New-York tribune., 1896-01-04
ROCKS ABOUT BOOKS.

s.. s.i Macmillan q &.
EARrY VENETIAN PRINTING ILI.usTRArED
NeS,yc.la Ns,,'' icSar,-S scrbners sons sons
MODERN I'LL srEATION. by Joseph Penneli
illustrate 'ci1'' pp NV "h M"'hH""
BOOK. rINDtNGs OLD AND NEW by nrander
Matthews. illustrated octave. rp. Nin' 'e
on TnE PROCESSES FOR THE PRoprcTlON
OF TX llil,lS Oo1k-p atcsl. i}y John NmN-
fi,%S lam 3 ca Illustrated octave '' N' '' "'''''''
THE nooK-nrNTEh u LONDON By " R9s- es1,
sr,. I'u,ira,',ei -, 9s'sv9 q, pp' ENSi' 49, c"-
BiRILOGRApHiCA parts VI-vII. Illustrated.
Charle. Scihners s0ns
TIE BOOK LOVERS ALMANAC FOR 1895 lls-
rated. octave. pp. g. Duprai 60
The budding bibliomaniac cannot complain that
he nnas no instruction on IN" verge Of that peril
Gus land wherein there IS OF the buying Of books.
as Of the making Of them. no visible end Never
were bblographical matters more asslduously
kept In view by the publishers The list given
above shows that even IN one small group OF
recently printed books about books there may
be found dis, ertations on n great many phases
Of the book-iovers pursuit. These publications
range from the inside Il books 10 their externas.
from alphabets to bindings. There is even an
almanac for book-lovers. little miscellany of
booksh prose and verse and pictures, which in
is very first production. a paper on NJ Main
aron's LES Aflches llustrees. carries the
rcsder into q province unlike the book collectors
and We; somehow related 10 1t. What province,
indeed. Is unrelated to the bOol1-loveT's? Not
one apparently. unless Il is that tabooed o:
Ella which gives asylum 10 hibl!a -a-bba. books
which are 10 books: ana - II not possible that
some day. under the goadng spur of bbhoma-
ni,cal enthusiasm some furious hobby yrider will
insrrihc over an above the eloquent phrase .:
Lamb. and gather together, unique" colec-
,f .ba
one else will have anything to do? The thought
~ tempting. 1t opens vista OF the most whim-
eical character But discursiveness in such ii d.
recton this nav ne permitted to olpii"-
rlaniac alone. Mr. StranGes book on alphaDe's
raust be approached without any whmsicality.
He has made It book Of distinctly serious
value one which Is bound to be of practical ser
vice e. many workers in different fields. De
sigrcrs OF title pages colophons and the Ike do
cot need to be reminded Of the inacccssiblty oi
any really useful body OF suggestive material
Printers and persons interested in the prepara-
ton Of some privately printed book know how
difficult il is 10 get an idea of what has been done
In lettering Mr. Strange tells them what they
wish to know. and since II is copousy ana ad-
rirab.y Illustrated. the volume. though small Is
certain to be consulted with profit again and
again An excellent plan has been followed in
making the survey both tcxtual and illustrative.
IN -lude several sources In addition TO printed
books Mr. Strange has drawn upon ancient
manuscripts. upon old inscriptions in stone-he
even gives in one plate reproduction of a Della
R5bbian panel with some beautiful characters
set beneath an armoria bearing. and ne does not
fail to bring the record UP to date some OF the
best examples in his collection being from work
lately done in England. How much good book
Of this sort may DO In It's propagation Of good
styles in figuring and lettering is shown by one
Of the modern specimens Mr. Strange includes.
J; is the title page drawn by Mr.. Andrew ~
Prentice for his beautiful book familiar to ali
architectural students on Renaissance Archi-
tecture and Ornament in Spain. Mr. Prentice
could never have produced that striking page, we
think ~ he had not been acquainted with the
magnl1centlv cut inscriptions of Rome.
Draugntsmen who go 20 Mr.. Strange's volume.
studying his wcll-sclected types from Roman.
German Venetian. Spanish and English sources
from all the treasures of Europe, in fact. will get
many new ideas. much fresh inspiration. Of which
they often stand in need. No one knows better
than q confirmed booN-lovor how difficult 1t is to
get together a good title-pase. and we can fancy
every bibliomaniac in town wishing that this
book &C "Alphabats' might be put in the hands Of
the people who hare charge Of such things in all
large publishing houses. The book Is a practical
one The text gives solid Information. and
though necessarily more Of a ord than any
thing else II should prove interest ing and bene-
fcia, TO intelligent wOrkmen
I, is unlikely that Signor Ongana's compila-
tion Of Venetian types. title-pages. colophons
and other booldsh embellishments Will find its
way into many workshops. Ii is too expensive
6. book for that. and too miscellaneous into the
bargain The material is arranged Chronological
lv 50 as to illustrate the Venetian press with
logic and accuracy from fiC9 to the fourth dec
ade os the sixteenth century. This results In
confusion OF subjects. which is troublesome for
a mere craftsman but the dilettanie for whom
the work is intended will revel in its picturesque
raees There is text of any great conse-
auence The predatory pages. written by Sgnor
Oncania and Signor Castellani though erudite.
nee1 not detain the amateur long. The latter
Will turn quickly 20 the excellent indeX. ana,
using that as a guide. he will wander through
the maze OF Signor Ongania's examples. These
have been reproduced with great care and skill.
and make one fairly well acquainted with the
STYLES Of the old Venetian printers Their
draughtsmen seem TO have had almost invarla-
bly pretty decorative taste; the lettering Is
always good conventional borders for title
wages or Illustrations were always executed with
grace and hness and though the workmanship
of the eDeraVer was of>, slightly primitive char
scter IL was never Inadequate 20 the task I'm
posed upon II. To what these old workmen
could do IN lending artistic charm. artistic deli
cacy OF ornament to their productions, let the
reader turn 20 the fragments on page 1S7 from
Strabo bearing the imprint OF Aldus-an I'M
print by the way in itself one Of the most at
tractiye things in the history OF the adornment
OF books. These details show how much taste
and how much fecund.ty Of design were charac-
terist.c Of the early Venetian press, and in
making a considerable mass Of the work Of that
press more familiar modern book-overs and