There is a wholesome discipline in the performances involved in products of the press. Nor should the aesthetic aspect be ignored. It seems a pity that cultured persons should be so generally ignorant of what constitutes good printing.
The same people who would not wish to admit that they could not recognize a Sheraton chair, or a Rubens painting, have no sense of omission from their educations because of their inability intelligently to appreciate a beautiful example of printing, as mere printing. A collection of well-printed books is an indulgence within the reach of modest incomes and the source of much satisfaction.
Considering that Printing is the “Art preservative of all arts” does it not seem like a subject which should be generally touched upon, at least collaterally, in every institution of higher education?
To sum up a bit: Printing is an industry of basic importance to civilization. It means, therefore, the livlihood directly or indirectly of many persons. The opportunities open to young men well equipped with a knowledge of printing are numerous, and the young man so prepared has an advantage over his competitors.
So much for the commercial aspect.
Aesthetically, printing has risen in the past, and does still, occasionally rise to high levels. Its encouragement as an art should come from the better educated people, as well as from the hard headed business men, who, by producing beautiful catalogs, have actually done much to encourage and bring in an age of better printing.
Educationally, I would like my own children to undergo this training which possesses so much that is fascinating, but is at once exacting and disciplinary to the mind, the eye and the hand.
There is no escape from the consequences of one’s work. It remains proved in black and white, or even in many colors, as a credit or otherwise to one’s imagination, conception and workmanship. It is my conviction that there are large educational advantages in the study of Printing if it be taught by trained enthusiasts in a way to make it live and vibrate with all its far-reaching and inexhaustible power.