The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-10-29


| RoyCroft On a table between two workers lies
| a bronze cast Of the clasped hands Of the Brown
ings Play and work and art are indiscriminately
Hanging inside the glass Of the front door Of
| the shop-the wrought iron hinges OF the dool
| and the step ratings were hammered out by st.
! Gerome-i IS sign illuminated gloriously on a
black card, requesting that visitors will kindly
ask All Bahia to check their wheels" Here i
| another sign in Illuminated Gothic letters. as al
! Roycroft signs are, over the heads Of the young
women who wrap the Phi!fSines for mailing:
| : DON'T scRAr!
| : Do unto others as you would have others do
| unto you.
Ebert Hubbard calls himself an anarchist.
BY way Of proving il ne spells it "anarkist" Gov
with his theory Of life. The Roycrpf,ers have
| no rules and no foremen. But somehow they All
| get to work at the same time every morning and
| take the same hours forluncheon and recreation -.
! Ses, for recreation. Illuminating is combining
work as is book binding; and for a Quarter Of an
| hour each morning and afternoon everybody goes
| out into the yard and plays tag. or engages in
other fresh air IclnSation.
| gathered under one roof than the leading spirits
q the, R3ycr9tters, Asked how, he collected
Or, AN Baha knew Of ,h;m and advised that
they be sent for" Ali Bahia is great man.
| There is reason to believe that he regards him,
| only sane man associated with the Roycroners,
He was Hubbard's hired man in the carly days
| of the stock farm. He is a hard headed, broad
| shouldrrcd grizzicd farmer, on whom, has grown
a great sense of responsibility as he has pondered
! on the seeming ,ITrcsponNbility with which he
/ They seem 10 regard him highly and he is very
fond of them but as he goes about hsmul,ifarious
businesses All Bahia seems 10 be looking over his
shoulder all the time as if anticipating VIC
lent outbreak. The Roycroftcrs make him the
subject Of all manner of gibcs and practical Jokes;
they Eraveiy ask his counsel in matters of art
"seaI aac's'i"ns iro% 81 phSsop6y q life and
his literary views These things do not worry
All Baba: He simply eyes the Roycroftcrs plG-
I Illdly and rss.rycs judgment 1t pleases Fra
ossns to rSaE OF h A y Bsba as sE5 G"n ,
drnl; from the Roycroft cask labelled "nspi-
ration All Baha is SummonId TO lin glasses
comments on the world "a II goes about him
are a great joy 10 the RoyCroers and his daily
doings are fully reported a, every meal hour.
cannot dg a pGshole until he has summoned.
with commanding gestures and here, you's"
all the workmen in sight 10 stand around and
hold tools and measuring tapes, while he docs
,hc work himself The next publication Of the
half morocco, and held for a fabulous price. $ a
limited edition with twenty one copies oil i'm.
rsra i o oflTm a. 3, !, stl higher p5ccl Of biog-
II is described as AN apprcc alton dscreetly
done, of the life, lebors and public services Of a
good man and true: with cOpious extracts from
his orphc sayings, and instructive moral anec-
doles relating 10 his career, told for the edifca-
ton OF the young.
Portrait in photogravure on Imperial Japan from
the original canvss by Samuel Warner, F. r. 8 A.
i you ask Ali Baba what he thinks of it he
WI, grunt. grim and say pr9fane thing. Ali
Roycruficrs say that his name was once Blake.
man, Or something Of he sort and that the Hub
Ali l}aba after they had read the Arabian Nights
Others say that Densow. the artist, caught All
Babas fingers in his tobacco Jar and gave
him The name Of the plundcrer of the forty thieves
RqycfoitGr says abog! All Babs; ''', any "''"S d
, Samuel Warner. +. Il. $. All You ask
HpNCrDtpf WltIl-F IA nd f1r Eel
Of The Royal Society Of Artists he will seem pc.
litcly surprised and say he never heard Of such
an Organization came as near blowing into the
RoyCrott shop as any one ever did He came 10
East aurora on his way 10 nowhere. He was
IN hand luck. lie stayed with the RuyCrofters
for a night and before he knew II he was a Roy.
croftcrhimsclf. ltishe wh" sets the color schemes
and The borders and the bookplates Of the tcau.
uful Roycroft books. He has an art class in
the evening, 10 which all III" Roycroftsrs are
welcome, and he teaches them and works with
them with the utmost pains, Lately the Roy.
cro;trTs have taken to designing bookplatrs
TO order, Sammy, the Artist" makes the dc,
signs. Jus, now the engravngs are made by
ne %nc Photographic process. but sometime.
wood viii blow MIL in S apd 1G bonR
VIII I've printed Just as were the bookplates Of
The girls by whom the artists plans Of decor,.
ton arc carried into effect. are all Of them from
the village Of East Aurora end the country round
for girls 10 do at the RoyCrot shop and that good
wages would be paid. As many as there was
ROOM for were employed and set at worl; II
a gin showed aptitude IN lettering Cooring
she was encouraged and opportunities were givc.i
to ller 10 develop AZ much artistic originality
was IN her If she was clumsy and without taste
some o,her work in the shop was found for her
;very giIl has had chance to tnI her place
Some Of them have developed remarkably. Tie
freehand extra Illumination uf some of tho cost
Hest RoyCroft books is now left altogether in the
hands Of girls who never saw n watcrcoor box
y few Of thr'I girls were not much thought Of
n East aurora beto'c the days Of the Roycrofters
stony glare Of New England suspicion with which
We East aurora clergy regarded Ebert Hubbard
ing the, RoyCfoft work, and their eyes and their
minds have been always occupied with Ecsut.
Tying things, many remarkable changes have
the. visitor must and on, for himself; The Roy
cFo'era will not talk about them, They arc not
victed criminal" Hubbard has, however, per-
m mr. himself to say is to my mind man who
more than his fellows II have with me any
one who has been included in such a classified
SO among the hundred and more on the RoycrOU
shop payroll even an "anarkiSt' must have
named on penitcntiary commitment papers 4
strange might live in the shop year and not
were From Hubbard in his tattered black felt
hat blue nanncl shirt and corduroy knickcr.
6ockers 10 the dirtie9t helper about the presses.
there is unbrokcn merry good fellowship. Some
times the Joking is a little severe-as when a
raggcd. nearly solelcss pair OF shoes we're hung
from the raltcys at lcvclo the visitors eyes with
the label These are tho shoes that Sammy The
Artist, wore when he came To the Roycroft shops"
Sammy didn't like that" says Fra EibcrGtGs.
and said they must come down SAMMY Is
Dutch and has occasional horrible lapses into
seriousness but the shoes stayed, because
been bound in the shop, and Sammy is very proud
Much Of the creative genius Of the shop outside
Of literature is derived from St Gcrome Roycroit
lis impulse TO the plastic arts had 10 struggle
nrough an environment Of blacksmithng 81
like beer key, and the profile Of an American
indian. His black hair is as straight as 50 much
wlTe and he lets 1t grow down to his collar and
there chops il of short and square He turned |
70 Slonccu'hng from backsmthing II soon
became apparent that he could cut stone arts |
lltally and nSi then Hubbard found him lie |