Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1891-08-11

HOW RICH MEN COMBINES MAKE,
COSTLY PICTURE BOOKS.

COSTLY PICTURE BOOKS.
Extending Book hy Adding to It Plates
which Did NOT Originally Belong to II.
Biographies Most Suitable where shs
Enssavinss Come from.
Extra illustrating Is so commonly al
luded to by its yotaries as Q mania. that
other people may accept the term. The
word seems not misapplied when one sees
the astounding things which the extra
illustrators arc led to do. But It is q
mania that gives 30 much delight in its
manifestations, and il so agreeable in its
results that th0se who are whole may
well envy the afflicted Extra illustrating
or extending books. as it is called. consists
in adding plates to q book to which they
do not belong. but which refer in some
way to the contents.
THE book best adapted for extra Illus
trating." said Mr.. William E. Benjamin,
gentleman familiar with the habit OF
extra illustrating, lis one that refers to
persons and places. If not on every page,
at brief intervals. book that contains
forty pages of philosophical reflections
and then mentions Shakespeare. Byron
and whole galaxy Of noted names. would
not suit the illustrators design. He
would, il he could. insert plate between
every leaf of his book. but the plate must
illustrate something in the text on the
opposite page.
For this reason books of biography are
the most suitable. 1t doesn't matter who
the man is II he only has large acquaint-
ance among notable people As It hap
pens. some Of the best biographies are the
best adapted for the purpose. Among
these are Boswell's Life of johnson,
Mrs. Bray's Life of Stothard. Life of
Bacon Cunningham's Story Of Nell
Gwynne.' No book compares with this
The story is Economically interesting. the
period. il dissolute. is brilliant. and the
persons mentioned make a gallery into
which enters every person worth knowing
of at that time"
SECURING THE ESGRAvTNGs.
'tHow does the extra illustrator pro-
ceedg'
He chooses his book, and then begins
the search for his plates. The distin-
guished personages mentioned he can
readily find portraits of. and as many as
he wants. Sometimes he wants one Of
each kind; then he can produce the man
at every period of his life. These plates
SOob aAAu PfOO0Oly lTOn LWculy -ut6 CELLS
to 81. For example, If it is Bacon he is
illustrating ne finds him easy and cheap.
But suppose he wants portrait of Van
brugh? He may then have to pay several
dollars, and if it is Oliver Cromwell's
porter-and believe. although his name
is unknown. there is a portrait of the
porter-he may have to pay s. or more.
1t is the obscure men that are high and
difficult to get. and it is those that allure
the extra illustrator. His book has all
the distinguished men in all their pre-
sentiments. but here is an obscure name
This is tho man he wants, SO he waits
and hunts, sends here and there his or
ders and if he has the money will pay any
price to secure the face of this humble
individual utterly unknown to fame. 1t
Is for this reason privately illustrated
books are SO seldom finished. There is
always one illustration for which the
earth must be searched, and before it is
found the extra illustrator dies"
But isn't it difficult to find plates of
uniform size adapted to the book?'
1T is the book that must adapt itself
to the most valuable of the plates. For
example, a gentleman not long ago
wanted to illustrate Cunningham's Nell
Gwynne," which is an unpretending little
oSe"fo NO1uiAc. NJ STedI pclSo lie Be-
cured large rare engraving of Nell
Gwynne lying on lounge attended by
loves. The engraving couldn't be pared
down, accordingly every leaf of the book
was built up. There is practice known
as inlaying, which consists in giving a
picture or page of text margin of any
size desired. This is done SO perfectly
that it can scarcely DO detected. In this
case the result was that Nell Gwynne, "
originally an humble octave, became q
magnificent folio. This is common
practice among extra illustrators. OF
course, the work is done by experts"
WHERE THEY COME FROM.
"N. here do the engravings come FROM
Everywhere. In the earlier days the
extra illustrator haunted the second hand
dealers ware, tore the plates out from
magazines, books, found them in the
most unsupported places. OF course, the
delight that accompanied such find is
among the things of which words fail,
etc. Nowadays the matter is simplifed.
A man chooses the book he wants to Illus
trate, and makes it known. Immediately
we will say $50 plates are selected for
him. There may be number, we will
say. of Talleyrand. These are sent him
and he makes his choice. He may prefer
u,
vided they are taken at different periods
or by different men. Now, out of that
$50 selected there may be perhaps thirty
that can't be duplicated in years Tho
next man will have to try for them some
other way.
Then mems tastes change. They be-
come educated and difficult to satisfy;
they throw out, in time, their common
plates and get better, and these, again,
for artist proofs or on India paper. In this
way engravings keep up circulation,
going and returning. OF course a large
number come from the other side and
dealers look out for them and collect them
for some possible need. Now here, for
example, is large, imposing portrait of
Owen McSwiney. Did you ever hear of him!
never did; but some day his name will
be found in some obscure line. Then his
portrait will be wanted"
Are scenes never required i'm, extra
illustrating?"
Rarely. They are usually works of
Imagination, and the extra illustrator
wants something that is real There are
exceptions. of course. Suppose man
wants to illustrate the life of Napoleon.
In that case the representations of his
battles which are so associated with his
career, as they adorn the palace at Yer
sailles and as they have been engraved,
would be used. Engravings of houses or
streets are frequently used. Old London
is favorite subject, and the representa-
lions of Whitehall or Gad's Hill, for ex-
ample, in a life of Dickens would be
wanted. But autograph letters are fire.
Quently used in extra ILLUSTRATING In