The Booklover and His Books | Page 9

go out without some little book or other in
their pocket. Much time is lost by waiting, by travelling, etc., and this
may be prevented by making use of every possible opportunity for
improvement." When the positive doctor, on his journey to the
Hebrides, paid his tribute to George Buchanan at St. Andrews, his
acquaintance with the Latin poetry of the Scotch professor may well
have arisen from his having thus made a pocket piece of one of the
several Elzevir editions of the poet.
The characteristics of the "Elzevirs" are that they range from about four
to about five inches in height, are always narrow, 2-1/4 to 2-3/4 inches
in width, and are usually thick, in some cases even 1-1/2 inches. It is
hardly necessary to say that the esthetic impression of these "jewels of
typography" is wholly different from that produced by the "Alduses." It
is the beauty of an infant compared with that of a youth, and, as in the
case of the infant, plumpness is a part of the charm. The thinnest of the
"Elzevirs" (about three-fourths of an inch thick) lack much of the
characteristic quality. It is of course granted that no small portion of the

charm exerted by these volumes is due to their type, which in artistic
excellence and practical effectiveness has hardly been surpassed before
or since.
When William Pickering, in 1830, began to issue his Aldine edition of
the British Poets in the most beautiful and appropriate form that he
could devise, the design which he placed upon the title-page, a dolphin
and an anchor, with the words "Aldi discip. Anglus," was an expression
at once of pride and of obligation. He had gone back to Aldus for his
model, and the book which he produced was in all but its change of
type from italic to roman a nearly exact reproduction of the form which
Aldus had employed so successfully three centuries before. Even the
relative thinness of the volumes was preserved as an important element
of their attractiveness to eye and hand. Whoever would learn what an
enormous difference in esthetic effect can be produced by slight
differences in style and size, especially in thickness, should compare
the Pickering "Aldines" with the rival set of British Poets published by
Little and Brown. The latter series is a noble one, often showing better
presswork than Pickering's, and it was deservedly popular, but it is
many degrees removed from the totality of esthetic charm that would
entitle it to rank as a favorite.
We said that Pickering went back to Aldus for his model, but he did not
travel a lonely road. The book size in question had never ceased to be
used, and in the eighteenth century it was in full favor. The writings of
the novelists and essayists found ready buyers in this form, as witness,
among others, the Strahan Fielding of 1783, the Rivington Idler of the
same year, and the Rivington Sterne of 1788. The size of the printed
page is usually larger, but that of the Sterne corresponds as closely to
that of the two "Aldines" as the difference in the size of type will
permit. Pickering's contemporaries and successors in the publishing
field recognized the attractiveness of this book size, and the works of
the poets generally were issued in this form; hence we have, for
example, the Longman Southey, the Moxon Wordsworth, and the
Murray Crabbe. The latest series to appeal for popular favor by the use
of this book form is Everyman's Library, in which, though much has
been sacrificed to cheapness, the outward proportions of the volumes

are almost identical with those adopted by Aldus and Pickering.
Go, little book, whose pages hold Those garnered years in loving trust;
How long before your blue and gold Shall fade and whiten in the dust?
This stanza from Dr. Holmes's introduction to his "Poems" of 1862
may well be claimed by the Blue and Gold edition of the poets as its
passport to the recognition of future generations. But it will need no
passport; its own enduring charm is sufficient. The volumes of this
dainty series, while larger in all but thickness than the "Elzevirs," yet
make their appeal by much the same qualities, compactness and
portability, with a suggestion of the Elzevirian plumpness. To the
attraction of the size is added the contrasted charm of the blue cover
and the gilt stamp and edges. That a Blue and Gold edition, in the
absence of its name qualities, becomes something far inferior may be
seen from a copy that has lost them in rebinding. In spite of the
hardness of their blue and the crudeness of their stamped designs, these
little volumes attract every reader and never remain long on the shelves
of the second-hand