New-York tribune., 1922-09-17

tions have so long survived in speci-
men books. This is due to the many
us, ms and MS, the lack of US and
the paucity Of the other descending
letters. A page composed in Latin and
a page composed in English, placed so
that the lines Of type are perpendicu-
lar to the eye, will at once show the
difference in effect between them.
Leaving these broader matters, Mr..
Updike proceeds to chronological sur
vey Of European type forms. As we
have said, his research is too exhaus-
tive for US to follow it in detail.
though ali along there are items on:
which it is tempting to pause. He
notes the extraordinary brevity of the
period, less than thirty-ive years,
from 1864 to 1887, which covered the
spread of printing. He points out
again illustrating his shrewdness in
the reading of history-the purely
practical issues which promoted
the cause. "The sack of Mainz
(Gutenberg's town. in 1852 Influenced
the spread of Typography, for it wiped
out commerce there, and the conse-
quent lack of money led printers, who
were established in kind of indus
Crlal group, to scatter widely. This
accounts for the German names we find
among the earliest printers in other
countries throughout Europe" With
similar brief but expressive touches he
pictures the growth of the art, not
forgetting to sketch the personalities
involved.
The outline portraits of great print
ers form, indeed, a precious part of
this enthralling book And. by the
same token, they are as critical as thev
are sympathetic. We vince little
when the "Hypncrotomachia" comes
into view and are told that the Aldine
font used in that beloved book sis dis
tlnctiy inferior to Jenson's Roman char
acters." But in this way Mr.. Updike
renders service to the reader. He
places his printers in an authoritative
perspective, and with the aid ofethe il.
Illustrations one can hardly escape con
victfon. Apropos of Aldus, by thdssgay
he makes the observation that the
famous little books associated with
that printers name "were in reality {
sort of Venetian Everyman's Library
and held the same position with regard
to other books that the various serie:
Of books in handy formal do now
Once more we are reminded that print
ing is not a luxurious mystery but ont
of the familiar, everyday resources o
mankind. Appositely, Mr.. Updike cite'
in footnote a passage from Abbott''
Society and Politics in Ancien
Rome" which we may borrow in turn
We think of the cheap book and tht
public library as blessings coming di
rect from the invention of the printing
press, and at first thought we may bt
copies had to be written by hand
books must have been as dear as the,
were during the Middle Ages.
This was not the case. Copyists ha,
been trained to attain such a speed il
writing, and slave labor was so cheal
that in the first century of our era, a.
Martial tells US, the first book of hi
poems, which contains about 700 lines
could be had at a sum amounting t,
so or 30 cents.
In the later periods with which h
is concerned Mr.. Updike never lose
sight of the printers environment, hi
alliance with the conditions of hi
time, and this, we repeat, gives unusua
warmth, an unusual accent of truth ant
common sense, to his narratives; bu
just as he remains faithful also tt
those subtler and more aesthetic fac
tors to which we have referred, so h
gives the right salience to that fna
determining force in printing, tn,
genius Of the individual. He recog
niZes it even when it accounts fo
something less than a masterpiece
when the printing is good though