New-York tribune., 1871-07-31
TYPOGRAPHY.


MAKING.
Ii was The cynical remark Of dogmatiSt of the
last century. that great book is a great evil But
tlis was no, the opinion of our foretahcrs, nor Of
the patriarcbs in Typography From the days of the
block printers who, before types were invented
gave 60 the world copies of the Poor Folks Bible
and the Mirror Of Mans Redemption. down to Johh
Baptist BodOni with his stately volumes OF cias-
tics there has been belief that the folio was tue
only size and shape lit for good book. ENeh Tue
gentle Charles Lamb who had kind words for nearly
everything and everybody, would not disguise ms
scorn for the mean little duodecimos of modern
days Ii was only a black-leter copy in toho OF at
least in quarto that could delight his heart ana
cheer his eyes
How much of this love for big books is honest ana
how much of il is fictitious aud initiative, is qnes-
lion not TO be raShly decided. The old-fashioneu'
well-to-do farmer who keeps and reads no books on'
the Rible the PRAYER Book. and the Pilgrims Pro-
rreSs is sure To have the largest copies lie Justies
his choice by the superior advantages OF large type
for ninn eyeeight. il is a good reason But under
meath this utiitarian reason lies hidden the strong
conviction that there is au intense respecabilty in
large books The portly quarto or grandiose foio
is some evidence of the dignity of the possessor'
Two such books in house are worth wilderness oil
Dime Novels. There is majesty in them; and John
Milton acknowledged it quite as readily as Cap
tain Cutie.
It's n crievous thing to write perhaps, and yet it
ust be confessed the folio has gone out of fashion.
We look over the lists of great publishers and
nearly all their books are OctavOs and duodecimos.
Now and then there is a quartO but il is usually
made so only 10 suit plates or maps. The Bible is
e only classic that is reprinted in large quaro and
folio. Only the cyclopedias and the public doc-
meuts that cannot he compressed into smaller com
pass approximate the carly standard. Onlythe Lives
OF Remarkable American Citi2ens-tbe books un-
known 10 the reading as the men are 10 the observ-
ing pubic-blOOm ont in the grandeur OF great
primer type with a two-inch margin. Thinkers
like Humboldt and Huxley publicists like
Guizot and Maeaulay, poets like Byron and
Tennyson. are heTalded to the reading world
and find their widest circle of readers and
their best appreciation in the modest shape of octa
vos Epic poems in folio went out of fashion after
the publication of the Columbiad of Joel Barlow
Asa commercial speculation, the folio does not
pay 1t is in this light only that modern publisher
will view the subject. delightful business, no
doubt il is TO print and publish tail, uncut copies of
Aristophanes and ArOsto; a delightful reward TO
read the endatoTy notices of book critics con-
ceming the sumptuoN Typography and the artistic
spirit that eduCates the public taste; most unde-
hghtful result to keep the unsOld edition on the
shelf. The day Of martyrdOm is past The pub
fishers who leaped into the gulf of bankruptcy TO
rescue their art are OF by-gone age. There have
been enough TO serve as a warning and an example
OF all folio books, the Bible of Gutenberg should
have been financial success. But his partner Fust
never realized his expectations of profit 1t is ques
tionable whether the book ever repaid expenses.
The publishers of great books whether great in
size Of page or in number of volumes. have usually
been disappointed. Not even Sir Walter SCOTS
reputation could save Ballautine from failure. The
man OF fortune BeaumaTchais successful IN every
thing else failed in his editions of NOltaire and the
French Classics Baskerville the founder Of the
classic style of English typography, regretted that
hc had ever touched type. BOydeil and Bulmers
Shakespeare double elephant folio. two by three
feet is probably the most gigantic failure on records
a. might De expected when learn that G3jO,0oO
had been spent on the edition. Not even BodOni,
last Of his race in scholarly typography, could have
continued such works as his folio Homer and Dante
without the aid ol the Duke of Parma, and the gifts
of the Emperor of the French.
And here we may digross to state that the sOcaled
vandalism Of some private publishers, who destroyed
their plates after the printing of seemingly small
edition. was not to make the books scarce, but to
make them Immediately salable. If a thousand
copies of Kingsborough's Mexico and Demons Egypt
had been printed, the cost would not have been re-
paid in fifty years.
The cost Of books in folio is apparently ont of all
proportion to the increased size. None of our lead
ing publishers ever advertise even standard works
in large paper copies For they discovered long
AGO that the demand is too Slight 10 warrant
the expense. The scholars and the critics are not
the purchasers.
But they are the censOrs. With the departure OF
The folio disappeared in their opinion, the eraces
and elories of Typography. There are men OF au-
th0rity i'm tie literary world who do not hesitate TO
state that the printed books Of two three centuries
ago are superior TO those of our own day. II would
not be difficult TO cOntIOyert this asserion-to show
that even in accuracy, well as in mechanical exc
cution an Oxford Bible is Setter than COverdIle,
a BishOpf or a King James; that in just cOntpari-
sOn the classics of modern London and Leipsc are
superior 10 those of old Venice OF Paris. compari-
son. 10 be lust should be between books of the
Glass To put the best books OF the ANllth century
AGAINST the poorest of the XIXth, is obviously unfair
The admirers of old typography are those who
know but little of the cOmpTehenslveness OF the
printing Of the. present generation. IL is tDeT
mistake To assume that the mechanical merit OF
tvpography is 10 he found only i'm books. and that
these books must Of necessity be books of genius
scholarshp-that all other kinds of printing apart
from that of books is hut rubbish. This Is the
avoved opinion of a learned French Academcian.
How CnInpacchIlN II LSHoIVs -NC"sp"peiS anu '"t'
znes How cOolly il ovcrlOOks or sets aside the
demonstrable fact that publishers bOOk-prnting Is
but small part of the great amount Of printing done!
The popular notion that Typography has advanced
very little since its invention except in machinery,
is absurd Probably no handicraft has received
more improvements or made greater achievements
Printing in the last forty years. Many branches
Of the art have been entirely revOuiODizcd. Books
have been printed in this century that could never
have been done before. Such works as the Album
of Derriev aud the Bible of DoTf would have been