which follows, yet not obtruding itself unduly, nor distracting the attention from the letterpress.

Glance, on the other hand, at Turner's famous illustrations to the "Poems" and "Italy" of Rogers. Beautiful as pictures, they bear no apparent relation to the volumes which they illustrate; their charm is independent and extraneous; the artist clearly did not concern himself to harmonise them with the text or with each other; taken apart entirely from the books, they would lose nothing of their force. They are steel engravings, pure and simple, which might just as well have been issued separately in a portfolio.

Even the Kelmscott Press, indeed, occasionally swerved from the true path of illustration. To the second and larger edition of "The Glittering Plain," in 1894, Mr. Walter Crane contributed twentythree pictures of a Renaissance character which are not in complete accord with the black letter employed, however meritorious as drawings. But, in general, the books printed by Morris may boast of a remarkably congruous disposition of pictures, ornaments, and type. The borders are especially noteworthy in this respect. In their design Morris, as usual, began at the beginning, for the first suggestions for them were derived from his collection of fifteenth-century Italian manuscripts. That he was not always scrupulous to make them harmonise in sense with the subject matter of the page is doubtless true; a border of vines (suggested, we are told, by the porch at Beauvais) occurs in the "Chaucer" in conjunction with the month of April; yet to the eye alone, which is, after all, what Morris went by, they amply justify their position in the entire scheme of decoration.

Still, in accordance with the ancient practice, Morris lavished an abundance of initial letters on his works. During the seven years' existence of the Press, the total number of designs executed by him amounts to the surprising total of 644. Of the letter "T" there are not less than thirty-four varieties. A richness of effect is thus imparted to the volumes which would have been otherwise impossible.

However, as Morris was never tired of urging on his followers, a book may be beautiful as a piece of printing, even without the aid of added ornament. A testimony to the correctness of his main principles has come to light within the present year. It has frequently been urged against the Kelmscott Press that its usefulness as the pioneer of a new movement has been largely impaired by the high charges made by Morris for his books. Few persons care to expend volume, be it or be it not

ten pounds on the purchase of a single a marvel of typography; yet nine guineas was the published price of "The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troy." Nor were many of the productions of the Press issued at a lower price than thirty shillings, and these almost immediately rose in value in the hands of booksellers,

The fact is, of course, that

sometimes to treble the original amount. Morris made no pretence of publishing cheap books, and the sale did no more than compensate him for the heavy expenditure of time and money which he incurred. Paper, ink, binding were the best procurable, to say nothing of the ornaments and decorations, and he could hardly have charged a smaller sum for his volumes than he actually did. The year 1898 has witnessed the application of the principles revived by Morris to a series of books issued at the modest price of half a crown, thereby completely overthrowing the arguments of those who objected to the costliness of the Kelmscott editions. The series in question, which is still in progress, consists of a reprint of the poet's lectures delivered before art institutions and other public bodies. At the moment of writing one volume only has been published, bearing the imprint of Messrs. Longmans. It is printed by the Chiswick Press in the "Golden" type designed by Morris, on paper similar to that employed by him, at the direction of the trustees in whose hands he left his founts and wood blocks. Needless to say, the book boasts none of the splendour of the Kelmscott productions; it is printed in black, very plainly and simply, without initial letters or attempt at decoration of any kind; yet, in its quiet, unassuming

there are few modern livres de luxe which may hope to vie with it in beauty. Unfortunately, the ink used is of inferior quality. Therein lies one of the difficulties which beset the artist-printer: it is impossible to procure ink of sufficient blackness to properly display the type upon the whiteness of the page. Morris himself tried nearly every ink in the market before he obtained any which fulfilled his ideal; that which he finally employed came from Hanover. Good as it was, however, it could not invariably be depended on, and there is reason to believe that, bad he lived, he would have reverted to the practice of the ancient printers, and manufactured ink to suit his own requirements. But that was not to be, and, with this one exception, the little volume, which contains his address before the students of the Birmingham Municipal School of Art, is in thorough conformity with the traditions of the golden age of printing. The type is artistic and yet legible, without affectation, designed on something like a square; each letter has its due characteristic drawing: a "u" is not merely an "n" turned upside down; the thickening out for "b" is not the same as that for a "d"; the dot of the "i" is not a circle drawn with compasses, but has a certain distinction of its own; the serifs have lost the meanness apparent in ordinary typography, and are bolder, thicker; in short, the letters have been designed, not by an engineer, but by an artist. Proportion, again, has been rigidly observed in margin. The hinder edge (that which is bound in) is the smallest, the head-margin larger than this, the fore-margin larger still, and the tail-margin largest of all. This is the correct rule

more often honoured in the breach than in observance-for the reason that the unit of the book is not one page by itself, but the two corresponding pages of the open book looked at together. Then, moreover, care has been manifestly taken in the proper spacing of the words. In good printing, the spaces between the words should be as nearly equal as possible. Except in lines of poetry, they can never be quite equal; in lines of prose they should at least be approximately so a matter which demands a greater degree of attention in the printing than might be imagined.

It is a remarkable step forward in the right direction that for no more than half a crown a book can be produced in conformity with these original principles, so long neglected that they had almost fallen into complete oblivion. A volume like this is in itself a work of higher beauty than many an over-decorated volume published at five guineas. A case in point is to be found in Skelton's "Charles the First" and the sumptuous series of which it forms a part. Produced regardless of expense, on glossy paper, in insignificant type, and with magnificent illustrations quite out of harmony with the general appearance of the page, it is a striking example of misapplied talent in bookmaking. That it possesses some degree of meretricious beauty is undeniable, yet, placed by the side of one of Jenson's masterpieces, not even the most confirmed of Philistines would hesitate to term it vulgar.

Fortunately, since the Kelmscott Press commenced its labours, there has been a growing improvement in this respect. The mantle of Morris has fallen upon many shoulders. Among his successes, that of influencing the work of others in everything he undertook was not the least conspicuous. The Vale Press of Messrs. Hacon & Ricketts especially has carried on his typographical traditions. Marred as its efforts are by needless affectation and excess, it necessarily demands a word of honourable mention.

Inspired by Morris, though it obviously is, the Vale Press is in no sense merely imitative, and holds, perhaps, the chief place among the semi-private printing firms which are at present in existence. It was in the spring of 1896 that the first of the books printed in Mr. Ricketts's type appeared: "The Early Poems of John Milton," with a frontispiece, border, and initial letters. In this, as in following publications, the decorations and woodcuts were designed and engraved throughout by Mr. Ricketts, in addition to the type. A harmony of effect is thus obtained which stamps the volumes with distinction.

The fount of type used in the works of the Vale Press strikes one at first as being a slavish imitation of the Roman characters designed by Morris. But, as an anonymous writer not long ago pointed out in the pages of "The Literary Year-Book":

"Both in printing and in handwriting our eyes are accustomed to debased forms; we do not now pay attention to these matters; and, consequently, just as white men have difficulty in distinguishing between negroes, and negroes between white men, we do not perceive differences between types that are, in reality, very different. Only by training and experience does the eye become alert and sensitive in such things. The Vale type was, like the Kelmscott type, founded on that of the early Venetian printers; hence the similarity between the two when compared with the current types of the day. But the difference is real and significant, and though mainly resulting from the agglomeration of very many small differences, too numerous and too minute to particularise here, springs also from an essential difference in the spirit of conception."

Morris, like the great Italian printers, conceived his type in relation to handwriting. He had long been thoroughly versed in the best periods of manuscript, and it may surprise some to learn that he had himself written out and decorated, with all the elegance of a highly trained scribe, several long works, including two of his Icelandic legends and the larger part of Virgil's "Eneid." His "Golden' type was designed upon this principle, with the characters of Jenson as a general model. Mr. Ricketts, on the other hand, has abandoned the old tradition, and has conceived his forms as cut in metal, just as a wood-engraver or a designer of stained-glass, in making his drawing, conceives it as in the material for which it is intended. His type, perhaps, resembles rather that of Spira than that of Jenson. There is a hardness about it which contrasts unfavourably with the superior delicacy developed by Morris from his study of handwriting. Nor are the minor features always in good taste. The interrogation-mark, the contraction for "and," the paragraph-signs, in particular, possess an eccentricity of form which at every turn annoys the reader. In his constant striving after modernity Mr. Ricketts, indeed, occasionally outsteps the bounds of art. Even in his disposition of the printed page there are not infrequent lapses into affectations of this nature. The Vale edition of "The Passionate Pilgrim," to select one instance among many, opens with a leaf printed entirely in capitals, after the manner of the Kelmscott books; the single word "young," however, figures among its brethren in lower-case letters, owing to considerations of spacing, which might easily have been avoided. The eye, looking at the page, is at once arrested by this incongruity, and unnecessary emphasis imparted to an unimportant word. In the opening page of "The Poems of Blake" a similar blemish is to be found of a more glaring character, the first line running thus: "THE DAUGHTERS OF THE SERAPHIM led ROUND THEIR SUNNY FLOCKS." It is not altogether obvious why the word "led" should not have been printed in higher-case letters with the others.

These details, insignificant when taken singly, but, massed together, of considerable importance, prevent Mr. Ricketts's efforts from taking the place in artistic typography which would otherwise be due to

"

them. It is in his borders and decorations that he really reveals his true claim to be considered the first among Morris's successors. There is nothing new in the best of the Kelmscott borders; like the types, they are modelled on old patterns, and in themselves are purely conventional in treatment. Mr. Ricketts has opened up a fresh path in this direction, and gives his originality the fullest play. "His borders exhibit an extraordinary skill in the adaptation of foliage and flower; instead of forcing living growths into dully conventional forms, to fit certain spaces, the delicate curves of stalk and petal are kept as sensitively as the most naturalistic treatment might keep them, yet all in a harmonious decorative style." Such is the opinion of a critic of the Vale productions. Its justice is apparent when we come to consider the books in greater detail. The "Constable" with its border of wild hop, the "Campion" with its border of violets, the "Spiritual Poems" with its border combining the symbols of the Passion, the Empedocles on Etna" with its border of laurel, or the "Fair Rosamond" with its border of roses- these stand out in this respect as something quite apart in bookmaking. They can only be compared with the magnificent borders designed by Aubrey Beardsley for the "Morte Darthur," and they have an additional advantage of their own which was denied that artist. Designed by the same hand, responsive alike to the build of the page and for the type, the Vale borders, apart from their fine use of the wood and their merit as engravings, have a harmony and unity with the printed page of which few decorated books can boast. The illustrations, when employed at all, are to the full as satisfactory. To "The Most Pleasant and Delectable Tale of the Marriage of Cupid and Payche" Mr. Ricketts contributed six roundel woodcuts of a high order of workmanship, while nothing could be better in their way than Mr. Pissarro's charming pictures to "The Books of Ruth and Esther"-in itself, perhaps, one of the most desirable volumes as yet issued from the Press.

It has been said that Messrs. Hacon & Ricketts occupy a high position in the list of printers who have adopted the traditions revived by William Morris. The name of the Rev. C. H. Daniel, of Worcester College, Oxford, is not less worthy of a record. Mr. Daniel's efforts have been appreciated by the select minority for many years, the foundation of his private printing-press having been long anterior to the opening of the works at Hammersmith. But the limited issue of his books and their restricted circulation have prevented him from exercising any generally perceptive influence upon book making. Nevertheless, the soundness of his judgment, despite the limited means. at his disposal, renders him a formidable competitor. His volumes are distinguished by their dainty simplicity and elegance, without suspicion of weakness. His edition (limited to 100 copies) of Mr. Bridges' "Growth of Love," printed in Fell's old English type, is, in particular,