Chapter 13

If anyone questions whether this principle is true or not, the best answer will be to bid him test it. Though it be true universally, some people may not easily apply it, and some may not have the patience to subject themselves to such a discipline. But most will have no difficulty, and many will succeed well enough to inspire themselves to continue. Some, indeed, will say, and with perfect truth, that there is nothing new in this doctrine, that they have long known and applied it. The principle has doubtless been known for thousands of years, but it has certainly not been widely taken up by our race, which is curiously external in its notions of self-education and self-control. One American writer, the late Charles Godfrey Leland, a man of the most varied powers and accomplishments, has written in advocacy of it and gives us as his own experience that after the age of seventy he was able to do a greater amount of literary work, and with less fatigue, than ever before simply by calling in the aid of his unconscious self. If one were to read the lives and writings of eminent men with this principle of Forethought in mind, one would find numberless instances of its more or less unconscious practice. The best scholar in my own class, for instance, applied it to his studies. Does anyone suppose that the old Puritan's sweetening of his mind with a little Calvin before he went to bed was without its effect on his devotion to Calvinism? Erasmus, the wittiest of scholars, writing nearly four hundred years ago to his special friend, Christian of Lubeck, recommends the practice both of the evening instruction and the morning review as something that he himself has followed from his childhood; and we cannot doubt that in it he reveals one of the secrets of his world-wide influence. He says to his youthful friend: "A little before you go to sleep read something choice and worth remembering, and think it over until you fall asleep. When you awake in the morning make yourself give an account of it." Though this is clearly an application of the principle to study and the strengthening of the memory, experiment will show that the potency of Forethought is not limited to the memory or the intellect in general, but applies to man's entire nature and equally to the least and the greatest of its concerns.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The substance of an address delivered Nov. 18, 1909, in the Boston Public Library, under the auspices of the Society of Printers.

[2] The address here summarized was printed at the Chiswick Press and published at Christmas, 1884. Mr. Stevens died early in 1886, leaving a posthumous book entitled "Recollections of Mr. James Lenox," which was printed in the same year at the Chiswick Press, and which is of great interest to booklovers, especially Americans.

[3] Mr. Edison's projected substitute for paper, sheets of nickel, 20,000 to the inch, may indicate the book material of the future, but at present it is only a startling possibility.

[4] The type in which this book is printed is a modern Bodoni, cut in Italy, and was chosen for its elegance rather than to illustrate the latest results in legibility of type design.

[5] See "Simplified Spelling in Writing and Printing; a Publisher's Point of View," by Henry Holt, LL.D., New York, 1906. About one half the expense falls within the domain of printing.

INDEX

INDEX

ABILITY, cannot be created, 164.

Accents, their help in reading poetry, 17, 18.

Æschylus, as characterized by Mrs. Browning, 67.

Aldine edition of the British Poets, by Pickering, 23, 24.

Aldrich, Thomas Bailey, his "Friar Jerome's Beautiful Book," 87, 88.

Aldus, Alduses and Elzevirs contrasted, 23; beauty in his work, 4; bindings of, 100; his characteristic book, 21; his example followed by the Elzevirs, 22; his italic type and its effect on the size and price of books, 20, 21; Pickering and other followers of, 23, 24; vexed by misprints, 156.

Alphabet, Chinese, picture writing, 80, 81; derivation from picture writing, 81; scientific and actual, 147; varieties in use, 146. _See also_ Type.

American Journal of Psychology, contains Sanford's study on "The relative legibility of the small letters," 122.

Arnold, Edwin, misprints in his "Light of Asia," 159.

Art, art aspect of the book, 3, 49, 115; shares the prehistoric background of the book, 79, 80.

Artists not opposed to criticism, 62.

Assyrian clay tablet, 4.

Astor Library, size in 1875, 104.

Audubon, John James, his elephant-folio "Birds of America," 55.

Authors, reading by single authors and groups, 74-76; spoilers of books, 40.

Authorship, rules of, 44.

BABYLONIAN book, 82.

Back numbers, unimportant contemporary works become, 77.

"Background of the book," 79-86.

Bacon, Francis, Lord, quoted, 106, 112.

Baird, John Wallace, directs Clark University studies on legibility, 124.

Ballads, Old English, Hazlitt on, 142.

Balzac, Honoré de, expanded his novels in proof, 15.

Balzac, Jean Louis Guez de, acknowledged his indebtedness to the Elzevirs, 22.

Bamboo, source of Chinese paper, 85.

Barlow, Joel, place of his "Columbiad" in modern printing, 10.

Bartlett, John, quoted, 128.

Baskerville, John, his smooth paper, 5.

Beauty, _see_ Esthetics.

Beecher, Henry Ward, his "Norwood" in three volumes, 12; John Beattie Crozier on his sermons, 111.

Beethoven, his Ninth Symphony as a product of genius, 65.

Bellarmin, Cardinal, list of errata in his works, 160.

Best books, need of provision for daily reading, 107. _See also_ Books.

Bible, Hazlitt on its poetry, 141; influence on Bunyan, on Calhoun, 110; misprints in, 154, 156; various folio editions, 19.

Bible of humanity, Socrates in, 68.

Bigness, in books, 35, 36, 45, 47.

Binder, a spoiler of books, 40, 42; what the librarian asks of him, 48.

Binding, as an element of the book, 6; "The clothing of a book," 97-101; of the book beautiful, 52-55; of the Chinese book, 88, 89; of the well-made book, 52; "Parchment bindings," 102, 103; unnecessary rebindings, 46.

Bion, as characterized by Mrs. Browning, 68.

Birch bark, used for book of India, 85.

Bismarck, misprint concerning, 155.

Blackmore, Richard Doddridge, tribute to Shakespeare, 110.

Blue and Gold editions, a favorite book size, 24-26.

Bodoni, Giambattista, his type commended, 58, 129, 130.

Book, "The background of the book," 79-86; "blown" books, 35; "The book beautiful," 49-62; "The book of to-day and the book of to-morrow," 33-37; Chinese, 84, 85, 87-91; "The clothing of a book," 97-101; a constructive critic of the, 38-43; elements of, 4-6; "Fitness in book design," 9-13; its structural contradiction, 52; materials, 92; of the future, 95, 96; on its physical side an art object, 3; pre-Columbian Mexican, 6; printed, a "substitute" for manuscript, 4; subject to laws of esthetics and economics, 115; tests of its utility, 115; well-made, not extremely costly, 7, not identical with beautiful, 52; worth writing three times, 44. _See also_ Design; Size.

Book buyers, how to educate, 37; spoilers of books, 40, 42.

Booklovers, "Books and booklovers," 3-8; must first know books, 7; service in improvement of books, 48, 61, 62.

Book production, 105; elements added by printing, 14.

Books, as a librarian would like them, 44-48; "Books and booklovers," 3-8; the greatest, few, 66; intellectual riffraff, 9; learning to love, 7; "Lest we forget the few great books," 104-114; perishable, 34, 45, 46; progress in legibility of, 132, 133; small, commended by Dr. Johnson, 20; "The student and the library," 139-144; that are not books, 105, 106; world's annual publication of, 105.

Books of Hours, dainty volumes, 20.

Boston Athenaeum Library, size in 1875, 104.

Boston Public Library, Address in, 3, _footnote_; size in 1875, 104.

Brandes, Georg, his "Shakespeare: a critical study," 72.

Brass, used for book of India, 85.

British Poets, rival editions of, by Pickering and by Little and Brown, 23, 24.

Brown, Horatio Robert Forbes, on Aldus and his italic type, 20.

Brown, John Carter, patron of Henry Stevens, 38.

Brown University, misprint in quoting its charter, 154, 155.

Browne, Charles Farrar, adopts a misprint, 157.

Browning, Elizabeth Barrett, her "Wine of Cyprus" quoted, 67, 68.

Buchanan, George, his Latin poems, commended by Dr. Johnson, 23; published by the Elzevirs, 23.

Bulk, in books, 92-96.

Bunyan, John, debt to the Bible, 110.

Burma, book of, _see_ India.

Burns, Robert, Hazlitt on, 142.

Burnside, General Ambrose Everett, his limitations, 163, 164.

Burton, Sir Richard, his "Kasîdah" in Mosher's tribute typography, 137.

Bury, Richard de, author of the "Philobiblon," 8.

Byron, Lord, hated Horace, 68.

CAESURA, indication of, in print, 18.

Calhoun, John Caldwell, reader of the Bible, 110.

Calligraphy, _see_ Manuscript.

Calvin, John, as a Puritan's spiritual nightcap, 166.

Cambridge University, student groups in, 139.

Capital letters, legibility, 121, 122, 126; Roman in origin, 118; Roman, superior to black-letter in combination, 57; undersized, used by Aldus, 21.

Carlyle, Thomas, on Goethe, 110; rewrote his books in proof, 15.

Caslon type, commended, 58, 117.

Catchwords, usage of Aldus, 21.

Cattell, James McKeen, his investigations of legibility, 121, 122.

Cave men, pictures made by them, 79, 80.

Centaur type, commended, 132.

Century Dictionary, illustration of cerastes, 81; a triumph of typography, 16, 135.

Century types, commended, 127, 132.

Cervantes, "Don Quixote," character and meaning of, 70, 71, no final edition of, 11, on reading, 143, 144, translations of, 143, 144; his character, 70; later novelists indebted to, 143.

Chaucer, Geoffrey, complaint of his scribe's errors, 160, 161; Hazlitt on, 142; his spelling, 149.

Cheapness, _see_ Cost.

Cheltenham type, commended, 132.

Cherokee syllabary, 146.

Children, increase of near sight among, 120; legibility of books for, 5, 117.

Chinese, alphabet, conventionalized picture writing, 80, 81; book, 84, 85, 87-91.

Chiswick Press, 38, _footnote_; Pickering's books printed at, 41.

Christian of Lubeck, letter of Erasmus to, quoted, 166.

Cicero, did not write for children, 68.

Clark University, studies on legibility, 124-127, 132.

Classroom, not equal to a good book, 140.

Clay tablet, and booklovers, 4; described, 82.

Clodd, Edward, on discovery of British prehistoric antiquities, 79.

Cloister Oldstyle type, commended, 132; a safe norm for poetry, 58.

Cloth, used in binding, 53.

"Clothing of a book," 97-101.

Codex, Roman, form adopted for parchment books, 84; original of modern book form, 19, 52, 90.

Collins, Wilkie, tribute to "Robinson Crusoe," 110.

Color, use of, 60.

Columbian type, first used in Barlow's "Columbiad," 10.

Columns, in wide pages, 47.

Community, value of reading to the, 28, 29.

Compactness and legibility, 117, 130, 131, 134, 135.

Compositor, a spoiler of books, 40, 41.

"Constructive critic of the book," 38-43.

Consumers, _see_ Book buyers.

Contemporary writers, on reading their works, 76, 77.

Contrast of type, 16, 17.

Copperplate printing, in connection with typography, 60.

Cornell University Library, proof-sheets of the "Waverley Novels" in, 15.

Corrigenda, 152-161; lists of, 159, 160.

Cost, the book of to-morrow will be cheaper, 36; cheapened books, 45; of beautiful books little more than of unsightly, 39; relatively small, of well-made books, 7.

Cowper, William, Hazlitt on, 142.

Crabbe, George, a favorite edition of, 24.

Criticism, "A constructive critic of the book," 38-43; not opposed by artists, 62.

Crozier, John Beattie, on reading, 111, 112.

Culture cannot be vicarious, 140.

DANA, JOHN COTTON, his analysis of the elements of the book, 4.

Dante, his "Divine Comedy," character of, 69, 70, 144; "fly's-eye" edition of, 55; Hazlitt on, 141; privilege of reading, 64; Professor Torrey on reading, 109.

Decoration, in bindings, 6, 99-101; use of color in, 60.

Defoe, Daniel, tribute of Wilkie Collins to "Robinson Crusoe," 110.

Democratization of learning, by the cheap books of Aldus, 21.

De Morgan, William, quoted, 63, 72; value of his novels, 77.

De Quincey, Thomas, on possible amount of reading in a lifetime, 105.

Design, "Fitness in book design," 9-13; of type, 5, 117, 118.

Diagonal of page, 57.

Dickens, Charles, his works in illegible print, 130, on Oxford India paper, 94, on thick paper, 95; on reading him, 143.

Dickinson, Emily, quoted, 30, 31.

Didot, Ambrose Firmin, his "microscopic" type, 131.

Discovery of a great book, 108, 109.

Distinctions, to the eye, in manuscript and print, 16-18.

Don Quixote, _see_ Cervantes.

Dordogne, France, its prehistoric pictures, 79, 80.

Dowden, Edward, his "Shakspere: his mind and art," 72.

Dryden, John, Hazlitt on, 142.

ECONOMICS, the book within the domain of, 115, 116.

Edges, treatment of, 61.

Edison, Thomas Alva, would substitute nickel for paper, 92, _footnote_.

Editions de luxe, disapproved by Henry Stevens, 39.

Education, in appreciation of beautiful books, 50; of book buyers, 37.

Efficiency, in modern life, 162; of the book, 115.

Egyptian, book, see Papyrus; hieroglyphics, picture writing, 81.

Elements of the book, 4-6.

Elimination, test of, applied to reading, 63, 64.

Eliot, Charles William, his Latin signature, 102, 103.

Elzevirs, compared with Aldines, 23, with Blue and Gold editions, 25; described, 21-23.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo, his life and works, 75, 76; importance of his works, 112; John Beattie Crozier on, 112; quoted, 144.

Encyclopædia Britannica, in its two sizes of type, 135.

English, alphabets, 117, 118; book publication in 1913, 105; books, criticised, 38-43; literature as affected by reformed spelling, 149; poets, Hazlitt's Lectures on, 141, 142; romancers, of the 18th century, 143; spelling, 145-151.

Engravings, _see_ Illustrations.

Erasmus, Desiderius, letter to Christian of Lubeck, quoted, 166.

Errata, 152-161; lists of, 159, 160.

Errors of the press, 152-161.

Essays, in a favorite book size, 24.

Esthetics, beauty in typography, 136-138; "The book beautiful," 49-62; the book subject to the laws of, 115; harmony between beauty and use in type design, 132; in choice of type, 127, 131; involves sacrifice of utility, 116; its demands must be met in a favorite book, 24, met by the Little Classic editions, 26; of the book, 3, 9; printer's duty, to, 18; relation of thickness and thinness to, 23, 24; sacrificed to legibility, 117.

Etymology in spelling, 148.

Eumenes II, originates parchment, 83, 84.

Euripides, as characterized by Mrs. Browning, 68.

Everyman's Library, in a favorite book size, 24.

Eves, binders, their work, 100.

"Exceptions to the rule of legibility," 134-138, 130, 131.

Expression in typography, 9-13, 137, 138.

Eyes, _see_ Sight.

F, the letter, origin and derivatives, 81.

Fairy Queen, _see_ Spenser, Edmund.

"Favorite book sizes," 19-27.

Favorite literature, in appropriate typography, 137.

Fielding, Henry, a favorite edition of, 24; on reading him, 143; an unattractive edition of, 12.

Fields, Annie Adams, her "Beacon Biography" of Hawthorne, 75.

Finishing, _see_ Binding.

Fitness, between illustrations and type, 6; in book design, 9-13; in typography, 137, 138.

Fitzgerald, Edward, at Cambridge University, 139.

Forethought, "A secret of personal power," 162-167.

Forewilling, "A secret of personal power," 162-167.

Format, _see_ Size.

Forwarding, _see_ Binding.

Franklin, Benjamin, quoted, 35, 123.

French, alphabet, 147; book publication in 1913, 105; type, faults of, 117, 120, 128.

Frowde, Henry, publishes "The Periodical" in form of a Chinese book, 88, 90.

GALILEO, acknowledged his indebtedness to the Elzevirs, 22.

Garfield, James Abram, recommends reading of fiction, 107.

Gems, in bindings, 6.

Genius, its bad spelling, 150, 151; its monuments in the various arts, 65.

German, book publication in 1913, 105; spelling reform, 147, 148, 150; tribute typography, 137; type, faults of, 117, 122, 128.

Ghost words, 158, 159.

Gilding, _see_ Binding; Edges.

Gladstone, William Ewart, a literary blunder of, 152, 153.

Goethe, Carlyle on, 110; his greatness, 73; John Beattie Crozier on, 112; on Sir Walter Scott, 110.

Goffered edges, 61.

Goudy, Frederic W., his Kennerley type commended, 132.

Grace before reading, 77.

Grammar of book manufacture, 40, 42.

Grant, Ulysses Simpson, his coat of arms, 30; his greatness brought out by responsibility, 163.

Gray, Thomas, small bulk of his work, 69.

"Great books, Lest we forget the few," 104-114.

Greek literature, masterpieces of, 66-68.

Greeks, surpassed by moderns in knowledge, 30.

Green, John Richard, quoted, 50.

Grolier, Jean, bindings made for, 100.

Groups, reading authors by, 74, 75.

Guide, in reading, 140-142; none to love of books, 7.

Guidi, Carlo Alessandro, killed by misprints, 156.

HABIT, and forethought, 165.

Haggard, Rider, his "Mr. Meeson's Will," 86.

Hallam, Arthur Henry, at Cambridge University, 139.

Handwriting, _see_ Manuscript.

Harte, Francis Bret, on reading his works, 143.

Harvard University, course in printing, 43; Library possesses manuscript of Shelley's "Skylark," 158; size of Library in 1875, 104.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel, on reading him, 74, 75.

Hay, John, his reading in college, 139; a remarkable misprint in his "Poems," 159.

Hazlitt, William, as a guide in reading, 141, 142; Lamb and Stevenson on, 141.

Headlines, Henry D. Lloyd on, 132.

"Hibbert Journal," bulkiness of, 95.

Hieroglyphics, _see_ Picture writing.

Higginson, Thomas Wentworth, his life of Longfellow, 75.

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, the Blue and Gold edition of his "Poems," 24, 25; his life of Emerson, 75; member of New England group of authors, 75; a misprint in his "Works," 159; quoted, 24, 80, 102, 106.

Holt, Henry, on simplified spelling, 147, _footnote_.

Homer, did not write for children, 68; Hazlitt on, 141; his works, 64, 66, 67; Keats's sonnet on, 108, 109; not out of date, 77; why his works are divided into books, 83.

Horace, hated by Byron, 68; his works, 69; in Bodoni's 1791 edition, 129, 130; more modern than the Puritans, 69, than Dante, 70.

Houghton, Mifflin and Company, publish books resembling Chinese, 87, 88.

Hours, books of, dainty volumes, 20.

House of Representatives Library, size in 1875, 104.

Hudson, Henry Norman, his edition of Shakespeare, 71, 72.

Huey, Edmund Burke, his "Psychology and pedagogy of reading," commended, 124.

Hull, Mass., as misprinted, 154.

Humanistic type, _see_ New Humanistic.

Hunt, Leigh, his characterization of the "Divine Comedy," 70.

I, the letter, discussions regarding its dot, 61.

"Idler," a favorite edition of, 24.

Illumination, 51; indication of initials for, 21.

Illustration, as a feature of the book, 6; of the book beautiful, 60.

"Imitatio Christi," in Updike's specimen pages, 136.

Incunabula, relatively cheap, 49.

Indecency in misprints, 155, 156.

Indenting, as affecting the book beautiful, 59.

"Independent," compactly printed, 95.

India, book of, 85, 86.

Individual, value of reading to, 29-32.

Initials, colored, 60; spacing and mitering of, 59.

Ink, best for the eye, 116, 120; blue, for legibility, 5; an element of the book, 5; maker, a spoiler of books, 40, 42.

Interpretative typography, 9-13, 137, 138.

"Interpreter of meaning, Print as an," 14-18.

Invention, in book production, 33, 34.

Irving, Washington, book design in editions of his "Knickerbocker," 10, 11; unfortunate use of his "Sketch Book" as a school book, 68, 69.

Italic type, invention and use by Aldus, 20, 21.

Italy, annual book publication, 105.

JAPAN, annual book publication, 105.

Javal, Dr. Émile, his investigations of legibility, 120, 121, 123.

Jenson, Nicholas, beauty and grandeur in his work, 4; descendants of his types, 132; facsimile page of, _frontispiece_.

Johnson, Rossiter, his Little Classic editions described, 25, 26.

Johnson, Dr. Samuel, commends small books, 20, 22, 23; a favorite edition of his "Idler," 24; his "Prayers" in tribute typography, 136; on our knowledge of ancient Britain, 79.

Josephus, Flavius, book form inappropriate to, 50.

Justification, requirements of, 58, 59.

Justinian, facsimile page of his "Digestum novum," _frontispiece_.

KEATS, JOHN, folio inappropriate to, 50; inappropriate Forman edition of, 11; "On first looking into Chapman's Homer," 108, 109; small bulk of his work, 69.

Kelmscott Press, _see_ Morris, William.

Kennerley type, commended, 132.

Kipling, Rudyard, on reading him, 143.

"Knickerbocker," Irving's, book design in editions of, 10, 11.

Knowledge, necessary to success in life, 30; obtainable in its fulness only through books, 30; progress possible only in, 29, 30.

Kuran, sources from which it was compiled, 86.

LAMB, CHARLES, on grace before reading, 77; on Hazlitt, 141.

Large-paper copies, condemned, 56, 131.

Latin literature, masterpieces of, 68, 69.

Leadership developed under stress, 163.

Leading, as affecting legibility, 120; as affecting spacing, 58, 59.

Leather, employment in binding, 52-54.

Le Gascon, binder, his work, 100.

Legend, of pictures, proper place of, 60.

Legibility, elements of the book as related to, 116-118; "Exceptions to the rule of legibility," 130, 131, 134-138; influence on, of paper, type, and ink, 5; "Types and eyes: The problem," 120-127, ---- "Progress," 128-133.

Leland, Charles Godfrey, on forethought, 166.

Length of line, 117.

Lenox, James, mortified by a misprint, 156; patron of Henry Stevens, 38; "Recollections of," by Stevens, 38, _footnote_.

Le Sage, Alain René, his "Gil Blas," 143.

"Lest we forget the few great books," 104-114.

Letters, _see_ Capital letters; Manuscript; Minuscules; Silent letters; Type.

Lewes, George Henry, a misprint in one of his works, 158.

Librarians, "Books as a librarian would like them," 44-48; a duty to their successors, 103; meeting of British, in 1882, 38.

Libraries, as affected by spelling reform, 150; development in the United States since 1875, 104; electrical batteries of power, 30; put to needless expense for big books, 36, for rebindings, 46; "The student and the library," 139-144.

Library Company of Philadelphia, size of library in 1875, 104.

Library hand, Bodoni's italic resembles, 130.

Library of Congress, size in 1875, 104.

Lightness, in books, deceptive, 93, 94.

Lincoln, Abraham, his greatness brought by responsibility, 163.

Lincoln cent, lettering on, 134.

Line, endings should not show too many hyphens, 59; normal length for legibility, 117.

Linnaeus, quoted, 33.

Linotype, gives a turned line, 153.

Literature, the book beautiful of service to, 62; its treasures, 63-78; print a contribution to, 15; type appropriate to, 136-138.

Little and Brown, publishers, their "British Poets" compared with Pickering's "Aldines," 24.

Little Classic editions, 20, 25, 26.

Littré, Émile, typography of his "Dictionnaire," 135.

Lloyd, Henry Demarest, on headlines, quoted, 132.

Locker-Lampson, Frederick, inappropriate edition of his "My Confidences," 12.

London Registrar General, misprint, 155.

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, book design appropriate to his "Works," 11; his "Michael Angelo," 87; his sonnets on Dante, 70; holiday edition of his "Skeleton in Armor," 137; "Life," appropriate edition of, 12; quoted, 68.

Lowell, James Russell, member of New England group of authors, 75.

MACAULAY, THOMAS BABINGTON, knew "Paradise Lost" by heart, 73.

McClellan, General George Brinton, his limitations, 163.

Malherbe, François, welcomes a misprint, 157.

Mammoth, picture of, a prehistoric book, 79.