The Wenatchee daily world. [volume] (Wenatchee, Wash.) 1905-1971, 1907-09-04
Physical Beauty IN Books.

French Journals. which make q feature
Of what they call the feuiileton- The
modern newspaper covers held sc
wide that in aiming at completeness
1t must needs take account CT litera-
ture also, and in reprinting tie works
of Stevenson, Eugene Sue, Balzac, Kip
ling and other authors of deserved
fame il supplies an element which
many readers must value and enjoy.
Eut the physical aspect Of these re-
prints is necessarily rerulsive. The
beautiful arr of the great writer Is
partly married by the shahbiDess of the
dress which it is compelled TO wear
Looking at these smearea and crlnl-
pied columns. We think Inc matter CON
veyed by them must be not less cam
mon and cheap. Whes we discover in
them beauties and feicities, depths and
heights, we feel an ncongruity which is
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 tine in a news
paper Keats "Ode TO Il Nightingale
Cor example, the effect of the Lsarvcl
Gus genius which there reaches its
apoyee would be sorely handicapped.
Such poem should receive its bodily
manifestation in illuminated yellum.
glowing with color and refined with
gold, and each immortal word made
outwartlly lovely with the noble forms
Of the old English black letter. The
spirit should be fifty housed or it fails
of q part of it's legitimate influence
upon the spirit of him who reads. The
magic eloquence of Ruskin. the Inascu-
line splendors of Carlyle. the exquisite
playfuneSs and paihos Of Lamb. the
organ music of L.andon, should come to
us adorned with robes august enough
to rhyme with their own charm. Moth
ing perhaps can ever again SO well full
fill the demand Of the aesthetic sense
in this respect as did the finest exam
psse of fourteenth century caligrapby
and painting. executed by the monks
in their holy cloisters. where the indi-
vidual 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 booknakers
often come very close to this ideal, and
the immense popularity of What are
known as editions de luxe is due TO tho
general recognition of the accord he
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 rhymiue
OF great poem. The rhymes do not
add to The sense or alter it. bat they
enable il to take deeper root il orr
love aud memory, and they contribute
an element of emotion which, however
subtle, is genuine and worthy. The
beauty of Il rose. the grace OF Il fawu
the majesty of Il mountain. may no!
seem necessary from the merely utili
tartan standpoint. hut the sum of hi
man pleasure in them and Of inStruc-
ton to the human soul would he great
ly lessened We're they stripped away.
The converse Of this proposition IL
not true--tlat the poor writing can he
compensated for by noble setting. The
elog@erel of Tupper. the vuIgalty Of
Braddon, caunot he disyuiscd-they are
only more markedly eXpoSed-by COR
ccous raiment. It Will perhaps lie
ART of the future TO give each eminent
writer his precisely fitting presentation
which could rightly belon" to no other.
We shall know 1T 4 first glance wheth
er the volume contains the thoughts of
Bacon or of Emerson. of Tennyson or
of Meredith. The beauty Of the lily is
one thing and that of srmlit waves is
another. and 50 one genius should not
he forced TO don the habit. however in
trinsically superb. Of Il genius OF am
other caliber and purport.
Classical reprints in newspapers are
not to be condemned. They may at
least serve to prompt those who there
in read them for the first time to seek
for them in Il more suitable environ
ment But there is something crue,
and profane about them. They set on
edge the teeth of the lover If litera-
ture. They are Il 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
struction cease to he needed. The day
when beauty is beauty. from the hem
Of her robe to her inmost soul, viii he
the day OF the millennium.
Julian HAWTHORNE
When the kaiser Salutes France as
his friendly and beautiful neighbor"