The Building of a Book / A Series of Practical Articles Written by Experts in the Various Departments of Book Making and Distributing

by Unknown

FOREWORD

"The Building of a Book" had its origin in the wish to give practical, non-technical information to readers and lovers of books. I hope it will also be interesting and valuable to those persons who are actually engaged in book making and selling.

All of the contributors are experts in their respective departments, and hence write with authority. I am exceedingly grateful to them for their very generous efforts to make the book a success.

THE EDITOR.

ARTICLES AND CONTRIBUTORS

• [Introduction]
  By Theodore L. De Vinne, of Theodore L. De Vinne & Company, Printers, New York.
• [The Author]
  By George W. Cable, Author of "Grandissimes," "The Cavalier," and other books. Resident of Northampton, Massachusetts.
• [The Literary Agent]
  By Paul R. Reynolds, Literary Agent, New York, representing several English publishing houses and American authors.
• [The Literary Adviser]
  By Francis W. Halsey, formerly Editor of the New York Times Saturday Review of Books, and literary adviser for D. Appleton & Company. Now literary adviser for Funk & Wagnalls Company, New York.
• [The Manufacturing Department]
  By Lawton L. Walton, in charge of the manufacturing department of The Macmillan Company, Publishers, New York.
• [The Making of Type]
  By L. Boyd Benton, Mechanical Manager of the Jersey City factory of the American Type Founders' Company.
• [Hand Composition and Electrotyping]
  By J. Stearns Cushing, of J. S. Cushing & Company, Norwood, Massachusetts, one of the three concerns forming the Norwood Press.
• [Composition by the Linotype Machine]
  By Frederick J. Warburton, Treasurer of the Mergenthaler Linotype Machine Company.
• [Composition by the Monotype Machine]
  By Paul Nathan, a member of Wood & Nathan, New York, selling agents for the Lanston Monotype Machine.
• [Proof-reading]
  By George L. Miller, with the Charles Francis Press, New York.
• [Paper Making]
  By Herbert W. Mason, of S. D. Warren & Company, Paper Makers, Boston, Massachusetts.
• [Presswork]
  By Walter J. Berwick, of Berwick & Smith Company, Norwood, Massachusetts, one of the three concerns constituting the Norwood Press.
• [The Printing Press]
  By Otto L. Raabe, with R. Hoe & Company, New York, Printing Press Manufacturers.
• [Printing Ink]
  By James A. Ullman, of Sigmund Ullman Company, Ink Makers, New York.
• [The Printer's Roller]
  By Albert S. Burlingham, President of the National Roller Company, New York.
• [The Illustrator]
  By Charles D. Williams, Artist, New York.
• [Half-tone, Line, and Color Plates]
  By Emlyn M. Gill, President of the Gill Engraving Company, New York.
• [The Wax Process]
  By Robert D. Servoss, Engraver of maps, etc., by the wax process, New York.
• [Making Intaglio Plates]
  By Elmer Latham, Manager of the mechanical department of M. Kramer & Company, Photogravure Makers, Brooklyn, New York.
• [Printing Intaglio Plates]
  By George W. H. Ritchie, Printer of photogravure plates, etchings, etc., New York.
• [The Gelatine Process]
  By Emil Jacobi, Manager of the factory of the Campbell Art Company, New York, and Elizabeth, New Jersey.
• [Lithography]
  By Charles Wilhelms, late of Sackett-Wilhelms Lithographing and Printing Company, Brooklyn, New York.
• [Cover Designing]
  By Amy Richards, Artist, New York, her specialty being cover designs.
• [The Cover Stamps]
  By George Becker, of Becker Brothers Company, Die Cutters, New York.
• [Book Cloths]
  By Henry P. Kendall, of the Holliston Mills, Book Cloth Manufacturers, Norwood, Massachusetts.
• [Book Leathers]
  By Ellery C. Bartlett, of Louis Dejonge & Company, Dressers and Importers of Book Leathers, New York.
• [The Binding]
  By Jesse Fellowes Tapley, President of J. F. Tapley Company, Binders, New York.
• [Special Bindings]
  By Henry Blackwell, Fine Binder, New York.
• [Copyrighting]
  By Frederick H. Hitchcock, Member of the New York Bar; President of The Grafton Press, Publishers, New York.
• [Publicity]
  By Vivian Burnett, formerly in charge of the Publicity Department of McClure, Phillips & Company, Publishers, New York.
• [Reviewing and Criticising]
  By Walter Littlefield, a Member of the Staff of the New York Times Saturday Review of Books, and literary correspondent of the Chicago Record-Herald, and other papers.
• [The Travelling Salesman]
  By Harry A. Thompson, formerly representing John Lane, and Small, Maynard & Company, Publishers. Now one of the Associate Editors of the Saturday Evening Post, Philadelphia.
• [Selling at Wholesale]
  By Joseph E. Bray, formerly with A. C. McClurg & Company, Wholesalers, Chicago. Now with the Outing Publishing Company, New York.
• [Selling at Retail]
  By Warren Snyder, Manager of the Book Stores of John Wanamaker, Philadelphia and New York.
• [Selling by Subscription]
  By Charles S. Olcott, Manager of the Subscription Department of Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Company, New York.
• [Selling at Auction]
  By John Anderson, Jr., President of the Anderson Auction Company, New York.
• [Selecting for a Public Library]
  By Arthur E. Bostwick, Chief of the Circulation Department of the New York Public Library.
• [Rare and Second-hand Books]
  By Charles E. Goodspeed, Dealer in Rare and Second-hand Books, Boston.

THE BUILDING OF A BOOK

INTRODUCTION
By Theodore L. De Vinne

To the hasty observer printing seems the simplest of arts or crafts. The small boy who has been taught to spell can readily arrange lettered blocks of wood in readable words, and that arrangement is rated by many as the great feature of printing. With his toy printing-press he can stamp paper upon inked type in so deft a manner that admiring friends may say the print is good enough for anybody. The elementary processes of printing are indeed so simple that they might have justified Dogberry in adding typography to the accomplishments of the "reading and writing that come by nature." With this delusion comes the desire for amateur performance. Men who would not undertake to make a coat or a pair of shoes are confident of their ability to make or to direct the making of a book.