Part 3

3. _Copy the text._ This would better be done at this point, for pupils are more likely to make mistakes in the text than in the illustrations. It is always wise to do first that which offers the largest opportunity for spoiling the page. The style of writing must now be chosen. From an esthetic point of view a vertical hand is best. The axes of the letters rhyme with the vertical edges of the page and the vertical lines of margins and illustrations.

Obviously the easiest and least educational thing to do is to write the text in one’s ordinary hand, without ornamental initials, or any other sign of loving interest in the performance, except thoughtful spacing, as shown in Plate IX. The utmost care should be exercised in keeping the text within the margins. To start, the lines right is comparatively easy; to stop them right is a test of the writer’s foresight and skill. Any form of handwriting admits of expansion and contraction; many words divide happily into syllables; thus the lengths of the lines may be adjusted to the space. Occasionally, in case of necessity, as a last resort, flourishes such as those shown in Plate X may be used.

A richer effect may be produced by the use of color, as suggested in Plate XI, and by the adoption of a more formal hand. Ornamental initials also enrich the page. If the pupils have had any practice in pen lettering and can take the time to complete their booklets in the spirit of the pen craftsmen, the results will be more satisfactory in every way. The style of writing, whatever it may be, should be uniform throughout, and the initials should be in harmony with it. Plate XII gives illustrations of this. In 1 the ornamental initial is merely the script O (see “Olaf”) enlarged, with a somewhat fanciful “f,” in harmony with it, as a substitute for the capital letter which in print would complete the first word. In 2, where a stub pen held at right angles to the reading line determined the character of letter, the initial corresponds. Compare this initial and text with 3, where the pen was held at an oblique angle with the reading line. All the other initials in Plate XII are appropriate for manuscript pages of different degrees of formality. The initial may always lead the text in general character, be a little more formal, a little more ornate, but it should not be so elaborate as to cheapen the appearance of the text. Moreover, the initials should be of uniform style throughout the booklet and in harmony with the other ornamental details. In the case of the Longfellow Booklet an initial like 12 would be used, because of its interlacing, in harmony with the Celtic ornamentation of the cover. Plates XIII, XIV and XV are reproduced from originals by skilful craftsmen who have acquired a formal hand of marked character and beauty.

The style of writing, whatever it is, should represent the best of which the pupil is capable, and should “hold up to sample” from first to last.

4. _Add the Illustrations._ The ideal booklet is “all of a piece”--all done by hand. If the illustrations are such as can be easily copied, or if they can be original, the whole will be consistent throughout.

In copying pictures two devices are often of great assistance--the diagonal and the net.

_The Diagonal_--Let the rectangle A-B-C-D in the diagram represent the shape of picture to be copied. A diagonal drawn in this rectangle will locate corners of similar rectangles. Suppose the size of the picture is to be reduced, let us say, to 3 inches. Measure off the 3 inches on the line A-B, as indicated. Through E draw E-F parallel to B-C and draw F-G parallel to C-D. A-E-F-G is the size and shape of the reduction. Or, suppose the picture is to be enlarged, let us say, to 4½ inches. Measure 4½ inches downward from A on the extension of the line A-B, and find the point H. Proceeding as before, A-H-I-K is the required rectangle. If the width is the known dimension, 4 inches, let us say, to which the picture is to be enlarged, begin with the width as indicated at the top, and proceed as usual. A-N-M-L is the rectangle.

_The Net._ Divide the picture to be copied into a convenient number of rectangles of equal size, after the manner shown in Plate XVI, first into halves, then into quarters, and, if necessary, eighths, each way. Number and letter the lines as indicated. Having found by means of the diagonal the correct size and shape of the copy desired, divide that rectangle to correspond, into halves, quarters, eighths, each way, and mark the lines with corresponding figures and letters. If the side of a window falls on line _b_ between 2 and 3 in the original, it must be located there in the copy. If the outline of the mountainside crosses line _b_ half way between the top and line 1 in the original, it must cross the corresponding line in a corresponding place in the copy. By this means every important feature of the picture may be readily located in the copy.

Frequently, copying is inadvisable, and then, as in the case of the Longfellow booklet, some or all of the illustrations must be “tipped in,” as the printers say, which means pasted in by their tips (a top or side edge, or the corners). This should be done neatly, using the least possible amount of the best paste. The sheets should be pasted in such a way that they will not flap out of position and catch and crease as the leaves are turned.

5. _Letter the Title-page._ In that admirable book on title-pages by Mr. Theodore L. De Vinne, we are told that every title-page should be planned. “If words are scant the page will be bleak; if it has too many words the lines must be huddled.” A title-page has certain regular divisions--name, author, imprint. It should adequately introduce the reader to the book, the author and the publisher. In the case of a school booklet author and publisher are one. The title-page may then assume such a form as this:

The margins should be like those on other pages, the style of lettering should harmonize with that of the text pages and initials, and the whole effect should be dignified. As Mr. De Vinne says: “Compared with the text that follows the title is a trifle, and yet the impression made by it is not to be undervalued. It is the page first inspected, and it attracts or repels at a glance.”

6. _Make the Cover._ The cover may be of the same paper as the book itself, it may be of the same paper used double, to give a feeling that it serves as a protection to the other pages, but it would better be of a thicker paper and of a different color from the leaves. Of course, it may be of prepared cloth, or leather, or the book may be “bound in boards,” as books “for the trade” usually are. This Longfellow booklet has the form of a pamphlet, a thin book bound in paper covers. This cover has already been designed. (See page 21 and the following.) The cover paper should be cut to fit the book. The front cover for the Longfellow booklet is shown in Plate XVII. The border is an adaptation of a design given in Owen Jones’s “Grammar of Ornament.” The rosette is from the old baptismal font in Trondhjem, King Olaf’s capital. The lettering is a bit odd, partly because the first word is so long, and partly to hint at interlacing, that all the parts may have something, at least, in common, and thus be harmonious. The back page of the cover affords an opportunity for saying a graceful farewell to the reader, for having the last word, repeating the thing to be remembered, or recalling author or publisher. In the case of the Longfellow booklet I want it to be my hero, King Olaf; therefore I have used (Plate XVIII) the head of an old Norse king, let us call it Olaf, which I found on an advertising pamphlet for “Danish Bond” paper.

7. _Bind the Booklet._ The binding material should be unobtrusive. That which is chiefly structural, a necessary but entirely subordinate element, should not be allowed to usurp first place, as it is sure to do if ribbon or a tasseled cord or brilliantly dyed raffia is employed. A stout thread, as nearly as possible the color of the cover, or at least in close harmony with it, is to be recommended.

To bind the booklet, thread a needle with the binding cord; partly open the booklet at the middle, and from the inside thrust the needle through the center of the back; return the needle through the back about half way to the top of the cover; pass it again through the back, this time half way between the center and the foot of the cover; return the needle through the central hole; tie the two ends of the thread together, over that part which lies in the crease. Be sure to tie a square knot, one that will not slip.

Should a more substantial binding be desired, proceed as follows:

Add extra fly leaves or end papers to the pamphlet.[M]

1. Cut two pieces of cardboard the size of the pamphlet pages, plus an eighth inch at top, bottom and one side--A-B-C-D and E-F-G-H, Plate XIX, Fig. 1. Place these side by side, as far apart (B-E and C-H) as the thickness of the pamphlet. Cut a sheet of cover paper three-quarters inch larger all around, as indicated by the dotted line, A-F-G-D. Clip off the corners as shown in the diagram. Remove the cardboards and paste the covering sheet all over. Replace the cardboards, rub them down hard, fold over the edges, top and bottom first, then the sides, and rub these down hard. The pamphlet may now be fastened into the covers by sewing through the back and by pasting down the end papers, C and D, Fig. 3, to the inside of the covers front and back. In a small pamphlet the pasting of the end papers may be sufficient to hold the book together.

2. To bind in cloth or leather and boards, having gotten out the two pieces of cardboard as before, cut a strip of cloth or leather of the desired width, A-B-C-D, Fig. 2 (it should lap on three-quarters inch at least), and secure the boards to it by means of paste, folding over the ends as indicated by the full and dotted lines at I and J. Get out the cover papers. These are like the cover paper in 1, with a strip cut out of the middle, as indicated in diagram 2 by the letters E-F and G-H. The edges E-H and F-G should lap over the back strip an eighth inch or more. Paste the cover papers and rub down the laps. Insert the pamphlet and fasten it in as before.

3. The blind sewing-in of the pamphlet is effected by adding to its back outside the end papers C and D, Fig. 3, a strip of stout linen or other tough material, A-B. This should not be longer than the distance from the lap I to the lap J, in Fig. 2, and should be added, of course, when the body of the book is sewed. Secure the body of the book within the covers by pasting this back strip A-B to the front and back covers. When this is done, paste down the end papers.

=Tenth, Give It Away=

From the first the children should be taught that service is the end of life. They should serve each other, help the teacher, coöperate in school tasks, and actively participate in developing a fine school spirit. The booklet should be made for somebody at home, some friend, or for exchange with some pupil in a distant part of the country. It should never be retained by the pupil who made it (there may be exceptions to this), because as soon as it is done its value to the maker ceases. He ought for his own good to forget the things that are behind, and press forward to better things. He should not be allowed to hoard and gloat over his small triumphs.

When the booklets are completed hold a “private exhibition” of them, discuss them freely, note the defects, the chances for improvement next time, and also the successes, and then, having squeezed out of them all the educative value, all the delight of doing, all the pleasure of seeing one’s own good work, send them, with a gracious little note, to those for whom they were made, and thus extort from them their last and best gift, the blessedness of giving.

FOOTNOTES:

[A] The issue for November, 1906, for example, contains a good primary booklet and a good grammar booklet. Subject, Thanksgiving.

[B] That is teaching.... The class is free to suggest, free to choose, but is led skilfully to see for itself the wisdom of choosing a certain line of action. That line of action was _foreseen_ as best by the teacher, and, therefore, was _foreordained_ (excuse the theological terms). Of course, the class was not aware of that. How can children discover what is best for themselves without a good teacher?

[C] Go to some well-to-do citizen of your acquaintance, tell him just what you want _for the children_, and ask him to give you the money to buy it. The amount will be small, but the satisfaction to the children and to himself will be great. The children will make him a special booklet, dedicated to him as their helper. It shall be made by the best workers in the school. In twenty-five years I have never been refused when I have asked anything _for the children_.

[D] In place of copyright notice or printer’s imprint, a brief statement of where and when the booklet was made may be inserted here, or the monogram or totem of the maker, or a line of dedication.

[E] A folio is simply a sheet of paper folded to make two leaves, four pages.

[F] The problem of margins is treated at length in “Writing and Illuminating and Lettering,” by Edward Johnston.

[G] A “vertical” page has its long edges upright and is bound on a long edge. A “horizontal” page has its long edges horizontal and is bound on a short edge. The vertical page is the common form, and should be adopted except in rare cases where the horizontal seems unavoidable.

[H] Recto is the term used by book makers to indicate the right-hand page of an open book; verso the left-hand page--the reverse side of a recto.

[I] From “The Features of a Printed Book,” published by the School of Printing, North End Union, Parmenter Street, Boston.

[J] “Self-Cultivation in English,” by George Herbert Palmer, is a brief and illuminating essay bearing upon this topic.

[K] “Familiar Quotations,” Bartlett; “Book of Quotations,” Benham, and works of similar character will aid in determining popular poems.

[L] A “Perry Picture.” I am indebted to Mr. Eugene A. Perry, of Malden, Mass., for permission to use this portrait, the print of the Longfellow Monument, of the Wayside Inn, and of the two Longfellow Houses (all copyrighted by the Perry Pictures Company).

[M] End papers are ornamented fly leaves. In commercial books each is a folio, one leaf of which is pasted to the cover, and the other, by a narrow strip of paste along the back, to the adjacent fly leaf. End papers, if decorated, have the design on one side only, the side not pasted. The decoration should be in harmony with the subject matter and make-up of the volume.

Transcriber’s Notes

Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been silently corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within the text and consultation of external sources. Except for those changes noted below, original spelling in the text has been retained.

Page 42: “Theodore L. DeVinne” replaced by “Theodore L. De Vinne”.

Page 43: “Mr.DeVinne” replaced by “Mr. De Vinne”.

Leading braces in the 3rd column of the table on page 8 were omitted to improve readability.

Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_. Bold text is surrounded by equal signs: =bold=.