The Coeur d'Alene press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1906-1907, 1907-07-27
Physical Beauty In Books.

Of what they call the feuilleton. The
modern newspaper covers a field SO
wide that In aiming at completeness
1t must needs take account Of lltera-
ture also, and in reprintlng the works
of Stevenson, Eugene Sue, Balzac, Kip
ling and other authors of deserved
fame 1t supplies an element which
many readers must value and enjoy.
But the physical aspect of these re-
prints is necessarily repulsive. The
beautiful art of the great writer Is
partly married by the shabblness of the
dress which 1t Is compelled to wear.
Looking at these smeared and crum
pied columns, we think the matter con-
reycd by them must be not less COM
mon and cheap. When we discover In
them beauties and felicltles, depths and
heights, we feel an incongruity which Ii
painful to the instinct for harmony
and would almost declare that the maj
esty of art had been profaned. Were
we to read for the first time in news
paper Keats lode to a Nightingale"
for example the effect of the marvel
Gus genius which there reaches Its
apogee would be sorely handicapped.
Such Il poem should receive its bodily
manifestation in Illuminated vellum,
glowing with color and refined with
gold, and each immortal word made
outwardly lovely with the noble forms
Of the old English black letter The
spirit should be fifty housed or it fails
Of a part of It's legitimate influence
upon the spirit Of him who reads. The
magic eloquence of Ruskin, the mascu-
line splendors of Carlyle, the exquisite
playfuIness and pathos Of Lamb, the
organ music of Landon, should come to
us adorned with robes august enough
to rhyme with their own charm. Moth
ing perhaps can ever again so well full
| ill the demand OF the aesthetic sense
In this respect as did the finest exam
pies Of fourteenth century caligraphy
and painting, executed by the monks
In their holy cloisters, where the indi-
yldual hand and mind of the artist who
inscribed the words could adequately
attire the meanings which he set down.
But the printing, the paper and the
bindings of contemporary bookmakers
often come very close to this ideal, and
the immense popularity OF what are
known as editions de luxe is due to the
general recognition Of the accord be-
tween the body and the soul of the
literature. We handle these delicious
books with delight somewhat akin to
that which we feel In the true rhymlng
of a great poem, The rhymes do not
add to the sense or alter 1t, but they
enable II to take deeper root In our
love and memory. and they contribute
an element of emotion which, however
subtle, Is genuine and worthy. The
beauty of II rose, the grace of a fawn,
the majesty of mountain, may not
tartan standpoint, but the sum of hui
man pleasure in them and of lnstruc-
ton to the human soul would be great
~ lessened were they stripped away.
The converse of this proposition Is
not true--that the poor writing can be
compensated for by noble setting. The
doggerel of Topper, the vulgarity of
Braddon, cannot be disgulsed-they are
only more markedly exposed-by gor-
geous ralment. It viii perhaps lie
within the compass of the bookmaking
art of the future to give each eminent
writer his precisely fitting presentation
which could rightly belong to no other
We shall know at first glance wheth-
er the volume contains the thoughts OF
Bacon or of Emerson. of Tennyson OIL
of Meredith, The beauty of the lily Is
one thing and that of sunlit waves Is
another. and so one genius should moi
be forced to don the habit, however In,
trlnsically superb, of genius of an
other callher and purport,
Classical reprints In newspapers are
not to be condemned. They may al
least serve to prompt those who there
In read them for the first time to seek
for them In more suitable environ
ment, But there Is something cruel
and profane about them. They set on
edge the teeth of the lover of lltera
ture. They are a part of the awaken
ing to life of the democracy. But we
cannot but feel Impatient for the day
when these preliminary methods of IN
structlon cease to be needed, The day
when beauty is beauty. from the heir
of her robe to her mmost soul, will be
the day of the millennium.
JULIAN HAWTHORNE.