The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-09-07
THE VALUE OF EXTREME S.

The world Is none the worse on be-
cause Of the proneness of Its tnhabi-
tants to go to extremes. MOI long ago,
there was an ultra carelessness In the
book world with reference to the man
ner OF printing and binding. Every
thing else was then subordinated to
contents; and It soon occurred that the
intrinsic value of a book for the books
sake-for the sake CT the handicraft
exhibited in the making Of its types. its
paper. its binding. in brief Its mechan-
ical elegance-fell next to nothing at
ali. But OF late, happily be It noted, a
change has been decreed; and the select
circle of competitive publishers, follow
ing its bent, are now going to the ropes
end for unique and select mechanical
effects, whereby the whole business
Of book-production bids fair to be ele-
waited quite handsomely.
One Of the forces to this end Is the
elegantly done little publication called
'.Moods, a journal Intime." the second
volume Of which reaches us from the
Jensen press. Philadelphia. The mis-
sion of Moods Is to free art from fet-
ters and enable author and artist to
please themselves. Its plea for free
dom, however is not a bid for license.
but rather q reaction from the callow
Philistintsm that has for recent years
stunted literary promise and checked
true artistic growth. Moods editor,
Mr. st. Elmo Lewis, In a recent address,
voiced this aspiration when he said:
"Give US air. give us space In which
TO breathe. to stretch out our arms, 10
look Gods free world Ger. and the OPP
portunity to see what there is In the
world Of art and letters. to which we
may lay our hands and hearts GIVE
fraaAnvV, Iaf * haSE In the
sunshine Of an art that is of our own
making, even though we may be but
q lone pilgrim walking in the light OF
q tallow dip" And again. IF there was
q greater endeavor made to satisfy the
artists and authors own artistic stand
ards as they grew. deepening ana
broadening. instead Of barking after the
strange cults and creeds evolved OUT
Of the wilderness of modern criticism
there would be more sincerity In the
realm OF art and books. True. there
would be more complete successes, ana
less dubious lights
The letter-press Of Moods Is in Jen-
son old style variation of types in
vented by Nicholas Jenson. French
man, who at Venice, in l47O. founded
the true Roman style. The paper Is
super-calendar. and the binding white
yellum. with a unique front-cover de-
sign in three colors. From literary
standpoint the contents are OF uneven
merit, but yet interesting in the hght
they shed upon the potential re-
sources OF American letters. The list
Of the contributors is: in literature.
Harrison s. Morris. Bertram q. Good
hue. Norman Hapgood, Ralph Adams.
Cram, owen Wister. Kate Chopin, Col
lin A. Scott John Luther Long, Blanche
Dillaye. Constance Grosvenor AleXan-
der, Henry A. Ingram. Harvey VI.
Watts. Philip Hale, Howard Fremont
Stratton. c. Frederic Russell. John Hall
Ingham, Walter Blackburne Harte.
George Rogers. F.. st. Elmo Lewis, and
S. s. Stlnson. The artists represented
are Paul Lachenmeyer, Robert Henri.
F.. s. Burton. Joseph ]. Gould. jr., WIZ
liam j. Glackens, John Sloan, Charles
Augustus Davis, Mariana Sloan
Katherine II. Evans, Gustavus Wynne
Cook. Sophie Bertha Steele. Frederic
r. Gruger and Eleanor b. Caldwell
Philip A. Goepp contributes an idyll
for the pianoforte.
The public will look with expectancy
for the next volume Of Moods, for II
clearly possesses the power OF inspiring
more than moderate hopes.