similar. A markedly short period of life and activity counts against most of the American presses. Only a few were continuously and consistently active over a period of years. The earliest American private press of which I have any record is the Fair-Hill Press, Philadelphia, which printed a quarto volume of "The Morris House," by Deborah Logan, in 1867. Probably there were more such ventures, but information is hard to come by; only by fortunate accident does one learn of them. Hymnus in festo Nativitatis Domini * Adoremus Principem. JOS et asinus salutant, Lactam super Creatorem OSEPH et pastores, stantes, Pascit lacte virginali NFANS Sancte, Te adoro: By Francis Watts Lee After a few preliminary experiments, round about 1900 there was a veritable eruption of private presses in this country. Aside from two or three slightly prior we may, by a certain flexibility of viewpoint, take into consideration some activities that border perilously near to the commercial realm, or entirely within it, which yet contributed to, or aided, popular recognition of the movement. One such was Thomas B. Mosher, who is to be considered later. Another was Elbert Hubbard, whose earliest books had something of the private press flavor. If he had failed of the commercial success which was certainly in his mind from the start, his first few volumes might be included in our category, but in the light of later developments they are definitely barred. However, to give the man his due, he gave an immense number of people the idea that books could be something. other than dingy or glaring paper enclosed in stamped cloth or padded leather. The fact that his alternates were even worse, both practically and aesthetically, does not controvert their startling impact upon the lethargic ignorance of the time. There was one man who, like Charles Ricketts, had printing done under his supervision, but who contributed largely to the typographic awakening of the time. Perhaps, with fair opportunity, Will Bradley, whose personal work bore the imprint of the Wayside Press, might have done as much creative work in book design as his contemporaries across the sea, for he was, and still is, a designer of marked originality and sound taste. His greatest contributions to typography were thru commercial channels, but they none the less definitely aided American printers to escape from a hopelessly drab condition. Probably the most successful, in the largest number of elements of quality and quantity, was the Elston Press, maintained for some years at New Rochelle, N. Y., by Clarke Conwell. Beginning in 1900 with one book, the "Sonnets from the Portuguese," which almost everyone reprinted in those days, the press turned out five books the next year and ten in 1902, after which only one or two more appeared. Frankly influenced by William Morris, he still had some ideas of his own and followed them consistently. After some experiments in the first five books of his list, he imported a supply of Caslon's "Old Roman" type and used it exclusively from then on. While it may not be placed among the "beautiful" types, it is a good, sound letter, free from eccentricities and with some elements of distinction. The most notable merit of Mr. Conwell's books was the presswork, which was invariably fine. His literary selection ran largely to the classics. If he did not contribute any startling creative work, he may be credited with an ex BOOKBINDING THAT WILL HELP POPULARITY OF YOUR PUBLICATIONS 7 THE ART AND CRAFT OF PRINTING, BY WILLIAM MORRIS: a complete record of Morris's speeches and writings on printing and his work at the Kelmscott Press, including the "Note by William Morris on his Aims in Founding the Kelmscott Press." Two hundred and ten copies, red and black, at five dollars or one guinea each. OUT OF PRINT. 8 SOME NOTES ON EARLY WOOD-CUT BOOKS BY WILLIAM MORRIS. A volume of essays, uniform in size with "The Art and Craft of Printing," containing many pages of reproductions, and also a chapter on Early Illum inated MSS. One hundred and twenty copies, in black and red, at five dollars or one guinea each. OUT OF PRINT. 9 COMUS, A MASKE, BY JOHN MILTON, reprinted from the original edition of 1637, with title pages by H. M. O'Kane. One hundred and sixty copies, in black and red, at five dollars or one guinea each. The first book in which red and black are used throughout the text. OUT OF PRINT. 10 ENDYMION, A POETIC ROMANCE, BY JOHN KEATS, reprinted from the first edition of 1818, with title pages and initial letters designed by H. M. O'Kane. One hundred and sixty copies, octavo, in black and red, at seven dollars or thirty shillings each. OUT OF PRINT. 11 ROSALYNDE, OR EUPHUES GOLDEN LEGACIE, BY THOMAS LODGE, reprinted in the original spelling from the edition of 1592, collated with the edition of 1598. One hundred and sixty copies, octavo, black and red, at seven dollars or thirty shillings each. OUT OF PRINT. 12 THE RAPE OF THE LOCK, BY ALEXANDER POPE. One hundred and sixty copies printed, in black and red, the text having been edited from the edition of 1714. Octavo in size, uniform with the other octavos of the Press. Five dollars or one guinea each. OUT OF PRINT. From an Elston Circular Another establishment with several books to its credit was the Philosopher Press, carried on at Wausau, Wisconsin, by Van Vechten and Ellis. They printed away at "The Sign of the Green Pine Tree" for some years but without creating much excitement, typographically. Their earlier volumes are characterized by an arbitrary rule that no word should ever be divided, and any one who has ever set a page of type will readily understand the peculiar, not to say amazing, variations in word spacing that resulted. They got over that idea eventually, as well as the primary notion that good presswork was the only requisite of good book making. The later volumes bear some decoration, not always happily in harmony with type and page. Of the type they used, the most that can be said is that it was legible; no one ever accused it of being beautiful. The two young men had a deal of enjoyment out of it, and their patrons derived considerable pleasure from the genial friendliness of their letters and prospectuses. Coming from a designer of marked ability, the books issued by Ralph Fletcher Seymour in Chicago were happily interesting. His first volumes were entirely handlettered and printed from zinc plates. While the temptation, in such a method, is The Discriminating Publisher CROWN BINDINGS Book Cloths of Distinctive Quality |