The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1901-06-29

mined by brilliant tints wrought out
in some old monastery and bound In
dull greens and browns as soft as a
babys hand?
The furniture everywhere in this de-
lghtful place Is made of heavy oak
and fastened together with wooden
pegs, no nails or glue being used.
Massive chairs and desks; seats lit
for some Viking of old. carved book
cases and mantels fascinate the gaze
on every side. In this great. cool twi-
light room the sweet summer day
seems like a chapter out of legend
OF some dim unremembered castle.
where time Is not calendared and life
is a dream of other years
Photographs and drawings brighten
the wall spaces, Jars of field blos-
some stand in the window embrasures
and everywhere Is rest. In the work
shops proper, scores OF busy hands
are illuminating. painting, folding
and marking the Philistine, the Lit
tie Journeys" and other books and
pamphlets. In these rooms, too, there
Is a soft, cool dimness, and the faces
bending over the tasks are happy
faces. as of those who truly are bless
ed in that they "have found their
work."
The beautiful girl with her copper
brown hair and Burne-Jones brow,
guides you whittier you would go. She
is only village maiden, she says,
this tall stately young goddess. She
found her work in Illuminating the
exquisite books which are sent out
into the world. She learned to do 1t
swiftly and well. "And because they
say l can talk" she admits. naively,
81 am sent about with visitors to
see the shop. We will now go to st.
Jerome's studio" she adds placidly.
You must know that everybody, as
in the promise of heaven, has a new
name. 1t has peculiar significance
and dates back to some period in the
career of the worker. who perhaps.
entered the place sore of foot and
sore of heart, buffetted by the world
and baff1ed by fate. Here he has
found peace, rest, affection and re-
spect. and here he fingers in the
shadowy halls with a dread of the
glaring world, shrinking from the
outer tumult.
st. Jerome. with his dark. curling
hair. his wonderful eyes and his beau
tifully poised head. seems not only
to have found his work. but his niche.
Somewhere back in the distant years
he was the boy. Jerome Connor, bear
ing the burden of being misunder-
stood, beating his hands against the
| walls which closed him about. He
found Elbert Hubbard and the free
dom of eternal life in the work of
his soul. for he fashions rare models
of his fancy and expression of his
love from the clay on the long table.
and the marble in yonder block. You
see Elbert Hubbard looking beyond
and through you from the niche above
your head. You see the Sculptor's
wife in her splendid southern beauty.
| You see the Good Gray Poet. with his
bent brows and the small daughter Of
the Hubbard's. the little edition de
Luxe as they call her, the curve of
the childish lip caught so sweetly in
the clay, the lock of soft hair caress-
ing the lineless brow, and you are
glad that st. Jerome is alive. He
| must have had rencarnation from
some far-away Florentne artist Of
buried centuries and holds the dark
beauty and the facile touch of his
race as heritage.
Then there is the art workroom
where the Illuminated designs are
completed. where with artistic fingers
the young girls paint the quaint
SMILES of thought in lettering and
borders which so delight the eye of
the connoisseur in the Roycroft books.
You are told that all these designs
are fire conceived by Sammy" the
| artist whose narfacf ind
ment are acknowledged in the world
of artistic bookmaking. You want to
see Sammy" you have been shown
his photograph and have seen many
of the superb drawings from his pen
ell, so YOU want to see "Sammy.'
| Finally, up in a tower room, dusky,
cool and full of Rembrandt tones. you
see the artist. When 10! What do
head of the establishment as regards
the art work, is Mr.. Samuel Warner,
of Scranton. born and reared in this
city and connected with several we'll
known families. He is a step-son of
the late Charles De Long, and son
of one long connected with the Della
ware, Lackawanna and Western rail-
road.
| MT. warner mas not Decn n resident
of Scranton for several years, as his
art studies in Boston, New York and
| Europe have taken him away since
boyhood. He was here on the occa-
sion of Mr.. Hubbard's visit and lee
| ture i'm this city. and keeps up an
intimate friendship with Mr.. Robert
Adams and Mr. John Branard. He
has great ability and no doubt a great
| career as he is a young man with
ambition. His most recent work in
cludes splendid drawings of the por-
traits of celebrated composers for the
Little Journeys" They are drawn
most feeling. He has made a study of
old missals of the monasteries and the
| work of Florentine illumnators of
| far-off centuries.
| Mr. Warner has been at the Roy-
| croft shops for two or three years.
Mr.. Hubbard discovered him in Ros-
| ton. He says that Scranton people
never stray in the direction of East
Aurora.
| cannot speak of "Ali Baba," of
"EXhibit A." THE Red One" ana
| many other characters known well
| among the Roycrofts. cannot tell
how the neat, beautiful workrooms,
from cellar to attic, impress the visi-
tor-the bowls of red clover blossoms
ON the desks, the great pitchers filled
with daisies, the pictures, the pianos,
the air of peace and happiness which
seems to pervade the buildings-of all