The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, July 12, 1903, Page 11

THE SUNDAY CALL evant with 1532 inlaug 1 plves a ¢ striking 2% appcarancz: \ - & > EVER before bas the bookbdinder lover as &t the pres- the coverings of always been neat, ble, they have re- sedate instead of grotesque. comparatively few years {llustrations sig- y for the amuse- but now you have to edaiti scan few Just uch for, anywa, hers on this coast, and we ew of them—although they are s few—needed & fine book bound it end of trouble to place an order of Women Binders on account of the distance, but In the itle the members of gulld know every trick in their busi- ness they know also how to charge as of Londo rou can, paying anywheie r & single book! Yet this are doing every day, and about “Little & score of nur- productions. The is white nad very The designer is dgment as re- must be submit- eing finally chos- tu her attention or scheme. Two, three tones are selected, of the book, and ey are used demonstrates her f the sun are, is & mass of g upon the ittle chats with The winding hildren are bits ttention does not of the cover has and does im, yet wh the least the h brown makes Jetter Or mo more attractive ve ever been issued from series, for it cer nly every child that chan nd pleases the fond mam- much, but when you stop to its market value is the sum of $30 it seems like a wee f eatravagance to spend so much for re o e when a tenth of the price wer. quite as well to all intents s another thing to be consid- se expensive bindings. No one vest, or to have a gift so far ¥ goes, in anything that is too fine to tak v comfort with, and little people have a great big desire to sit on the fioor &r € eir greatest treasures. Unfor- iy would take just about two s with hands not overly clean the freshness and whiteness k. Unless you have handled it v can’t realize how easily white le, and after one or two clean- s it rubs up and shows the effects to h an extent that you are thoroughly need that it is & e and a delu- made only to flatten your pocket- ook A book of sonnets bound in blue mer- rocco with a design of inlaid green le- vant makes your purse he lighter by twenty-five dollars, .ut a certain satis- faction goes with it for it is a splendid sxzample of the art of bookbinding, and . s real ;osbzr effect s o o S B g W o Books From Paul Elder. T = > as the years pass by will mellow in tone and increase in value. There are no colors that stand the ordinary wear and tear quite as well as red and green, although brown shows but little or no discoloration. All of them darken gradually and finally attain a richness L.at seems to be Iimpossible to get when they are first turned out. Now and then a single flower is chosen instead of a more elaborate cover and the result, while necessarily simple, is showy and rarely fails to be extremely pleasing. The poppy in all its gorgeous coloring makes an effective design on a white leather background for the green and golden yellow stand out clearly defined and seem to cry “Look at me! Look at me!” and you involuntarily stop, look and admire. In bookbinding as in all else, fashions seem to revert to the past. One of the most unique covers is but a revival of the very old. Go to the innermost cor- ner of your storeroom and see if you will fail in trying to unearth a musty old book In a brass frame, with hinges and clasps that belonged to your grandmothes and her mother before her. Nine times out of ten it will probably prove to be a family Bible containing the marriage certificates and giving faithful records of the entire family, but nine times out of ten these days the frame will hold so much rollicking fun and wit that an especially strong clasp is needed t3 keep it from bubbling over. And by the way, one of the prettiest ideas of late is to have your wedding cer- tificate bound In this old-fashioned man- mer. Not in & book but simply to re- semble one. The ‘outside may be white embossed leather set In a frame of brass with ..nges and clasps of the same metal, all events It is bound to be prerty and and the inside may be either of silk or it is & good way to preserve the docu- who bind uutm th:.y are scarcely to be most popular and fetchi considered) wl leather, just as the fancy dictates, but in ¥ Qhilaren)) hes of s o iDesti |9esioned by Marbaret I Armstrond : €hree _covers for spring books: he Rilipree I3 | ment. inblack and S white v ) AR ny . 1o aen oge Y desipned by arparet rmgirond al desipned by Rome K. Richardzson & ‘The woman (and there are so fow men ene of finds eonventional fowers ng designs, that they clever at this art she likewise has discovered Durseryr -~ o &~ tfirfier “\)‘%q L LT NN TR Cud o hymes in white veo and oreen: the most attractive when tooled In gold with leaves and buds In green and orange morocco. Though so far as the beautiful is concerned, nearly everything that Is carved, Inlaid or colored is that. but as well might be supposed some are much better than others, Publishing & book is about as big a lot- tery as anything on earth and man- ages to keep more than one guessing as to the final outcome. When a book is turned over to a publisher he tries to estimate ity commercial value and ac- cording to its agproximate worth selects the cover. If it is stipulated that it be bound In leather or if he considers that it will make a good show book he lets & high-priced binder take the manuscript to read and then awalts her pleasure. But 1f, on the other hand, he thinks mbossed desip < wit tooling h pold e Nercfeoan o £ moroceo = with despn inlaio Hreen that tne book may turn out to be ene of the popular novels of the day, likely to run through several editions and te be sold at a moderats sum, he sends word to an artist who sometimaes illus- trates for the house and tells him just about what is wanted. The book is to sell on the market foe §1 50 aplece and the cover must be some- thing that will catch the eye and help along the sale. So an original sketch, bearing directly upon the story, is made and If it meets with approval a front pags drawn from some of the characters is submitted and the work of the artist is completed; that 1s, all excepting cashing his check, which usually amounts te about §25. But here i{s whers the unusual pary comes In. As a rule when a contract is entered into a certaln price is fixed and it doesn't fluctuate according to the mar- ket. But this isn’t so In the book busi- ness. The public are too fickle One bool is a howling success, keeping everybody busy turning out one edition after an- other and the next may be a perfect frost. Bo what does the wily publisher do? He wants the best work that he can get and he doesn't want to pay any more than he can help for it. “T'll pay you $2§ down,” he says. “And If the book proves a good seller $15 more,” which inspires the fellow to do his very best to aid and abet the cause, for naturally he wants all that s coming to him. Every cover of the thousand and eme books that flood the stands yearly is well worth looking at, for In all cases some attempt has been made to get & g00d design and bright and attractive colors. The time has passed when a selld tone would do and when there were Do fllustrations to brighten ft up. Now the energy of the publisher sesms bent in ene direction, that of issuing his product im as salable a fashion as is possible. And so It happens that the growing demand for libraries, both of popular literature and a fad for collecting rare bindings, has resulted In the forming of & branch of.the London guild right here in the city and there ars at least foum girls who can give as good as the British. ers can send, which Is saying a great deal. Among the most prominent binders here are Morgan Shepherd, Frederick Eateny Clara Rice and Annie C. Crane As each book leaves the press and takes its place among its fellows it turns brighter, more cheerful face upward it only remains a matter of time until the handful of workers will have grewn into & small army and every publication & bit of art in itself. CEONONONOEONOEONOHONONONONONONONONONONS UNCLE PETER BINES, THE AMERICAN CCLOSSUS, IN “The Spenders” - BY HARRY LEON WILSON, ! , Is & Wondertully RBeal Character of the Western Gold Mines and the Most Humorous Man Ever Caught Between Book Covers, ...SEE THE... H NEXT SUNDAY CALL