The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1890-11-20

4
Having resolved to paint" . book =
for. ~ oil the world knows. the japanese
use brush and not . pen--the sutho
betskes him to his workroom. which i
full of the soft. dull light from . square
white paper lantern; the low. bright wood
en- ceiling gives back pale brown CLEAN
here aud there. There isa silvery CLINT
on the frsil pansled walls. and 10 warm
gray Swallowed recess gold Buddha cross
es bis feet and stretches forth bis palms,
smiling gently upon the lotus which be
holds. 10 another recess stand the cur
ious vessels Of iron and clay and BAN boo
for the tea ceremony.
The author sits on the floor in flowing
garment OF brown silk. lined with blne,
his legs disposed comfortably under him
In front OF him stands . lscquered table,
about foot high, and upon it bis writing
materials. which are as idyllic as bis eur.
roundngs. His paper is delicstely tinted
yellow, with blue lines running up and
down. His inkstand is carved ebony
slab, with one end followed out for water
TO rub his cube OF India ink in, and holds
the four or five dsintily decorated bamboo
brushes which arc his pens. Naturally he
does not write his novel, he paints it, Be.
ginniug At the end Of the whole. atthe left
Of every page and st the top OF every line,
straight down between the two blue par
allels his small, brown hand goes with
quick, delicate, dark touches. Altogether
this novelist's ''copy" might seem to a
stranger TO be daibtiuess itself yet he al
ways has 1t duplicated "by an artist" be
fore sending il to the publishers, the sue
cess Of the book depending so largely up
on its artistic forthbriueing. The artist"
to whom the copy" is now entrusted pro
ceeds to repaint the long series OF word
pictures with protest. NAL dexterity
which is something astonishing
The curious letter characters which
have been, and not inaptly, compared TO
'.crossbones playing cricket, are thrown
upon the paper with bewilderine activity.
To such an artist" the straight up and
down. rssping, scratching. sputterine
oi the occidental pen must be
fearful
Tue next step 10 the making Of this
book is to send the artistic reproduction
II the authors "copy" to tie wood n
,raver a man of marvellous skill-whoss
iuty it is to prepare the relief blocks, .
a.k which be performs with extraordin'
Try isithfulness to the original.
The printing is extremely simple. The
nix is distributed with brush, the paper
9 laid upon the block. q feather, fashion.
d from 9 pslm'lesf, pressed over IL, and
he thing is done.
The building is Of the simplest kind.
The public, unlike the book lovers Of the
Vest, care little for that feature A plain
'sper cover suflices, with the title in the
eft upper corner Of the verso.
But the arrangements with the publish.
Z are simply delicious. Said japanese
uthor, 10 answer to the inquiry Of Eu'
opesn friend. I psy the publisher my.
eli; do not mind losing by my own
'ork, but will not permit any other per.
90 TO make money by il. Think of i'll
'bink Of il, ye Murrays. Mscmillaus. Hsr
ers. and Appletonsl Here's dignity OF
uthorship for you. What fruitless task
Western barbarian would have we're he .
, attempt to explain to such childlike /
implicitly % this that the true dignity Of n
nthorsbip demands competition among e
-immediate returns end free G
om from the risk Of tickle public n
ste. u