DOI Heft:
No. 356 (November 1922)
DOI Artikel:Guthrie, James: The modern spirit in the modern art of the bookplate
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21396#0276
THE MODERN BOOKPLATE
HILDteiBGOK:
BOOKPLATE BY
RONALD SIMPSON
nevertheless generally been retained even
by the most mechanical engraved armorial
plate, which should serve to remind us
that the book arts grew together, and have
only been dislocated by later artificial
conditions. a a a a a
The art of the bookplate does not, after
all has been said, ask for ponderous study.
Many talents can respond because of their
complete simplicity and their unconscious-
ness of problems propounded by those
whose work is foreign and in need of
acclimatising, a a 0 a a
Taken by itself as one small artistic
commodity, a mere fancy which may be
accepted to-day and rejected to-morrow,
the art of the bookplate appears to court
more indifference at the hands of bookmen
and artists than its size seems able to over-
come. Yet small things do not describe
their importance by their area, and we
256
might argue that a world full of iron
represents as great an illusion as a world
full of roses, were it necessary to defend
the apparently frivolous concern of man-
kind with beauty and fitness on the scale
of a print or a song. What is determinable
in a small area is only different in degree
and intensity from that which has the
advantage of space and a more obvious
claim upon attention. The real point, how-
ever, is not in comparison of scale, but
the use to which one element or unit of a
group of interdependent arts can be put
in addition to the fulfilment of its own part.
In the arts there is great reason to seek
for clues and establish a firm hold upon
each progressive step. There is a call for
that kind of companionship which, while
it promotes and advances work in the most
practical ways, also lends a sense of com-
munity and even security to those who
share it. For such a purpose a small focus
may well prove a valuable nucleus of
many interests, kindling an appreciation of
form in the rather formless and scattered
individualism of modern art. These, at
any rate, are the theories upon which the
BOOKPLATE BY
RONALD SIMPSON
HILDteiBGOK:
BOOKPLATE BY
RONALD SIMPSON
nevertheless generally been retained even
by the most mechanical engraved armorial
plate, which should serve to remind us
that the book arts grew together, and have
only been dislocated by later artificial
conditions. a a a a a
The art of the bookplate does not, after
all has been said, ask for ponderous study.
Many talents can respond because of their
complete simplicity and their unconscious-
ness of problems propounded by those
whose work is foreign and in need of
acclimatising, a a 0 a a
Taken by itself as one small artistic
commodity, a mere fancy which may be
accepted to-day and rejected to-morrow,
the art of the bookplate appears to court
more indifference at the hands of bookmen
and artists than its size seems able to over-
come. Yet small things do not describe
their importance by their area, and we
256
might argue that a world full of iron
represents as great an illusion as a world
full of roses, were it necessary to defend
the apparently frivolous concern of man-
kind with beauty and fitness on the scale
of a print or a song. What is determinable
in a small area is only different in degree
and intensity from that which has the
advantage of space and a more obvious
claim upon attention. The real point, how-
ever, is not in comparison of scale, but
the use to which one element or unit of a
group of interdependent arts can be put
in addition to the fulfilment of its own part.
In the arts there is great reason to seek
for clues and establish a firm hold upon
each progressive step. There is a call for
that kind of companionship which, while
it promotes and advances work in the most
practical ways, also lends a sense of com-
munity and even security to those who
share it. For such a purpose a small focus
may well prove a valuable nucleus of
many interests, kindling an appreciation of
form in the rather formless and scattered
individualism of modern art. These, at
any rate, are the theories upon which the
BOOKPLATE BY
RONALD SIMPSON