Evening star., 1926-10-28
THE NORTH WINDOW
By Leila MechIiss.

SWerS, but, IN the writer o'iAlAoiii'
William Dana Orcutt in his book emu,
titled I'm Quest Of the Perfect BOOK,
lately published, has come nearer the
truth than any one else. Curiously
enough, this is a book about printing
by a master printer, one who mas
made printing a business Whne re-
garding 1t as an art.
In telling of his quest of the per1ect
book Mr.. Orcutt reveals not only MS
own attitude toward art, but that OF
others. and in what he has to say
of printing one finds much which ap-
plies to art as whole, much Whlcn
goes to prove that it is not encom-
passed in any one form or express
sion--painting, sculpture, arcnltec-
ture or decoration-but is common 10
all, spiritual thing brought into be-
ing through the aspiration of man
for perfect and beautiful expression
of the highest truth revealed to him,
thus part and parcel of life at It's
best.
y x X *
Referring to a copy Of '"The Ideal
Book" written and printed by Golden
Sanderson at the Doves Press. which
a friend had called to his attention,
Mr.. Orcutt speaks Of turning the
leaves and enjoying the composite
beauty of the careful typography ana
the perfect impress upon the soft,
handmade paper with the satisfaction
one always feels when face to face
with q work Of art" and then re-
marks: How few, even among those
interested in books, recognize the fine
artistic touches that constitute the diff
ference between the commonplace and
the distinguished" This is true of all
branches of art, but it is particularly
true of the art of boOkmaking.
The building of a we'll made volume
involves the choice of type, the use
of decoration, the arrangement OF
margins. 1t is not altogether unlike
the building of a house and 1t SINH
larly offers opportunity for creative
work. 1t was when Mr.. Orcutt real
izad this fact that he determined to
personally enter upon the adventure
of making books. This adventure led
him far afield on a quest which
seemed a part Of an Arabian Nights
tale. He describes it as follows:
Cautiously opening a door, 1 would
find myself in a room containing
treasures of absorbing interest. From
this room there were doors leading in
different directions into other rooms
even more richly filled; and thus on
ward, with seemingly no end to the
fascinating rewards that came through
effort and perseverance"
This is what life invariably is to
the true artist and it is for this rea-
son that artists, unlike others, never
regard their work as shop" are will
ing to suffer any amount of privation
in order to carry on" and almost
invariably desire their children to fol-
low in their footsteps. To those with
out, the reward may seem insufficient;
but to those within the profession 1t
more than repays.
X X X X
1t was William Morris, Mr.. Orcutt
tells us, who, little more than sc
years ago, showed the world that
printing still belonged among the fine
arts. This was through the publica
tions of the KelmScott Press. 1t was
these books which awoke in Mr.. Or
cutt an overwhelming desire to put
himself into the volumes he produced
and as he realized that no man car
give of himself beyond what he pos
seSSes and that to make his ambition
worth accomplishing he must Absorb
and make a part of himself the beauty
of the ancient manuscripts of the
early printed books. he was led tC
take up an exhaustive study of this
history of printing.
But despite his admiration for Nor
ris and the works of the Kelmscott
Press, Mr.. Orcutt does gratifyingly
classify the Norris books as mar
velously beautiful objets dart" rather
than as fine examples of real
book making. And this they certainly
are. In their making Burne-Jones
the designer, and William Morris, the
decorator-printer, co-workers in sis
ter arts, produced volumes of great
beauty, lavishing upon them every
care and effort, supreme skill; but, as
Mr.. Orcutt remarks, after all a book
is made to read, and the Kelmscott
books are made to be looked at. The
principles which control the de
sign of the ideal book were perfectly
laid down by William Morris, but his
instructive tendency toward decoration
led him astray. AS is so often the
case, his purpose was beyond his &C.
complishment, but through this pur
pose he eXerted a wide and lasting in
fluence.
1t should not be forgotten that VIII
liam Morris, who gave to the world
the Norris wall papers, the Morris
chair and a new impulse toward art
declined the poet-laureateship Of Eng
| linquish the printing of his Chaucer
Here again was the zeal of the artist
for his work.
There was the same conflict in the
early days following the invention Ot
mechanical printing between hanC
work and machine work that there
| is today in certain industrial fields
| Tho nricfnNrotC fhn ~
art. limited class at the time Of
Aldus, frowned upon the printins
press, fearing that printed books OBJ
| tainable in quantity would take from
| the value of the more beautiful anC
artistic handprinted and illuminated
volumes. There are some today Wht
| would reserve precious examples O
| the art Of the past for those few wht
are most capable of approaching them
! There are some who froWn upon re
productions of great paintings, which
may be purchased at a price within
the means Of the workingman. Art
| they believe, is for the few, not tn.
many. There are some, too, VIII,
would, If it were possible, have III
| abolish the machine in the maxim,
of furniture, 5ewelry, silverware, etc
and go back to the days when every
thing was made by hand. But thi
! is impossible.
Aldus in his Venetian printing OF
fee, SO many years ago. was wise
| than this. HE was not alarmed" MI
Orcutt tells us, 'by the solicitude O
the patrons for the beauty of tn
book He had always known tina
in order to exist at all the printe
book must compete with the write,
( volume, and he demonstrated this DOS
| sibility by producing volumes Of ey
| quisite beauty on his own presses, O
which no collector need be ashamed
Mr.. Orcutt redemonstrates it in hi
present volume. Il believe it Is DOS
sible today" he says, ito perpetual