,,the ,,ideal ,,book ,,or ,,book        
,,beautiful                      ,a     
,,tract ,,on ,,calligraphy ,,printing   
,,and ,,illustration  ,,on ,,the ,,book 
,,beautiful ,,as ,a ,,whole             
,,the ,,doves ,,press                   
,no4 #a ,,the ,,terrace ,,hammersmith   
,,mdcccc          ,,the ,,ideal ,,book  
,,or ,,book ,,beautiful is a composite  
thing made up of many  parts  may be    
made beautiful by the beauty of each of 
its parts--its  literary content1 its   
material or materials1 its writing or   
printing1  its illumination or          
illustration1 its binding               
decoration--of each  of its parts in    
subordination to the whole which        
collectively they  constitute3 or it may
 be made beautiful by the supreme beauty
 of  one or more of its parts1 all the  
other parts subordinating or even       
effacing themselves for the sake of this
 one or more1  each in turn  being      
capable of playing this supreme part and
 each in its own peculiar  and          

characteristic way4 ,on the other hand  
each contributory craft may  usurp the  
functions of the rest  of the whole and 
growing beautiful  beyond all bounds    
ruin for its own the common cause4 ,i   
propose in  this brief essay1 putting   
aside for the moment the material1 paper
 or  vellum1 the binding  decoration1   
the literary content of the ,book       
,beautiful1 to say a few words on the   
artistic treatment of the vehicle  of   
expression--,calligraphy1 ,printing1    
,illustration--and on the ,book         
,beautiful as a whole4                  
,,calligraphy    ,,handwriting and hand 
decoration of letter  page are at the   
root of the  ,book ,beautiful1 are at   
the root of ,typography  of woodcut or  
engraved  ,decoration1  every printer1  
indeed every one having to do with the  
making of books should ground himself in
 the practice or knowledge of  the ,art 
of ,beautiful ,writing or ,calligraphy1 
and let both hand and  soul luxuriate   
and rejoice for a while in the art of   

,illumination4 ,such  practice would    
keep ,type alive under the influence of 
an ever living   fluent prototype4 ,it  
would supply a stock of exemplars       
suggestions  from which the ,typographer
 might cautiously borrow1 converting    
into his  own rigid stock such of the   
new beautiful growths of ,calligraphy as
  commended themselves to him for the   
purpose4     ,in the making of the      
,written ,book1 moreover1 in which      
various modes  of presentment are       
combined1 symbolical and pictorial1 the 
adjustment  of letter to letter1 of word
 to word1 of picture to text  of text to
  picture1 and of the whole to the      
subject matter  to the page1 admits  of 
great nicety and perfection4 ,the type  
is fluid1 and the letters  and words1   
picture1 text1  page are conceived of as
 one and are all  executed by one hand1 
or by several hands all working together
 without  intermediation on one         
identical page and with a view to one   
identical  effect4 ,in the ,printed     

,book this adjustment is more difficult4
 ,the  type is rigid and implacable4    
,the labour is divided and dispersed3   
the picture or illustration1 for        
example1 is too often done quite        
independently  at a distance1 without   
thought of the printed page1   inserted1
 a stranger1 amid an alien type4 ,yet in
 the making of the  printed book1 as in 
the making of the written book1 this    
adjustment is  essential1  should be    
specially borne in mind1 and            
,calligraphy and  immediate decoration  
by hand and the unity which should be   
inseparably  associated therewith would 
serve as an admirable discipline to that
 end4     ,perhaps the most interesting 
things to note historically in this     
connexion are 7#a7 that all ,calligraphy
 in ,italy1 ,spain1 ,france1 ,germany   
,england would seem to be a development1
 with many subdivisions1  of ,roman     
,calligraphy1 itself a development of   
,greek1 and that the  beautiful         
formation of the letters and their      

orderly placement in  sequence upon the 
rectangular page are but modes of that  
general  delight in the making of order 
and beauty which is the note of unity   
throughout all the arts3 and 7#b7 that  
in ,calligraphy1 as in all the  arts1 a 
beauty of decoration once started on its
 way1 proceeds to  throw off the        
conditions of its birth and where it was
 meant to be  only a minister to make   
itself master4 ,the stages in this      
usurpation  in the case of ,calligraphy 
are singularly well marked  apparent4   
,at  the outset1 ,calligraphy was       
uniform writing only1 a succession of   
,,square ,,capitals all of equal value4 
,then came the enlargement of the       
sphere of action1 so to speak1 of       
letters in prominent positions1 of      
initial letters  their decorative       
treatment3 then1 in consequence of  this
 very enlargement1 a further enlargement
 or emphasis which ended  in ceasing to 
be adjective decoration  becoming a     
substantive beauty1  as of a picture1   

framed by the adjacent illumination     
writing1 but  superior to them as the   
flower to the leaf4 ,each of these      
stages has  a beauty of its own1 and    
each in its turn constitutes a ,book in 
some  sense a ,beautiful ,book4 ,but in 
the passage from the image created in   
the mind by abstract symbolism to the   
image expressed on the page by          
verisimilitude1 the book itself         
underwent a change  became in the       
process1 not a vehicle for the          
conveyance of an image1 but itself the  
image1 to be appreciated not so much by 
the imagination1 the inner eye1  as     
directly by the outer eye1 the sense of 
sight itself2 just as on the  stage the 
scenery created at first imaginatively  
by the spectators1 in  obedience to the 
influence of the actor1 is now presented
 externally by  the scene painter       
costumier in simulated reality4 ,i      
apprehend that  when the illuminator1   
passing on from the decoration of       
significant  or initial letters1 took to

 the making of pictures in this fashion 
within the folds of them1 he was        
pressing his art too far4 ,he was in    
danger1 as the event showed1 of         
subordinating his ,text to himself1 of  
sacrificing the thing signified to the  
mode of its signification1 for  in the  
end the written communication became as 
it were nothing1 or but  the framework  
or apology to support a succession of   
beautiful pictures1  beautiful indeed1  
but beautiful at the expense of the     
,text which they  had set out to        
magnify4     ,and we may in this        
connexion safely moralize  say that when
 many  arts combine1 or propose to      
combine1 to the making of one thing1 as 
the process continues1  the several arts
 develop1 each will attempt  to assert  
itself to the destruction of the one    
thing needful1 to the  making of which  
they at first all combined in a common  
subordination4  ,thus in our own case   
the illuminator destroyed by over       
relative  development the purely written

 text1  the moral is that every artist1 
in contributing to the ,book ,beautiful1
 must keep himself well in hand  and    
strictly subordinate both his art and   
his ambition to the end in  view4 ,he   
must remember that in such a case his   
art is a means only   not itself an end4
     ,it is worthy of remark that the   
,church fought against the idolatry  of 
its ,scribes1  sought to curtail the too
 exuberant beauty of their              
illuminators1  a similar attempt was    
made to keep down the idolatry  of the  
,binder4 ,the ,church has perhaps lost  
all pretension even to  influence in    
this respect4 ,but artists should not   
need the guidance  of anything outside  
themselves as artists4 ,they should1 as 
artists1  realise that the world of art 
is a commonweal1 and that the most      
beautiful art is a composite work1      
higher than the art of each1 and  that  
the art of each is contributory1 only to
 be exercised in due  subordination to  
the ideal which is the creation of all4 

,,typography    ,,the ,,passage from the
 ,written ,book to the ,printed ,book   
was sudden   complete4 ,nor is it       
wonderful that the earliest productions 
of  the printing press are the most     
beautiful  that the history of  its     
subsequent career is but the history of 
its decadence4 ,the  ,printer carried on
 into ,type the tradition of the        
,calligrapher   of the ,calligrapher at 
his best4 ,as this tradition died out in
 the  distance1 the craft of the        
,printer declined4 ,it is the function  
of  the ,calligrapher to revive  restore
 the craft of the ,printer to its       
original purity of intention            
accomplishment4 ,the ,printer must at   
the  same time be a ,calligrapher1 or in
 touch with him1  there must be  in     
association with the ,printing ,press a 
,scriptorium where beautiful  writing   
may be practised and the art of         
letter-designing kept alive4  ,and there
 is this further evidence of the        
dependence of printing upon  writing3   

the great revival in printing which is  
taking place under our  own eyes1 is the
 work of a ,printer who before he was a 
,printer was a  ,calligrapher  an       
,illuminator1 ,,william ,,morris4       
,the whole duty of ,typography1 as of   
,calligraphy1 is to communicate to  the 
imagination1 without loss by the way1   
the thought or image intended  to be    
communicated by the ,author4 ,and the   
whole duty of beautiful  typography is  
not to substitute for the beauty or     
interest of the thing  thought and      
intended to be conveyed by the symbol1 a
 beauty or interest  of its own1 but1 on
 the one hand1 to win access for that   
communication  by the clearness  beauty 
of the vehicle1 and on the other hand1  
to take advantage of every pause or     
stage in that communication to          
interpose some characteristic  restful  
beauty in its own art4 ,we thus  have a 
reason for the clearness and beauty of  
the text as a whole1  for the especial  
beauty of the first or introductory page

 and of the  title1 and for the especial
 beauty of the headings of chapters1    
capital  or initial letters1  so on1 and
 an opening for the illustrator as we   
shall see by and by4     ,further1 in   
the case of ,poetry1 verse1 in my       
opinion1 appeals by its  form to the    
eye1 as well as to the ear1  should be  
placed on the page  so that its         
structure may be taken in at a glance   
and distinctively  appreciated1 and     
anything which interferes with this     
swiftness of  apprehension and          
appreciation1 however beautiful in      
itself1 is in  relation to the book as a
 whole a typographical impertinence4    
,,illustration    ,,illustration1 the   
other expressive constituent of the     
,book ,beautiful1  is a part of the     
whole subject matter1 in process of     
symbolical  communication1 picked out1  
isolated1  presented pictorially4       
,besides  its relation in the field of  
the imagination to the rest of the      
subject  matter1 the thought of the     

book1 it has a relation  a most         
important  relation1 in the field of the
 senses1 to the vehicle of              
communication1  the immediate           
typographical environment1 amid which it
 appears4 ,and  here comes in the       
question1 which has sometimes been      
confused with  the question of          
relationship1 the question of the mode  
in which the  pictorial illustration may
 be produced  transferred to the page1  
by  woodcut1 by steel or copper         
engraving1 or by process4 ,but this     
seems to  me to be an entirely          
subordinate though important question4  
,the main  question is the aspect which 
the illustration shall be made to take  
in order to fit it into and amid a page 
of ,typography4 ,and ,i submit  that its
 aspect must be essentially formal and  
of the same texture1  so to speak1 as   
the letterpress4 ,it should have a set  
frame or margin  to itself1 demarcating 
it distinctly from the text1 and the    
shape   character of the frame1 if      

decorative1 should have relation to the 
page  as well as to the illustrative    
content2 and the illustrative content   
itself should be formal and kept under  
so as literally to illustrate1  and not 
to dim by over brilliancy the rest of   
the subject matter left  to be          
communicated to the imagination by the  
letterpress alone4      ,,the ,,book    
,,beautiful ,,as ,a ,,whole             
,,finally1 if the ,book ,beautiful may  
be beautiful by virtue of its  writing  
or printing or illustration1 it may also
 be beautiful1 be even  more beautiful1 
by the union of all to the production of
 one composite  whole1 the consummate   
,book ,beautiful4 ,here the idea to be  
communicated  by the book comes first1  
as the thing of supreme importance4     
,then comes  in attendance upon it1     
striving for the love of the idea to be 
itself  beautiful1 the written or       
printed page1 the decorated or          
decorative  letters1 the pictures1 set  
amid the text1 and finally the binding1 

holding the whole in its strong grip and
 for very love again itself  becoming   
beautiful because in company with the   
idea4           99       99       99    
99       99    ,this is the supreme     
,book ,beautiful or ,ideal ,book1 a     
dream1 a symbol of  the infinitely      
beautiful in which all things of beauty 
rest and into  which all things of      
beauty do ultimately merge4     ,the    
,book ,beautiful1 then1 should be       
conceived of as a whole1  the           
self-assertion of any ,art beyond the   
limits imposed by the conditions  of its
 creation should be looked upon as an   
,act of ,treason4 ,the proper  duty of  
each ,art within such limits is to      
co-operate with all the other  arts1    
similarly employed1 in the production of
 something which is  distinctly         
,not-,itself4 ,the wholeness1 symmetry1 
harmony1 beauty without  stress or      
strain1 of the ,book ,beautiful1 would  
then be one in principle  with the      
wholeness1 symmetry1 harmony1 and beauty

 without stress or  strain1 of that     
,,whole ,,of ,,life ,,which ,,is        
,,constituted ,,of ,,ourselves  ,,the   
,,world1 ,,that ,,complex ,,and         
,,marvellous ,,whole ,,which1 ,,amid    
,,the ,,strife ,,of  ,,competitive      
,,forces1 ,,supremely ,,holds ,,its     
,,own1 ,,and ,,in ,,the ,,language ,,of 
,,life ,,writes1 ,,upon ,,the           
,,illumined ,,pages ,,of ,,the ,,days1  
,,the ,,volumes ,,of ,,the  ,,centuries1
  ,,through ,,the ,,infinitudes ,,of    
,,time  ,,space ,,moves ,,rhythmically  
,,onward ,,to ,,the ,,full ,,development
 ,,of ,,its ,,astonishing ,,story ,,the 
,,true  ,,archetype ,,of ,,all ,,books  
,,beautiful ,,or ,,sublime4      ,this  
,tract1 written by ,t4 ,j4              
,cobden-,sanderson1 was printed by him  
,emery ,walker at ,the ,doves ,press and
 finished ,oct4 #ai1 #aijj4 ,compositor 
,j4 ,h4 ,mason4 ,pressman ,h4           
,gage-,cole4 ,sold at ,the ,doves       
,press4