The Seven Lively Arts

Transcriber’s Note
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The Custodians of the Keystone. By Ralph Barton
THE SEVEN LIVELY ARTS
By Gilbert Seldes
“... But, beside those great men, there is a certain number of artists who have a distinct faculty of their own by which they convey to us a peculiar quality of pleasure which we cannot get elsewhere; and these, too, have their place in general culture, and must be interpreted to it by those who have felt their charm strongly, and are often the objects of a special diligence and a consideration wholly affectionate, just because there is not about them the stress of a great name and authority. ”
—Walter Pater
HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS NEW YORK AND LONDON MCMXXIV
THE SEVEN LIVELY ARTS Copyright, 1924 By Harper & Brothers Printed in the U. S. A. First Edition B-Y
TO MY FATHER
This book was written while on holiday some three thousand miles away from data, documents, and means of verification. It is written from memory and, although I have had time and have tried to check up, I feel sure that the safest thing is to let it go as cautious merchants do when they send out statements—with the caveat : E. and O. E.—errors and omissions excepted. I haven’t tried to write a history of any of the lively arts, nor intended to mention all of those who practice them. I should, however, feel sorry if I have omitted anyone who has given me intense pleasure, even though the omission has not, in any way, the countenance of a slur.
Everything else that properly belongs in a preface has found its way into the two chapters: The Great God Bogus and Before a Picture by Picasso —and the acknowledgments are numerous and serious enough to need a place for themselves in the appendix.