Frequently, copying is inadvisable, and then, as in the case of the
Longfellow booklet, some or all of the illustrations must be “tipped
in,” as the printers say, which means pasted in by their tips (a top
or side edge, or the corners). This should be done neatly, using the
least possible amount of the best paste. The sheets should be pasted
in such a way that they will not flap out of position and catch and
crease as the leaves are turned.
5. _Letter the Title-page._ In that admirable book on title-pages by
Mr. Theodore L. De Vinne, we are told that every title-page should
be planned. “If words are scant the page will be bleak; if it has
too many words the lines must be huddled.” A title-page has certain
regular divisions--name, author, imprint. It should adequately
introduce the reader to the book, the author and the publisher.
In the case of a school booklet author and publisher are one. The
title-page may then assume such a form as this:
[Illustration: (Example title page)]
The margins should be like those on other pages, the style of
lettering should harmonize with that of the text pages and initials,
and the whole effect should be dignified. As Mr. De Vinne says:
“Compared with the text that follows the title is a trifle, and yet
the impression made by it is not to be undervalued. It is the page
first inspected, and it attracts or repels at a glance.”
6. _Make the Cover._ The cover may be of the same paper as the
book itself, it may be of the same paper used double, to give a
feeling that it serves as a protection to the other pages, but it
would better be of a thicker paper and of a different color from
the leaves. Of course, it may be of prepared cloth, or leather, or
the book may be “bound in boards,” as books “for the trade” usually
are. This Longfellow booklet has the form of a pamphlet, a thin book
bound in paper covers. This cover has already been designed. (See
page 21 and the following.) The cover paper should be cut to fit the
book. The front cover for the Longfellow booklet is shown in Plate
XVII. The border is an adaptation of a design given in Owen Jones’s
“Grammar of Ornament.” The rosette is from the old baptismal font in
Trondhjem, King Olaf’s capital. The lettering is a bit odd, partly
because the first word is so long, and partly to hint at interlacing,
that all the parts may have something, at least, in common, and thus
be harmonious. The back page of the cover affords an opportunity
for saying a graceful farewell to the reader, for having the last
word, repeating the thing to be remembered, or recalling author or
publisher. In the case of the Longfellow booklet I want it to be my
hero, King Olaf; therefore I have used (Plate XVIII) the head of an
old Norse king, let us call it Olaf, which I found on an advertising
pamphlet for “Danish Bond” paper.
[Illustration: PLATE XVII.
Front cover of a Longfellow Booklet, making use of Celtic motives as
appropriate for an essay emphasizing the poet’s Saga of King Olaf.]
[Illustration: PLATE XVIII.
Back cover of a Longfellow Booklet, with a decoration which serves as
a farewell token of one of the poet’s heroes, King Olaf.]
[Illustration: PLATE XIX.