The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1902-01-16

from throwing the portrait on the barn. The petit
ton states that for time the plaintiff has had his
peace Of mind disturbed by meeting the gaze of the
strenuous president every time he looks toward his
barn after dark Hooverly claims that the rays from
the lantern cease to be his property they
leave his dwelling and that he is not responsible for
their choice of ultimate resting place. He prays the
court to dissolve the injunction, saying that his
children unhappy and his household upset since
the of the instructive and amusing lantern was
forbidden. The matter will be decided this week.
AS REGARDS workmanship, the difference be-
tween the average book of fifty years ago and the
average book of today is almost as great as the
difference between the crude drawing of the student
and the finished product of the artist. While the
matter contained within the covers of the two
volumes may be on the same intellectual level the
modern book is preferable to the old. It is more
convenient to handle has Of air of durability
is more artstically bound and pleasing to the
eye generally than those read by our parents or
grandparents In no line of art or trade did the
nineteenth century eclipse the progress and ingenuity
shown by the makers of books. In half a century
bookbinding and printing advanced from species of
manual labor to fine arts; and those who follow these
means of livelihood successfully today require an
artists sense of the fitness of things.
But it is within the past twenty five years that
bookmaking made it's most rapid progress. It re-
ceived such impetus from that talented and
versatile man, William Norris that it forced to
go ahead with great strides He showed people what
Ia good book Before he entered the lists, both
readers and publishers knew something was lacking
in the best bound books issued they CROPPED rather
blindly about to discover what it was, and made
some Roadway, out it was left to him to show the
world that really fine printing and bookbinding was
not lost art and that such work would be ap-
preciated even in this commercial age. His inspira-
ton came from the days when men had time to
think-from the books made by the Venitian monks
of DID, and his idea of perfect book conceded with
what we believe theirs to have been. 1t involved,
primarily, the four following things: ''The paper,
the form of the type, the relative spacing of the
letters, the words. and the lines; and lastly the
position of the printed matter on the page.' The
binding, so long it was harmonious, to be a
matter of the readers individual taste
Morris put his tremendous energy and intellect
into the task of making what he called perfect
nearly perfect book. It cost him time, money and
labor taxing the ability of his friends we'll his
own, but the book finally completed and offered
for sale. 1t not cheap, but it almost perfect,
and there were book lovers enough in the world to
want 1t went fOrtn laOOTS.
In few years the books from the Kelmscott press
as Morris called his workshop-became famous and
people who could not afford them longed for at least
something like them. Shrewd publishers discovered
this longing, and effort to initiate the kelmscott
books made. Their principal visible character
istics we're adopted, and the common run of books
soon showed improvement. Wide margins be-
came the rule instead of the exception; black ink
used, rather than dull gray; paper that did not
tear when breath of air struck it, nor contract
jaundice when left in the sunlight for twenty four
hours pressed into SERVICE more "heavy faced
readable style of type adopted, while artistic
initial letters and appropriate bindings made the
most commonplace book attractive to the eye. In
other words, the exterior of books commenced to
charm rather than repel It is true that the
book today has nothing in common with a
Kelmscott production except that both contain
printed matter, but still the great progress in book
making that has been made is largely due to the
influence of William Morris influence which
still goes And it is not too much to hope that
four five decades from now will see many such
establishments for the dissemination of learning as
the Kemscott press, and such books as Morris made
placed within the reach of all who care for them