Having arrived at a clear perception of just how my Idea is to be
embodied, and having completed the design for my booklet, I am ready
to lead the children to do the same thing for themselves, and then to
take the next step.
=Ninth, Make the Booklet=
With the dummy as guide, the making of the booklet is now an open
road.
1. _Get out the stock._ This means the selection of the paper and
the cutting of it to the proper size. A smooth, unruled paper of
good weight, but not too thick, is best if the booklet is to be done
in pen-and-ink, as it should be. The color should be white. In this
particular case, my own booklet, I would secure if possible a _cream_
white, to harmonize more closely with my orange scheme of color. Cut
the folio sheets to exactly the right size. Cut one or two extra for
use in case of need.
2. _Lay out the pages._ The folios would better be kept flat until
the booklet is ready for binding. The place of the fold should be
indicated by a pencil line, and the pages should be numbered, very
delicately (to be erased later) in pencil, to correspond to the
pages of the dummy. Indicate by carefully ruled light lines the
widths of all margins throughout the booklet, and the positions
of all illustrations. Be sure to allow for proper space between
illustrations “in the text” and the text itself. The lines of
writing should not bump into the pictures! Study good models--the
best school books the children have--to make clear the necessity
of proper spacing. Plates VI, VII and VIII give three typical
illustrated pages. Plate VI is a portrait of Longfellow, occupying
an entire page. The original print[L] was so large that no room was
left within the margin lines for even a name. Of course, I might have
omitted the margin lines and added the name beneath the portrait,
but I concluded to refer to the picture in the text. Everybody knows
Longfellow! Plate VII shows how to place two small prints on a page.
A page should look balanced and orderly in arrangement. This plate
shows also the thoughtful ruling of the page to receive the text.
This text is to be “run around” the illustrations, leaving proper
spaces between the pictures and the lines of writing. Notice that the
lines top and bottom are so placed that when written upon the text
will seem to fill the measure of the page. The “ascenders” of the
capitals and other tall letters will come to the top margin line; the
“descenders” of the small letters to the bottom margin line. Plate
VIII shows a picture clipped from an old _Harper’s Magazine_, with an
appropriate quotation below to properly fill the space.
If ornamental initials are to be used the proper spaces should be
left for them in the dummy.
[Illustration: PLATE VI.
A full-page plate. A half-tone picture mounted upon a page with a
margin line, all well spaced.]
[Illustration: PLATE VII.
A page with illustrations in the text. Every page should present a
well balanced appearance. Great care must be exercised in ruling,
especially in such a page as this, that the whole may present an even
distribution of written text.]
[Illustration: PLATE VIII.
A full page, exhibiting a mounted clipping and an appropriate
quotation, well spaced within the margin lines.]
3. _Copy the text._ This would better be done at this point, for
pupils are more likely to make mistakes in the text than in the
illustrations. It is always wise to do first that which offers the
largest opportunity for spoiling the page. The style of writing must
now be chosen. From an esthetic point of view a vertical hand is
best. The axes of the letters rhyme with the vertical edges of the
page and the vertical lines of margins and illustrations.
Obviously the easiest and least educational thing to do is to write
the text in one’s ordinary hand, without ornamental initials, or any
other sign of loving interest in the performance, except thoughtful
spacing, as shown in Plate IX. The utmost care should be exercised
in keeping the text within the margins. To start, the lines right
is comparatively easy; to stop them right is a test of the writer’s
foresight and skill. Any form of handwriting admits of expansion
and contraction; many words divide happily into syllables; thus the
lengths of the lines may be adjusted to the space. Occasionally, in
case of necessity, as a last resort, flourishes such as those shown
in Plate X may be used.
[Illustration: PLATE IX.
A full page exhibiting a mounted picture with a portion of text,
written in ordinary hand to properly fill the page.]
[Illustration: PLATE X.
A page from a well-written booklet by an eighth-grade pupil, with
a few slight changes, initial, ruled lines, and flourishes, by Mr.
James Hall.]
[Illustration: PLATE XI.
A page written in a somewhat formal hand, enriched slightly by the
addition of color. In the original the large initial “E,” the words
“from Lincoln’s first public speech,” and the border lines, were
printed in red. The rest of the lettering was in black. The paper
used was a deep cream color. By Mr. James Hall.]
A richer effect may be produced by the use of color, as suggested
in Plate XI, and by the adoption of a more formal hand. Ornamental
initials also enrich the page. If the pupils have had any practice in
pen lettering and can take the time to complete their booklets in the
spirit of the pen craftsmen, the results will be more satisfactory
in every way. The style of writing, whatever it may be, should be
uniform throughout, and the initials should be in harmony with it.
Plate XII gives illustrations of this. In 1 the ornamental initial
is merely the script O (see “Olaf”) enlarged, with a somewhat
fanciful “f,” in harmony with it, as a substitute for the capital
letter which in print would complete the first word. In 2, where a
stub pen held at right angles to the reading line determined the
character of letter, the initial corresponds. Compare this initial
and text with 3, where the pen was held at an oblique angle with the
reading line. All the other initials in Plate XII are appropriate for
manuscript pages of different degrees of formality. The initial may
always lead the text in general character, be a little more formal, a
little more ornate, but it should not be so elaborate as to cheapen
the appearance of the text. Moreover, the initials should be of
uniform style throughout the booklet and in harmony with the other
ornamental details. In the case of the Longfellow Booklet an
initial like 12 would be used, because of its interlacing, in harmony
with the Celtic ornamentation of the cover. Plates XIII, XIV and XV
are reproduced from originals by skilful craftsmen who have acquired
a formal hand of marked character and beauty.
The style of writing, whatever it is, should represent the best of
which the pupil is capable, and should “hold up to sample” from first
to last.
[Illustration: PLATE XII.
Initials must be in harmony with the text. Fourteen approved styles
of pen drawn ornament, derived from manuscripts, VIIIth to XVIth
centuries]
[Illustration: PLATE XIII.