ART IN BOOKMAKING

New Zealand Mail, 15 February 1900, Page 21

ART IN BOOKMAKING

The Roycrofters have their unique shop in = the village of East Aurora, New York, Here they make artistic books and turn out other things, beautiful, which suggests little of bookcraft, but much of the individual effort inclined in any direction. The* heavy andirons which stand before the shop fireplace, are the work of a village blacksmith; who, encouraged by Air Hubbard, threw himself into the .work of doing .something-indicative-of his best efforts, and behold the highly ornamental fire-dogs. Roycroft expandsand includes a blacksmith’s"' shop', A huge, well-proportioned- oak table, designed by Air Hubbard, was made by a local cabinetmaker, whose skill is also evident in the old Norman chair and various other cleverly - fashioned

pieces-- of furniture; and now the Roycroft shop, which started as a bookbindery, has extended its scope until it can make use of any talent whatever that the village affords. The shop itself looks not unlike a queer little sanctuary, and the notion is not altogether inapt, as it harbours at present a young sculptor, whom they seem to designate as St. Jerome, and . whose work betokens a good deal of individuality. _ The workshop is a charming place, light, airy and ai'tistic. The presiding genius of the establishment is Air Elbert Hubbard, who edits the “Philistine,” and is the author of the little journeys to the. homes of the famous. His last collection on the artists—Alicheiaugelo, Rembrandt, Rubens, Titian and Aleissonier—-has just been published by .Putnam and Sons, and by its sympathetic handling brings one closely ii\ touch with these men of genius. Air Hubbard’s colony of workers has been markedly successful in the production of beautiful, hand-made books, which remind one not a little of the lovely things done by the early Veuitians. Everything about these books suggest art. The type is exceedingly good, and the paper almost faultless. Some of it, bearing the Roycroft water-mark, a sea-lien, is especially made for this shop. A goodly number of books are printed on Japanese vellum, and we rejoice to say that one lovely edition is done on genuine classic vellum—probably the first instance in which an American hook has been printed' on this material. The particular volumes to which we refer are a hand-illuminated edition of the “Sonnets of Shakespeare.” The pure vellum edition is limited to twelve copies, each hand-tooled, and no two alike. The price per volume is 160 dollars. The vellum was procured from the man who supplied the Kelmscot press. This edition, the Roycrofts pride themselves, is their nearest approach to bookmaking. Everything about the establishment is suggestive of -the elevation of handicraft, and no one feature appeals- to one so much for its individual perfection as does the nobility of aim in the colony and the pervading atmosphere which succeeds in making the work of the hands something more than soulless mechanism, and leads to a successful issue an experiment in Christian Socialism in combination with an arts and craft industrial movement.;—By lUaud Burnside, in “Art Interchange.”