New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1901-09-14
THE DOVES PRESS.
THE REVIVAL OF PRINTING AS AN ART

THE REVIVAL OF PRINTING AS AN ART.
From The London Daily News
Six months only have elapsed since the first
book was issued by the Doves Press. vet one
can hardly enter an important booksellers shop
or speak with those interested in the revival Of
printing as art, without hearing of this nress
Its originators would be the first to admit prob
ABLY that had not William Morris by practice
and precept, awakened the enthusiasm of the
few, the curiosity of the many in this till re-
Gently disregarded craft the appeal of the Doves
Press could not have been so swift The soil
was prepared by Morris. whose achievements
as designer of the kelmscott Press fonts Dor
GERS initial letters etc, 10 nothing of watch
fulness over every detail, constitute not the
least Of his claims to remembrance on
the other hand, T. ]. Cobden-Sanderson and
Emery Walker, partners in this Doves Press
ann IN no way TO carry on the traditions of the
kelmscott. traditions indissolubly bound I'D with
Morris himself AS far as possible the promoters
books. and approach the problem of making
beautiful. and above all things legible the VOL
unneS issued.
So far one font only has been designed Four
and half centuries ago. when skilled cal
hgraphers were to be found in every town in
many a hamlet the designing of an alphabet
was a relatively easy matter. Having thousands
OF times traced with utmost care each letter
the scribe had but to adapt the written alpha
bet. with its greater freedom, to the require
ments Of print, capable of but series OF
groupings not like the written letter slightly
TO be compressed, expanded adapted at de-
sired places. But as calligraphy is lost art,
the Doves Press. like the Kelmscott, has gone
( back 70 the birth time of printing for inspira-
ton Inc roman type used was suggested by
a Pliny executed by Jensen in Venice, 1476
The Doves type is larger and less heavy than
that Of Norris; moreover, there is some thicken-
ing and thinning of the line, which Morris re-
garded as q blemish. and it is pure Roman, in
stead OF having a tendency toward Gothic like
that Of the Kelmscott printer. There no
leads between the lines, and the space between
the words small a possible consistent with
legibility. The initial volume, being in Latin
at time it the custom not to separate
Latin words at all-has Intentionally lesser
spaces betWeeusthe words than the TWO booklets
in English. As to the paper the aim has been
to get it as light as is consistent at once with
durability and with the requirements Of two
side printing. 1t is made by Messrs-. Bachelor,
and is akin TO a paper used for Tasso printed
by Giunta in the fifteenth century. Few ques-
tions more important than the placing of
matter the page The Doves Press regards
two pages and not one as the unit TO be filled
decoratively. No general rule, it is wisely held,
can be laid down in this matter for the length
OF the lines. the character OF the typography,
whether or not there are photographic breaks in
the page and other influences, operate. In a
word, as an artist uses his color, so must the
printer determine exactly what his margins are
to be- The ink is practically the same as that
used for the Kelmscott. For long the ideal of a
vellum binding was to have it as white as posi-
bic. The Doves Press on the other hand. binds
its volumes in limp velum on which the hair
marks. of no mean decorative value, can clearly
be seen; from the utilitarian point OF view too.
this is wise. when the vellum is scraped to a
greater extent feshy instead OF leathery
substance is reached, and the binding is less
durable
Three books or. rather. booklets. at present
bear the imprint of the Doves Press and at the
end Of each is added the name of the compositor,
J. II. Mason. and OF the pressman, II. Gage
Cole. In January there was published a Tacitus
in Latin edited by J. w. Mackail. a small
Alto of SO PIP of text. the twenty-five copies on
paper Of which were priced at 2os- In Febru-
airy came Golden Sandersons essay, THE
Ideal Book" of uniform size, containing 9 PIP.
of text broken up into paragraphs and sections.
three hundred copies paper OF which were
issued at lbs Cd. During the present month
we have had. in similar formal, an address by
j. W. Mackail William Morris p PIP. of
text with break in the pages, new para
graphs being indicated by a specially designed
mark 300 copies of which paper We're priced
at los each From the commercial standpoint
It is instructive TO note that such a basis
the Kelmscott News from Nowhere" of over
three hundred pages. would have cost about f15
as against its actual issue price of two guineas
Each of the booklets out Of print long before
its publication, and the Tacitus realized less
than "a lbs at auction in the beginning of May
Moreover 1.-The Ideal Book has changed hands
at over "a and the Norris although but just
issued cannot be procured under from II TO 10.
Really the first book to be issued by the Press
VIII he SaiIton's Paradise Lost This is TO
have q rubricafed initial at the beginning OF
each of the twelve books. nor is IL probable that
the Doves will go much further, for the present
at any rate in the way or decoration. simple
ity even severity. watchwords. One great
work Is IN contemplation II is proposed to
print a small edition. not exceeding five hundred
copies of the Authorized Version Of the Bible.
The publication viii be IN five parts folio about
thirteen inches by nine inches, the pages will
ters but here and there fabricated initials are
projected The parts VIII probably be bound in
limp vellum but bound that in the end they
can be formed into a single volume perhaps to
be covered with pigskin- Not book collectors
only but the general public, will watch with
interest the development OF this enterprise.