A SPLENDID BOOK.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XII, Issue 4404, 24 December 1875, Page 3

A SPLENDID BOOK.

Wa have just received a copy of one of the most splendid works we ever saw, —splendid as respects binding, letterpress, and illustration. Our readers may fancy that it is some fine edition of a standard author, a Homer, or Dante, or Milton illustrated, where the splendour of the typography and of the engravings might seem in keeping with the majesty of the words of the poet. But the work to which we refer is of quite a different character. It comes from Connecticut, and it is of the practical character of the Yankee. It is a manufacturer's catalogue on a grand scale. The title-page reads: —" Door locks, knobs, padlocks, &c., illustrated and described. Mallory, Wheeler and Co. (successors to Davenport, Mallory and Co.) manufacturers, New Haven, Conn. Established 1834." The names of the persons concerned in the getting up of the book are printed on another page, and so perfect is their work in every particular that we feel bound to reprint themA. P. Norman, draughtsman, New York City ; Tarbel and Sandford, engravers, West .Meriden, Conn. ; workmanship of the Hutchings Printing House, in Hartford, Conn. ; Seymour Paper Company, New York; George Mathers and Sons., manufacturers of printing inks and bronzes, New York; R. Hoe and Co.'a new stop-cy-linder woodcut presses, New York." The volume is of the large size of royal folio, and eontaum 300 pages. One would think that it was impossible to get anything in the way of beautiful pictures out of hardware, but the extreme beauty, the actual perfection of the workmanship in every department redeems the subject. The book is printed on the strongest and finest vellum paper ; the binding is of richly ornamented Russian leather. There are 700 illustrations of the exact size and shade of colour of the originals. We believe that there were 2000 copies printed, each of them costing 40 dollars to produce. Eor this advertisement, therefore, Messrs. Mallory, Wheller, and Co., have spent over £16,000 !—so that the book is a genuine wonder of American advertising enterprise. From a notice of the book, which has been forwarded to us, we quote:—" As a specimen of typography it is unique. It is intended to represent with minute accuracy all the manufactures of the firm for which it is made. The iron, steel, nickel, brass, copper, bell-metal, lacquered and japanned work silver plate and porcelain, that enter into the combination of locks, handles, escutcheons, &c., are set forth in their proper colours. Only practical printers, and not all .of them, have a clear notion of the labour, skill, and taste that such a work demands. Every colour must be printed separately, and some pages required nine -distinct impressions. Every colour must faithfully | represent the material of the lock ; but printing inks cannot give the glitter of metal ; bronzes must he used, and compounded with tfie greatest nicety," to prodiice the proper effect. The colors' cannot' be blended like those in a chromo-lithograph; each luust 'have a.hard, precise outline ; hut the variation ' of aiiy colour from its proper place by even the fiftieth of an inch would spoil the work. The conditions hare been admirably observed; the colour and the register are faultless. The book glows with flat and bright colour,

but the type work is in the best possible taste as a support to the illustrations. If „ any reader of this article infers from this that the boot is a gigantic experiment in those typographical gymnastics in which some of our printers delight—tours de force, in which the martyred type "writhe in endless convolutions and agonised contortions around the glare of gold, carmine, and ultra-, manne inks—let him be undeceived. Bens-' ley s folio Bible is not more severe in its simplicity of arrangement; Baskerville , himself would have given praise to the pure, graceful face of Roman type, which, we understand, was designed expressly fo» the work. From title page to finis, there is . not a letter of Italic, not a line of black letter or ornamental type. So rigidly enforced is this plainness, that a reader whos« taste has been formed on other models might think that many pages were really bald. But the beauty of the type and the press-work redeems it from - this ■ fault*Every letter presents a clean, graceful outline, and always in a uniform tone of bright, glossy, black colour." The book is sent to us by H. P. Hubbard, newspaper and adver-" tising agent, who, in his letter, states:— " I have had placed in my hands/ for distribution to such foreign newspapers as I might select, a number of copies of what theBritish Trade Journal of London colls 'a splendid book, which has already created no little sensation.' It is an elegant patternbook of the manufactures of Mallory, 1 Wheeler, and Co., Lock-makers, of this 1 city ; and, as you will see by the enclosed slip, has received some of the most commendatory notices of any book ever published. I have selected your paper as-the-leading journal of your place, and would say that !•' Eave caused to be sent to your address, prepaid, a boxed copy of this book, which you will please accept, with the compliments of Alallory, Wheeler, and Co., as well as myself. I am happy to be ""able to present to the craft so beautiful a specimen of typography, and feel assured that you will, in whatever notice you may make of it," do it ample justice, for no printer : canlook upon its artistic pages without going into raptures at the completeness of the work. You can invite people to see it, for it is a genuine attraction.." We shall be glad to shew the volume to any person wishing to see all the varieties of monufactures ofMallory, Wheeler, and Co., or to inspect one of the finest specimens of printing ever issued.