Tradition invites spontaneous excursions of individual taste and fancy within her established limits, yet leaves the artist free to attempt consistent, reasoned, and dignified essays to enlarge her borders. Since no one man can possibly exploit all the treasures brought to light, others who follow him will find ample room to exercise all the originality of which they are capable. It is in the fire of research and study, link by link, that the chain of tradition is forged. The dogmas of tradition, therefore, are flexible and are to be enforced lightly, that they do not wholly imprison us. Genius is the expression of a strong individuality, and extends the limits of a tradition instead of attempting to invent a new one.
Genius cultivates old fields in new ways.
Happily, the imaginative faculty is not confined to the few, since in some degree it belongs to all, a common heritage that grows with use. A sound tradition directs the imagination and confines it safely within the bounds of reason. On the other hand, original and creative invention of a high order is a form of imagination that belongs to comparatively few workers. Invention demands that we soar above mere caprices of fashion. The recognition and successful application of those principles has been the mark of all the great printers and type designers of the past, as it must be of all those of the future.