Studio: international art (88.1924)

MR. JOHN AUSTEN AND THE ART OF THE BOOK

DECORATION FOR THE
"PERFECTION" OF E C A
DE QUEIROZ. BY JOHN AUSTEN

(Selwyn and Blount}

feat, and it is a feat that Mr. Austen should
be proud to have accomplished, a a

The Studio has reproduced examples
from this and his " Perrault" in the last
Special Winter Number, and it is with
other works that we are here chiefly
concerned. Mr. Austen makes no claim
to illustrate a book in the realistic sense ;
he does not attempt to represent in line
what the word itself should have con-
veyed to the thoughtful mind, but, taking
the book as a book, he decorates it with
drawings into which he infuses the spirit
of the text. Thus, in the " Echoes from
Theocritus" the drawings are in the
manner of a Greek vase, and show a
power of re-capturing the classic spirit
united with a most admirable balance
and symmetry of design. In " Perfection,"
a still more interesting example of his work,
the story itself is charming, rendered into
accomplished prose by Mr. Charles
Marriot from the Portuguese of Eca de
Queiroz, and is the more welcome in that
the average Englishman's knowledge of
Portuguese literature is limited to a
nodding acquaintance with the name of
Camoens. But from the point of view of
book-production " Perfection " is notable
because it was entirely designed by Mr.

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Austen, who chose the paper and type
(12-point Cochin), settled the layout and
the binding, and decorated the text and
end-papers. The result is a really beauti-
ful book, which prompts the reflection that
publishers would do well to follow the
example of Messrs. Selwyn and Blount in
this particular, and entrust the produc-
tion of certain books to men of proved
taste and ability. From early days, of
course, there have been volumes thus
brought out, and from about the 'eighties
of last century onward there arose a number
of presses which turned out very beautiful
work—presses like the Arden, the Ashen-
dene, the Ballantyne, the Chiswick, the
Doves, the Eragny, the Vale, and, most
famous of all, the Kelmscott. A few of
these are still flourishing, and a visit to
the exhibition arranged last June by the
Bibliographical Society at the Galleries
of the Medici Society showed that there
was much good work being done in this
field, especially by the Clarendon, Curwen
and Nonesuch presses. But the first-

DECORATION FOR F. BICK-
LEY'S "HARLEQUIN"
BY JOHN AUSTEN

(Selwyn and Blount)