and moved I am to learn that his cousin,
the lady with the ten names, has been safely de^
livered of a child ! "

The President was particularly intere^ed in the
subjed of illu^ration, 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 fir^
began to make books. I explained that the de^
velopment of the halftone plate and of the four^
color process plates had been pradically within
this period, — that prior to 1890 the excessive
co^ of woodcuts, ^eel engravings, or lithography

105

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

confined illu^ration to expensive volumes. The
halftone opened the way for profuse illu^ration
at minimum expense.

The President showed me an impression from
one of Timothy Cole's man/elous woodcuts, and
we agreed that the halftone had never taken the
place of any process that depends upon the hand
for execution. The very perfedion 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 news^'
papers, but in reproducing with such slavish fidel^
ity photographs of objeds perpetuated in books
of permanent value. It seemed paradoxical to say
that the nearer perfedion an art attains the less
intere^ing it becomes, because the very variation
incidental to hand work in any art is what relieves
the monotony of that perfedion attained through
mechanical means. Since then, a few leading en^
gravers have demon^rated 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 co^ of
manufaduring books during and since the World
War, publishers found that by omitting illu^ra^
tions from their volumes they could come nearer

106

FRIENDS THROUGH TYPE

to keeping the co^ within the required Hmits, so

for a period illu^rated volumes became

limited in number

There is no que^ion that the public loves pidures,

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 pidorial design. The

popularity of moving pidures is another evidence.

I have always wished that this phase had de^

veloped at the time of our discussion, for I am sure

Mr. Roosevelt would have had some intere^ing

comments to make on its significance. I like to

believe that this tendency will corred itself, for,

after all, the pidures which are mo^ worth

while are those which we ourselves draw

subconsciously from impressions made

through intelledual

exploits

CHAPTER IV
The Lure of Illumination

IV
THE LURE OF ILLUMINATION

SITTING one day in the librarian's office in the
Laurenziana Library, in Florence, the conversation
turned upon the subjed 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 ma^erpiece
was spread out before me, — the marvelous delicacy
of design, the gorgeousness of color, the magnifi^
cence 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 Booh of Hours illuminated by
Francesco d' Antonio del Cherico, which had
once belonged to Lorenzo de' Medici, and was
representative of the be^ of the fifteenth ^century
Italian work {pa^e 146). The hand letters were

III

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

written by Antonio Sinibaldi in humani^ic char^
aders upon the fine^ and rare^ parchment; the
illumination, with its beaten gold and gorgeous
colors, was so close a representation of the jewels
themselves as to make one almo^ believe that the
gems were inlaid upon the page ! And it was the
very volume that had many times re^ed in the
hands of Lorenzo the Magnificent, as it was at
that moment reding in mine!

For the fir^ time the art of illumination became
real to me, — not something merely to be gazed at
with resped and admiration, but an expression of
arti^ic accomplishment to be ^udied and under^
^ood, and made a part of one's life.

The underlying thought that has inspired illu^
mination in books from its very beginning is
more intere^ing even than the splendid pages
which challenge one's comprehension and almo^
pass beyond his power of under^anding. To the
ancients, as we have seen, the rare^ gems in all the
world were gems of thought. The book was the
tangible and visible expression of man's intelled,
worthy of the noble^ 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 seleded, to write upon, the fine^ material

112

-^^

CARVED IVORY BINDING

Jeweled with Rubles and Turquoises

From Psalter (12th Century). Brit. Mus. Eger. MS. 1139

(Reduced in size)

THE LURE OF ILLUMINATION

possible, — sometimes nothing less than virgin
parchment, soft as velvet, made from the skins of
^ill^born kids; they employed the greater arti^s of
the day to drav^ 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 (pa^e 112).

For centuries, this glorification was primarily
be^owed upon religious manuscripts, and illu^
mination came to be associated with the Church,
but by the fourteenth century the art ceased to be
confined to the cloi^er. Wealthy patrons recog^
nized that it offered too splendid a medium of
expression to permit limitation; and lay arti^s
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 ^ill 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

113

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

become household words, and the ma^erpieces
of the illuminator's art which ^and to their credit
seem almo^ shrouded in a hazy and my^erious
indefiniteness.

I have learned from my own experience that
even fragmentary ^udy brings rich rewards: — the
intere^ in discovering that in^ead of being merely
decorative, the art of illumination is as definitive
in recording the temporary or fashionable cu^oms
of various periods as hi^ory itself There is a
satisfadion in learning to distinguish the charader^
i^ics of each well-defined school: — of recognizing
the fretted arcades and mosaics of church decora^
tion in the Romanesque ^yle; the Gained 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
arti^s; 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 conneded with
each great ma^erpiece as it passes from arti^ to
patron, and then on down the centuries, com^
memorating loyal devotion to saintly attributes;
expressing fealty at coronations or congratulations
at Royal marriages; conveying expressions of de^
votion and afFedion from noble lords and ladies,

114

THE LURE OF ILLUMINATION

one to the other. Illuminated volumes were not
the playthings of the common people, and in
their peregrinations to their final reding 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 ^yle, 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
^ory: 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 ^ill^born
calves or kids, and is probably of the thirteenth or
fourteenth centuries.

The colors, too, contribute their share. Each
old-time arti^ ground or mixed his own pigments,
— red and blue, and less commonly yellow, green,
purple, black, and white. Certain shades are char/
aderi^ic of certain periods. The application of

115

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

gold differs from time to time: in England, for
in^ance, gold powder was used until the twelfth
century, after which date gold leaf is beautifully
laid on the sheet. The raised^gold letters and deco^
rations 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 indent applies himself to the subjed,
one clue leads him to another, and he pursues his
search with a fascination that soon becomes an
obsession. That chance acquaintance with Fran^
cesco d' Antonio inspired me to become better
acquainted with this art. It took me into different
mona^eries and libraries, always following "the
que^," and lured me on to further seeking by
learning of new beauties for which to search, and
of new examples to be ^udied. Even as I write
this, I am told that at Chantilly, in the Musee
Conde, the Tres Riches Hemes of the Due de
Berry is the mo^ beautiful example of the French
school. I have never seen it, and I now have a new
obj edive on my next visit to France !

In this que^, covering many years, I have come
to single out certain manuscripts as signifying to
me certain intere^ing developments in the art
during its evolution, and I ^udy them whenever

116

THE LURE OF ILLUMINATION

the opportunity offers. It is of these that I make
a record here. Some might seled other examples
as better illu^rative 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 pil^
grimage until the Emperor Ju^inian, after the
conflagration in the year 532, which completely
wiped out Con^antinople with its magnificent
monuments, recon^ruded 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 illumi^
nation as illu^ration and as book decoration;
there is the Roman Calendar in the Imperial
Library at Vienna, in which for the fir^ time
is combined decoration with illu^ration; there
is the Amhrosiana 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 almo^ obliterated,
others ^ill preserving the ancient colors of the

117

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

design, with the Greek letters clearly legible after
sixteen centuries.

These are hi^orical and intere^ing, but we are
seeking beauty. In the splendor of the rebirth of
Con^antinople, to which all the known world
contributed gold, and silver, and jewels, medieval
illumination found its beginning. Arties could
now afford to send to the Far Ea^ and to the
southern shores of Europe for their co^ly 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 Gained with rose and
scarlet tints and purple dyes, upon which the
gold and silver inks contra^ed 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 com^
mand the arti^s mi^ook 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.pa^e). 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 illumi^

ii8

f-/

C\\tJUMJH ■

K^>v

0» ^WTOrioTt^-T^fi-OwZiJXrxza)! '- —

'%'' cfj.Tyi yo^ t*xu.ocrt-«>t/ V//aT>i/T«o« V^ooi'T^

txxtxrj \a- oo C !• r^

ICftytiyTOf/^ouoycrou&ya) Lutu.o<jxfyH*:

ti.au.onjLOt/yo'io^'t£^j.ocruyHy I' .
K /3 I yq^jrjtAJ 'til no 'yoi/r to i/ Ao'^ o u ixxm.

Cy-%.f*-rccraLpjXXJJUtM- y tl-root Hf-t-coi '.'

o^coj/ .• ^ — -_,- ^/ ^ /

>C<!Wn-«rt»KOyt/ :•

4/O-co J/

r^— --. /_/ - - /

PSALTER IN GREEK. Byzantine, nth Century

Solomon, David, Gideon, and the Annunciation

(Brit. Mus. Add. MS. igiS- 9? x 8 inches)

THE LURE OF ILLUMINATION

nators adhered so closely to mechanical rules that
the volumes lack even individuality.

There are comparatively few of these extrava^
gant relics now in exigence. Their intrinsic value
made them favorite objeds of pillage, and hundreds
were de^royed for their jewels and precious metals.
In many of those that have endured, like the Codex
Ar^enteuSj at Upsala, in Sweden, the silver letters
have turned black, the gold ink has become a ru^y
red, and the Gained vellum now supplies a tawdry
background.

After passing the early ^ages 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 Bibliotheque Nationale in
Paris, one in the Library of San Marco in Venice,
and one in the Laurenziana Library in Florence.
In each of these ^orehouses 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 ^udy
have combined to make illumination a living art
and a romantic hi^ory.

The Lindisfarne Gospels is where I ^art my

119

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

illuminated pilgrimage. It takes me back to the
seventh century, when the world was shrouded in
darke^ ignorance, and is a reminder that except
for the development in the Irish mona^eries, as
typified by early illuminated volumes such as this,
knowledge of books might have almo^ 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 mona^eries and colleding, 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 mona^eries e^ab^
lished by the Irish monks in Scotland, and the
earlie^ of the English settlements was Lindisfarne.
It was here that the Go^eh, one of the mo^
characteri^ic examples of the Celtic School, as
translated to northern England, was produced.
Such knowledge of its date and origin as exi^s
re^s 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 Lin^
disfarne. In 875, so the tradition runs, in order
to escape from the invasion of the Danes, it was

120

THE LURE OF ILLUMINATION

decided to remove the body of Saint Cuthbert and
the mo^ valued relics to the mainland, and the
Go§pels was included. When the attempt was
made to cross over to Ireland, according to the
legend, the ship was driven back by ^orm, and the
che^ containing the precious volume was lo^
overboard. Here is the quaint chronicle:

In this florntj while the ship was lying over on her side,
a copy of the Gospels, adorned with gold and precious
fioneSj fell overboard and sank into the depths of the sea.
Accordingly, after a little while, they hend their knees and
profirate themselves at full length before the feet of the
sacred body, ashing pardon for their foolish venture. Then
they seize the helm and turn the ship bach to the shore and
to their fellows, and immediately they arrive there without
any difficulty, the wind blowing afiern . . . Amidfl their
lamentations in this diflress, at length the accufiomed 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 utmofi 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 accufiomed; and after walking
three miles or more they find the sacred manuscript of

121

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

the Gospels itself, exhibiting all its outer §plendor 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 booh,
namely Bishop Eadfrith of holy memory, who wrote it with
his own hand in honor of the blessed Cuthbert; and the
venerable ^thelwald, his successor, who caused it to be
adorned with gold and precious flones; 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
Introdudion to the facsimile reprodudion of this
famous manuscript, published by the British Mu^
seum, is given at such length to emphasize at the
very beginning of this pilgrimage the important
place given to these manuscripts in the commu^
nities for which they were prepared. The fad that
such a legend exi^s at all atte^s the personality the
manuscript had assumed. It was my very great
pleasure, the la^ time I ^udied the Gospels, to have
Mr. Millar, who is an Assi^ant in the Department
of Manuscripts at the British Museum, explain
many things in connection with it which could
not be gleaned without the exhau^ive ^udy which
he has given to it,

122

THE LURE OF ILLUMINATION

The Go^els includes 2 $S> leavesof heavy vellum,
measuring about 13 by 10 inches. The Latin
text is written in beautifully designed, semuuncial
charaders. These differ from the capital letters only
by their relatively greater roundness, inclination,
and inequality in height. This ^yle 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 decora^
tion, in cruciform design of mo^ extraordinary
elaboration; six pages of ornamented text; four
full^page miniatures of the Evangeli^s, in which
the scribes are drav/n in profile, seated, with
cushion, desk, and footi^tool; sixteen pages of
Canon tables, decorated in pure Celtic ^yle; and
numerous initials of various sizes.

The great intere^ in this manuscript lies in the
cruciform pages. When I firsl; saw them I thought
the work a marvelous example of the amount of
intricate design an arti^ could devise within a
given area of space. Then, as I ^udied them, came
the realization that, complicated as they were,
there was a definite plan the arti^ had e^ablished
and followed which preserved the balance of colore
ing and design.

In the illu^ration here given {pa^e 124),
Mr. Millar showed me how he has ingeniously

123

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

unraveled the knots. It is peculiarly intere^ing as
it demon^rates the methods by which the expert
is able to underhand much that the casual ob^
server fails to see. He pointed out that the back^
ground of the page is occupied by a design of no
less than 88 birds, arranged in a perfed 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 redangular 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 fir^ the
scheme seems inconsi^ent, further examination
shows that the arti^ adhered religiously to his
plan. The color arrangement is carried out with
equal thought and care.

The four miniatures of the Evangeli^s show
Byzantine influence, but in the features, and the
hair, and in the frames, the Celtic ^yle prevails.
Gold is used only on two pages.

The Lindisjame Go§peh 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, ^ep by
^ep, with what led up to it ? In this manuscript
the precious Gospels were enriched by the labor
of devoted enthusia^s in the manner they knew

124

THE LINDISFARNE GOSPELS. Celtic, about A.D. 700
(Bnt. Mus. Cotton MS. Nero. D. iv. i2\ x 10 inches)

THE LURE OF ILLUMINATION

be^, and with an ingenuity and indu^ry that
daggers us today. Taking what the pa^ had
taught them, they gave to it their own interpreta^
tion, and thus advanced the art toward its final
consummation and glory.

Taken merely as an example of illumination,
few would share my intere^ in the Alcuin Bible,
a Carolingian manuscript of the ninth century;
but to any one intere^ed in printing, this huge
volume at the British Museum cannot be over>
looked. In the eighth century the Irish and Anglos
Saxon missionary arti^s 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 compos
sitions, derived largely from Latin and Byzantine
sources, were now added to the highly ornamental
letters. Solid backgrounds were abandoned, and
handsome architedural designs were used to frame
the miniatures.

If you will examine the Alcum 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

125

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

tradition altogether; some claim that a similar
Bible, now in Rome, is entitled to the honor; but
the controversy does not detrad from the intere^
in the book itself. This Alcuin of York was
the in^rument of Charlemagne in e^ablishing the
reform in hand lettering, which has been of the
utmost: importance in the hi^ory 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 ^yles, supers
seded all other forms of hand lettering. By the
twelfth century the clear, free^flowing form that
developed from the Caroline minuscule was the
mo^ beautiful hand ever developed, and was
never surpassed until the humani^ic scribes of
the fifteenth century took it in its Italian form as
their model and perfeded it.

The volume is a large quarto, 20 by 145 inches
in size, splendidly written in double column in
minuscule charaders with uncial initials (opp.pa^e).
There are four fuU^page illuminations, and many
smaller miniatures, with charaderi^ic architect
tural detail that show Roman influence, while
the decorations themselves are reminiscent of the
Byzantine and the Celtic Schools.

It is the hand lettering rather than the illumina^
tion or the decoration that particularly intere^s

126

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OuocJer-oxuifTrriitif^ cx./'r^xjcxmr^-ci'fccx.ciJa^

ALCUIN BIBLE. Carolliician, 9th Century

Showing the Caroline Minuscule
(Bnt. Mus. Add. MS. 10546. 20 x 14^ inch

THE LURE OF ILLUMINATION

me. When I fir^ began my work in designing my
Humani^ic type, I was amazed that the human/'
i^ic scribes of the fifteenth century, upon whose
letters I based my own, could have so suddenly
taken such a ^ride forward. The mere fad that
there was a greater demand for their work did not
seem to explain the phenom.enon. Then I dis^
covered that these fifteenth ^century arti^s, in^ead
of adapting or copying the Caroline minuscule,
set about to perfed it. They ma^ered the prin^
ciples upon which it was based, and with the
technical advantages that had come to them
through the intervening centuries, brought the
design to its fulled beauty.

To supplement my ftudy of the Alcuin Bible,
I turn to the ma^erpiece of the Carolingian
School in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris.
The Golden Gospels of Saint Medard belongs to
the same period as the Alcuin Bihle, 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 kdin^ that the
arti^ is, for the fir^ time, making a definite effort
to break away from pa^ tradition toward more
natural design. The Byzantine atmosphere ^ill

127

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

clings to the work as a whole (opp. pci^e), but in
the frames and the backgrounds there is an echo
of the ivory carving and the architedure of the new
Church of San Vitale at Ravenna, and the powers
ful influence of the early Chri^ian symbolism
asserts itself in the miniatures.

The hand^lettered pages are enclosed in plain
borders of green or red tint, with outside rules of
gold. Each pidure 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 subjeds
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 arti^, 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 Medard give us for the fir^ 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 ecclesia^ic, and
the new, or naturali^ic, spirit in monadic art.
The Psalter of Saint Louis, a Gothic manuscript

128

GOLDEN GOSPELS OF ST. MEDARD. Carchcian, 9th Century
(Bibl. Nat. MS. Lat. 8850. 12 x yh inches)

THE LURE OF ILLUMINATION

of the thirteenth century, in the Bibhotheque
Nationale in Paris, is an example of this transition
that I like to ^udy.

By the beginning of the thirteenth century the
initial — which in the Celtic ^yle had dominated
the entire page — was losing its supremacy, be^
coming simply one fador 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 ^em, bearing a suc^
cession of Rvc 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 suc^
cessfuUy fused. An exad 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 Ca^ile died, and the
death of Saint Louis in 1270. What a ^ory 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^iven hy Queen Jeame
d'Evreux to King Charles, son ofKingJohn, in the year

129

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

of our Mailer, i^6g; and the present King Charles^ son

of the said King Charles^gave it to Madame Marie of

France^ his daughterj a nun at Poissy, on Saint Michefs

Day J in the year i^oo

The Psalter contains 260 leaves of parchment,
8i by 6 inches. Of these, seventy^eight are small,
beautiful miniatures, depiding the principal scenes
in the early books of the Old Te^ament, and
eight are illu^rations 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 be^
examples of the reflection of the ^ained^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 ^rokes of
the pen.

All this is intere^ing because this period marks
the end of the needless limitations illuminators
placed upon themselves. Working on vellum as
a medium in^ead 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 Gained glass, and would be loath to
give it up.

130

PSALTER OF SAINT LOUIS. Gothic, 13th Century

Abraham and Isaac

(Bibl. Nat. MS. Lat. 10525. 8^x6 inches)

THE LURE OF ILLUMINATION

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 ^yle of illumination in the thirteenth cen^
tury shows no di^ind national charaderi^ics, for,
even in England, some of the work was executed
by French arti^s. 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 Marys 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 illu^
mination sought for its own arti^ic value in^ead
of being associated wholly with devotional manu^
scripts. No one can examine the charming series
of little tinted drawings in the margins of the
Litany without being convinced that the arti^,
whoever he may have been, was quite familiar with
the world outside the Church (see frontispiece).

The earlie^ note of ownership in this manu^
script is of the sixteenth century:

This hoke was sume tyme the Erie ofKutelanis, and it
was his wil that it shuUe by successioun all way go to the

131

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

lande of Kutelani or to him that liny ally suceedes hy 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 hone^ cu^oms
officer," who fru^rated 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 fir^
acquaintance with the manuscript is not known,
but from the binding she put on it she surely con^
sidered it a highly prized personal possession. It
would naturally be of special intere^ to her be^
cause of its connexion with the old liturgy she was
so anxious to re^ore. 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 ^ill triumphant.
132

Jnmifa tgni crtiaat^ila- au inm^mottt
TTtarmmntfxua.ruvKrutttmi6^^

0tnm difterittmte att'ttttuftca&ieiio^t
rtomentmtmtnuocammm' & s 2: -S

" ^ omme Jtue itimimm cotmtmtio^^tt
oftmtefeacmtumn^fiiUit entmt^i

PSALTER OF SAINT LOUIS. Gothic, 13th Century
Psalms Ixviii. 1^3
(Bibl. Nat. MS. Lat. 10525. 8| x 6 inches)

THE LURE OF ILLUMINATION

The manuscript, executed upon thin vellum,
and consi^ing of 320 leaves about 11 by 7 inches,
opens with a series of 228 pen and ink drawings.
In mo^ cases there are two designs on each page,
illustrating Bible hi^ory from the Creation down
to the death of Solomon (pa^e 134). With the
drawings is a running description in French,
sometimes in prose, sometimes in rhyme, which
in itself is intere^ing, as the ^ory does not always
confine itself ^ridly 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 deli>'
cately tinted with violet, green, red, and brown.
The frame is a plain band of vermilion, from each
corner of which is extended a ^em 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 depiding 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 Can^
tides, including the Athanasian Creed, and then
by the Litany. In the Psalter, the miniatures show

133

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

incidents from the life of Chri^; the Canticles
depid scenes from the Passion; while in the Litany
are miniatures of the Saints and Martyrs. The ini^
tials themselves are elaborate, many containing
small miniatures, and all lighted up with brilliant
colors and burnished gold. In the Litany, in ad^
dition to the religious subjeds, there are splendid
little scenes of every ^day life painted in the lower
margins which make the manuscript unique, —
illustrations of the Be^iary, tilting and hunting
scenes, sports and pa^imes, 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 Marys Psalter^ and in manuscripts
from this period to those of the sixteenth century,
we find ourselves reveling in sheer beauty. "Why
not have Parted 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 under^anding ?
We admire what we may not underhand, but

134

i^m^tcHM-TC SK? |wr:mr wgit Ml fa- i \Bsmwife mmi(ht- C*ioc fti^

aifoftph ten XxHicfoanfqx

QUEEN MARY'S PSALTER. English, Hth Century

From the Life of Joseph

(Bnt. Mus. Royal MS. 2B vii. 11 x 7 inches)

THE LURE OF ILLUMINATION

without under^anding there can be no complete
appreciation. In this case, famiharity breeds content !

After ^udying the be^ of fourteenth^century
Enghsh illumination in Queen Marys Psalter, I like
to turn to the Bedford Book of Hours, to make com^
parison 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 ^ands as a memorial of English
domination in France.

Fashions change in illuminated manuscripts,
as in all else, and books of hours were now oe^
ginning 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 Enghsh 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 efFed
that on Chri^mas Eve, 1430, the Duchess, with
her husband's consent, presented the manuscript to

135

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

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 intere^ing as far as they go, but there is so much
left unsaid! In the present in^ance, how came
the manuscript, a hundred years later, in the pos^
session 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, id Earl of Oxford, from
Sir Robert Worsley's widow, to be presented to
his daughter, the Duchess of Portland ? These are
que^ions 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
reding place.

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 fuU^page de^
signs 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;

136

• * • » » • * * ♦♦"•■•-«- 5A»j'

BEDFORD BOOK OF HOURS. French, 15th Century

Showing one of the superb Miniature Pages

(Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 18850. lof x yl inches)

THE LURE OF ILLUMINATION

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 fulbpage
miniatures that are ma^erpieces, — particularly the
Annunciation, with which the Hours of the Vir^
gin begin. Every page of text is surrounded by
a magnificent border, rich in colors and gold, with
foliage and birds, and with the daintie^ little
miniatures imaginable. While these borders are
based upon the ivy /-leaf pattern, it resembles the
^yle 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 combina^
tion of the French and Flemish Schools, but is
essentially French in its conception and execution.
It was the cu^om, in these specially created
manuscripts, to immortalize the heads of the family
by including them with other, and, perhaps in
some cases, more religious subjeds. In this Boole
of Hours, the Duke of Bedford is depided, clad
in a long, fur^'lined gown of cloth^of^gold, kneel/'
ing 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
pa^e 136). Clad in a sumptuous gown of cloth/'

137

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

of'gold, lined with ermine, she kneels before Saint
Anne; her elaborate head-dress supports an arti^
ficial 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 ^ands the Virgin in white, with jeweled
crown, and the infant Chri^, in grey robe. His
mother has thrown her arm affedionately about
Him, while He, in turn, beams on the kneeling
Duchess. In His hand He carries an orb sur^
mounted by a cross. Saint Joseph ^ands at the
right of the background, and four angels may be
seen with musical in^ruments, appearing above
the arras, on which is damped 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 pidures, in architedural
backgrounds, showing Saint Anne's three hus^
bands 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.

138

ANTIQLUTIES OF THE JEWS. French Kenaissancc, 15th Century

Cyrus permits the Jews to return to their own Country, and to rebuild

the Temple of Jerusalem

(Bibl. Nat. MS. Frangais 247. 16 j x iih inches)

THE LURE OF ILLUMINATION

In the Antiquities of the Jews, Jean Foucquet's
ma^erpiece at the BibHotheque Nationale in Paris,
we find the French Renaissance School. This
manuscript intere^s me for several and different
reasons. In the fir^ place, Foucquet was one of
the founders of the French School of painting,
and had his ma^erpieces been painted on canvas
in^ead 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 illumxination in general. This
it found in the Italian ^yle, which at that time was
fir^ attaining its glory.

The book itself was originally bound in two
volumes, being a French translation by an un^
known writer of Flavius Josephus' Antiquities and
IVar of the Jews, the subjed being the clemency
of Cyrus toward the captive Jews in Babylon.
It is in foho (a little larger than i6 by ii inches),
written in double column, and contains superb
initials, vignettes, and miniatures (pace 138). The
work was begun for the Due de Berry, but was
left unfinished at his death in 141 6. Later it came
into the possession of the Due de Nemours.

139

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

Can one imagine a more ari^ocratic treasure for
a cultured gentleman to own! It was probably
begun very early in the fifteenth century, and com/
pleted between the years 1455 and 1477. A note
at the end of the fir^ volume (which contains 311
leaves) by Francois Robertet, secretary of Pierre II,
Due de Bourbon, ^ates 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 fir^ volume,
containing Books I to XIV of the Antiquities of
the Jews, has been in the Bibliotheque Nationale.
It is bound in yellow morocco, and bears the arms
of Louis XV. The second volume was considered
lo^. In 1903 the English colledor, 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 imperfed 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 Vidoria, and were in
her coUedion at Windsor Ca^le.

As soon as Mr. Thompson heard of this dis^
covery, he begged King Edward VII to accept his

140

THE LURE OF ILLUMINATION

volume, in order that the leaves might be com^
bined. The English monarch received the gift
with the under^anding that he, in turn, might
present the re^ored manuscript to the President
of the French Republic. This gracious ad was
accomplished on March 4, 1906, and now the two
volumes re^ side by side in the Bibliotheque
Nationale, reunited for all time after their long
separation. If books possess personalities, surely
no international romance ever offered greater mate^
rial for the noveli^'s imagination !

Now our pilgrimage takes us from Paris to
Venice, to ^udy that priceless treasure of the
Library of San Marco, the Grimani Breviary^ the
gem of the Flemish School (which should prop^
erly be called " Netherlandish "). This ^le
overlapped, di^indly, into Germany and France,
and further complicated any certainty of identic
fication by the fad that the number of Nether^
landish illuminators was large, and they scattered
themselves over Europe, pradising their art and
^yle in France, Germany, and Italy. They all
worked with the same minute care, and it is
pradically impossible to identify absolutely the
work even of the mo^ famous arti^s. There has
always been a que^ion whether the chief glory of

141

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

the Grimani Breviary belonged to Hans Memling
or to Gerard Van^der^Meire, but from a ^udy
of the comparative claims the Memling enthusia^s
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 complex
tion. It is believed that the commission v^as 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 arti^s engaged upon it.
Antonello di Messina purchased it from this arti^,
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.

This Cardinal Grimani was a man noted not
only for his exemplary piety but also as a literary
man of high repute, and a colledor of rare judg^
ment. 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 objeds

142

GRIMANI BREVIARY. Flemish, 15th Century

La Vie an Moii de Janvier
(Bibhoteca San Marco, Venice. 10 x 9 niches)

THE LURE OF ILLUMINATION

would have been irretrievably lo^ had not Gio^'
vanni Grimani, Marino's successor as Patriarch
at Aquileia, searched for it, and finally recovered
it at great co^ 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 tru^, Giovanni, fearing le^ the volume be
again lo^, 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 ^ored 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 entru^ the binding
to one Alessandro Vittoria. The cover is of crim^
son 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

143

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

covers contain further decorations and Latin in^
scriptions, relating in the fir^ 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 protedion,
crossed by a branch of palm, — the symbol of
the religious life. The dove typifies purity, and
the dragon ^ands for defense.

The volume itself contains 831 pages about
10 by 9 inches in size. There are the usual Calen>'
dar pages, containing the signs of the Zodiac,
and further decorated with small miniatures (opp.
pagi)^ alternating with twelve superb fuU^page
illuminations (p^e 142), showing the occupa^
tions of the months. Following these, come the
Prayers, with sixty additional full^page miniatures
based on Bible hi^ory or the lives of the Saints.
At the end are eighteen pages with smaller minia^
tures assigned to the saints of special devotion,
placed at the beginning of the office dedicated to
each.

The marginal decorations throughout the book
are wonderfully wrought. Some pages are adorned
with perpendicular bands, with con^antly vary^
ing color combinations. Arabesques of all kinds
are used, and interspersed among the ornamental
tion are flowers and fruits, animals, birds, fishes,
144

GRIMANI BREVIARY. Flmish, 15th Century

Text Pa^e showing Miniature and Decoration

(Biblioteca San Marco, Venice. 10 x 9 niches)

THE LURE OF ILLUMINATION

and all kinds of natural objeds. In addition to
these, one finds little buildings, landscapes, archie
tedural ornaments, ^atues, church ornaments,
frames, vases, cameos, medals, and scenes from
Bible hi^ory and from every^day life as well, —
all showing the genius of the arti^s who put them^
selves 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 la^ time I saw this precious manuscript was
in 1924. Dodor 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 fine^ 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,

145

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

Whenever I examine a beautiful manuscript,
and take delight in it, I find myself comparing it
with the Italian ma^erpiece of Francesco d'An^
tonio del Cherico. It may be that this is due to my
dramatic introdudion to that volume, as recorded
at the beginning of this chapter. Its date is per/
haps 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 ^e Jews ; it is fifty years
later than the Bedford Booh of Hours, and a century
and a half later than Queen Marys Psalter, Which
of all these magnificent manuscripts is the mo^
beautiful? Who would dare to say! In all there
is found the expression of art in its highe^ 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 perfedion of the execution — that particularly
appeals.

When one considers the early civilization of
Italy, and the heights finally attained by Italian
illuminators, it is difficult to underhand why the
intervening centuries show such tardy recogni^
tion of the art. Even as late as the twelfth century,
with other countries turning out really splendid
examples, the Italian work is of a di^indly in^
ferior order ; but by the middle of the thirteenth

146

BOOK OF HOURS. Italian, 15th Century

By Francesco d'Antonio del Cherico

(R. Lau. Bibl. Ashb. 1874. 7^5 inches)

THE LURE OF ILLUMINATION

century, the great revival in art brought about by
Cimabue and Giotto Simulated the development
in illumination. During the next hundred years
the art became nationalized. The ornament di^
verged from the French type, and assumed the
peculiar ^raight bar or rod, with profile foliages,
and the sudden reversions of the curves with
change of color, which are charaderi^ic of
fourteenth'^century Italian work. The miniatures,
introducing the new Tuscan manner of painting,
entirely re^fashioned miniature art. The figure be^
comes natural, well-proportioned, and graceful,
the heads delicate in feature and corred in express
sion. The co^umes are carefully wrought, the
drapery folds soft, yet elaborately finished. The
colors are vivid but warm, the blue being par^
ticularly efFedive.

The vine/'^em ^yle immediately preceded the
Classic revival which came when the Medici and
other wealthy patrons recognized the arti^ic imy
portance of illumination. In this ^yle the ^ems
are coiled mo^ gracefully, slightly tinted, with
decorative flowerets. The grounds are marked by
varying colors, in which the arti^s delicately traced
tendrils in gold or white.

The great glory of Italy in illumination came
after the invention of printing. Aside from the

147

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

apprehensions of the wealthy owners of manu^
script libraries that they would lose pre^ige 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 Hterature opposed the
printing press because they believed it to cheapen
something that was so precious as to demand
protedion. 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 Booh of Hours of d'Antonio is one
of the marvels of Florentine art. The nine ful^
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 minia^
tures; the decoration, rich in the variety of its
design, really surpassed the splendor and glory of
the goldsmith's art (pa^e 146). Some deplore the
fad that England loll this treasure when the
Italian government purchased the Ashburnham
Colledion in 1884; but if there ever was a manu^
script that belongs in Florence, it is this.

You may ^ill see d'Antonio's ma^erpiece at

148

HOURS of ANNE of BRITTANY. French Renaissance, i6th Century

The Education of the Child Jesus by the Virgin and Saint Joseph

(Bibl, Nat. MS. Lat. 9474. 12 x yh inches)

THE LURE OF ILLUMINATION

the Laurenziana Library, but it is no longer kept
in the ancient wooden desk. The treasures of illu^'
mination are now splendidly arrayed in cases,
where all may ^udy and admire. There are heavy
choir^books, classic manuscripts, books of hours,
and breviaries, embellished by Lorenzo Monaco,
ma^er of Fra Angelico; by Benozzo Gozzoli,
whose frescoes ^ill make the Riccardi famous; by
Gherado, and Clovio, and by other arti^s whose
names have long since been forgotten, but whose
work remains as an everla^ing 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 Foucq net's
pupil) in the Hours of Anne of Brittany ; but
frankly this sixteenth century manuscript at the
Bibliotheque Nationale, in Paris, always yields
me greater pleasure. Perhaps this is in compensa^
tion for not knowing too much ! I will agree with
them that the decorative borders of Foucquet are
much more intere^ing 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 re-'
producing flowers, vegetables, bugs, and small

149

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

animal life, would seem to have been carried to
the limit, but Bourdichon went the Grimani one
better, and on a larger scale. The reprodudions
are marvelously exad, but even a beautifully
painted dome^icated 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
mimature pages ! Here the arti^ has succeeded in
imparting a quality to his work that makes it
appear as if done on ivory in^ead of vellum
(seepage 148). The co^umes and even the jewels
are brilliant in the extreme. The floral decora^
tions shown in the reprodudion opposite are far
more decorative than the vegetables, but I ^ill
objed to the caterpillar and the bugs !

In 1508 there is a record that Anne of Brittany,
Queen of Louis XII, made an order of pay^
ment to Bourdichon of 1050 livres tournois for his
services in "richly and sumptuously hi^oriating
and illuminating a great Book of Hours for our
use." This consi^s of 23 8 leaves of vellum, 12 byyl
inches in size. There are sixty^three full pages,
including forty^nine miniatures, twelve repro^
dudions for the various months, and a leaf con^
taining ornaments and figures at the beginning

150

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HOURS of ANNE of BRITTANY. French Renaissance, i6th Century

Pfl^f showing Text and Marginal Decoration

(Bibl. Nat. MS. Lat. 9474- i^ x yi inches)

THE LURE OF ILLUMINATION

and end of the volume. Of the text, there are
some 350 pages surrounded by borders. The
Italian influence shows in the architedural and
sculptural decorations, ju^ as the Flemish obtains
in the borders.

The manuscript is bound in black shagreen,
with chased silver clasps.

The que^ion naturally arises as to the reason for
the decline and pradically the final extindion 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
hi^ory. 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 ex^
pression of art.

I wonder if it is too late to revive illumination.
Never has there exited 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 ta^es. There
are ^ill arti^s familiar with the art, who, if en/-
couraged, could produce work worthy of the
beautifully printed volumes the be^ Presses are

151

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

capable of turning out. What is lacking is simply

a realization that illumination ^ands side by side

with art at its be^. In America, the opportunities

for ^udying illumination are re^rided, but a

indent would have no difficulty in finding in

certain private coUedions and in a few public

libraries more than enough to e^ablish his basic

under^anding of the art. The great ma^erpieces

are permanently placed now, and ^ridly 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 di^ributed

throughout the world

No true lover of art visits Europe without fir^

preparing himself by reading and ^udy for a fuller

under^anding and more perfed 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 que^ion

to ask why he should not make an equal effort to

prepare himself to underhand and enjoy

those rich treasures in the art of

illumination which

are now so easily

accessible

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CHAPTER V

Friends through the Pen

FRIENDS THROUGH THE PEN

MAURICE HEWLETT combined to an
unusual degree those salient charaderi^ics 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 underwood,
— he possessed the power to interpret to others.

At the time I fir^ met him. The Queens 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 hi^ory, but not the
way hi^ory has always been written. There are
certain ads attributed to the chief charaders which,
if these charaders are ^udied analytically, are ob^
viously impossible; yet because a certain event has
once been recorded it keeps on being repeated and
magnified until hi^ory itself becomes a series of

155

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

di^ortions. Mary, Queen of Scots, has always
been my favorite hisl:orical figure, and I know
that in The Queens Quair I have given a truer
pidure of her charader than any that at present
exi^s. But alas," he added with a sigh, " no one
accepts it as other than fidion."

After this ^atement from him I turned again
to my copy of The Queens Quair and re-read the
author's prologue, in which I found :

A hundred hooks have been written and a hundred sonp
sun^; men enough of these latter days have hrohen their
hearts over Queen Marys; what is more to the point is
that no heart but hers was hrohn at the time. All the
world can love her now, hut who loved her then ? Not a
man among them. A few girls went weeping; a few hoys
laid down their necks that she might fall free of the mire.
Alas, the mire swallowed them up and she needs mufl
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 hooh ever found out the truth he^
cause none ever sought her heart. Here, then, is a hook
which has sought nothing else, and a song which ^rings
from that only.

I wonder if every writer in his heart does not
feel the same ambition. The noveli^ is a ^ory^teller
who recites bed^time Tories to his audience of

156

FRIENDS THROUGH THE PEN

grown^'Up children, while the humori^ plays the
clown; but in writing hi^ory 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 cor/*
red 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 Nation, and to walk with him in
his garden, one might recognize the author of
The Forefi Lovers; but an afternoon with him at
a London club would develop another side which
was less himself In^ead of discussing flowers and
French memoirs and biography in a delightfully
whimsical mood, Hewlett's slight, wiry figure be^
came tense, his manner alert, his eyes keen and
watchful. In the country he was the dreamer, the
bohemian, wholly detached from the world out^
side; in the city he was confident and determined
in approaching any subjed, his voice became
crisp and decisive, his bearing was that of the
man of the world.

^57

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

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 ^rength 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 Bo^
hemia, and his wife wandered with him through
Italy, with equal joy; while in England they
camped out together in the New Fore^, — the
scene of The Forefl Lovers.

The peculiar ^yle which Hewlett afFeded 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 Enroll
ments, during which period he ^udied the old
parchments, dating back to William the Con^
queror. In this resped his early experience was not
unlike that of Au^in Dobson's, and ju^ as the
work in the Harbours Department failed to kill
Dobson's poetic Jinesse, so did Hewlett rise above

158

FRIENDS THROUGH THE PEN

the deadly grind of ancient records and archives.
In fad it was during this period that Hewlett pro>
duced 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 fir^
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 sugge^ that
what he said was the expression of a modern
humani^. Hewlett was obviously surprised yet
pleased by my use of this expression.

" I don't often meet any one intere^ed in the
subjed of humanism," he said. " It is one of my
hobbies."

I explained my association with Dodor Guido
Biagi, librarian of the Laurenziana Library at
Florence, and the work I had done there in con^
nedion with my designs for a special face of type,
based upon the beautiful hand letters of the hu>'
mani^ic scribes (see page i6). With that intro^
dudion we discussed the great importance of the

159

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

humani^ic 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 ^urdy band of followers made to rescue
the classics. We both had recently read Philippe
Monnier's Le Quattrocento, which gave additional
intere^ to our discussion.

"Monnier is the only writer I have ever read
who has tried to define humanism," Hewlett con^
tinned. " He says it is not only the love of an^
tiquity, 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 humani^," 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 ^ruck
the same ^reet, haven't we ! But does that exadly
express the idea to you ? It isn't antiquity we
worship, but rather the basic worth for which
the ancients ^and."

"Monnier refers to the obsession that comes

1 60

7. Northwick Terrace, N.W.

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Autograph Letter from Maurice Hewlett

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

from con^ant contad with the learning of the
pa^, and the atmosphere thus created," I repHed.
"Only la^ year Biagi and I discussed that very
point, sitting together in his luxuriant garden at
Ca^iglioncello, overlooking the Gulf of Leghorn.
The * basic worth ' you mention is really Truth,
and taking this as a Parting point, we worked out
a modern application of Monnier's definition:

" The humanifi is one who hoUs himself open to receive
Truth J 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 applica^
tion," Hewlett exclaimed heartily. " I like it. —
Did you have that in mind when you called me a
modern humani^, ju^ now? "

" No one could read Earthwork Out of Tuscany
and think otherwise," I insi^ed.

Hewlett held out his hand impulsively. " I
wish I might accept that compliment with a
clear conscience," he demurred.

Meeting Au^in Dobson after he became in^
terpreter^in^chief of the eighteenth century, it was
difficult to associate him with his earlier experi^
ences as a clerk in the Board of Trade office, which

162

FRIENDS THROUGH THE PEN

he entered when he was sixteen years old, and to
which service he devoted forty/'five useful but un^
eventful 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 un^
imaginative environment, and, through his classic
monographs, bring Steele, Goldsmith, Richard^
son. Fielding, Horace Walpole, Fanny Burney,
Bewick, and Hogarth, out of their hazy indefi^
niteness, 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 re^
introduce, 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 fir^ became
intere^ed through his French grandmother.

Dobson was the mo^ mode^ literary man I
ever met. I happened to be in London at the time
when the English government be^owed upon him
an annuity of -^1,000, " for distinguished service
to the crown." When I congratulated him upon
this honor his response was charaderi^ic:

" I don't know why in the world they have
given me this, unless it is because I am the father

163

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

of ten children. I have no doubt that would
be classified under * di^inguished service to the

crown.' "

One afternoon Au^in 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 book^all on the Quai Voltaire in Paris. It
was beautifully printed, the letterpress ju^ biting
into the paper, and making itself a part of the
leaf, which is so charaderi^ic of the be^ French
presswork. The edition also contained the famous
Dore illu^rations. Dobson picked up one of the
volumes and exclaimed over its beauty.

" This edition," he said, " is absolutely perfed."

" Not quite," I qualified his ^atement. " 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 Ry leaf," Dobson
wrote, "it looked so lo^ on the great page that I

164

FRIENDS THROUGH THE PEN

ventured to add the poem which I composed for
the tercentenary. I hope you won't mind."

My eleven^y earmold son came into the reception
room while our gue^s were drinking their tea.
Dobson took him on his lap, and after quite
winning his affedion by his gentleness, he quietly
called his attention to Garnett, who was con^
versing with my wife in another part of the room.

" Never forget that man, my boy," Dobson
said in alow 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 fad were to be lo^ by
fire, Garnett could reproduce them with absolute
accuracy if his life were spared long enough."

Within fifteen minutes the young^er 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 Au^in Dobson. Except for Salisbury's desire
to demean the po^ of poet laureate, Dobson
would hold that position today. Never forget that
you have met Au^in 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:

165

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

RICHARD GARNETT
Sit tibi terra levis

Of him we may sayjufily: Here was one
Who knew ofmofl 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 hlended.

Garnett was a rare spirit, and the British Mu^
seum has never seemed the same since he retired in
1899. Entrance to his private office was cleverly
concealed by a door made up of shel&backs of
books, but once within the sanctum the genial
ho^ placed at the disposal of his gue^, in a matter^
of'fad way, such consummate knowledge as to
dagger comprehension. But, far beyond this, the
charm of his personality will always linger in the
minds of those who knew him, and genuine affect
tion 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,

166

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5^' '^ 1 ^

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

the arti^ who so charmingly illu^rated much of
Dobson's work, Mr. and Mrs. Dobson, and one
of his sons. The poet was in his mo^ genial mood,
and the conversation led us into mutually con^
fidential channels.

" I envy you your novel writing," he said.
" Fidion gives one so much wider scope, and
prose is so much more satisfadory 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 persi^ed
I should undoubtedly have lo^ what little repu^'
tation I have."

He was particularly impressed by the fad 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 persi^ed in questioning
me as to my methods. I explained that I devoted a
great deal of time to creating mentally the char^
aders who would later demand my pen; that with
the general outline of the plot I intended to develop,
I approached it exadly as a theatrical manager ap^
proaches a play he is about to produce, spending
much time in seleding my ca^, adding, discard^'
ing, changing, ju^ so far as seemed to me necessary
to secure the adors be^ suited to the parts I planned
to have them play. He expressed surprise when I

168

FRIENDS THROUGH THE PEN

told him that I had long since discarded the idea
of working out a definite scenario, depending
rather upon creating intere^ing charaders, and
having them sufficiently alive so that when placed
together under intere^ing circum^ances they are
bound to produce intere^ing dialogue and adion.

" Of course my problem, writing essays and
poetry, is quite different from yours as a noveli^,"
he said ; " but I do try to assume a relation toward
my work that is objedive 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 adually begin to write," he said, " I
can see the lines clearly before me, even to the
interlinear corredions, and it is a simple matter for
me to copy them out in letter^perfed form."

Dobson's handwriting and his signature were
absolutely dissimilar. Unless one had adually 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.

169

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

Po^erity is now deciding whether Mark Twain's
fame will re^ upon his humor or his philosophy,
yet his continuing popularity would seem to have
settled this much^mooted que^ion. Humor is
fleeting unless based upon real sub^ance. 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 Tories, a writer
mu^ possess extraordinary powers of observation
and a complete under^anding of his fellow^man.
Neither Tom Sawyer nor Huckleberry Finn is a
fidional charader, 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 be^ 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 anony^^
mously in order to secure for it consideration from
the reading public as a serious ^ory.

170

MARK TWAIN, 1835-1910

At the Villa di Quarto, Florence

From a Snap-shot

FRIENDS THROUGH THE PEN

" 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 humori^ 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 (pq^e 172), and while in Italy
Mrs. Orcutt and I were invited to have tea with
them. The villa is located, as its name sugge^s, in
the fbur^'mile radius from the center of the town.
It was a large, unattractive building, perhaps
fifty feet wide and four times as long. The loca-'
tion was superb, looking out over Florence toward
Vallombrosa and the Chianti hills.

In greeting us, Mark Twain gave the impression
of having planned out exadly what he was going
to say. I had noticed the same thing on other
occasions. He knew that people expeded 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

171

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

four in my family there would be a chance to
put up a friend or two, wouldn't you e 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
ho^ess, 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 fir^ Cosimo de'
Medici ("If it was, he had a bum archited,"
Mark Twain interjeded); later it was occupied by
the King of Wiirttemberg ("He was the genius
who put in the Pullman ^aircase "); and ^ill
later by a Russian Princess ("She is responsible
for that green majolica ^ove in the hall. When
I fir^ 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 ^op the swearing").

The garden was beautiful, but oppressive, — due
probably to the tall cypresses (always funereal in

172

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FRIENDS THROUGH THE PEN

their asped), which kept out the sun, and pro^
duced a mouldy luxuriance. The marble seats and
^atues were covered with green moss, and the ivy
ran riot over everything. One felt the antiquity
unpleasantly, and, in a way, it seemed an unfortu/-
nate 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 re^
marked. "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 ^ill 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 ju^ lighted. He
puffed with considerable satisfaction, and then
asked,

" How do you like that cigar I gave you ? "

173

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

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 gue^. He related with much detail how the
various speakers had hammered and halted, and
seemed to find themselves almo^ tongue-tied. His
explanation of this was their feeling of embarrass^
ment because of the presence of only one woman,
Mrs. Carnegie.

Sir Sidney Lee, who was leduring on Shake/
sperian subjeds in America at the time, was the
gue^ of honor. When dinner was announced,
Carnegie sent for Archie, the piper, an important

174

FRIENDS THROUGH THE PEN

feature in the Carnegie menace, who appeared in
full kilts, and led the procession into the dining^
room, playing on the pipes. Carnegie, holding
Sir Sidney's hand, followed diredly after, giving
an imitation of a Scotch dance, while the other
gue^s fell in behind, matching the ^eps of their
leader as closely as possible. Mark Twain gave
John Burroughs credit for being the mo^ success^
ful 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
^ory 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 ju^
going to reminisce. I'm going to tell you some^
thing about our ho^ 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 Connedi^
cut, and one day, when I was sitting in the editorial
sandum, the door opened and who should come
in but Andrew Carnegie. Do you remember that
day, Andye " he inquired, turning to his ho^;
** wasn't it a scorcher? "

Carnegie nodded, and said he remembered it
perfedly.

175

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

"Well," Mark Twain continued, "Andrew
took off his hat, mopped his brow, and sat down
in a chair, looking mo^ disconsolate.

"'What's the matter e' I inquired. *What
makes you so melancholy?' — Do you remember
that, Andy? " he again appealed to his ho^.

"Oh, yes," Carnegie replied, smiling broadly;
"I remember it as if it were ye^erday."

" * 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 ju^ 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 ju^ the point," Mark Twain con^
tinned, shaking his finger emphatically. "I have
never received one cent on that loan, intere^ or
principal ! "

I wonder if so extraordinary an assemblage of
literary personages was ever before gathered to^
gether 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

176

FRIENDS THROUGH THE PEN

Dean Howells, George W. Cable, Brander Mat^
thews, 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 afFedion and admira^
tion for America's greater man^of'letters, and
those who mu^ 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 ^and^
ing on his chair and waving his napkin enthusi^
a^ically. Mark Twain was visibly afFeded by the
outbur^ of enthusiasm. When the excitement
subsided, I could see the tears breaming 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 person^
ally made during the dinner. Regaining control
of himself, Mark Twain began his remarks with
words to this efFed:

When I think ofmyfrfl birthday and compare it with
this celehrationj —jufi a bare room; no one present but
my mother and one other woman; nofiowerSj no wine, no
cigars, no enthusiasms — I am filled with indignation!

177

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

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 under^
graduates flocking to attend his courses in Art who
failed utterly to underhand or appreciate him.
The ideals expressed in his ledures were far over
our heads. The e^imate of Carlyle, Ruskin, and
Matthew Arnold, that Mr. Norton was foremo^
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 under^
graduate under^anding. He seemed to us a link
conneding our generation with the di^ant pa^.
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 la^ of the Cambridge Immortals. I have
always wished that others might have correded
their false impressions by learning to know Norton,
the man, as I came to know him, and have

178

FRIENDS THROUGH THE PEN

enjoyed the inspiring friendship that I was so fbr^
tunate in having him, in later years, extend to me.

In the classroom, sitting on a small, raised plat^
form, with as many indents gathered before him
as the large^ room in Massachusetts Hall could
accommodate, he took Art as a text and discussed
every subjed beneath the sun. His voice, though
low, had a musical quality which carried to the
mo^ di^ant corner. As he spoke he leaned for^
ward on his elbows with slouching shoulders,
with his keen eyes passing con^antly from one part
of the room to another, seeking, no doubt, some
gleam of under^anding 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 infilled 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 di^indly
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 again^ the Spanish War, I knew that
he was ading true to his high convidions, even
though at variance with public opinion. I differed
from him, but by that time I underwood him.

179

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

"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 re^ful dignity
and lately culture, a courtly hospitality that re^
fleded the individuality of the ho^. The library
was the inner shrine. Each volume was seleded
for its own special purpose, each pidure was
illustrative of some special epoch, each piece of
furniture performed its exad fundion. Here, un>'
consciously, while discussing subjeds 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 humani^ic vol^
umes. 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 high^
e^ point of perfedion, had adually been over^
looked by other type designers (see pa^e 16), he
displayed an excitement I had never associated
with his personality. I was somewhat excited, too,

180

FRIENDS THROUGH THE PEN

in being able to tell him something which had not
previously come to his attention, — of the druggie
of the Royal patrons, who tried to thwart the new^
born 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 hu^
mani^ic volumes, whose pages I had photon
graphed, were the adual books which these patrons
had ordered the scribes to produce, regardless of
expense, to accomplish their purpose.

The romance that surrounded the whole under^
taking brought out from him comments and dis^
cussion in which he demon^rated his many-sided
personality. The library at "Shady Hill" became
a veritable Florentine ro^rum. 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 com-^
pared them with certain political charaders in our
own America, he might have been Machiavelli
uttering his famous diatribes again^ 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 ta^e.

Each ^ep in the development of the Humane
i^ic type was followed by Mr. Norton with the
deeped intere^. When the fir^ copy of Petrarch's

i8i

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

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 sweete^ 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 [pa^e 32).

While the Humani^ic type was being cut.
Doctor Biagi came to America as the official rep>
resentative from Italy to the St. Louis Exposition.
Later, when he visited me in Bo^on, I took him
to " Shady Hill " to see Mr. Norton. It was an
hi^oric meeting. The Italian had brought to
America original, unpublished letters of Michel^
angelo, and at my sugge^ion he took them with
him to Cambridge. Mr. Norton read several of
these letters with the keened intere^ and urged
their publication, but Biagi was too heavily en^'
gaged with his manifold duties as librarian of the
Laurenziana and Riccardi libraries, as cu^odian
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

182

FRIENDS THROUGH THE PEN

in America. Beyond this they spoke of books, of
art, of music, of hi^ory, of science. Norton's
knowledge of Italy was profound and exad; Biagi
had lived what Norton had acquired. No matter
what the subjed, their comments, although simply
made, were expressions of prodigious ^udy and
absolute knowledge; of complete familiarity, such
as one ordinarily has in every^'day affairs, with
subjeds upon which even the welbeducated man
looks as reserved for profound discussion. Norton
and Biagi were the two mo^ cultured men I ever
met. In likening to their conversation I discovered
that a perfedly trained mind under absolute con^
trol is the mo^ beautiful thing in the world.

Climbing the circular fairway in the old, ram^
shackle Harper plant at Franklin Square, New
York, I used to find WiUiam Dean Howells in his
sandum.

" 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 la^ gratified — to divorce the prints
ing from the publishing and to move uptown.

183

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

"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 Undying me for a moment
with eyes that seemed probably more piercing and
intent than they really were: "you live in Bo^on,
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 sandum whenever I had occa^
sion 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.

Of Bo^on 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

184

Autograph Letter from William Dean HoweUs

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

the Berkeley Street house, where the tiny " library "
on the north side was without heat or sunlight
when Ho wells 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 hi^ory of my married
life "; — of the move from Belmont to Bo^on as
his material resources increased.

" There was a time when people used to think
I didn't like Bo^on," he would chuckle, cvu
dently enjoying the recolledions 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 Bo^on. Some^
times, when we know a place or a person through
and through, the fine charaderi^ics may be zs^
sumed, and we may chaff a little over the harmless
foibles. That is what I did to Bo^on."

He chided me good-naturedly because I pre^
ferred 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 intel^

186

FRIENDS THROUGH THE PEN

ledual atmosphere of antiquity makes up for the
glory of the Adriatic."

Then he told me a ^ory which I afterwards
heard Hamilton Mabie repeat at the seventy^fifth
birthday anniversary banquet given Ho wells at
Sherry's by Colonel George Harvey in 19 12.

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 ite " the other in^
quired.

"Wednesday."

" Then," said the second, looking at her itinera
ary, "this is Venice."

"I was born a printer, you know," Howells
remarked during one of my visits. " I can remem^
ber 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
pubhshed there a Whig newspaper, which finally
lo^ nearly all its subscribers because its publisher
had the unhappy genius of always taking the un^
popular side of every public que^ion. Howells
immortalized this printing office in his essay The
Country Printer , — where he recalls "the composi^
tors rhythmically swaying before their cases of

187

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

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:

/ 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 likened to this recapitulation of contad
with modern humani^s, 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

i88

FRIENDS THROUGH THE PEN

written in place of those the nineteenth century
had recorded in the Hall of Fame

My library has taken on a different asped during

all these years. When I fir^ in^alled my books I

looked upon it as a sanduary, 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 slighted

whim in response to the mere effort of changing

volumes. My hbrary has lo^ 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 mode^y, would

have admitted in our personal

conferences

CHAPTER VI

Triumphs of Typography

TRIUMPHS OF TYPOGRAPHY

IN gathering together his book treasures, a colledor
naturally approaches the adventure from a personal
^andpoint. Fir^ editions may particularly appeal
to him, or Americana, or his bibliomania may
take the form of subjed coUeding. 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 be^ workmanship of
each epoch, and from them I have learned much
of fascinating intere^ beyond the hi^ory of typog/*
raphy. 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 objeds about us, and Stamps it
with an individuality which responds to our ap^
proach in proportion to our intere^. 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 ^and out from other produds of its period,
we learn contemporaneous hi^ory and become

193

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

acquainted with the personalities of the people and
the manners and cu^oms of the times.

No two countries, since Gutenberg fir^ dis^'
covered the power of individual types when joined
together to form words down to the present day,
have ^ood 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 effed. In some in^ances, the produdion of
fine books made the city of their origin the center
of culture and brought lu^er to the country; in
others, the great ma^er^printers were attraded
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 yu
tally significant efFeds; sometimes their produdion
was the result of conditions equally important.

The fir^ example I should like to own for my
coUedion of typographical triumphs is, of course,
the Gutenberg Bible (opp. page); but with only
forty^five copies known to be in exigence (of

194

Hg.MS'S'"*'

«<4^e

» ^ '5 .S

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

which twelve are on vellum), I mu^ content my>
self with photographic facsimile pages. The copy
mo^ 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 Univer^
sity Library. This makes the Gutenberg Bihle the
mo^ valuable printed book in the world, — six
times as precious as a Shakespeare fir^ folio.
Fortunately, the copies are well distributed, so that
one need not deny himself the pleasure of ^udying
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 ^ill another in the library of the General
Theological School; while the private coUedions
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 Bibliotheque
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 imperfed, and only four are ^ill
in private hands. Of these four, one is imperfed,
and two are already promised to libraries; so the
copy sold in New York may be the la^ ever offered.

196

itdlitifo^DtG et ojjono « * miatf
cu m iKmbahs lifiyfohonterlauite'-
tttuitftalts nibilaramc : 015 Ipmt?
auDct Dnm. jUra fimm^-

ic^' vcttivo trfbttitttiti nUutwnwiw
feu r iilj:tr4M orli^AM | tjcnnnmt

GUTENBERG BIBLE

And here is the end of the fir fl part of
the Bihle, that is to say, the Old Tefia^
ment, rubricated and hound jor Henry
Crenier, in the year of our Lord, one
thousand four hundred and fifty ^ six, on
the feafi of the Apoflle Bartholomew
Thanks be to God. Alleluia

Rubricator's Mark at End of Firfl
Volume of a Defedive Copy in
the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris

IN QUEST OF THE PEKFECT BOOK

The copy I love be^ to pore over is that bound
in four volumes of red morocco, damped with the
arms of Louis XVI, in the Bibliotheque Nation^
ale. This perhaps is not so hi^orical 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 Bibliotheque Nationale is a
defedive paper copy in two volumes in which
appear rubricator's notes marking the completion
of the work as Augu^ 15, 1456. Think how
important this is in placing this marvel of typog^
raphy; for the projed of printing the Bible could
not have been undertaken earlier than Augu^,
145 1, when Gutenberg formed his partnership
with Fu^ and Schoeffer in Mayence.

To a modern archited of books the ob^acles
which the printer at that time encountered, with
the art itself but a few years old, seem insurmount^
able. There was the necessity of designing and
cutting the fir^ 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 correded
the errors of the human hand. The typesetter,

198

\ ,^ r '^ >!i I.aui-fntkLt^Costerus ">^»«^*s jstattucius .

Joai.nci rauitus v Joannes Frobeniua

GUTENBERG, FUST, COSTER, ALDUS, FROBEN
From Engraving by Jacob Houbraken (1698^1780)

TRIUMPHS OF TYPOGRAPHY

John Fuflj from an OU Engraving

in^ead of being secured from an employment
office, had to be made. Gutenberg himself, per^
haps, had to teach the apprentice the method of
joining together the various letters, in a roughly
made composing ^ick of his own invention, in
such a way as to maintain regularity in the di^ances
between the ^ems of the various letters, and thus
produce a uniform and pleasing appearance.
There exited 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 in^ances where it bulges out
on the sides.

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

199

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

to the highe^ point of perfedion, 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 utmo^ arti^ic ta^e
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 aligns
ment of the letters. The glossy blackness of the
ink ^ill remains, and the sharpness of the im^
pression is equal to that secured upon a modern
cylinder press.

It has been climated 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 fir^ 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 reca^,
with minimum shoulder, and the re^ of it was
adually cut down in height to such an extent
that a portion of the curved dots of the /'s was
clipped off.

200

• TRIUMPHS OF TYPOGRAPHY

Monographs have been written to explain the
variation in the size of the type used in different
sedions 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
casing 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 exadly correspond
with those they replaced.

In printing these volumes, the precedent was
e^ablished 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 exad; 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

201

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

insure the development of the new art. Italy, at
the end of the fifteenth century, had become the
home of learning, and almo^ immediately Venice
became the Mecca of printers. Workmen who had
served their apprenticeships in Germany sought
out the country where princes might be expeded
to become patrons of the new art, where manu^
scripts were available for copy, and where a public
exited both able and willing to purchase the
produdls of the press. The Venetian Republic,
quick to appreciate this opportunity, offered its
protedion and encouragement. Venice itself was
the natural market of the world for di^ribution of
goods because of the low co^ of sea transportation.
I have a fine copy of Augu^inus: De Civitate
Dei (pa^e 205) that I discovered in Rome in its
original binding years ago, printed in Jenson's
Gothic type in 1475. On the fir^ page of text,
in bold letters across the top, the printer has placed
the words, Nkolaus Jenson^ Gallicus. In addition to
this signature, the explicit reads:

This work De Civitate Dei is happily completed, hein^
done in Venice hy that excellent and diligent mafierj
Nicolas Jenson, while Pietro Mocenigo was Doge, in
the year after the hirth of the Lord, one thousand four
hundred and seventy five, on the sixth day before the nones

of OMer (2 O&oher)
202

Jlurel^ ^uguftfni opus dc cuifci
tcdd kUdtcr c%p{iciucot\fccm^ ucnc
tgs ab cgitgio 1 diltgcti magiftio TU
c^Uoicnfoml^ctroinojemcbo prin,
dpeiBnno a mtimAic domtm mile
fimo quadringcKfmu) feptuagefimo
qti(nto:fe):to nonas oc(obrc0»

Nicolas Jehsotfs Explicit ani Mark

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

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 mas^
tered 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 intere^ in recognizing his father's
mandate. The Frenchman then set himself up in
Venice, where he contributed largely to the pre^ige
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 co^ 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
mode^, 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

204

ATI di'cet aliqufe I'fta falfa ce mf^
racula:ncc fuifTc facta ($ mdad
tcr fcrtpta :* OLuifquis hoc diciiid dc
bis rcb" negat oio uirUis ce credcdu:
pot ec dicemcc dofoUos cura: mozta^'
lia. Hon mi'm k aliccrcolcnoos e(Te
perfuaremnKitifi mirabtibus opcriij
efFcctibu9:quo2um t biftozia gcntiu5
tci\iQ e(l:qua:5t dq fc oftenrarc mirabi
leo:potiuB g» utikrondercpomeiit*
Un hoc opcre mo:cuiu9 bufic is dcci
mum Ubrum babemua in manibus:
n COB fufcepimus rcfcUaiDCsrqui ucl
ulla ciTe uim dim'nam ncgantmel bu^
mana non curare contenddt:r5 eos 4
n:o dco conditozi fancte t gloitofifi'i''
iTieciuitan's deos fuos pukmincki^
cntcQ cnm dTe ipfum etiam muidi bu^
(u9 uifibilis t mutabihe inuifibile -z i^
cdmutabilem conditotcm t uitc bca''
rem dc bis que condiditifcd de fcipfo
ucrifTimum largtto:em.£iu9 cnim 4)^
pbeta ucraci(Timu9 ait^IDibi autem
odbcrcrc dco bonum eft. Jbc fine nac^
boni infer pbilofopbog querifiad q6
adipifcendum omnia ofFicia referecla
funt.Tlec dijrif ifte:mibi mtem nimis
dmitqe abundare bonum eft:aut infi
gniri purpura 7 fceptro: nd dindhtc
e)ccellerc:auc quod nonnuUi cn'a5 pbi
Ibfopbo^tdice non crubucrunt:mibi
voluptas co2po:i9 bonum e : aut q6
mcliu9 uelut melioieg diccrc uifi (at:
mibi uirtU9 am'mi bonum eft. S^mi
hi inquit adberere deo bonu eft.lDoc
CU5 oocuerancui uni tantummo facu
ficandumifanrri quoqj angcli Icgalia
facrificio2um etiam conreftationcmo
nuerunr.Un ec ipe facrificid ciuf fact'
fuerat:cuiu9 igne mtelligibili cozept"
flrdebat:7in eiu0 ine(fabilcm incojpo
rc6c0 complejcum fancro dcfiderio k
rebatur.*p)0220 autem (i mulrom 60'
rum cuUozcb: qualcfcnnc^ dco9 fuof
<fl*e arbirrentur:ab ei9 facta efTe mira
cuU ud ciuilium rcrum bi(lo:(e;ttcl U

hris ma^dQidncqtiod bondHud pit
tanc cbeurgicis credunc:quid caufc e
cur iUi9 Utcene nolunt credere ifh fac
ta efre:quib»9 tato maio: debet' fides
quanto fup oms e(l magnud: cuimi
(oii facrificandum predpiunt.

<lue ratio fit ttidbiliQ facn'ficq: ^
uni uero t inuifibili deo ofTern oocer
uera reli5io«cap.p^/

lUiautemputant bee uifibilia
^_(acrificia dijff alq9 congrucrcul
lTucrSla:nquam inuifibili inuifibilia
t maiora maio:i: mcUoiiqj meliora:
qualia funt pure mcntiB t bone uolil
tati9 o(ficia:p2ofecto ncfciuntbec ita.
dfe fignailloru5:ficutuerba uelfona
tia figna funt rerum. O.uocirca ficut
orantes atc^ laudantefadeum dirigi
mu9 (i^nifmntce uocegrcuires ipfas
in C02de:qua9 fignificamue offcrim":
ita facrificantcB non alteri uifibile fa''
crifimm offerendum effe nouerimuf:
q> ilU cuittQ in cozdibus noftriB inmd'
bile facrificium nofipfi elTe debemus.
Xunc nobiB faucnt nobifcp congau'
dentratcp ad boc ipfum no9 p20 fuis
uiribuB adiuuantangeU'quicp m'rtu'
tefq^ fupcrio2es:^ ipfa bonitate ac pfe
tate potcntio2e9.Si aut illis bee e^bi
bere voluerimusmon libenter acdpi'
nnt.t cum ad bomincs ita mittuntur
uteo2umprdcntia fennat" aprilTimc
uetant:funt de bis ejrempla in Uis fac
ti9. •jburaueruntquidam deferendu;
angcUf bono2eucl aooranoo uel factt
ficanoo qui debetur deo:-! coium fdc
admontrione piobibituiufTicp fiitbcc
eidefcrre.'cuiuni fm elTe noucrunt.
Jmimti (m angelos fanctos et faneil
boie9 dci. tlampfluluB t bamabas I
If caonia facto quodam miraculo fa'
mtan'sputatifuntdg : ii(c0 lycaon^
^mmolareuictftnas uoUterunt: quod
a fc bumili pietatc remouenrcs ciQ in

Jmson*s Gothic Tyj^e. From Auguftims: De Civitate Dei, Venice, 1475

[Exact size]

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

the scribe. I once saw in an Italian mona^ery a
manuscript volume containing some 600 pages,
in which was recorded the fad 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 mo^ important contribu^
tions were his type designs, based upon the be^
hand lettering of the day. Other designers had
slavishly copied the hand^written letter, but Jen^
son, wise in his acquired knowledge, eliminated
the variations and produced letters not as they ap^
peared upon the hand^written page, but ^andard^'
ized to the design which the arti^^'scribe had in
mind and which his hand failed accurately to
reproduce. The Jenson Roman {pa^e 22) and his
Gothic {piJge 205) types have, through all these
centuries, ^ood as the basic patterns of subsequent
type designers.

Jenson died in 1480, and the foremo^ rival to
his fame is Aldus Manutius, who came to Venice
from Carpi and e^ablished himself there in 1494.
I have often conjedured what would have hap^
pened had this Frenchman printed his volumes in

206

TRIUMPHS OF TYPOGRAPHY

France and thus brought them into competition
with the later produd 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 posi^
tion in the hi^ory of typography can never be
challenged.

For his printer's mark Aldus adopted the fa^
mous 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 Feflma lente, of which perhaps the
mo^ famous translation is that by Sir Thomas
Browne, " Celerity contempered with Cuncta^
tion." 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 !

The printing office of Aldus ^ood near the
Church of Saint Augu^us, in Venice. Here he
in^ituted a complete revolution in the exiting
methods of publishing. The clumsy and co^ly
folios and quartos, which had con^ituted the
^andard forms, were now replaced by crown
odavo volumes, convenient both to the hand and
to the purse.

207

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

" 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 en^
joyment; he should devote himself to honorable

Device of AUus Manutius

labor. Living that is a mere exigence can be left
to men who are content to be animals. Cato com^
pared human exigence to iron. When nothing is
done with it, it ru^s; it is only through con^ant
activity that polish or brilliancy is secured."

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

208

GROLIER IN THE PRINTING OFFICE OF ALDUS
After Painting by Francois Flameng
Courtesy The Grolier Club, New York City

TRIUMPHS OF TYPOGRAPHY

today accepts or declines manuscripts submitted
by their authors, and the editing of such manu^
scripts, if considered at all, is placed in the hands
of his editorial department. Then the "copy"
is turned over to the printer for manufadure. 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 produd and arrange
for its di^ribution because there were no e^ab^
lished book^ores.

The great scheme that Aldus conceived was the
publication of the Greek classics. Until then only
four of the Greek authors, ^sop, Theocritus,
Homer, and Isocrates, had been published in the
original. Aldus gave to the world, for the fir^
time in printed form, Ari^otle, Plato, Thucydides,
Xenophon, Herodotus, Ari^ophanes, Euripides,
Sophocles, Demo^henes, Lysias, ^schines, Plu^
tarch, and Pindar. Except for what Aldus did
at this time, mo^ of these texts would have been
irrevocably lo^ to po^erity.

209

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

When you next see Italic type you will be in^
tere^ed to know that it was fir^ 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 fir^ to use this attradive form of typog^*
raphy. Even in that early day Aldus objeded to
the inarti^ic, 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 mo^ intere^ing book that Aldus
produced was the Hypnerotomaclia Poliphili, —
"Poliphilo's Strife of Love in a Dream." It
^ands as one of the mo^ celebrated in the annals
of Venetian printing, being the only illu^rated
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 in^
genious 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

210

POLIPHILO SEQVITA'NAR.RANDOOLTR.ATAN

TOCONVIVIO VNAELEGANTISSIMA COREA CHE

f VE VNO GIOCO . ET COME LA REGINA AD DVE

PR.AESTANTE PVERE SVE IL COMMISSE.LEQVALE

ELCONDVSER.ON ADMIKAF.E DELITIOSE ET MA^

GNECOSE.ETCONFABVLANDOENVCLEATAMEN

TELA MAESTKOKONO COMMITANTEDALCVNE

D VBIETATE.FINALITER PEK VENERON

AD LE TRE PORTE.ET COME ELLO

RIMANETE NELLA MEDIANA

PORTA.TRA LE AMORO^

SE NYMPHE.

ANTO EXCESSO ET INCOMPARABILE
gloria &triumphi,&inopinabiIctheforo,8c frugalcde/
^^^liric,& fummc pompc,& folcmnc cpulo,8clautiffimo &
|:^^funiptuofo Sympofio.diqucftafalfciffima Scopulen-
^^^riflima Rcginarecctifito,(iio diftindla dc perfinitamen

tclafua praccipuadignitatc nonhaudOTecondignamen
tc exprc{ro,No fcmirauegli dido la curiola turbula.lm perochc qualun-
qucdiacuto ingegno 8ccxpcdito,6cdi prodiga&femlifljmalinguaorna
to&copiofoadqucfto cnucleata.nccoadunatamcntepotrebbc fatiffarc.
Ma molto mcno io chc continuamcntc patiuaper qualunquc intima la
tcbradclmioinferucrccntccorc,laindcfincntepugna,quanmqucabfeii
tc di madona Polia, di omni miauirtutc occuparia & dcpopulabonda
prxdatricc. Dc fora Ic moltc miraueglic.di praecellen ria inauditc di df uer
fitate,cofeiQfuete&diffimilc,incxtimabile&non humane,Impcro allu^
cinato & tutto acqualmcntcppprcflb pcromni mio fcnfo,diftrado per la
fpeftatiflima uarietatclacxceffiuacotcplarioc, di pudo in punfto io no
Io fapcrcipcrfedamentcdcfcriucre,nedignamcccpropalarc. Chiunquc
cogitarcualcriail richo habito &cxqui(ito ornato.Sdcuriofinimo culto
h perfeda & ambitiofa & falcrata bcllccia fcncia alcuno dcfedo,La fum-
mafapieiiria,la Acmiliana cloqucntia. La munificentia piucheregia.
La pridara difpofitionc di Architcftiira,& laobftinata Symmctria di
quefto xdificio pcrfeda & abfoIura^Lanobilicatc dellarccmannoraria.
La dircdione del columnamcnto, Lapcrfedioncdiilatuc.Lornamcn-'
to di paricti , La uariatione di pctrc, II ucflibulo regale, am plifHrno pe^
riftylio , Gli artificiofi pauimenti, Chi crcdcrebbe di quanto luxe & im^

Text Page from Aldus' Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, Venice, 1499 [nxj inches].
It is on this model that the type used in this volume is based

Ho ra quale animalcche per la doIcce(ca,Io occulto dolo non perpen
de,poftpoiieiido el naturaIebi(bgno,retro ad quellainhumana nota fen
ciamoracum uehementiafeftmanteIauia,fo andai. Allaqualc quando
cflfereuenutoragioneuolmentearbitraua.inalrra parte la udfua,Oue 8c
quando a quello loco properantceragiunto.altrondeapparea eflercafHr
mata^Et cufi como gli lochi mutaLia.fimilmente piu fuaueS^dcIedeuo^
leuocemutauacumcalefticoncenti. Dunque per quefta inane farica,
& canto cum molefta Ictecorfo haucndo.me debilitai tanto , chc apena
poteua io el laflb corpo fuften tare. Et gli afFannati fpiriti habili noncffen
do el corpo grauementcaffaticato hogi mai foftcnirc,(i per el tranfa^o pa
uore.fiperla urgente fete, quale per el longo peruagabondo indagare,
&c etiam per le graue anxietate, & per la calda hora , difefo , &c relido
dalle proprie uirtute.altro unquantulo dcfiderando ne appecendo.fc
non ad le debilitate membra quieto ripofo. Mirabondo dellaccidentc
cafo.ftupidodellamellifluauoce.&molto piu per ritrouarme in regio-
ne incognita 8: inculca , ma aflai amcrno paele. Oltra d.e qucfto/ortc
me doleua.chc el liquente fbntc laboriolamente trouato,&:cum tanto
folerte inquifito fuffcfublato & perdito da gliochii mei. Per lequaletu-
tccofe.ioftetti cum lanimo intricato de ambiguiratc,8^ molto trapcn-
foro.Finalmentepcr tanta laflitudinecorreptOjtutto el corpo frigefcen-

lUu^ratei Pa^€ oJAUus Hypnaotomachia Pob'phib', Venice, 1499 [11x7 inches]

GROLIER BINDING

Caftiglione: Cortegiam. Aldine Press, 151 8

Laurenziana Library, Florence

TRIUMPHS OF TYPOGRAPHY

has been identified as one Lucrezia Lelio, daugh^
ter of a jurisconsult of Treviso, who later entered
a convent.

The volume displays a pretentious effort to get
away from the commonplace. On every page
Aldus expended his utmo^ ingenuity in the ar^
rangement of the type, — the use of capitals and
small capitals, and unusual type formations. In
many cases the type balances the illu^rations in
such a way as to become a part of them. Based on
the typographical ^andards of today, some of
these experiments are indefensible, but in a volume
issued in 1499 they ^and as an extraordinary
exhibit of what an arti^ic, ingenious printer can
accomplish within the rigid limitations of metal
type. The illu^rations themselves, one hundred
and fifty^eight in number, run from rigid archie
tedural lines to fanciful portrayals of incidents in
the ^ory. Giovanni Bellini is supposed to have
been the arti^, 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 con^
cessions he received from the Republic, and the

213

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

success accorded to him as a printer, he was able
to eke out but a bare exigence, and died a poor
man. The etching, however, is important as em^'
phasizing the close relation which exited between
the famous ambassador of Francois 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, collect
tors today would be deprived of some of the mo^
intere^ing examples of printing and binding that
they count among their riche^ 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 reW
tions at Casa Alio than the splendid letter which
he sent to Francesco in 15 19, intruding to his
hands the making of Bude's book, De Asse:

214

GROLIER BINDING

Capelk: L'Anthropok^ia Di^akazzo. Aldine Press, 1533

From which the Cover Design of this Volume was adapted

(Laurenziana Library, Florence, yh x 4! inches)

TRIUMPHS OF TYPOGRAPHY

You will care with all diligence, he writes, O mo^ le^
lovei Francesco, that this work, when it leaves your printing
shop to pass into the hands of learned men, may he as correEl
as it is possible to render it. I heartily heg and heseech this
of you. The booh, 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 exaHly, 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. Lafily,
I should wish that nothing be added to the original or taken
from it.

What better conception of a book, or of the
responsibihty to be assumed toward that book,
both by the printer and by the pubHsher, 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 Parted the Reformation, an overwhelming
demand on the part of the people was created for
information and in^rudion. For the fir^ time
the world realized that the printing press was a
weapon placed in the hands of the masses for
defence again^ oppression by Church or State.

215

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

Fran9ois 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 vol^
umes, and printing as an art was for the time
forgotten in supplying the people with books at
low co^.

Francois I, undismayed by the downfall of
the Italian patrons, believed that he could gain
for himself and for France the pre^ige 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
Mxcenas of the arts and the father of letters, and
^ill control the insi^ence of the people, which
increased Readily with their growing familiarity
with their new-found weapon. He determined to
have his own printer, and was eager to eclipse even
the high ^andard the Italian ma^er^printers had
e^ablished.

Robert Etienne (or Stephens), who in 1540 suc^
ceeded Neobar as " Printer in Greek to the King,"
while not wholly accomplishing his monarch's
ambitions, was the great ma^er/printer of his age.
He came from a family of printers, and received
his education and inspiration largely from the

216

ROBERT ETIENNE, 1503^1559

Royal Printer to Franfois I

From Engraving by Etienne Johandia Desrochers (c. 1661^1741)

TRIUMPHS OF TYPOGRAPHY

learned men who served as corredors in his father's
office. Francois proved himself genuinely inters
e^ed in the productions of his Imprimerie Royale,
frequently visiting Etienne at the Press, and en^
couraging him by expending va^ sums for specially
designed types, particularly in Greek. The ^ory
goes that on one occasion the King found Etienne
engaged in correding a proof sheet, and refused
to permit the printer to be di^urbed, insi^ing on
waiting until the work was completed.

For my own colledion of great typographical
monuments I would seled for this period the
Royal Greeks of Robert Etienne. A comparison
between the text page, so exquisitely balanced
(p^e 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 arti^/'printer of that time had not yet grasped
the wonderful opportunity a dtle page offers
for self/' expression. Probably Etienne 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 charaders
marvelously beautiful! They were rightly called
the Royal Greeks I The drawings were made by
the celebrated calligrapher Angelos Vergetios, of
Candia, who was employed by Francois to make

219

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

transcripts of Greek texts for the Royal Colledion,
and whose manuscript volumes may ^ill be seen
in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. Earlier
fonts had been based upon this same principle of
making the Greek letters reprodudions 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 fa^
mous French punchcutter and typefounder. Pierre
Vidoire quaintly comments:

Besides gathering from all quarters the remains of Hellenic
literature^ Francois I added another henefitj itself mofi
valuaUe, to the adornment of this same honorable craft of
printing; for he provided hy the offer of large moneys for the
making of extremely graceful letters^ hoth of Greek and
Latin. In this also he was fortunate, for they were so
nimbly and so delicately devised that it can scarce be con^
ceived 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
irresifiible attra&ion.

Of course, they were too beautiful to be pradical.
In the Roman letters typecutters had already found
that hand lettering could no more be translated

220

T*ri2 KAIN'HS AIAGHKHS X n A N T A*

eY ArrEAION

KctTO MctTSajfOf.

\» ,'

nPAHEI2 TON X no 2X6 A QN.

NouumlESVCliriftiD.N.
Tcilamcntum.

EX BIBLIOTHECA REGIA.

Us UrUr^^ Jujy^S-'$i^'S^^ "i^-,r^^":d .jirJ^ ■ e^y*% ^ '^/t • -^t^^^Jf

L VTETI AE,

Exofiidna Roberti Srcphani rypographi Rcgii.Rcgiis typis.

M. D. . L.

ETIENNE'S ROYAL GREEKS, Pans, 1550
r/f/f Pace (loi X 6 inches)

TRIUMPHS OF TYPOGRAPHY

directly into the form of type than a painting can
be translated diredly into a tape^ry, without
sacrificing some of the charaderi^ic 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 disa^rously to the expense of the produdion.
When Plantin came along, he based his Greek
type upon Etienne's, but his modifications make
it more pradical. Compare the Royal Greeks
with Plantin's Greek on page 231 and see how
much beauty and variety was lo^ in the revision.

Fran9ois I found himself in an impossible posi^
tion between his desire to encourage Etienne in
his publications and the terrific pressure brought
to bear by the ecclesia^ical censors. Ju^ 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 con^
tained. Throughout Robert Etienne's entire tenure
of office there raged a conflid which not only
seriously interfered with his work, but distindly
hampered the developrnent of literature. Had
Francois lived longer, Etienne's volumes might
have reached a level equal to that attained by his
Italian predecessors, but Henri II was no match

221

decent nomina 'W^yTmi^^Tnt^y^dLfAfXdL^
lixii U*GrmiMff^ qux Latine a vctcribus
perc rcddita funr, Penelope, Gram-
matice,epirome.

DE TONIS, TEMPORI-

bus,fpiritibus, & pa(fionibus : qu2C o-
mnia general! roo^^^y^^ eft acccn-
tuu appellatione comprehenduntur.

Toroijfeu accerus funt tres. Acutus'
So^j^'^^^jT^'TrJo/t^y. Grauis^2i^. Cir-
cunflexus"^ •7rDiJ,3oa7^. Acutus attollit
fyllaba quam afficit: Grauis deprimit:
Circunflexus attollit atque deprimit.

X^'roi,ideft Temporaduo, Logum
U Breue : quorum prius hac nota - fi-
gnificatur,& vocali produ(ffac fupcrpo
nitur : Pofterius autem ita notatur ^
Vocalem correptam indicans.

nrrfJfa»7tt,hoceft Spirirus funt duo.
Afper,fiuc denfus * cLf^- Lenis, fiue
tenuis ' «>^. Semper autc vocalis aut
diphthongus initio diftionis alterum

Pa^e showing Etienne's Roman Face [Exafl size]

222

TO KATA MAT0A1ON AFION
ETArrEAION.

vnmmiov<fai/ ijCsv a.M<piO; <UM .

we. 800^:5 *w r.deJ4«^p->ne,4D *-

M/Jv 5 ^,.'vvn«rv Po,S»«^f.. Po^»*^J^ *>t""^- ® A-

Aw.j.E

rt».«/3.A-

Ftr.x'^.A.
«. Mr.H

a.TTop./S.A

«e.Btt».(«-.A

/5.Baif.i5.Z

/.Baj.ica.A
et.Wiie.}., r
<f.Ect,r.)t>.H
«. «./i. A

«.naf •>. r

ETIENNE'S KOYAL GREEKS

Text Paae (loi x 6 inches)

From Novum Jem Chrifli D. N. Teflamentum, Pans, 1550

TRIUMPHS OF TYPOGRAPHY

for the censors. In 1552 Robert Etienne, worn out
by the con^ant druggies, transferred his office to
Geneva, where he died seven years later. His son
Henri continued his work, but except for his
Thesaurus pToduccd little of typographical intere^.

Had it not been for this bitter censorship, France
might have held her supremacy for at lea^ another
half'century; but with the experiences of Robert
Etienne ^ill in mind, it is easily underwood why
the Frenchman, Chri^ophe Plantin, in whom
surged the determination to become a ma^er^
printer, sought to e^ablish 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 Nether^
landers in commerce as a result of their genius and
enterprise later Simulated their intere^ in matters
of religion, politics, and literature. Ju^ 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 in^
telledual atmosphere ^ill obtained, there was
no country in the world in which culture and
intelligence were so generally diffused during the

223

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

sixteenth century. How much more than typo>'
graphy 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 diredion of Antwerp, one entire quarter of
that city was devoted to the manufadure of books.
This apparently discouraged him, for at fir^ he
e^ablished 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^filedged printer and
publisher, soon demon^rating his right to recog^
nition as the ma^er^-printer of his time.

By this time the words of Luther had attraded
the attention of the Chri^ian world more par^
ticularly than ever to the Bible. The people con^
sidered 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 greater importance to the possession of
the mo^ authentic edition of the original text.
What more glorious task, then, could a printer
take upon himself than to provide corred texts,
to translate them with scrupulous exaditude, and
to produce with the greater perfedion the single
book upon which was based the welfare of men
and of empires !

224

CHRISTOPHE PLANTIN, 1514x1589
From Engraving by Edme de Boulonois (c. 1550)

TRIUMPHS OF TYPOGRAPHY

This was the inspiration that came to Chri^ophe
Plantin, and which gradually took form in the
Biblia Poly^htta, 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 (pa^e 230). On the right-hand page
the Greek version would be printed, and beside
it a Latin translation (pa^e 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
druggie that occurred between Frankfort, Heidel^
berg, 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 ^ipulated,
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.

227

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

In February, 1565, Plantin employed Robert
Grandjon, an engraver of Lyons, to cut the Greek
charaders for the work, basing his font upon the
Royal Greeks. They are Hill beautiful because
they are ^ill unpradical, but they cannot compare
with their models any more than later fonts of
Greek, cut with the rigid requirements of typog>
raphy 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 Be, of Paris, Hautin of Ro-'
chelle. Van der Keere of Tours, and Corneille
Bomberghe of Cologne.

The eight massive parts of the Bihlia Poly^lotta
appeared during the years 1568 to 1573. The fir^
volume opens with a splendid engraved title,
representing the union of the people in the Christ
tian faith, and the four languages of the Old
Te^ament (opp. pcige). In the lower, right-hand
corner appears the famous Plantin mark. Im^
mediately following are two other engraved plates
{page 212), illu^rative as well as decorative in
their nature. One of these pages gives to the faiths
less 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 ihiu

228

IBLIA SACRA

PLANTiN'S BIBLIA POLYGLOTTA, Antwerp, 1568

Title Page

(13 J X 8t inches)

PRAEFATI O

nam bene confetti itineris gloria conn:et,impnmiscognorcerc,
exploratumq. habere maximeconuenit.Vcrumenimucro com-
munis cuiufdam humansenaturse hoftis 5c aduerfarii infcnfifsi-
'mi callidaexcogitataque maIicia&operaaccidit,vthxctam pro-
pria &nece(raria,quam mdicauimus,m hominibus notitia pcr-
turbata fuerit jVtjpoflquamhomo dcproprio illuftri Sccclfo fta-
tu conuulfus, deque adiun6tis vltra naturalem facultatcm exdi-
uina gratia magnarum dotum prsfidiis dciedlusin cum locum,
quern nunc tenet, mifere deuenit , fi tan turn homo & nullo pra:-
terea maiori auxilio inflrud:us,nuIIo fuperiori duce vfus , nulla
maioriluceilluil:ratusfuerit,quamuismultumcogiter,conie(5lcr,
atque exerceatur, nunquam tamen tantum cogitatione & notitia
confequatur, vt maxima Sccopiofifsima pars earum rerum quas
cognouerit&explorauerit,cumminimaearum,quasignorat,por-
tioneconferricomparariq. pofsit(vtdealiarum ctiam virtutum
damno in ilia prima ruina accepto nihil impr^efentiam dicamus)
itavtpoft multumfludium,multamqueoperam adhibitam,ta.
men inplurimis rebus atque rationibus, quas fibi notas explora-

tarquee(rearbitretur,falli,labi,atqueerrare tandem deprehcnda-
tu r, Quanqua enim humana mens veri inueniendi & cognofceh .
diauida&capaxnaturafua, atque adeo inuenti amantifsima fit:
quod tamen ad illiusinuentionemratiocinationeplerunquevta-
turifxpenumeroacciditex permixta boni6c mali,quapr2Editus
eft,cognitione, atq. ex communis aduerfarii artibus & dolis, vt aut
m ipfo ratiocinandi vfu , vel male explicandis initiis , vel perpera
ineunda ratione,decipiatur. Aliquando enimfalfa pro veris, in-
certa pro certis admittuntur, ex quibus nihil verum , nihilve ccr-
tum deduci queat: & tametfi maxime certaatque explorata prin-
cipia fint3 tamen quod cum propofiti & qusefiti generis latione
non cohxreant,totamargumentationem labeFaa:ant, Quod d
banc cognitionis primam lucem turbatam & obfcuratam eflc
contingat,c2teram omnem adlionem & vitxhinc inftituendx
Viamvel pcmerfam, vel certeancipitem, atque dubiam fore nc-

ceflc

Pa^e of Preface from Plantins Biblia Polyglotta, Antwerp, 1568 [ijl x$^ inches]

•]-r m in3i inn nn'n pXDV = r'>*^' "
•%' nsnit; o'nSx nni mnn ':3"Vy
T.x-'n'a\nVxn3X^v iCD'pn'JS

V"i30 'nn 2'3n -^inn y pn 'iT o'nSj^ noxn*
^'3S-in'irpin'r>^°'!^*^'^*^i?'.V • °'9^°'?)*?
y'p'P, ^>P ">y N 3'2n ^^3i j;'pnS nnnn t:?x b'pn
3ny-'n'i l3^^ y* y^p")S CD'ribx xnpn » : p-'nn
D'on -np> D'nbx nox :•! * : 'p ovyxm'}

-•n-1 r\:jTr\ nxnrn inx czDipO'Vx brq*i*n nnnp
xnp 3'3n mp::Si pxhw'2>S 'o^nSx xnpn* : p -
X'Ji^in a^nSx "loxn » : 31u-'D D\nSx xnn CD'p* ■ ■
ij-aS ns mu'i? na ^7 ynt i;nT3 3-iy:;,x ^n pxn
Xy-(\nxnxvini- '.p-^nnpxn-S^nriynnjyx ■■
•\2-^^-\] n-o'X na-.—T^:':; ^itmn^^pS ynj j;n;p 2V^,
n-^-'nn 3-iy-'n'T ' : 3id-'3 CD'nbx xTvnp'nS ■
I,>-i-3 ;nx2 >n^ D'riSx n3x;i * : yh,^ ov >

rnn^s':' vr}^ nS'Sn ]'3i cz:rri ^^aVnanS 0'bi?n
pp-\2 m-nxoS vni * : [=:':-c;i d'O'Si onyioSi >
CD nSx w*j;n - : p-'n^i \nxn-S;;-i'xnV o'i'^n ■
riS-i*o:iS Si3n mxpn-nx D'Sian nnxan 'y:^'nii.
r-nxT r-iV*7n nSp'oaS 'ppn -iixpn-nxi CDvn
-\'xnS D^p->i'n i;>pn3 D'hVx onx ^nn* : Q^asi^n ■
-nxn ]^pSn3nSi nS>S3i nvibvn^) * : vj^O'^j; ■
-^nn 3-ir'nn * *. 3iu-''3.iZD>nbx X"|>.\"|;:?nn ]>3i ■
p-j D^an iv^.>i'' dmSx naxn * : 'p3n av npi ^
: a"3w"n y^pn >:3-Sj;pxn-Sj; C]2"ij;' £]ij-n n.'n z'S}

Cttitiii. Trannat.B.Hicrony. Creatio.

Capvt primvm. ,

N principiocrcauitDcu?cat-

Itiin&: terra. * Terra autcm

crat inanis & vacua : & tcnc-

brjEcrant fupcr facie nbyfsi: ^^

— «■ ^x:z-v -» ^ fpiritus Dei fcrcbator fu • m».u

, per aquas. ' Oixitq,. Deus.Fiatliix-Etfadacft

4 lux. * Et vidit Deus luccm quod eflct bona:6c

, diuifitlucem atencbris. * Appellauitqj luccm

diem;&: tenebras node. Fadumq; eft vcfpcrc

( & mane dies vnus. * Dixit quoquc Ccus.Fiat

firmamentii in medio aquarum ; & diuidat a-

7quasabaquis. *Et fecit Deus fitinamcntutn,

diuifitq; aquas qua: erant fub fiimamcnto, ab

his quxerantfuper firmamentii. Et&£luracft

8 ita. * VocauitqiDeus firmam€ntu,cduin: 8c

fadum eft vefperc, & mane dies fccundus.
, * Dixit verb Deus , Congicgentur aquiqu*
fubc^lo funt.in locum vnum:& apparcatari-
,0 da.Et fadum eft ita. * Et vocauit Deus ari.la,
terram:congrcg3tione(a; aquarum nppellauit
1 1 maria. Et vidic Deus quod c/Tct bonum. * Et
B ait, Gcrminet terra hcrba virentcm & ficicn-
tem fcmcni & ligniimpomifciii faciens frudu
iuxta genus (uum, cuius (cmcn in femctipfofic
1 fupcr terram.Etfadu ell ita. *Et protulit terra
hcrbamvirtntc.&facicntcfemen iuxta genus
fuu;Iign umq; faciens frudui&:habcnsvnum»
quodq; {cmcntcm fccundu (pccicmfuam • Et
) vidit Deus quod elTet bonum. * Et fadum eft
4 vefpere Sc mane dies tcrtius. *DixitautcDcus,
Fiant luminaria in firmament© carli; &diui- 't.
danc dicm ac node ; &: fint in figna & tcpora
: s Sc dies & annos:*Vt luccat in hrmamctocili,
I* SrillumincntterrlEtfadumcftita. *Fecitc|;
Deus duo luminaria magna: luminarcmaius
vt pnEclTt t dici: &: luminarc minus,vtprqe(Tci
17 nodi: &.'ft;cllas. *Et pofuitcasDeusinfirma-
l s mcto cili, vt luccret fupcr terra: *£t pr^eflent
dici ac nodii&diuidcrent luccm ac tenebras.
i» Et vidit Deus quod eflct bonu.* Et fadumcft.
to vcfpcrc, & mane dies cjuartus. * Dixit ctiain
Deus, Producantaqui reptile animiviucntis,
& volatile fupcr terrain fub firmamentocilL

('Dip3

h-j sn-i'JO ''H smil NOinn 'BN-Sy N3itm Kjjpii snv n^ri n^tn) * s t^jris n;i njdiJ n; »;' Ki.a
i-'iiN:'iin3j'3".'»cnasoD'"iKK'iinjn'.'}'i»jni* :s;iinjn;ni K"iin3Krivi'"i0Ni * iN^a»3x
H'o my'i-n3 N^'i?"i sn) "; iski * j in aav lav njrii ©o"i n;ni n>VV tM^p N?nrfriSi sor N^iruS »v K*3i>i ' t s?i«!n

visipi* !]^^>^yN^y'p■1V^J^07^4'OJ'51^<l;'p■^VJ^!'^p^e<;D r?«'">SNiNy;pin:':>i3yi' icsijoVt^lPrg un.aosri'i
Mipi ' ° : ip nini xnan; 'tniVii in nris*? s;p^ mnnp n;p poBri^ »;' ^p^■1 ' i jon di> lav njrn icpi rrni n;ow w?p")V

135; ji-i? jV^j yi.-ip nv^! ^4^ n?^'V nsriT sins 'K-^n ';' lat-i " 1 39 ns »» k jni 'P'. M-ip k»o mioo? noVi tqns NniiJa'S «
ny-ii -1T1 1'-ia 123; jVsi 'nuiS yiTip n5rin?'? Njn'py HNn-i k^n npssi " : ip nin? t«pK Sv na runi irj 'rJUfV P*
N5 ?o' I'P Kai.asV s:pot sypia I'lnj pn; '2' "ipsi ' * i 'xn'Sn di> lav n;ni cpi nini ' ' i au ns ';» stm. 'nuiSrij

»:< lajn ' * 1 13 nini K5r!!<'7J? >ii.n^f«!'? m:P'?T N»5ri?13 P^Ji^V P-T} ' ' i i»j^ i'm» pro 'JopSi pwiS' rnt^V P'"''? ^^V? r5»
N«i'p"^3 '" P'"'^'. 3n'> ' ' ! k:?312 ri!l t*'.'''"?? D^«'p'7 Nil'Vi M"?iru rri iMpp'3 taVppV nj^t n-vin) n; raiari pniru j'in""n»
n;n] tp-» mini " :3a nx ';> Mini ><3i\pn pai N"iin^ pa s^iposS loVSai Mpp>a oSippS " J :«yns! 'niiinr^K'j m'ip*!

Text Page of Phntins Biblia Polyglotta, Antwerp, 1568 [ijixSl inches]

liUtrp.cxGrarc.lAX.

«iS^^L>?^»

Cap vT r K I M V m.
K prwcipinfecit Dciu u!um (^
terrli. At terunjt t'tuifibihs et
incopo[itAyitte'i(brxjuper(tl'yf-
juin-.cj- (fill itHS Dei jcrebjiturru
pci- j/jKjw. *Et dixit Deitj ,Fut
lii.y. oy !■'(■■: 1^7 / < \.'Lt Vuht !)(:<! luce, quod bonji:
C,^ tt;:ii'_:t l)i::s wtcr l:<c:/>/, 0" niter teiielrdi. * Et
/xvf. (■//.• Dens hue die: Q/ tenebr.ti '-„o(M'.it noElc:
(ly j ulit <■// veipere ; CP~ fiicli't efl Hi.i/je, dies Vfius.
; :'i\:r!'eus,-l-i.it fir//uwe>::iiiii!nedw.(fji<^: i^"
(i: liitiidis liner ,iqiii,Qj Aqu'/tr Et fecitDeiis frm.t
t/;c'.!:i,;j~ diiiiJJt Dciis inter jqii.lyqux erjtjiibfir-
t/i ii/.ttoi^" inter aquj^qiix juper prm.wieiitii^ Et i
"Viicirit Denijiiirt.wientii ctlii: (y-VidiC Deiit,qtiod
b-i>::!. I ificl'.i ef "v.ff'ere^Qj fi.nil efl WMje,dies fe-
ci:i/ '/.*/; r dixit DetiSyCogregetur uqu4 qusjubealo, ■
irn^-.'rei.itwneyfii^isr appureit aridA. Et f.icluell
j/.i 1 ; .-(^/iv^.'.J efl aquu qu.cfub c^eloytn cooreaitw-
n ' : •i:e: jpp.:rui[.:rid.t.'EtVnc.uiit Dc"S Arid.l, >
/i, ( .:.et (ogrc'Kitiones aqujrii,VK.i»it M.iri.i.Et "Vl
dit l'):::sqiwd bona, 'i't dixit Dei'sfienrmcttcrr.t 1 1
heiij 'ai'i JewwAiite fine feciindii ren.'/fetf.ciindti
jiin:!itiidiiic-(y-lignilpomiferiifjcicnsfiiicli<,ci<ius
jtii.einnfi !i m ipjo j.cH'idi't genm fnper terra. Et ft'
tliiin c[l itt. ' Et protulit ten^A herba lanijemmantif i ■
ftinenjei u>idugen:is (^ jecttndil (imihtudinf.i^lt-
gn:: I'cw.Ja-ii fjciensfrifSlii, cuius feme etus in tpfo,
fec:'Kdan^cn!<sfupertcrra.€fvtdirDeusquodbo-
nii. "■ ! t fu'{nej}yefj)cre,^ fHuefl mAne.,dits ter i;
tilt*. I tdi\:the(rs:Fiant luwinariainfr/naffiCto n
C£'.i,vt I ■c.-.t'it juoertei-ra^uddiuidendion inter die,
i_-~ inter uocle^yj;- fint in fgni,i^ in tepor.t, (g^ m
die ryes' in Annas. 'Ltfii.tmi'duminitwueinfrtnA i.
mar II' ill, vt Leunt fuper terrAm.Etfnii efita.
* El fi It Deiis duolumiMAriAmJgnAilitlninAre WA- m
gnu III pivjcip it:is diei: CS" l»"iinArt>)iinus in prw-
Cipit !itwF{is:et jlell.:!.' Et pofiit etts Dens in jirmA ir
niii- (.ilr.vtliicirct jiipcr taraf' F.tpraejfntdiei, it
C^n hIi, c^di iidciet inter I tfi'ct inter tenebr.t.'ict
tidit De'/tquodboni:.^ Etf.icliiefl VelJ>ere, (s~fi^'*

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^lurepii'iiA'iitniriiviiientiiiyQ^vuLudiAVolatu , i [ ''^y^'^^ ''^^^'^~Siip7riTdypv;i^Mii ^eoTuy,<^7riTmdri}oiAjx
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•TRANSLATIO.

CHALOAICAE PARAJ'HRASIS

IC A r V T P R 1 M V M.
N- prjnopK, crciuit Dcus c.tlu.h & tmimu •; 'Terra .mtn, cu: dd.rta Sr v.uo.; *: KncKrx f.>pcr fuicmohylT : «c^M.,ms D«

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b,:n.num<-n.L,mmmc>l,oaqujr.,m:&d,u,J« inter aquas &a<lu»s. 'EtfccKDcusfirma.neniumr.&dmiliiimr.a.iius ouxrn.nluU!
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jn..u.> .„cn,h..b.T. cu».,hl..»fcn,fn.,.l.m>na(ur: arborcmquc f>u.1,fcran,f;u-,cntrm fru-Sus (cf undum ,;cnu$ (ou.n; .u,»s filius (anrnti Ja

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d...< ). «s , Sint lilmmana m hrmamcnto cxli . v. d.uidii,t ,nier dion & noftcm : & fin: m (igna &; .n icmpora . & v, n.,;m,cn,ur Dcr «
dies \ ann, . E, nncjn lutninat.i .n hnnamrnto czli ad illuminandum fupcr icrram : Be fu.t ita. " 1.. (Vcii 1 Kus di,o lumin » .a m. 'n. lu

«ina,rnu,uvv,dom,narctutmd..:5.lummaremmu,.»,dotn.narc,urmrodlc:&ft,:ll«. "Etpofuitca. IJc»,in(i„„amr,„orali vl.I'L.na"-'
dum r>,pct tar.m, Ct vt domm .rcnt.ir .n d.c & .anoae;& ,t dm.dercnt .ntrr luce Sc tcnebra..& viditOcus 0..6.I r'l. , h..n,, " P, fu vrfL^rc
kfu:..mnc,J,c.q»urtu.. £''l"«P'U«.Se'P*n.»qurrcpu^Mun« v.uctir&aocm<iu«YoUfuj.ciurului-.rf.c,cacr,ihtmamci,<icxlorrr*

TfA-f Ptf^f ofPhntins Biblia Polyglotta, Antwerp, 1568 [ij\x8\ inches]

PLANTIN'S BIBLIA POLYGLOTTA, Ant\^'erp, 1568

Second Paoe
(i3i X 8 J inches)

TRIUMPHS OF TYPOGRAPHY

teenth 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 im^
perial 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 dis^
count to libraries. One of the vellum copies was
presented by the King to the Pope, another to the
Duke of Alba, and ^ill 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 inexpen^
sive way of escaping his obligations. The world
acclaimed a new ma^er^printer; but these honors
meant little to pressing creditors.

What a series of misfortunes Plantin endured!
Stabbed by a miscreant who mi^ook him for
some one else; hampered by censorship in spite of
previous assurances of liberty in publications; his
propert)^ wiped out again and again by the clashes
of arms which finally co^ Antwerp her pre^emi^
nence; forever in debt, and having to sell his books
below co^, and to sacrifice his library to meet
pressing financial obligations; — yet always rising

233

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

above his calamities, he carried on his printing
office until his death in 1589, when he left a
comfortable fortune of above $200,000.

Hi^orically, Plantin's contribution to the art of
printing can scarcely be over climated, yet techni/'
cally he should be included in the second rather
than the fir^ group of early ma^er^printers. The
century that had elapsed since Gutenberg had
removed many of the mechanical difficulties which
had been ob^acles 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. Prints
ing machinery could be purchased in^ead of
being manufadured from original models. The
sale of books had been greatly sy^ematized. 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 e^ablished 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^aw, Moretus, Plantin
made the intere^ing injundion that the printing
office was always to be maintained by the son or
successor who was mo^ competent to manage it.
If no son qualified, then the successor mu^ be

234

TRIUMPHS OF TYPOGRAPHY

seleded outside the family. Fortunately, however,
there were sons who, each in his generation but
with diminishing ability, proved his right to as^'
sume the responsibility, and the business was
adually 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.

I never visit the Plantin Museum at Antwerp
without feeling that I have come closer to the
old ma^er^printers and their ideals. Here is the
only great printing e^ablishment of the pa^ that
time and the inroads of man have left intad. The
beauty of the building, the harmony of the sur^
roundings, the old portraits, the comfort yet the
ta^e shown in the living-rooms, — all show that
the arti^^printer sought the same elements in his
life that he expressed in his work. Entering from
the Marche du Vendredi, I find myself face to
face with a small tablet over the door on which is
the device of Christophe Plantin, " fir^ 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 com^
passes so that one leg ^ands at re^ while the other
describes a circle, enclosing the legend Lahore et
Confiantia. Within the house one finds the adual

^35

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

types, and presses, and designs by Rubens and
other famous arti^s, that were employed in making

Device of Chriflophe Phntln

the Plantin books. The rooms in which the
ma^er^printer lived make his personality very real.
In those days a man's business was his life, and

236

TRIUMPHS OF TYPOGRAPHY

the home and the workshop were not far separated.
Here the family Hfe 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 sugge^s something particularly choice and
unique in the making of books. These volumes
cannot compare favorably with many produds of
the press which preceded and followed them, yet
the pre^ige which attended their publication has
endured down to the present day. The original
popularity of the Elzevirs was due to the fad that
after a century of degradation, some one at la^
undertook to reclaim printing from the depths.

Printing, after reaching such heights so soon
after its beginnings, had Readily declined. The art
may really be said to have had its origin in Italy,
as the work from Gutenberg's office, while extras
ordinary and epoch-making, could not rank with
the be^ of the fifteenth^century Italian produdions.
The French volumes of the early sixteenth century
were splendid examples of typography and press^
work, but they did not equal those of their Italian
predecessors. Christophe Plantin's work in Ant^
werp was typographically unimportant except for
his Biblia PolygloUa\ and after Plantin, which takes

237

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

us to the end of the sixteenth century, printing
passed from an art into a trade. The Elzevirs were
craftsmen rather than arti^s, but the be^ craftsmen
of their period.

All this was a natural readion. 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 co^. As we have seen, Sweynheim and
Pannartz had ruined themselves by their experi^
ments in Greek ; the Aldine Press was saved from
bankruptcy only by the intervention of Grolier.
Henri Etienne, son of the great Robert Etienne,
who endeavored to emulate his father's splendid
work, came to financial grief in producing his
Thesaurus ; and Plantin could not have with^ood
the ^rain of his Biblia PolygloUa had it not been
that he was commercially far^'sighted enough to
turn his plant over to the manufadure of inex^
pensive 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 produd largely replaced
the soft, fine paper of Italian and French manu^
fadure which had contributed in no small part to
the beauty of the printed pages. Ink manufadurers
had learned how to produce cheaper and poorer

238

TRIUMPHS OF TYPOGRAPHY

ink, and the types themselves, through con^ant
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 deva^ations
of war had brought trade to a ^and^ill in the
Netherlands, while the city of Leyden had won
the attention and admiration of the world for
its heroic resi^ance 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 intelledual and literary center of
Europe.

Thither the battle-scarred Plantin betook him^
self at the sugge^ion of Lipsius, the hi^orian, who
was now a professor in the new University. In
Leyden, Plantin e^ablished a branch printing
office. He was made Printer to the University, and
for a time expeded 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 in^ead
of turning it over to his son^in^law, Raphelengius.

239

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

This Elzevir, however, although the founder of
the great Elzevir house, was not a pradical printer,
being more intere^ed in bookselling and pub^
lishing; so di^indion 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, Ccesar, and Pliny.

Up to this time the {^.vontc 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, show^
ing no special originality but based on good
Italian models, and issued editions which at fir^
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 connexion with these
trifling little volumes with such slender type."

Contrary to this predidion, the new formaf
gradually gained favor, and finally became firmly
e^ablished. The be^ publisher^printers in France
and Italy copied the Elzevir model, and the folios
and the quartos of the preceding ages went en^
tirely out of ^yle.

240

Cernel. O.liu/ctU Seu^tif.

LVGD.BATAVORyM,
£pc O0ieifUL Elxeviriaina. A'.jS^j.

ELZEVIR'S TERENCE, 1635
Engraved Title Page [Exad size]

ELZEVIR'S TERENCE, Leydcn, 1635
Text Pages [4x2 inches]

TRIUMPHS OF TYPOGRAPHY

The Terence of 1635 ^s the volume I seleded
for my colledion (pa^e 242). While not really
beautiful, it is a charming little book. The
copper^plate title {pa^e 241) serves not only its
original purpose but is also an illu^ration. The
Elzevirs were wise enough to go back a hundred
years and revive the pradice of the copper opiate
title, which had been discarded by intermediate
printers because of its expense. The types them^
selves, far superior to other fonts in use at that time
by other printers, were especially designed for the
Elzevirs by Chri^offel van Dyck. The interspace
ing of the capitals and the small capitals, the
arrangement of the margins, and the general lay^
out all show ta^e and knowledge of typographical
precedent. The presswork would appear to better
advantage except for the impossibility of securing
ink of consi^ent 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 Hit of volumes which were disposed of
through connedions e^ablished in the principal
book centers of Italy, France, Germany, and Scan-^
dinavia, as well as throughout the Netherlands
themselves. There is no record of any Elzevir
publication proving a failure; but, by the same

243

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

token, one cannot say that the Elzevirs accom^
plished as much for the art to which they devoted
themselves as did the ma^er^printers in whose
^eps 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 again^ books
made at the same time in Venice by Jenson, and
were not equal to these Italian ma^erpieces. I
have a leaf from a Caxton volume which I often
place beside my Jenson volume, and the compari^
son 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 ^ood out, at the
moment of its publication, as the be^ of its time.

John Baskerville is one of the mo^ unique
charaders to be found in the annals of printing.
He had been in turn a footman, a writing teacher,
an engraver of slate grave^ones, and the proprie^
tor of a successful japanning e^ablishment. He
showed no special intere^ in types or books until
middle age, and after he had amassed a fortune.
Then, suddenly, he designed and cut types which

244

(1706^1775)

TRIUMPHS OF TYPOGRAPHY

competed successfully with the famous Caslon
fonts, and produced his Virgil which, as Ben^*
jamin Franklin wrote in presenting a copy to the
Harvard College Library, was "thought to be
the mo^ curiously printed of any book hitherto
done in the world." Macaulay called it, " The
fir^ of those magnificent editions which went forth
to a^onish all the librarians of Europe."

The Baskerville types were at fir^ received with
scant praise, although even the severed critics ad^
mitted that the Italic charaders, 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 intere^:

Let me give you a pleasant iniiance of the prejudice some
have entertained again fl your work Soon after I returned,
discoursing with a gentleman concerning the artifis ofBir^
mingham, he said you would he the means of blinding all the
readers of the nation^for the firokes 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 objeSl 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 flroke which

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

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 charaEler a^ainfl 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.

Yefierday he called to visit me, when, mischievously lent
to try his judgment, I fiepped into my closet, tore off the
top of Mr. Caslons 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
hfe 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
in fiances of that disproportion; and declared, that he could
not then read the Specimen without feeling very flrongly 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.

The Virgil itself, beyond the intere^ that exi^s
in its type, shows grace and dignity in its composi^

246

PUBLII VIRGILII

M AR O N I S

B U C O L I C A,
G E O R G I C A,

E T

AE N E I S.

BI RM IXG HAMIAE:

Typis JOHANNIS BASKERVILLE.
MDCCLVIL

Title Pa^e of Bashrvilk's Virgil, Birmingham, 1757 [8hx$i inches]

p. VIRGILII MAROXIS

BUCOLICA

EC LOG A I. cui nomen TlTTRUS.

Meliboeus, Tityrus.

TiTYRE, tu patulas recubans fub tegmine fagi
Silveftrem tenui Mufam meditaris avena:
Nos patriae fines, et dulcia linquimus arva;
Nos patriam fugimus : tu, Tityre, lentus in umbra
5 Formofam refonare doces Amaryllida filvas.
T. O Meliboee, Deus nobis haec otia fecit:
Namque erit ille mihi Temper Deus: illius aram
Saepe tener noflris ab ovilibus imbuet agnus.
Ille meas errare boves, ut cemis, et ipfum
10 Ludere, quae vellem, calamo permifit agrefti.

M. Non equidem invideo; miror magis : undique totis
Ufque adeo turbatur agris. en ipfe capellas
Protenus aeger ago : hanc edam vix, Tityre, duco:
Hie inter denfas corylos modo namque gemellos,
15 Spem gregis, ah! filice in nuda connixa reliquit.
Saepe malum hoc nobis, fi mens non laeva fuiflet,
De coelo tadas memini praedicere quercus:
Saepe finiftra cava praedixit ab ilice cornix.
Sed tamen, ifle Deus qui fit, da, Tityre, nobis.
20 T. Urbem, quam dicunt Romam, Meliboee, putavi
Stultus ego huic noflras fimilem, quo faepe folemus
Paftores ovium teneros depellere foetus.
Sic canibus catulos Cmiles, fie matribus hoedos

A Noram;

Text Page of BasherviUe's Virgil, Bimm^am, 17$7 lS\x(,i inches]

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

tion and margins. For the Etii time we have a type
title {pa^e 247) that shows a printer's appreciation
of its possibihties. Baskerville affeded extreme
simplicity, employing no head or tail pieces and
no ornamental initials to accomplish his effeds

{page 2^9).

The copy of Baskerville's Virgil in my library
contains a copper^plate frontispiece. The advert
tisement which particularly emphasized this feature
excited my curiosity, as no book of Baskerville's
is known to have contained illu^rations. When
I secured the copy I found that the frontispiece was
a ^eel engraving damped on water^marked paper
which indicated its age to be at lea^ two hundred
years earlier than the publication of the book. The
owner of this particular copy had inserted the
illu^ration 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 e^ablishment. Baskerville
is entitled to the credit of having been the fir^
printer to use highly finished paper, and, beyond

250

TRIUMPHS OF TYPOGRAPHY

this, as Dibdin says of him, " He united, in a
singularly happy manner, the elegance of Plantin
with the clearness of the Elzevirs."

Intere^ in the Baskerville books, and in fad
in all books printed in what is known as "old^
^yle" type, ceased suddenly with the inexplicable
popularity attained about 1800 by the so-called
"modern" face. The charaderi^ics of the old^
^yle letter are heavy ascending and descending
^rokes 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 de^royed
the matrices of their old^^yle faces, believing that
the call for them had forever disappeared. As a
matter of fad, it was not until the London pub^
lisher Pickering revived the old^^yle letter in
1844, ^hat the modern face had any competition.
Since then the two ^yles have been maintained
side by side.

251

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

Thus the second supremacy of France came from
a change in pubHc ta^e rather than from economic
causes. For a time there was a que^ion whether
Bodoni would win the di^indion for Italy or the
Didots for France, but the French printers pos^
sessed a typographical background that Bodoni
lacked, and in their Racine produced a ma^er^'
piece which surpasses any produdion from the
Bodoni Press. The Didots were not only printers
and publishers, but manufadured paper and in^
vented the process of ^ereotyping. While Min^
i^er to France, in 1780, Benjamin Franklin
visited the Didot e^ablishment, and, seizing the
handle of a press, ^ruck off several copies of a
form with such professional familiarity as to cause
a^onishment.

"Don't be surprised," Franklin exclaimed
smiling. " This, you know, is my real business."

In 1797, the French Miniver of the Interior
placed at the disposal of Pierre Didot Fame that
portion of the Louvre which had formerly been
occupied by the Imprimerie Royale, Here was be^
gun, 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
ma^er^printer worthy to assume the mantle of

252

DIDOT'S RACINE, Pans, 1801

A Frontispiece

OEUVRES

JEAN RACINE

TOME PREMIER.

A PARIS,

DE L'IMPRIMERIE DE PIERRE DIDOT L'AtNfi,

AU PALAIS NATIONAL DES SCIENCES ET ARTS.

AN IX; M. DCCCI.

Title Page ofDiclot's Racine, Paris, 1801 [12x8 inches]

LA THEBAIDE,

LES FRERES ENNEMIS,

TRAGfiDIE.

ACTE PREMIER.

SCENE L

JOCASTE, OLYMPE.

JOCASTE.

Ils sont sortis, Olympe? Ah! mortelles douleurs!
Quun moment de repos me va couter de pleurs!
Mes yeux depuis six mois etoient ouverts aux larmes,
Et le sommeil les ferme en de telles alarmes!
Puisse plutot la mort les fermer pour jamais,
Et m'empecher de voir le plus noir des forfaits!
Mais en sont-ils aux mains?

8 LES FRERES ENNEMIS.

OLYMPE.

Du haut de la muraille
Je les ai vus deja tous ranges en bataille;
J'ai vu deja le fer briller de toutes parts;
Et pour vous avertir j'ai quitte les remparts.
J'ai vu, le fer en main, £teocle lui-meme;
II marche des premiers; et, d'une ardeur extreme,
11 montre aux plus hardis a braver le danger.

JOCASTE.

N'en doutons plus, Olympe, ils se vont egorger.
Que Ton coure avertir et hater la princesse;
Je I'attends. Juste ciel, soutenez ma foiblesse!
II faut courir, Olympe, apres ces inhumains;
II les faut separer, ou mourir par leurs mains.

Nous voici done, helas! a ce jour detestable
Dont la seule frayeur me rendoit miserable!
Ni prieres ni pleurs ne m'ont de rien servi;
Et le courroux du sort vouloit etre assouvi.

0 toi, Soleil, 6 toi qui rends le jour au monde,
Que ne Tas-tu laisse dans une nuit profonde!
A de si noirs forfaits pretes-tu tes rayons.**
Et peux-tu sans horreur voir ce que nous voyons.**
Mais ces monstres, helas! ne t'epouvantent gueres;
La race de Laius les a rendus vulgaires;
Tu peux voir sans frayeur les crimes de mes fils.

FIRMIN DIDOT, 1730^1804
From Engraving by Pierre Gu^ave Eugene Staal (1817^1882)

TRIUMPHS OF TYPOGRAPHY

Robert Etienne. This is the typographic achieve^
ment I would seled as the ma^erpiece of its period.

The large quarto volumes contain nearly five
hundred pages each. The type was designed and
cut by Firmin Didot in conjundion with, or
possibly in collaboration with Giambatti^a Bo^
doni, of Parma, Italy. So closely do the two faces
match that the similarity of their design could
scarcely have been a coincidence (see page 8i).
There is a peculiar charm in the unusual length of
the ascending and descending charaders; there is
a grace in the slender capitals in spite of the ultras
refinement; there is satisfadion 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 perfedly balanced
page. The figures, really a cross between the old
^yle and the modern, have a di^ind individuality
entirely lo^ in the so-called " lining " figures which
those who have copied this face in America have
introduced as an " improvement."

The Racine contains magnificent ^eel engrave
ings, 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 ju^ biting into the paper without leaving
an impression on the reverse side — is superbly

2'57

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

charaderi^ic of the be^ French workmanship.
The vellum copies show the work at its be^. The
engravings ^and out almo^ as original etchings.
The ink is the dense^ 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 intere^ed in this after
my own experiments in printing my humani^ic
Petrarch on vellum.

At the Exposition of 1801, in Paris, the Racine
was proclaimed by a French jury the "mo^
perfed typographic produd of any country and
of any age." Is this not too high praise? To have
equaled the Italian ma^erpieces of the fifteenth
century would have been enough glory for any
printer to claim !

The Racine was a flep in the diredion of re^
claiming typography from the trade which it had
become, but it was left for William Morris to
place printing squarely back among the arts.

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 experi^

258

WILLIAM MORRIS, 1834-1896

From Portrait by G. F. Watts, R. A. Painted in 1880

National Portrait Gallery, London

TRIUMPHS OF TYPOGRAPHY

ments, all sufficiently unique to perpetuate his
name; yet his work as a printer is what gave
him undying glory. The Kelmscott Chaucer is his
ma^erpiece, and mu^ 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 illu^rator, and set himself the task
of designing the initial letters, borders, and deco^^
rations. 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.

The decoration for the fir^ page was finished in
March, 1893. Morris was entirely satisfied with
it, exclaiming, " My eyes ! how good it is ! "
Then he laid the whole projed 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 satisfadorily 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."

-259

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

At the end of June he records his expedation
of beginning the adual printing within a month,
and that in about three months more all the
pidures 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
^rength were noticeably failing, yet at the be^
ginning of 1895, less than two years before his
death, he was completely submerged by multi^
farious 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 Heimshm^h and was supers'
vising its produdion for the Saga Library; he was
engaged in getting together his splendid coUedion
of thirteenths 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 in^
gredient of the ink, but to his immense relief he
succeeded in removing the yellow ^ains by bleach^
ing. "The check of the Chaucer/* he writes,

260

SIR EDWARD BURNE-JONES, Bart., 183 3-1898
From Photograph at the British Museum

TRIUMPHS OF TYPOGRAPHY

"flattens life for me somewhat, but I am going
hard into the matter, and in about a fortnight
hope to know the wor^ of it."

In December the Chaucer was sufKciently 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 longed
in the tanyard ^ays lea^ 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 pidure 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 fir^ part over again; and the
wor^ of that would be that he'd want to do all
the re^ 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."

261

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

The daily progress of the work upon the
Chaucer was the one intere^ that su^ained his
waning energies. The la^ three blocks were
brought to him on March 21, 1896. The Ea^er
holidays almo^ killed him. " Four mouldy Sun^
days in a mouldy row," he writes in his diary.
" The press shut and Chaucer at a ^and^ill."

On May 6 all the pidure sheets were printed
and the block for the title page was submitted for
Morris' approval, the final printing being com^
pleted two days later. On June 2 the fir^ 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 illu^rations by Burne^Jones, a fuU^page
woodcut title, fourteen large borders, eighteen
frames for pidures, 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.

262

TRIUMPHS OF TYPOGRAPHY

I have never felt that the Kelmscott volumes
were books at all, but were, rather, supreme
examples of a ma^er^decorator's ta^e 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 im^
proved 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
intere^ in printing as an art beyond what any
other man has ever accomplished, the results of
which have been a vital fador in bringing modern
bookmaking to its present high e^ate.

It remained for T.J. Cobden^Sanderson, Morris'
friend, admirer, and disciple, to put Morris' princi^
pies into operation at the Doves Press, London,
supplemented by Emery Walker, who designed the
Doves type, — to me the mo^ beautiful type face
in exigence. Cobden^Sanderson, undi^urbed by
counter intere^s, plodded along, producing vol^
umes into which he translated Morris' ideals far
more consi^ently than did Morris himself " The

263

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

Book Beautiful," Cobden^Sanderson wrote in his
little ma^erpiece, The Ideal Booh, "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 illu^ration, its
binding and decoration — of each of its parts in
subordination to the whole which colledively
they con^itute; 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 them^
selves 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 charaderi^ic way.
On the other hand each contributory craft may
usurp the fundions of the re^ and of the whole,
and growing beautiful beyond all bounds ruin for
its own the common cause."

The Doves Bible is Cobden^'Sanderson's mas^
terpiece, 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 de^
scription consi^s of exceedingly graceful initial
letters at the beginning of each new book. The

264

THE ENGLISH BIBLE

CONTAINING THE OLD TESTAMENT & THE NEW TRANS
LATED OUT OF THE ORIGINAL TONGUES BYSPECIALCOM
MANDOFHIS MAJESTY KING JAMESTHE FIRST ANDNOW
REPRINTED WITHTHETEXT REVISED BYACOLLATIONOF
ITS EARLY AND OTHER PRINCIPALEDITIONS AND EDITED
BY THE LATE REV. F. H. SCRIVENER M.A. LL.D. FOR THE
SYNDICS OF THE UNIVERSITY PRESS CAMBRIDGE

VOLV
THE NEW TESTAMENT

THE DOVES PRESS

N9 I THE TERRACE HAMMERSMITH

MDCCCCV

Title Pa^e o/" Doves Bible, LondoHj 1905 [8x6 inches]

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO S. JOHN

IN the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things
were made by him ; and without him was not any thing made that was
made. In him was life; and the life was the L'ght of men. And the light
shineth in darkness ; and the darkness comprehended it not. ([There was
a man sent from God, -whose name was John. The same came for a witness,
to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was
not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true
Light, which Kghteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the
world, & the world was made by him, & the world knew him not. He came
unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to
them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on
his name : which were bom, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of
the will of man, but of God, And the Word was made flesh, & dwelt among
us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,)
fuU of grace and truth. John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was
he of whom I spake. He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he
was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, & grace for grace. For
the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No
man hath seen God at any time ; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom
of the Father, he hath declared him. ([And this is the record of John, "when
the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him. Who art thou^
And he confessed, & denied not ; but confessed, I am not the Chr^t. And they
asked him, What then 1" Art thou EL'as 1* And he saith, I am not. Art thou that
prophet J" And he answered. No. Then said they unto him. Who art thou ^ that
we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself £* He
said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way
of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. And they which were sent were of the
Pharisees. And they asked him, & said unto him. Why baptizest thou then, if
thou be not that Christ, nor EL'as, neither that prophets' John answered them,
saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye
know not; he it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe s
latchet I am not worthy to unloose. These things were done in Bethabara
beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing. ([The next day John seeth Jesus
coming unto him, and saith. Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away
the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said. After me cometh a man which
is preferred before me : for he was before me. And I knew him not : but that he
should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.
And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like
a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not : but he that sent me to
baptize with water, the same said unto me. Upon whom thou shalt see the

III

Text Page of Doves Bible, London, 1905 [8x6 inches]

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

type is based flatly upon Jensen's Roman face,
and exadly 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.

Surely no form of bibliomania can yield greater
rewards in return for ^udy and perseverance. The
great typographical monuments, dating from 1456
to 1905, have given me a composite pidure of
man's successful druggie 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 Francois I's sump^
tuous Court, and have seen the anxious faces of
the clerical fadion as they read the writing on the
wall; I have likened to the preaching of Luther,
and have heard the Spanish guns bombarding
Antwerp; I have ^ood with the brave defenders
of Leyden, and have watched the center of learns
ing 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

268

TRIUMPHS OF TYPOGRAPHY

press are far more than books. They ^and as land^
marks charting the path of cukure and learning

through four marvelous centuries

What volume of the twentieth century and what

ma^er^printer shall be included? That is yet to

be determined by the te^ of retrosped; but the

choice will be more difficult to make. In

America and England hi^ory is being

made in printing as an art, and

the results are full of hopeful

ness and promise

CHAPTER VII

The Spell of the Laurenziana

VII
THE SPELL OF THE LAURENZIANA

THE mo^ fascinating city in all Europe is
Florence, and the mo^ alluring spot in all
Florence is the Laurenziana Library. They say
that there is something in the peculiar atmosphere
of antiquity that reads 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 celUike alcove of the Lau^
renziana; for such work, amid such surroundings,
possesses an indescribable lure.

Yet my fir^ approach to the Laurenziana was a
bitter disappointment; for the bleak, unfinished
facade is almo^ repelling. Perhaps it was more
of a shock because I came upon it diredly from
the sheer beauty of the Bapti^ery and Giotto's
Campanile. Michelangelo planned to make this
facade the loveliest of all in Florence, built of
marble and broken by many niches, in each of
which was to ^and the figure of a saint. The

273

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

plans, drawn before America was discovered, Hill
exi^, yet work has never even been begun. The
facade remains unfinished, without a window
and unbroken save by three uninviting doors.

Conquering my dread of disillusionment, I
approached the neare^ entrance, which happened
to be that at the extreme right of the building
and led me diredly into the old Church of San
Lorenzo. Drawing aside the heavy crimson cur^
tains, I passed at once into a calm, maje^ic quiet
and peace which made the pa^ 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 again^ the tyranny and
intrigue of the Medici. I seemed to see the militant
figure landing 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 precinds he
^ood. Then, what a contra^ ! The masses van^
ished, and I seemed to be witnessing the gorgeous
beauty of a Medici marriage procession. Ales/'
sandro de' Medici was landing beneath a haUac^
chino, surrounded by the pomp and glory of all

274

THE SPELL OF THE LAURENZIANA

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 li^en with
bowed head to Varchi's eloquent tribute to the
great humani^.

The spell was on me ! Walking down the nave,
I turned to the left and found myself in the
Old Sacri^y. 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" Sacri^y,
— 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 ma^erpieces of a
super ''Sculptor to perpetuate the memory of a supers
man!

A few ^eps more took me to the Martelli
Chapel, and, opening an inconspicuous door, I
passed out into the cloi^er. 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 landing before such ma^erpieces of
man. Maurice Hewlett had prepared me for the

275

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

"great, mildewed cloi^er 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 faring up into it."

From the cloi^er I climbed an ancient ftone
^aircase and found myself at the foot of one of the
mo^ famous fairways in the world. At that mo>'
ment I did not ^op 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 fairway I paused for a moment at the entrance
to the great hall, the Sah di Michehngiolo, At la^
I was face to face with the Laurenziana !

Before I had completed my general survey of the
room, an attendant greeted me courteously, and
when I presented my letter of introdudion to the
librarian he bowed low and led me the length of
the hall. The light came into the room through
beautiful ^ained^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 phtei,
those famous carved reading-desks designed by
Michelangelo. As we walked down the aisle, the
pattern of the nutwood ceiling seemed refleded
on the brick floor, so cleverly was the design repro^*

276

SALA DI MICHELANGIOLO
Laurenziana Library, Florence

THE SPELL OF THE LAURENZIANA

duced 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 perfed.

Dodor Guido Biagi, who was at that time
librarian, was seated at one of the phteij Undying
a Medicean illuminated manuscript fa^ened to
the desk by one of the famous old chains (see
pa^e 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
introdudion such as mine were every^day affairs
with him, and no doubt he expeded, as did I, to
have our meeting result in a few additional cour^
tesies beyond what the touri^ 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 closed friend, and that through
him the Laurenziana Library was to be for me a
sanduary.
After the fir^ words of greeting, I said,
" I am wondering how much more I can ab^*
sorb today. By mi^ake I came in through the
church, and found myself confronted by a series

277

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

of ma^erpieces so overpowering that I am almo^
exhau^ed by the monuments of great personages
and the important events they recall."

"A fortunate mi^ake," 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 fir^ visit ? You know
nothing of the hi^ory of the Library?"

"Simply that everything was designed by
Michelangelo, — and the names of some of the
priceless manuscripts in your coUedion."

"It is not quite exad to say that everything was
designed by the great Buonarroti," he correded.
" 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
fairway you ju^ ascended" {pa^e 280).

Leaving me for a moment he returned with a
manuscript in his hand which he read aloud:

There is a certain flair that comes into my thoughts
like a dream, the letter ran; hut I iont think it is exaBly
the one which I had planned at the time, seeing that it
appears to he hut a clumsy affair. I will describe it for
you here, nevertheless. I took a numher of oval hoxeSj

278

Dott. Cowm. GUIDO BIAGI in 1924
Librarian of the Laurenziana Library, Florence

THE SPELL OF THE LAURENZIANA

each about one palm deep, hut not of equal length and
hreadth. Thefrfi and large fi I placed on a pavement at
such di fiance from the wall of the door as seemed to he
required hy the greater or lesser degree of fleepness you
may wish to give the flair. Over this was placed another,
smaller in all dire&ions, and leaving sufficient room on
that heneath for the foot to refl on in ascending, thus
diminishing each flep as it gradually retires towards the
door; the uppermofi fiep heing of the exafi width required
for the door itself This part of the oval fieps mufi have
two wings, one right and one left, the Heps of the wings to
rise hy similar degree, hut not he oval inform.

"Who but a great arti^ could visualize that
marvelous ^aircase through a colledion of wooden
boxes! " Biagi exclaimed. " Vasari built this
great room, but the designs were truly Michel^
angelo's, — even to the carving of these plutei," he
added, laying his hand on the reading-desk from
which he had ju^ 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 states
ment 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

279

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

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."

The private door was the entrance in the portico
overlooking the cloi^er, held sacred to the li^
brarian and his friends. At the appointed hour
I was admitted, and Marinelli conduded me
immediately to the little office set apart for the
use of the librarian.

"Before I exhibit my children," he said, "I
mu^ tell you the romantic ^ory of this colledion.
You will enjoy and underhand the books them^'
selves better if I give you the proper background."

Here is the ^ory 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 intere^ in which would seem to be
a curious paradox. Cosimo // Vecchio, father of
his country, was the founder. " Old " Cosimo
was unique in combining zeal for learning and an
intere^ in arts and letters with political corrupt
tion. As his private fortune increased through
success in trade he discovered the power money

280

VESTIBULE of the LAURENZIANA LIBRARY. FLORENCE
Designed by Michelangelo

THE SPELL OF THE LAURENZIANA

possessed when employed to secure political pres^
tige. 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 utmo^
importance at critical times. Beneath this guise of
benefador exited all the charaderi^ics of the
tyrant and despot, but through his money he was
able to maintain his position as a M^cenas while
his agents aded 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 e^ablished the basis of the
present Laurenziana Library.

" Some of your American philanthropies mu^
have read the private hi^ory 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

281

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

ability from his grandfather, but far surpassed him
in the use he made of Hterary patronage. Lorenzo
had no idea of rehnquishing control of the Medici
tyranny, but he was clever enough to avoid the
outv/^ard 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 em^
ployed 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 greatesi:
colleclion of books in the world, and to throw it
open to public use. Such a suggestion was almo^
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 Hbrary
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 es1:ablished it in the Villa Medici in
Rome. During the fourteen years the colleclion

282

THE SPELL OF THE LAURENZIANA

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, com^
missioned Michelangelo to ered a building worthy
of housing so precious a colledion; 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 manu^
scripts, mo^ of which are ^ill 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 olde^ in
exigence, 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 imperfedions in similar volumes in
other colledions.

The House of Lorraine, which succeeded the
House of Medici, guarded the Laurenziana care^
fully, placing at its head the learned Biscioni.

283

IX QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

Aficr him came Banci.-i:, ir.::. e: capable librae
nan, under whose adin:r„f::i::;n various smaller
yet valuable colledions were added in dieir en>'
rirety. Del Furia continued the good work, and
lefi behind a splendid catalogue of the treasures
entrusted to him. These four volumes are snll to
be found in the Library. In 1808, and again in
1867, the libraries of the suppressed monasuc
orden were di\'ided bct^*een the Laurentian and
the Magliabecchian institutions; and in 1885,
through the efforts of Pasquale Villari, the bi^
ographer of MachiaveUi, the Ashbumham cob
lection, numbering 1887 volumes, was added
through purchase by the Italian Government.

" Now," said Biagi, as he finished the sl:ory,
" I am ready to show you some of the Medici
treasures. I call them my chUdreru They have
always seemed that to me. My earliest memory is
of peeping out from the back v,indov.-s of the
Palazzo dei della V'acca, where I was bom, be^
hind the bells of San Lorenzo, at the campanile
of the ancient church, and at the Chapel of the
Medici. The Medici coat of arms was as fimfliar
to me as my father's face, and the 'pills' that
perpetuated Old Cosimo's fame as 2. chemist
possessed so great a fascination that I ne\'er rested
until I became the Medicean Hbrariaru"

284

THE SPELL OF THE LAURENZIANA

Biagi led the way from his private office through
the Hall of Tape^ries. As we passed by the cases
containing such wealth of illumination, only
partially concealed by the green curtains drawn
across the glass, I in^indively paused, but my
guide insi^ed.

"We will return here, but fir^ you mu^ 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 di^ind blemish.
The great Buonarroti mu^ have turned in his
grave when it was finished. But the volumes
themselves will make you forget the architedural
blunder."

He showed me volumes printed from en^
graved blocks by the Germans, Sweynheym and
Pannartz, at Subiaco, in the fir^ Press e^ablished
in Italy. I held in my hand Cicero's EpifioIcE ad
Familiares, a volume printed in 1469. In the explicit
the printer, not at all ashamed of his accomplish^
ment, adds in Latin:

285

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

JoIhj from within the town of Spires^ was the first to

print hoohs in Venice from hronze types. See, O Reader,

how much hope there is of future works when this, thefrfij

has surpassed the art of penmanship

There was Tortelli's Orthoffaphia di&ionum e
GrcEcia traBarum, printed in Venice by Nicolas
Jenson, showing the fir^ use of Greek charaders
in a printed book. The Aldine volumes intro^
duced me to the fir^ appearance of ItaHc 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 mu^ come back and ^udy them at your
leisure," the librarian sugge^ed, noting my re^
ludance to relinquish the volume I was inspeding
to receive from him some other example equally
intere^ing. "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 pluteiy where Biagi indicated fir^ one manu-'
script 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 intelledual

286

THE SPELL OF THE LAURENZIANA

desires. If he is a ^udent of the Scriptures, he
will find inspiration from our sixth ^century Syriac
Gospels, or the Biblia Amiatina, For the lawyer,
we have the Panders of Ju^iinian, 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 hi^ory, which I will tell
you some day; what lover of literature would
not consider himself privileged to examine Boc^
caccio'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 mu^ talk about all these,
but it would be too much for one day."

Leading the way back to his sandum, 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 fir^ 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 sugge^ion I returned
to the Library day after day. He was profligate
in the time he gave me. Together we ^udied

287

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

the Bihlia 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 identifi^
cation at the Laurenziana in 1887 the volume be^
came one of the mo^ famous in the world. In the
plate opposite, the Prophet Ezra is shown by the
arti^ 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
pradice as early as the eighth century.

At another time we examined the Medkean
Virgil written on vellum, dating back to the fourth
century, and the olde^ Codex of the Latin poet.

"This is a veritable treasure for the classical
scholar, is it not? " Biagi inquired. "While the
Medicean colledion remained in the hands of
the Chapter of San Lorenzo some vandal cut
out the fir^ leaves. See, — the text now begins
at the 48th line of the 6th Eclogue."

I felt almo^ 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

288

THE PROPHET EZRA. From Codex Amiatimis, (Sth Century)

Showino earliefi Volumes in Bhidinp

Laurenziana Library, Florence (12 x 8)

THE SPELL OF THE LAURENZIANA

offices of Prince Metternich, under a special
article in the Treaty of Vienna, the volume was
returned to Italy. In 1816 a solemn fe^ival was
held here in Florence to celebrate its re^oration 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 disgu^edly at the ^ifF, 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 origin
nals 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 corred, 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 underhand the inspiration for Petrarch's lines:

289

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

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' An^
tonio made for Lorenzo the Magnificent, which
is described in an earlier chapter (page 146);
I became familiar with the gorgeous pages of
Lorenzo Monaco, ma^er of Fra Angelico; of
Benozzo Gozzoli, whose frescoes give the Riccardi
its greater fame; of Gherado and Clovio, and
other great arti^s whose names are unknown or
forgotten.

Besides being librarian of the Laurenziana,
Biagi was also cu^odian of the Buonarroti and
the da Vinci archives. Thus it was that during
some of my visits I had the opportunity to ^udy
the early sketches of the great Leonardo, and the
manuscript letters of Michelangelo. Such intu
macies gave me an under^anding of the people
and the times in which they worked that has
clothed that period with an everla^ing halo.

As our friendship expanded through our work

290

THE SPELL OF THE LAURENZIANA

together, Biagi introduced me to other fascinations,
outside the Library. I came to know Pasquale
Villari and other great ItaHan intelleds. My friend
and I planned Odysseys together, — to Vallom^
brosa, 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 some^
thing was said about George Eliot. I had always
shared the common fallacy that she was entitled to
be classified as the greate^ reali^ of the analytical
or psychological school; yet I had always marveled
at the consummate skill which made it possible
for her, in Romoh, to draw her charaders and to
secure the atmosphere of veritable Italians and the
true^ Italy without herself having lived among^
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
^udy.

I made some allusion to this, and Biagi smiled.

"Where did you get that ideae" he asked.
" Her diary tells you to the contrary."

I could only confess that I had never read her
diary.

291

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

" George Eliot and Lewes were in Florence
together in 1861," he continued; "and it was
because they were here that Romola became a
fad."

Enjoying my surprise, the librarian became
more communicative:

" They ^udied here together from May 4 until
June 7, 1 861, 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 con^'
tinned. " 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 cen^
tury before the Biblioteca Palatina was joined
with it in i860 under its present modern and
unromantic name.

As we walked along Biagi told me of the unique
personality of this Magliabecchi, which attraded
the attention of the literary world while he was

292

ANTONIO MAGLIABECCHI
Founder of the Magliahecchia Library, Florence

THE SPELL OF THE LAURENZIANA

colleding the nucleus of the library. Dibdin
scouted him, declaring that his exigence 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 Con^anti^
nople, 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 almo^
the only portion of the building ^ill remaining as
it was when George Eliot and George Henry
Lewes pursued their Indies at one of the massive
walnut tables. The jeering bu^ of Magliabecchi
is ^ill there; the same volumes, reding upon their
ornamental shelves, ^ill await the arrival of another
genius to produce another ma^erpiece — but ex^
cept for these the Library has become as modernized
as its name.

" I was going over some du^y 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 intere^ed in the names
of many Italian writers who have since become
famous, but when I tumbled upon a number of

295

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

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 intere^ing receipts into the ^ory
of the writing of the book as told by George Eliot's
diary, which I immediately absorbed.

Silas Marner was finished on March lo, 1861,
and on April 19 the author and Lewes " set off
on our second journey to Florence." After arrive
ing there, the diary tells us that they " have been
indu^riously foraging in old Greets and old
books." Of Lewes she writes: " He was in con/'
tinual di^radion by having to attend to my wants,
going with me to the Magliabecchian Library,
and poking about everywhere on my behalf."

The fir^ slip signed by Lewes is dated May 15,
1 861, and called for Ferrario's Co flume Antico e
Moderno. This book is somewhat dramatic and
superficial, yet it could give the author knowledge
of the hi^orical surroundings of the charaders
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 charaders she
had ju^ learned how to dress. Migliore's Firenze

296

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THE SPELL OF THE LAURENZIANA

Ilhflrata and Ra^relli's Firenze Antica e Modema
gave the topography and the asped of Florence at
the end of the fifteenth century.

From Chiari's Priorifia George Ehot secured
the idea of the magnificent celebration of the Fea^
of Saint John, the effedive descriptions of the cars,
the races, and the extraordinary tapers. "It is
the habit of my imagination," she writes in her
diary, " to ^rive after as full a vision of the medium
in which a charader moves as of the charader
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
Fami^lie 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 ^ory 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 di^indion." On Odober 4,

297

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

" I am worried about my plot," and on Odober 7,
" Began the fir^ chapter of my novel."

Meanwhile George Eliot continued her read^
ing, now at the British Museum. La Vita di G.
Savonarola, by Pasquale Villari, gave her much
inspiration. The book had ju^ been published,
and it may well have sugge^ed the scene where
Baldassarre Calvo meets Tito Melema on the ^eps
of the Cathedral. No other available writer had
previously described the druggie 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 fir^
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
la^ ^roke to Romola — Ebenezer! "

Since then I - have re-read Romola with the
increased intere^ which came from the new
knowledge, and the ^ory 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 casing shadows upon the wonderful

298

THE SPELL OF THE LAUEJENZIANA

and obsessing city, wishing that my vision were
^rong enough to extrad from it another ^ory such
as Romola,

Such were the experiences that extended my
^ay in Florence. The memory of them has been
so ^rong 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 pa^e 182).
In 19 16 his term as librarian expired through the
limitation of age, but before he retired he com^
pletely rearranged that portion of the Library
which is now open to visitors (see pa^e 149).
The treasures of no coUedion are made so easily
accessible except at the British Museum.

I la^ 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 di^ind 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 que^ion.

** I can't ^and it ! " he exclaimed. " I can't

299

IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK

^ay in Florence and not be a part of the Lau>
renziana. 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 exigence.'*
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 corred 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, ^ill chained to their ancient

phitei, it will be with even greater

reverence. They ^and as sym

bols of the immutability of

learning and culture

compared with the

brief span of life

allotted to

Prince or Librarian

INDEX

Adams Presses, 50

^thelwald, iix

Alba, the Duke of, 133

Alcuin Bible, the, described, 115-1x7

Alcuin, Bishop, of York, 115, 116

Aldine Press, the, at Venice, saved by
intervention of Jean Grolier, 56,
138; printing at, 106-2.15; the Jen-
son office combined with, 114

Aldus Manutius, legend over office of,
10; his confidence in permanence
of the printed book, ii-ii; his
type designs, 17; establishes his
office in Venice, 106; his printer's
mark and slogan, 107, io8; changes
format of the book, 2.07; his aims,
io8; the Greek classics of, 2.09;
his contributions to typography, 2.10;
his Hy-pnerotomachia Poliphili, xio-
113; Jean Grolier's friendship with
family of, 114-115

Allegro, r, Milton's, 93

Ambrosiana Iliad, the, 14, 15

Ambrosiana Library, the, humanistic
manuscripts in, 14, 15

Angelico, Fra, 149, 190

Anglo-Saxon missionary artists, the,
115

Anne, of Brittany, Hours of, described,
149-15 1

Anne, Saint, 138

Antiquities of the Jews, the, described,
138-141, 146

Antonio del Cherico, Francesco d'.
Book of Hours illuminated by, iii,
113, 116, 146-149, 190

Antwerp, the leading city in Europe,
113; book manufacture in, 114;
under Spanish domination, 117;
loses her pre-eminence, 133; pur-

chases the Plantin office, 135; re-
ferred to, 139

Apostrophes, Bernard Shaw's ideas
concerning, 68

Arnold, Matthew, 178

Ashburnham Collection, the, 148, 184

Augustinus, 101

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, 184

Baptistery, the, at Florence, 173

Barbaro, Marco Antonio, Procurator
of Saint Mark's, 143

Bardi, the, 197

Bardi, Bardo, 197

Barlow, Sir Thomas, 85

Baskerville, John, his editions, 145;
letter from Benjamin Franklin to,
145; his types, 145-146; his Vir-
gil, 146-150; first to introduce glossy
paper, 150; Dibdin's estimate of,
151; referred to, 95, 144

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, 113

Beowulf, William Morris', 159

Berlin, library of, 196

Berry, the Due de, the Tris Riches
Heures of, 116; the Antiquities of
the Jews begun for, 139

Bertieri, Raffaello, 31

303

INDEX

Bewick, Thomas, 163, 151
Biagi, Dr. Guido, custodian of the
Buonarroti and the da Vinci archives,

14, 182., xgo; 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, 2.77; in
the Laurenziana Library, 177-300;
his early ambition to become li-
brarian of the Laurenziana, 2.84; in
America, 199; his last days, 199-300;
his death, 300; referred to, 14, 16,
17, III

Bible, the, welfare of men and of

empires based upon, 114
Biblia Amiatina, the, 187, i88
Biblia Polyglotta, Plantin's, 117; the

story of, 117-133; pages from, 119-

2-31
Bibliotheque Nationale, the, Paris,

119, 117, 118, 139, 140, 141, 149,

196, 198, 110
Billfrith, Saint, 111
Bindings, 113, 188
Birmingham, England, 144
Biscioni, librarian of the Laurenziana

Library, 183
Bisticci, quoted, 11
Blanche, Queen, of Castile, 119
Boccaccio, 187
Bodleian Library, the, 196
Bodoni, Giambattista, the father of

modern type design, 78-81, 151;

compared with Didot, 151, 157; re-
ferred to, 95
Bodoni Press, the revived, in Monta-

gnola di Lugano, 79
Bodoni type, the, 78; compared with

the Didot type, 79-81; William

Morris' dislike of, 80; De Vinne's

admiration for, 80, 81; estimate

of, 157
Bokhara, 118
Bomberghe, Corneille, type designer,

118
Book, the, conception of early pa-

trons of, 11; lure of, 37; the tan-
gible expression of man's intellect,
III. See also, Illuminated book,
Printtd book. Written book

Bookmaking, in 1891, 41-54; the weak-
ness of method in, 54

Book of Hours, by Francesco d' An-
tonio del Cherico, iii; described,
146-149; referred to, 190

Books, cost of making, 58

Bookselling, inadequate methods in,
60

Boston, Howell's comments on, 186

Boston Society of Printers, the, 99

Bourbon, Pierre U, Due de, 140

Bourdichon, Jean, 113, 149, 150

Boyd, Henry, i6, 17

Brays, the, 191

British Museum, the, 17, 18, 117, 119,
111, 115, 131, 135, 166, 196, 198,
199

Broad Chalke, England, Maurice Hew-
lett's home at, 157

Browne, Sir Thomas, 107

Bude, Guillaumc, 114

Buonarroti, see Michelangelo

Buonarroti archives, the, 14, 181, 190

Burne-Jones, Sir Edward, and the Kelm-
scott Chaucer, 159, 161, 161; referred
to, 6

Burney, Fanny, 163

Byron, Lord, manuscript of his letters
burned by John Murray III, 65

Byzantine illumination, see Illumina-
tion, Byzantine

Byzantine ink, iii

"Cabin," the, Howell's, 186

Cable, George W., 177

Casar, Elzevir's, 140

Cambridge Immortals, the, 178

Camp, Walter, 84

Campanile, Giotto's, at Florence, 173

Campanile, the, at Venice, 145

Carlyle, Thomas, 178

Carnegie, Andrew, 174-177

Carnegie, Mrs. Andrew, 174

304

INDEX

Caroline minuscule, the, ii6
Carolingian illumination, sec Illumi-
nation, Carolingian
Carolingian School, the, in France,

Caslon foundry, the, 145, 246

Castiglionccllo, Italy, 162.

Cato, quoted, 2.08

Caxton, William, work of, compared
with Jenson's, Z44

Cellini, Benvenuto, autobiography of,
187

Celtic illumination, see Illumination,
Celtic

Censors, the, ixi

Ceolfrid, Abbot of Wearmouth, i88

Ceriani, Monsignor, librarian of the
Ambrosiana Library at Milan, de-
scribed, 24; his work on the Am-
brosiana Iliad, 24, 15; quoted, ij

Chantilly, the Muscc Conde at 116,

Charlemagne, Emperor, 115

Charles, King, of France, son of King
John, 119

Charles, King, of France, son of King
Charles, 119

Charles V, emperor of the Holy Roman
Empire, ii6, 2.76

Charles VIII, of France, 182.

Chaucer, the Kelmscott, the story of,
i59-x68

Chaucer type, the, designed by Wil-
liam Morris, 2.0

Chianti Hills, the, 171

Chiari, 2:97

Chinese, the, 7

Cicero, the Medicean, 183

Cicogna, Doge Pasquale, 143

Cimabue, Giovanni, 147

Clemens, Clara, 171, 174

Clemens, Samuel L., see Twain, Mark

Clemens, Mrs. Samuel L., 172., 173

Clement VII, Pope, 114, 176

Clovio, Giulio, 149, 190

Cobdcn-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, 164; his Doves Biblt, 164-
i68; referred to, 3, 68, 71, 95

Cockerell, Douglas, 162.

Codex Argenteus, the, 119

Cole, Timothy, 106

Colonna, Francesco, 2.10

Colvio, Sir Sidney, xj, i8

Constable, Archibald, publisher, (>6

Constantinople, might have become
center of learning of XV century,
8; destroyed by fire, 117; the re-
birth of, 118

Cosimo il Vecchio, and the Laurcn-
ziana Library, 2.80; his personality
and history, z8o-i8i; his fame as
a chemist, 2.84

Cosimo II, and the Laurcaziaoa Li-
brary, 2.83

Costs of making books, in 1891, com-
pared with present costs, 48

Costume Antico e Moderno, Ferrario's,
2.96

Country Printer, the, Howell's, 187

Crasso, Leonardo, zio

Cremona, early printing at, z86

Curtis, George William, 178

Cuthbert, Saint, 110, iii, iiz

Cyrus, King, 139

Danes, the, izo

Dante, proposed edition in Humanis-
tic type of, 19, 31; referred to, 158,
i8i; Biagi's work on, 181, 199; the
haunts of, 191

"Dawn and Twilight," Michelan-
gelo's, 2.75

"Day and Night," Michelangelo's,

2-75
De Asse, Bude's, 114
De Bure, discoverer of the Gutenberg

Bible, 198
Decameron, the, manuscript copy of,

De Civitate Dei, Augustinus', zoi
Decorations, 116

Del Furia, librarian of the Lauren-
ziana Library, 184

305

INDEX

Delmonico's, in New York City, 176
Deput, quoted on the innovations of

the Elzevirs, 140
De Veritate Catholica Fidei, 93
De Vinne Press, the, Nevir York, 41
De Vinne, Theodore L., 6; his ad-
miration for the Bodoni type, 80,
8i
Dibdin, quoted on Baskerville, 2.51;

on Antonio Magliabecchi, 2.95
Didot, Firmin, the father of modern
type design, 78-81; his type dis-
cussed, 79-82., Z57; referred to, 39,

95. 2.57

Didot, Pierre, his Racine, 2.51-158

Didot Press, the, Benjamin Franklin
at, 151

Didot type, the, compared with the
Bodoni type, 79-82.

Didots, the, in Paris, 2.51; compared
with Bodoni, 2.51

Dobson, Austin, 158, 161-169; ^^^
lines on Richard Garnett, 166, 167;
his ideas on fiction, 168; his meth-
ods of work, 169; his handwriting,
169

Dobson, Mrs. Austin, 168

Doves Bible, Cobden-Sandcrson's, de-
scribed, 164-168

Doves Press, the, in London, 3, 70,

96, 163

Doves type, the, designed by Emery
Walker, 18, 19; specimen page of, 13;
in the Doves Bible, 164-168

Duneka, Frederick, 184

Diirer, Albrecht, 95

Dyck, Christoffel van, 143

Eadfrith, Bishop, 111

Earthwork Out of Tuscany, Hewlett's,

159, 161
Eddy, Mrs. Mary Baker, 51-54
Edward VII, King, of England, 85,

140, 141
Egyptians, the, 118
Elchi, Count Augiolo Maria d", 185
Eliot, George, in the Magliabecchian

Library, 191-198; her diary quoted.

196; volumes consulted in writing

Komola, 196-198
Elzevir, Abraham, editions of, 140;

his Terence, 141-143
Elzevir, Bonaventura, editions of, 140;

his Terence, 141-143
Elzevir, Isaac, becomes printer to the

University of Leyden, 140
Elzevir, Louis, founder of the House

of Elzevir, 139, 140
Elzevir, the House of, craftsmen rather

than artists, 138; in Leyden, 140;

adopt new format for the book, 140;

their editions, 140-143; their types,

143; their business organization,

143 ; estimate of importance of their

work, 143; referred to, 95, 137,

2-51
England, typographical supremacy of,

194, 144-150; second supremacy of,

158-168
English illumination, see Illumination,

English
Engravings, steel, 105
Epistola ad Familiares, Cicero's, 185
Ethics, in business, 65
fitienne, Henri, ruined by his Thesau-
rus, 56, 138; in Geneva, 113
Etienne, Robert, becomes "printer in

Greek" to Francois I of France,

116; the Koyal Greeks of, 119-111;

leaves France, 113; death of, 113;

his Roman type, 111; referred to,

2-52.
Eugenius, Pope, 181
Evreux, Queen Jeanne d', 119
Explicit, the, 91; examples of, 94,

101, 104, 106, 185
Ezra, the Prophet, portrait of, 188

Famiglie del Litta, Le, 197

Felton, Cornelius Conway, President of

Harvard University, 50
Ferrara, early printing at, 186
Ferrari, Dr. Luigi, librarian of the

San Marco Library, Venice, 145
Ferrario, 196

INDEX

Field, Eugene, described, 38; manu-
script of, 39, 41; referred to, 38,

.55
Fielding, Henry, 163
Fiesole, the heights of, 198
Firenzf Antica e Moderna, Rastrelli's,

2-97

Firen^e lllustrata, Migliore's, 2.96

Fiske, Willard, 2.6, 2.7

Flemish illumination, see Illumination^
FUmish

Fletcher, Horace, friend of Eugene
Field, 41; philosophy of, 75, 8i,
84; his ideas of typography, 75;
page of his manuscript, 77; his
dinner at Graduates' Club, New Ha-
ven, 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, 2.73; early printing
at, 186

Florence, the Grand Duke of, 195

Forest Lovers, the, Hewlett's, 157, 158

Foucquet, Jean, 113, 138, 140, 149

France, typographical supremacy of,
194, 115-2.2.3; loses supremacy, 2.13;
second supremacy of, 2.51-158

Francois I, of France, becomes patron
of learning and culture, 2.16; makes
Robert Etienne "printer in Greek
to the King," zi6; his interest in
printing, n6-iii; his relations with
the censors, 12.1; referred to, 2.14,
xi6

Frankfort, 2.17

Franklin, Benjamin, quoted on the
Baskerville editions, 2.45; his letter
to Baskerville, 145; at the Didot
Press, 2.52.

French illumination, see Illumination,
French

French Republic, the, 141

French School of Painting, the, 139

Fust, John, 198, 199

Gabrilowitch, Mrs. Ossip, 171

Garamond, Claude, 12.0

Garnett, Dr. Richard, 164, 165; lines
written by Dobson on, 166, 167,
estimate of, i66

General Theological School Library,
the, New York, 196

Genesis, the Cottontan, 117

Geneva, the Etiennes at, 2.2.3

George, Saint, 137

Germany, not sufficiently developed
as nation to take advantage of
Gutenberg's discovery, 8, 9; brief
typographical supremacy of, 194-
2.01; loses supremacy, loi

Gherado, 149, 190

Gilder, Richard Watson, 177

Giotto, 147, 173

Golden Gospels of Saint Midard, the,
described, 12.7-118

Golden type, the, designed by Wil-
liam Morris, 18

Gold leaf, 116

Gold, Oriental, iii

Goldsmith, Oliver, 163

Gothic illumination, see Illumination,
Gothic

Gozzoli, Benozzo, 149, 2.90

Graduates' Club, the, in New Haven,
84

Grandjon, Robert, 2.18

Greece, the rich humanities of, 15

Greek classics, the, first printed by
Aldus, 109

Greeks, the, 7

Greek types, 56, 119-2.11, 138

Grimani Breviary, the, described, 141-
145, 146, 149

Grimani, Cardinal Domenico, 141, 143

Grimani, Doge Antonio, 143

Grimani, Giovanni, Patriarch of Aqui-
leia, 141

Grimani, Marino, Patriarch of Aqui-
leia, 141

Grolier Club of New York, the, 113

Grolier, Jean, saves the Aldine Press
by his intervention, 56, 138; his
friendship with family of Aldus,

307

INDEX

114-115; his letter to Francesco

Torresani, 115
Guidobaldo, Duke of Urbino, no
Gutenberg Bible, the, described, 194-

101; rubricator's notes, 196, 197
Gutenberg, John; the Bible printed by,

194-2.01; referred to, 7, 194, 198,

2-34. 2.37

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, 145

Harvard University, Cobden-Sander-
son's lectures at, 99

Harvey, Col. George, gives birthday
dinner to Mark Twain, 176; gives
birthday dinner to William Dean
Ho wells, 187

Hautin, 12.8

Hay, John, 184

Hay, Mrs. John, 184

Heidelberg, 117

Heimskringla, the, William Morris'
translation of, i6o

Heinsius, letter from Deput to, 140

Henri II, of France, 136, iii

Henry IV, of England, 135

Henry VI, of England, 136

Henry VIII, of England, ii6

Hewlett, Maurice, 155-161; describes
the cloister of San Lorenzo, Flor-
ence, 175

Hoar, Senator George F., makes at-
tack on Charles Eliot Norton, 179

Hogarth, William, 163

Holbein, Hans, 95

Holland, the natural successor to Bel-
gium in supremacy of printing, 139.
See also Netherlands, tie

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; recol-
lections and reflections on, 183-188;
the Harvey birthday dinner, 188

Humanism, Petrarch the father of, 15

Humanist, the, defined, 15, 160-161

Humanistic hand lettering, 16, 11, 14,
116

Humanistic manuscripts, the, in the
Laurenziana Library, 16, 11; in the
Ambrosiana Library, 14

Humanistic movement, the, far-reach-
ing 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 de-
sign of, 17; proposed edition of
Dante in, 19, 31; work upon, 19-
14, 116, 159, 180, 181
Huntington, Henry E., library of, 196
Hyfnerotomachia Poliphili, the, printed
by Aldus, no; described, 110-113

Ideal Book, The, Cobden-Sanderson's,
3, 99; quoted, 164

Iliad, the Ambrosiana, 14, 15, 117

Illuminated book, the, attitude of
Italian patrons toward, ii-ii

Illumination, the art of, encouraged
by Italian patrons in XV century,
11-13; ^he underlying thought in,
111; rich rewards in study of, 114;
various schools of, 114; means of
identifying various schools and peri-
ods, 115; manuscripts which mark
the evolution of, 116-119; the Cel-
tic School, 1 19-115; the Carolingian
School, 115-118; the Gothic School,
118-131; the English School, 131-

308

INDEX

134; the French School, 1 35-141,
149-151; the Flemish School, 141-
145; the Italian School, 146-149;
cause for the decline of, 151; op-
portunities for studying, 152.

Illumination, Byzantine, described,
118; referred to, 12.4, 115, 117

Illumination, Carolingian, 115-118

Illumination, Celtic, 1 19-115, 116, 119

Illumination, English, 114, 131-134

Illumination, Flemish, 114, 137, 139,
141-145, 149, 150

Illumination, French, 114, 135-141

Illumination, Gothic, 114, 118-13 1

Illumination, Italian Renaissance, 114,
146-149, 150

Illumination, Romanesque, 114

Illustration, 105

Imperial Library, the, in Vienna, 117

Incipif, the, 93

India, iii, 118

Ink, Byzantine gold, in, 118; in-
ferior quality introduced, 138; Di-
dot's, 158

Innocents Abroad, Mark Twain's, 170

Ireland, iii

Irish monks, the, see Monks, the Irish

Irish School of Writing and Paint-
ing, the, no

Italian illumination, see Illumination,
Italian

Italic t)'pc, first used by Aldus, 17,
186; said to be based on handwrit-
ing of Petrarch, 17, 110; Basker-
ville's, 145; Didot's, 157

Italy, life and customs of people of,
in XV century, 8; illumination slow
in getting a hold in, 146; typograph-
ical supremacy of, 194, 101-115;
loses supremacy, 115; culture in the
XVI century in, 113

James, Henry, Horace Fletcher's friend-
ship with, 86; quoted, 86; esti-
mate 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, 91

Jenson, Nicolas, type designs of, 18,
19, 11, 101, 105, 106; the explicit in
books printed by, 94, 101; printer's
mark of, 103, 107; sent to Ger-
many by Charles VII of France, 104;
establishes his office in Venice, 104;
death of, 106; his office combined
with the Aldine Press, 114; Cax-
ton's work compared with, 144; re-
ferred to, 116, 186

Jenson's Gothic type, 101, 105, 106

Jenson Roman type, the, 18, 19, 106,
168; sample page of, 11

Joan of Arc, Mark Twain's, 170

John of Spires, 185

Jones, George W., 31

Joseph, Saint, 138

Josephus, Flavius, 139

Justinian, the Emperor, 117

Justinian, the Pandects of, 187

Keats, John, 158

Keere, Van der, 2li8

Kelmscott Chaucer, the, see Chaucer, the
Kelmscott

Kelmscott Press, the, 6, 55, 70, 96,
159-168

Kelmscott volumes, the, 159-168; es-
timate of, 163

Koreans, the, 7

Labels, paper, 91

Lamb House, Rye, Henry James'
home, 89

Lapis lazuli, used in printing ink, 30;
in illumination, 118

Laura, see Sale, Madonna Laura de
Noves dc

Laurenziana Library, the, humanistic
volumes at, 16; illuminated volumes
at, 119, 148, 187; uninviting ap-
proach to, 173; the Sala di Michel-
angiolo, 176; Dr. Guido Biagi at,
177-300; the great staircase, 178;

309

INDEX

Vasari's work in, 178; the story of,
x8o-i84; the treasures of, 2.84-189;
the Hall of Tapestries, 185; the
Tribuna, 2.85; the printed books in,
185; the spell of, 300; referred to,
14, II, 94, III, 182.

Le Be, Guillaume, ii8

Lee, Sir Sidney, 86, 174, 175

Leigh, Maj. Frederick T., 184

Leipzig, library of, 196

Lelio, Lucrezia, ii}

Leo X, Pope, 182.. See also Medici,
Giovanni de'

Lettering, see Hand httering

Letters, raised gold, 116

Lewes, George Henry, in the Maglia-
becchian Library, 2.92.-2.98

Leyden, heroic resistance to Spanish
siege, 2.39; becomes the intellectual
and literary center of Europe, 139;
Plantin in, 139; the Elzevirs in,
2.39-140

Leyden, the University of, 139; Plan-
tin made printer to, 139; Isaac
Elzevir made printer to, 2.40

Lindisfarne Gospels, the, described, 119-
1x5

Lippi, 196

Lippi, Fra Filippo, z8

Lipsius, the historian, 139

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 Lau-
renziana Library, 2.83

Louis XL of France, 140

Louis XII, of France, 150

Louis XIV, of France, 198

Louis XV, of France, 140

Louis, Saint, Psalter of, described, 12.8-
131; death of, 119

Lounsbury, Professor, of Yale, 84

Lowell, James Russell, 178

Luther, Martin, 115, 124

Mabie, Hamilton W., 177, 187

Macaulay, Thomas B., quoted on Bas-
kerville editions, 145

Machiavelli, Niccolo, 181, 184

Macmillan Company, the, x6

Magliabecchi, Antonio, X9X-X95

Magliabecchian Library, the, X84;
George Eliot in, X91-X98

Malmantile, Lippi's, X96

Man and Superman, Shaw's, the mak-
ing 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, 13a

Marinelli, x8o

Marmion, Scott's, 66

Martelli Chapel, the, in the Church
of San Lorenzo, Florence, X75

Mary, Queen, of England, Psalter of,
described, 131-134; referred to, 131

Mary, Queen of Scots, 156-157

Matthews, Brander, 177

Mayence, printing at, 198, X04, xi6

Mazarin, Cardinal, 198

Medard, Saint, the Golden Gospels of,
1x7-1x8

Medicean Library, the, see Laurenxiana
Library, the

Medici, the, 147; Savonarola's dia-
tribes against, X74; and the Lauren-
ziana Library, x8o

Medici, Alessandro de', X74

Medici archives, the, 14

Medici, Catherine de', 136

Medici, the Chapel of the, in Flor-
ence, X84

Medici, Cosimo I de', see Cosimo il
Vecchio

Medici, Cosimo II de', see Cosimo II

Medici, Giovanni de' (later Pope
Leo X), X75; and the Laurenziana
Library, x8x, X83

Medici, Giulio de" (later Pope Clem-
ent VII), X76; commissions Michel-

310

INDEX

angelo to erect building for the Lau-
renziana Library, i8}

Medici, Lorenzo de'. Book of Hoursma.de
by d'Antonio for, iii, 146-149,
190; tomb of, 175; and the Lau-
renziana Library, zSi-zS}; his per-
sonality, 2.81-182.; referred to, iii,
III, 148

Medici, Piero de', 175

Memling, Hans, 141

Menelik, King, of Abyssinia, 104

Mentelin, types of, 19

Menticulture, Horace Fletcher's, 75

Messina, Antonello di, 141

Metternich, Prince, 2.89

Michelangelo, letters of, 182., 190;
his plan for the facade of S. Lo-
renzo, 173; Varchi's tribute to, 175;
his tomb for Lorenzo de' Medici,
175; his work in the Laurenziana
Library, 2.76; his letter to Vasari,
178; manuscript poems of, 2.87; re-
ferred to, 14

Michelangelo archives, the, 14, 182.

Migliore, 2.96

Milan, early printing at, 2.86

Millar, Eric George, quoted, iiz, 113

Miller, Mr., London publisher, 66

Minium, 112., 118

Minuscule characters, described, 12:3;
introduced, 12.6

"Mirror" title, the, 94

Mochenicho, Doge Pietro, loi

"Modern" type, the introduction of,

2-51

Molds, early type, loi

Monaco, Lorenzo, 149, 190

Monks, the Irish, no, 1x5

Monnier, Philippe, 160

Montanus, Arias, 117

Morclli, librarian of the San Marco
Library, Venice, 143

Moretus, inherits the Plantin office, 134

Morgan Library, the, see Pierpont Mor-
gan Library, the

Morris chair, the, 2.48

Morris end papers, the, 158

Morris wall papers, the, 2.58, i6o

Morris, William, demonstrates possi-
bilities of printing as an art, 14;
Golden type of, 18; his other type
designs, 18-2.0; placed printing back
among the fine arts, 55, 158; Ber-
nard Shaw's enthusiasm for, 69-70;
his dislike of the Bodoni type, 80;
his title pages, 96; early experi-
ments of, 2.58; the Kelmscott Chaucer,
159-2.68; declines the poet-laureate-
ship of England, 160; death of,
161; estimate of his work, 163;
his definition of the type ideal,
168; referred to, 6, 96, 158

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, 16, 17, 65

Musee Conde, the, at Chantilly, 116

Naples, early printing at, 186
Nazionale Centrale, the Biblioteca, in
Florence, see Magliabecchian Library,
the
Nemours, the Due de, 139
Neobar, Royal printer to Frangois I

of France, 116
Netherlandish illumination, see Illu-
mination, Flemish
Netherlands, the, typographical su-
premacy of, 194, 113-144; commer-
cial supremacy of, 113; devastated by
war, 139
New Forest, the, in England, 158
New York Public Library, the, 196
Norton, Charles Eliot, 16; autograph
letter of, 31; his association with
the design of the Humanistic type,
31, 180-181; recollections and re-
flections on, 178-183; his meeting
with Guido Biagi, 181-183

Ode to Cervantes, Dobson's, 164
"Old-style" type, the passing of, 151;
revived by Pickering, 151

311

INDEX

Orcutt, Reginald Wilson, 165

Orcutt, William Dana, first visit to
Italy, 14; meeting with Guide Bi-
agi, 14, 2.77; his work designing
the Humanistic type, 17-33; in the
Ambrosiana Library, 2.4-2.5; ex-
periences with Willard Fiske, i6,
2.7; apprenticeship at old Univer-
sity Press, 38; experience with Eu-
gene Field, 38-41; experiences with
Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, 51; be-
comes 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; 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 Wil-
liam James, 90-91; experiences with
Cobden-Sanderson, 96-101; experi-
ences with Theodore Roosevelt, loi-
106; becomes interested in illumi-
nation, iii; meeting with Maurice
Hewlett, 155-162.; experiences with
Austin Dobson, 162.-169; experiences
with Mark Twain, 170-177; experi-
ences with Charles Eliot Norton,
178-183; experiences with William
Dean Howells, 183-188; experiences
in the Laurenziana Library, 2.73-
300; last visit with Guido Biagi,
199-300

Orcutt, Mrs. William Dana, 165, 171

Oriental gold, iii

Orthographia dktionum e Gracia trac-
tarum, Tortelli's, 186

Oxford, Edward Harley, id Earl of,
136

Palatina, the Biblioteca, at Florence,

193
Pan and the Young Shepherd, Hewlett's,

159
Paper, poorer quality introduced, 138;

Italian handmade, 138; French hand-
made, 138, 157; Baskerville the first
to introduce glossy, 150

Parchment, English, 19; Florentine,
18; Roman, i8; virgin, 113

Paris, 117

Paris Exposition of 1801, the, 158

Passerini, Luigi, 197

Patmore, Coventry, 89

Patrons, Italian, attitude toward
printed book of, 11; their concep-
tion of a book, 11; their real rea-
sons for opposing the art of print-
ing, II, 151

Peignot foundry, the, in Paris, 80

Persia, 118

Perugia, 191

Petrarca, Francesco, the father of
humanism, 15; Italic type said to
be based upon handwriting of, 17,
110; portrait of, 187, 189; quoted,
190

Petrarch, see Petrarca, Francesco

Petrarch, the Humanistic, the type de-
sign, 17-16; the copy, 16, 17; the
illustrations, 18; the parchment, 18;
the ink, 19, 30; the composition,
30; Norton's estimate of, 31

Philip, of Burgundy, 135

Philip II, of Spain, 117; his interest
in Plantin's Biblia Polyglotta, 117-
118, 133; makes Plantin prototypo-
graphe, 133

Pickering, the London publisher, re-
vives the old-style type, 151

Piedmont, early printing at, 186

Pierpont Morgan Library, the. New
York, 99, 196

Pisa, 191

Pius XI, Pope, see Ratti, Achille

Plantin, Christophe, financially em-
barrassed by his Biblia Polyglotta,
56, 138; his Greek types, 111;
leaves France, 2^3; conception and
making of his Bihlia Polyglotta,
117-133; his types, 118; his print-
er's mark, 118, 136; made prototypo-
graphe by Philip II, 133; the value

312

INDEX

of his work estimated, 133; mis-
fortunes endured by, 133; in Ley-
den, Z39; made printer to Univer-
sity of Leyden, 2.39; referred to,

79. 2.37

Plantin-Moretus Museum, the, at Ant-
werp, 135

Pliny, Elzevir's, 140

Plutei, in the Laurenziana Library, de-
signed by Michelangelo, 14, 176,
i86, 300

Politian, 181. See also Poliziano,
Angela

Poliziano, Angelo, 115. See also
Politian

Pollard, Alfred W., 2.7

Polyglot Bible, Plantin's, see Bihlia
Polyglotta

Portland, the Duchess of, 136

Pragmatism, William James', 90

Printed book, the, attitude of Italian
patrons toward, ii-ii; competed
against the written book, 199; Al-
dus changes format of, 107; Elzevirs
change format of, 140; important
part played in XVI century by, 115

Printer, the, responsibilities of, in
early days, loS

Printing, as an art, opposed by the
Italian patrons, 11-13; its possi-
bilities demonstrated by William
Morris, 14; brief supremacy of Ger-
many in, 194-101; supremacy of
Italy in, 101-115; supremacy of
France in, 115-113; supremacy of
the Netherlands in, 113-144; lapses
into a trade, 138; supremacy of
England in, 144-150; second supre-
macy of France in, 151-158; second
supremacy of England in, 158-163

Printing, invention of, made books
common, 151

Priorista, Chiari's, 197

Proofreading, in 1891, 47

Psalter of Saint Louis, the, described,
118-131

Publishers, relations between authors
and, 31, 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, 151; described,
151-158

Raphael, 113

Raphelengius, 139

Rastrelli, 197

Ratti, Achille, 15, 117

Ravenna, 118

Reformation, the, 115

Renaissance, the, humanistic move-
ment the forerunner and essence of,
15, 160; Tours becomes center of,
in France, 139

Repplier, Agnes, 177

Riccardi Library, the, 14, 149, 181,
190

Richardson, Samuel, 163

Riverside Press, the, 41

Road in Tuscany, the, Hewlett's, 159

Robertet, Francois, 140

Roman Calendar, the, 117

Romanesque illumination, see Illumi-
nation, Romanesque

Romans, the, 7

Rome, the rich humanities of, 15; re-
ferred to, 116

Romola, George Eliot's, 191-199; vol-
umes consulted in writing, 196-198

Roosevelt, Theodore, deeply interested
in physical side of books, 101; his
interest in illustration, 105

Royal Greeks, the, of Etienne, 119-111

Rubens, Peter Paul, 95, 113

Ruskin, John, 178, i8i

Russia, the Emperor of, 103

Rutland, the Earl of, 131

Sacristt, the New, in the Church of
San Lorenzo, Florence, 175

Sacristy, the Old, in the Church of
San Lorenzo, Florence, 175

Saga Library, the, 160

313

INDEX

Saint John, the Feast of, 197

St. Louis Exposition, the, i8i, X99

Saint Peter, the Holy Sepulchre of,
i88

Sala di Michelangiolo, the, in the
Laurenziana Library, Florence, 14;
described, 176

Sale, Madonna Laura de Noves de, por-
trait of, 187, 189; Petrarch's verses
to, 190

Salisbury, the Marquis of, 165

San Lorenzo, the Church of, in Flor-
ence, 174, ^&l

San Marco, the Convent of, in Flor-
ence, x8i, x8i, z88

San Marco, the Library of, Venice,
119, 141, 143, 145

San Vitale, the Church of, at Ravenna,
iz8

Saracens, the, 7

Savonarola, 2.74, 184

Savoy, the Duke of, 133

SchoefFer, types of, 19; referred to,
198

Science and Health, 52.

Scott, Gen. Hugh Lennox, 8i

Scott, Walter, and John Murray II,
66; letter from Murray to, 66

Scribes, the humanistic, base their
lettering on the Caroline minuscule,
ii6; referred to, 16, ii, 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, 12.3

Sjorxa 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 enthusi-
asm for William Morris, 69; letters
from, 68-71

Shelley, Percy Bysshe, 158

Sherry's, in New York City, 187

Siena, 2.91

Silas Marner, George Eliot's, 196

Sinibaldi, Antonio, the Virgil of, 16;
the Book of Hours of, 112.

Sixtus IV, Pope, 141

Smith, Baldwin, 131

Smith, F. Hopkinson, 177

Somerset, John, 135

Sotheby's, in London, 140

Spain, the Netherlands under the domi-
nation of, 117; referred to, 112.,
118

Spanish siege, the, of Leyden, 2.39

Spanish War, the, 179

Spell, The, Orcutt's, 90, 184

Spires, the town of, 2.86

Steele, Sir Richard, 163

Subiaco, early printing at, 185

Sweynheim and Pannartz, ruined by
experiments in Greek, 56, X38; en-
graved blocks of, 185

Switzerland, X38

Syriac Gospels^ the, X87

Taft, President William H., 188
Tapestries, the Hall of, in the Lauren-
ziana Library, Florence, ^85
Tennyson, Alfred, Lord, x6o
Terence, Elzevir's, X40; described, X41-

Ther Hoernen, Arnold, 94

Thesaurus, the, printed by Henri Eti-
enne, 56, X38

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, 9X; "the door to the
house," 9x; evolution of, 9X-96,
See also Title, the engraved. Title,
the "Mirror"

Togo, Admiral, 103

Torresani, Andrea, zi4

Torresani, Federico, 114

314

INDEX

Torresani, Francesco, friendship of
Jean Grolier with, 114; letter from
Jean Grolier to, 115

Tortelli, 2.86

Tours, becomes center of Renaissance
in France, 139

Tours, the School of, ii6

Trh Riches Heures, the, of the Due
de Berry, 116

Tribuna, the, in the Laurenziana Li-
brary, Florence, 185

Trionfi, Petrarch's, 2.6, 2.8, 181

Triumphs, Petrarch's, see Trionfi, Pe-
trarch's

Trophies of Heredia, loz

Troy type, the, designed by William
Morris, 10

Turin, early printing at, 2.86

Twain, Mark, and the Jumping Frog,
61; recollections and reflections on,
ijo-ijj; the Harvey birthday din-
ner, 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, z68. See also Humanistic type,
Jenson Roman type, Jenson Gothic type.
Golden type. Doves type

Typesetting, in 1891, 44

Univbrsity Press, the old, Cambridge,
Mass., 5, 38, 41, 4i, 46, 47, 49,
51, lOl

Upsala, Sweden, 119

Urbino, the Duke of, 12.

Vacca, the Palazzo dei della, 184
Vallorabrosa, 171, 191
Van-der-Meire, Gerard, 141
Varchi, his tribute to Michelangelo,

Vasari, his work in the Laurenziana
Library, 178; Michelangelo's letter
to, 178

Vatican Library, the, at Rome, 117,
196

Vellum, 115, 157. Sec also, Parch-
ment

Venetian Days, Howells', 186

Venetian Republic, the, 141; encour-
ages the art of printing, 102.

Venice, early printing in, 94, 104,
106, 114, 2.86; Howells' love for,
186; becomes the Mecca of printers,
loi; John of Spires in, 2.86

Vergetios, Angelos, 119

Verrocchio, 175

Victoire, Pierre, quoted, zio

Victoria, Queen, of England, 140

Vienna, library of, 196

Villa di Quarto, the, in Florence,
Mark Twain at, 171

Villa Medici, the, in Rome, z8i

Villari, Pasquale, 184, 191, 2.98

Vinci, da, archives, the, 14, 182., 190

Vinci, Leonardo da, sketches of, 2.90;
referred to, 14, i8i

Virgil, Baskerville's, 144; described,
X46-150

Virgil, illuminated by Sinibaldi, 16

Virgil, the Medicean, -l^j; the story
of, i88-2.89

Virgil, the Vatican, 117

Vita di G. Savonarola, La, Villari's,
198

Vittoria, Alessandro, 143

Wages, in 1891, 58

Walker, Emery, designs the Doves
type, 18, 19; engraves plates for
Humanistic Petrarch, z8; at the Doves
Press, Z63; referred to, 71

Walpole, Horace, 163

Warner, Sir George, 140

Widener, Joseph E., library of, 196

Wiggin, Rev. James Henry, 51

Wiggin, Kate Douglas, 177

Wilhelm, Kaiser, 103, 104

William of Orange, founds the Uni-
versity of Leyden, Z39

William the Conqueror, 158

315

INDEX

Wilson, Francis, 38

Wilson, John, 5, 6, 38, 40, 41, 46, 5^,

53. 55
Windsor Castle, 140
Wood, Gen. Leonard, 81
Wood cuts, 106

Wordsworth, William, quoted, 19
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, 19

316

THIS VOLUME is composed in Poliphilus
type, reproduced by the Lanflon 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'AnthropoIo^ia, is
designed by Enrico Monetti.

The illustrations, many now appearing in book
form for the firit time, were secured chiefly
through the courtesy of the librarians of the
British Museum, London; the Biblioth^ue
Nationale, Paris; the Laurenziana Library,
Florence; the Ambrosiana Library, Milan; the
Marciana Library, Venice; the Vatican Li"
brary, Rome; and from private coUedors.

The plates of the illu^rations 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.

f(f f^'^'

J rf t.A. a

Zn6.A206

3 9358 00097745 1

am Dana* 1870-1953.
"the perfect book :

bookman / [by] William Dana Orcutt. -
Boston : Little, Brown S Companyy 19:
316 p« : platesy ports* , facsims* ;
24 cm*

97745

MBNU

27 JAN 83

3866370 NEDDbp

26-171

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