PUBLICATION OF HIS FIRST BOOKS
Although the bibliomaniac and collector will claim that "The Tribune
Primer," printed in Denver in 1882, was Eugene Field's first book, and
cite the fact that a copy of this rare pamphlet recently sold for $125
as proof that it is still his most valuable contribution to literature,
his first genuine entrance into the world of letters between covers
came with the publication of "Culture's Garland," by Ticknor & Company,
of Boston, in August, 1887. Whatever may be the truth as to the size of
the first edition of the "Primer," so few copies were printed and its
distribution was so limited that it scarcely amounted to a bona-fide
publication. Neither did the form of the "Primer," a little 18mo
pamphlet of forty-eight pages, bound in pink paper covers, nor its
ephemeral newspaper persiflage, rise to the dignity of a book.
"Culture's Garland," on the contrary, marks the first real essay of
Field as a maker of books. Field himself is the authority for the
statement that "Tom" Ticknor edited the book. "I simply sent on a lot
of stuff," wrote he, "and the folks at the other end picked out what
they wanted and ran it as they pleased." This is scarcely just to Mr.
Ticknor. Field himself, to my knowledge, selected the matter for
"Culture's Garland," and arranged it in the general form in which it
appeared. He then delegated to Mr. Ticknor authority to reject any and
all paragraphs in which the bite of satire or the broadness of the
humor transgressed too far the bounds of a reasonable discretion. The
true nature of this, to my mind the most entertaining of all Field's
books, is reflected in its title page, frontispiece, emblem,
tail-piece, and the advertisements with which it concludes. The full
title reads:
CULTURE'S GARLAND
Being Memoranada of
The Gradual Rise of Literature, Art, Music,
And Society in Chicago, and Other
Western Ganglia
by
EUGENE FIELD
With an Introduction by Julian Hawthorne.
The frontispiece is a pen-and-ink sketch of "the Author at the Age of
30 (A.D. 1880)," such as Field frequently drew of himself; the symbolic
emblem, which takes the place of a dedication, was a string of link
sausages "in the similitude of a laurel wreath," representing "A
Chicago Literary Circle," and the tail-piece was a gallows, to mark
"The End."
Writing to a friend in Boston, in 1893, Field said that he thought "the
alleged advertisements at the end of the volume are its best feature."
These were introduced by a letter from one of Field's favorite
fictitious creations, "Felix Bosbyshell," to Messrs. Ticknor & Co.:
CHICAGO, June 26th, 1887.
Dear Sirs:--I am informed that one of the leading _littérateurs_
of this city is about to produce a book under your auspices.
Representing, as I do, the prominent advertising bureau of the West,
I desire to contribute one page of advertisements to this work, and
I am prepared to pay therefor cash rates. I enclose copy, and would
like to have the advertisements printed on the fly-leaf which will
face the _finis_ of the book in question.
Yours in the cause of literature,
FELIX J. BOSBYSHELL,
For Bosbyshell & Co.
This was accompanied by a Publisher's Note, which Field also supplied:
It is entirely foreign to our custom to accept advertisements for
our books; but we recognize the exceptional nature of the case
and the fine literary character and high tone of the Messrs.
Bosbyshells' offering, and we cheerfully give it place over leaf.
In his discriminating and felicitous introduction to his friend's
book, Julian Hawthorne said: "The present little volume comprises
mainly a bubbling forth of delightful badinage and mischievous
raillery, directed at some of the foibles and pretensions of his
enterprising fellow-townsmen, who, however, can by no means be allowed
to claim a monopoly of either the pretensions or the foibles herein
exploited. Laugh, but look to yourself: _mutato nomine, de te fabula
narratur_. It is a book which should, and doubtless will, attain a
national popularity; but admirable, and, indeed, irresistible though
it be in its way, it represents a very inconsiderable fraction of the
author's real capacity. We shall hear of Eugene Field in regions of
literature far above the aim and scope of these witty and waggish
sketches. But as the wise orator wins his audience at the outset of
his speech by the human sympathy of a smile, so does our author, in
these smiling pages, establish genial relations with us before
betaking himself to more ambitious flights."
[Illustration: PAGE OF ADVERTISEMENTS FROM "CULTURE'S GARLAND."
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While Mr. Hawthorne's analysis of the book was correct, his prophecy
as to its attaining a national popularity was never realized. The
literary critics, East as well as West, whose views and pretensions
Field had so often lampooned mercilessly, had their innings, and as
Field had not then conquered the popular heart with his "Little Boy
Blue," his matchless lullabies, and his fascinating fairy tales and
other stories, "Culture's Garland" was left to cumber the shelves of
the book-stores. Several of the articles and poems in this book have
been included in the collected edition of Field's works. In it will be
found Field's famous "Markessy di Pullman" papers, with these clever
introductory imitations:
_"Il bianco di cazerni della graze fio bella
Di teruca si mazzoni quel' antisla Somno della."
--Petrarch.
"He who conduces to a fellow's sleep
Should noble fame and goodly riches reap."
--Tasso.
"Sleep mocks at death: when weary of the earth
We do not die--we take an upper berth."
--Dante._
There, too, are reprinted the verses he composed and credited to Judge
Cooley, to which allusion has already been made in these pages, and of
which Field wrote to his friend Cowen the week they were published: "I
think they will create somewhat of a sensation; I have put a good deal
of work upon them." All the pieces of verse read by Field at the
Indianapolis convention also appear in "Culture's Garland," three of
them being included in the article on "Mr. Isaac Watts, Tutor," of
which "The Merciful Lad" was one of Field's favorites:
_THE MERCIFUL LAD
Through all my life the poor shall find
In me a constant friend,
And on the weak of every kind
My mercy shall attend.
The dumb shall never call on me
In vain for kindly aid,
And in my hands the blind shall see
A bounteous alms display'd.
In all their walks the lame shall know
And feel my goodness near,
And on the deaf will I bestow
My gentlest words of cheer.
'Tis by such pious works as these--
Which I delight to do--
That men their fellow-creatures please,
And please their Maker, too._
Field was immensely tickled with the British gravity of one of his
critics, who ridiculed this imitation of Dr. Watts, because, forsooth,
he could not comprehend how the dumb could call, the blind see, or the
lame walk, while he wanted to know what gracious effect the gentlest
words could produce on the ears of the deaf.
Throughout "Culture's Garland" Field is the unsparing satirist of
contemporary humbug and pretence--social, political, and literary--and
that perhaps accounts for its failure to achieve an immediate popular
success. I, for one, am glad that so late as December, 1893, and after
he had tasted the sweets of popular applause, with its attendant
royalties, he had the courage to write of it to a friend in Boston, "I
am not ashamed of this little book, but, like the boy with the
measles, I am sorry for it in spots."
"Culture's Garland" really cleared the way for Field's subsequent
literary success. It taught him the lesson that his average daily
newspaper work had not body enough to fill out the covers of a book.
With grim determination he set himself the task to master the art of
telling stories in prose. He was absolutely confident of himself in
verse, but to his dying day he was never quite satisfied with anything
he wrote in prose. His poems went to the printer almost exactly as
they were originally composed. Nearly all of his tales were written
over and over again with fastidious pains before they were committed
to type. Every word and sentence of such stories as "The Robin and the
Violet," "The First Christmas Tree," "Margaret, a Pearl," and "The
Mountain and the Sea" was scrutinized and weighed by his keen literary
sense and discriminating ear before it was permitted to pass final
muster. In only one instance do I remember that this extreme care
failed to improve the original story. "The Werewolf" ("Second Book of
Tales") was a more powerful and moving fancy as first written than as
eventually printed. He consulted with me during four revisions of "The
Werewolf," and told me that he had written the whole thing over seven
times. I never knew him so finicky and beset with doubts as to the use
of words and phrases as he was in this instance. The result is a
marvellous piece of technicality perfect archaic old English mosaic,
with the soul--the fascinating shudder--refined, out of a weird and
fearful tale.
But all the care, study, and exercise Field put upon his prose stories
bore fruit in the gradual improvement in tone and style of his daily
composition. His study of old English ballads started him about this
time on the production of a truly remarkable series of lullabies,
while his work began to show more and more the influence of Father
Prout. But the old Field continued to show itself in such occasional
quatrains as this:
_For there was Egypt in her eye--
The languor of the South--
Persia was in her perfumed sigh,
And Turkey in her mouth._
Along in January, 1889, began the frequent paraphrases from Horace.
"Wynken, Blynken and Nod," over which Field expended more than the
usual pains he bestowed on his verse, was printed in March of the same
year. One day in April, in 1889, Field surprised and delighted the
readers of the News with the publication of the following amazing
array of verse in one issue: "Our Two Opinions," Horace I, 4; Heine's
"Love Song," Horace I, 20; Hugo's "Pool in the Forest," Horace I, 5;
Béranger's "Broken Fiddle," Horace I, 28; "Chloe"; Uhland's "Three
Cavaliers," and Horace IV, 11.
It must not be imagined that this was the result of one day's or one
week's work. He had been preparing for it for months; and each piece
of versification was as perfect as he could make it. The amazement and
widely expressed admiration with which this broadside of verse was
received encouraged Field to a still greater _tour de force_, upon the
preparation of which he bent all his energies and spare time for more
than three months. What Field described in a letter to Cowen as "The
'Golden Week' in my newspaper career," consisted in "the paper running
a column of my (his) verse per diem--something never before attempted
in American journalism." The titles of the verse printed during the
"Golden Week" testify alike to his industry and versatility:
THE GOLDEN WEEK, JULY 15TH-20TH, 1889.
Monday, July 15, "Prof. Vere de Blaw."
Tuesday, "Horace to His Patron," "Poet and
King," "Alaskan Lullaby," "Lizzie," "Horace I,
30."
Wednesday, "The Conversazzhyony."
Thursday, "Egyptian Folk Song," Béranger's
"To My Old Coat," "Horace's Sailor and Shade,"
"Uhland's Chapel," "Guess," "Alaskan Balladry."
Friday, "Marthy's Younkit," "Fairy and Child,"
"A Heine Love Song," "Jennie," "Horace I, 27."
Saturday, "The Happy Isles of Horace," Béranger's
"Ma Vocation," "Child and Mother," "The
Bibliomaniac's Bride," "Alaskan Balladry, No. 2,"
"Mediæval Eventide Song."
Upon some of these now familiar poems Field had been at work for more
than a month. He read to me portions of "Marthy's Younkit" as early as
the spring of 1887. Among the letters which his guardian, Mr. Gray,
kindly placed at my disposal, I find the following bearing on "The
Golden Week." It is written from the Benedict Farm, Genoa Junction,
Wis., some sixty miles from Chicago, to which Field had retired to
recuperate after having provided enough poetry in advance to fill his
column during the week of his absence:
DEAR MR. GRAY: I send herewith copies of poems which have appeared
in the Daily News this week. I am proud to have been the first
newspaper man to have made the record of a column of original verse
every day for a week; I am greatly mistaken if this feeling of
pardonable pride is not shared by you. I regard some of the poems as
my best work so far, but I shall do better yet if my life is spared.
We are rusticating here by the side of a Wisconsin lake this summer.
Farm board seems to agree with us and we shall in all likelihood
remain here until September. I have been grievously afflicted with
nervous dyspepsia for a month, but am much better just now. The
paper gives me a three months' European vacation whensoever I wish
to go. At present I intend to go in the winter and shall take Julia
and Mary (Trotty) with me. I do wish that Mrs. Gray would write to
me; I want to know all about her home affairs and especially about
Mrs. Bacon--my grudge against her _in re_ mince pie has expired
under the statute of limitations. God bless you, dear friend--you
and yours,
Affectionately,
EUGENE FIELD.
Although Field's body was rusticating on farm fare in Wisconsin, his
pen was furnishing its two thousand three hundred words a day to the
Daily News, as the "Sharps and Flats" column through the summer of
1889 shows. In a letter written from the Benedict Farm during the
Golden Week to Cowen, who was at this time in London working on the
English edition of the New York Herald, Field unfolds some of his
doings and plans:
The copies of the London Herald came to hand to-day; I am sure I am
very much indebted to you for the boom you are giving me; it is of
distinct value to me, and I appreciate it. I send you herewith a
number of my verses that have appeared this week in my column.
Having done my work ahead I am rusticating in great shape and have
become a veritable terror to the small fry in which the lakes of
this delectable locality abound. My books will be issued about the
first of August; they will be very pretty pieces of work; I shall
send you a set at once. My western verse seems to be catching on; I
notice that a good many others of the boys are striking out in the
same vein. Young McCarthy has made a translation from the Persian,
and I have half a notion to paraphrase parts of it. I want to dip
around in all sorts of versification, simply to show people that
determination and perseverance can accomplish much in this
direction. You know that I do not set much store by "genius."
The books to which Field refers as likely to be issued about the first
of August were his two "Little Books" of verse and tales, the copy for
which had not, when he wrote the foregoing, all gone to the printer.
His idea then was that a book could be got out with something like the
same lightning dispatch as a daily newspaper.
To tell the story of the publication of Field's two "Little Books,"
unique as it was in the making of books, requires that I say a few
words of the change that had come over our personal relations, though
not in our friendship. Two causes operated to make this change--my
marriage in the spring of 1887, which drew from Field "Ye Piteous
Appeal of a Forsooken Habbit" and the manuscript volumes of the best
of his verse prior to that event, and my retirement from the staff of
the Daily News, to assist in the foundation of the weekly political
and literary journal called America. It was through my persuasion that
we secured from Field his now famous "Little Boy Blue" for the initial
number of the new periodical. Many stories are extant as to how this
affecting bit of child verse was written, and many fac-similes of
copies of it in Field's handwriting have been printed as originals.
But the truth is, "Little Boy Blue" was written without any special
suggestion or personal experience attending its conception and
composition. It was an honest child, begotten of the freest and best
genius of Field's fancy--the genius of a master craftsman who had the
instinct to use only the simplest means to tell the significant story
of the little toy dog that is covered with dust and the little toy
soldier that is red with rust in so many a home.
Field handed his original copy of "Little Boy Blue" to me in the Daily
News office. We read it over carefully together, and there I, with his
consent, made the change in the seventh line of the last verse, that
may be noted in the fac-simile. With my interlineation the copy went
to the printer, who had orders to return it to me, which was
accordingly done, and it has been in my possession ever since.
Field made several other noteworthy contributions to the pages of
America, including such important verse or articles as "Apple Pie and
Cheese," "To Robin Goodfellow," "A Proper Trewe Idyll of Camelot,"
"The Shadwell Folio," "Poe, Patterson, and Oquawka," "The Holy Cross,"
and "The Three Kings." The most remarkable of these was undoubtedly
"The Shadwell Folio," which ran through two issues of America and
afforded a prose setting for the following proofs of Field's
versatility: "The Death of Robin Hood," "The Alliaunce," "Madge: Ye
Hoyden," "The Lost Schooner," "Ye Crewel Sassinger Mill," "The Texas
Steere," "A Vallentine," "Waly, Waly," "Ailsie, My Bairn," "Ye Morris
Daunce," "Ye Battaile Aux Dames," "How Trewe Love Won Ye Battel,"
"Lollaby" (old English).
The first section of the "Shadwell Folio" appeared in the issue of
America of October 25th, 1888. It was one of those conceits in which
Field took the greatest pleasure and in the preparation of which he
grudged no labor. It purported to be a parchment folio discovered in
an old hair trunk by Colonel John C. Shadwell, "a wealthy and
aristocratic contractor," while laying certain main and sewer pipes in
the cellar of a deserted frame house at 1423 Michigan Street, Chicago.
This number would have located the cellar well out in Lake Michigan.
Colonel Shadwell presented this incomparable folio to "The Ballad and
Broadside Society of Cook County, Illinois, for the Discovery of
Ancient Manuscripts and for the Dissemination of Culture (limited)."
On receipt of the folio, this society immediately adopted the
following resolutions:
_Resolved_, That the ballads set forth in the parchment manuscript,
known as the Shadwell folio, are genuine old English ballads,
composed by English balladists, and illustrating most correctly life
in Chicago in Ancient Times, which is to say, before the fire.
_Resolved_, That the parchment cover of said folio is, in our
opinion, neither pigskin nor sheep, but genuine calf, and
undoubtedly the pelt of the original fatted calf celebrated in
Shakespeare's play of the "Prodigal Son."
_Resolved_, That we hail with pride these indisputable proofs that
our refinement and culture had an ancestry, and that our present
civilization did not spring, as ribald scoffers have alleged,
mushroom-like from the sties and wallows of the prairies.
_Resolved_, That we get these ballads printed in an edition of not
to exceed 500 copies, and at a cost of $50 per copy, or, at least,
at a price beyond the capability of the hoy polloi.
Field then proceeded to review the contents of the fictitious folio,
taking the precaution to premise his remarks and extracts with the
statement that "it must not be surmised that all the poems in this
Shadwell folio are purely local; quite a number treat of historical
subjects." Of the poems in the first half of "The Shadwell Folio" I am
able to give one of the most interesting in fac-simile, premising
that, although this did not see the light of print until October,
1888, it was written in an early month of 1887.
On pages 19 and 20 of the folio, according to Field, we get a
"pleasant glimpse of the rare old time" in the ballad entitled:
[Illustration: "THE ALLIAUNCE".
Come hither, gossip, let us sit
beneath this plaisaunt vine;
I fain wolde counsel thee a bit
whiles that we sip our wine.
The air is cool and we can hear
the voicing of the kine
come from the pasture lot anear
the styes where grunt the swine.
See how that Tom, my sone, doth fare
with posies in his hands--
Methinks he minds to mend him where
thy dochter waiting stands.
Boys will be boys and girls be girls
for Godde hath willed it soe;
Thy dochter Tib hath goodly curles--
my Toms none fole, I trom.
His evening chores ben all to-done,
and she hath fed the pigges,
and now the village green upon
they daunce and sing their jigges.
His squeaking crowd the fiddler plies,
And Tom and Tib can see
The babies in echoders eyes--
saye, neighbour, shall it bee?
Nould give Frank in goodly store--
that I; in sooth, ne can;
but I have steers and hoggs gillore--
and thats what makes the man!
Your family trees and blade be naught
In these progressive years--
The only blode that counts (goes?) for aught
Is blode of piggs and steeres!
So, gossip, let us found a line
On mouton, porke and beefe;
The which in coming years shall shine
In cultures world as chief.
Sic stout and braw a sone as mine
I lay youle never see,
and theres nae huskier wench than thine--
Saye, neighbor, shall it bee?]
On pages 123 and 124 of the folio Field discovered "this ballad of
Chicago's patient Grissel (erroneously pronounced 'Gristle' in leading
western circles), setting forth the miseries and the fate of a lass
who loved a sailor ":
_THE LOST SCHOONER
Hard by ye lake, beneath ye shade,
Upon a somer's daye,
There ben a faire Chicago maid
That greeting sore did saye:
I wonder where can Willie bee--
O waly, waly! woe is mee!
He fared him off on Aprille 4,
And now 'tis August 2,
I stood upon ye slimy shoore
And swere me to be trewe;
I sawe yt schippe bear out to sea--
O waly, waly! woe is mee!
"Ye schippe she ben as braw an hulk
As ever clave ye tides,
And in her hold she bore a bulk
Of new-mown pelts and hides--
Pelts ben they all of high degree--
O waly, waly! woe is mee!
"Ye schippes yt saile untill ye towne
Ffor mee no plaisaunce hath,
Syn most of them ben loded down
With schingle, slabs and lath;
That ither schipp--say, where is shee?
O waly, waly! woe is mee!
"Ye Mary Jane ben lode with logs,
Ye Fairy Belle with beer--
Ye Mackinack ben Ffull of hoggs
And ither carnal cheer;
But nony pelt nor hide I see--
O waly, waly! woe is mee!
"And ither schippes bring salt and ore,
And some bring hams and sides,
And some bring garden truck gillore--
But none brings pelt and hides!
Where can my Willie's schooner be--
O waly, waly! woe is mee!"
So wailed ye faire Chicago maide
Upon ye shady shore,
And swounded oft whiles yt she prayed
Her loon to come oncet more,
And crying, "Waly, woe is mee,"
That maiden's harte did brast in three._
The second half of "The Shadwell Folio," printed November 1st, 1888,
besides being memorable for the first publication of his well-known
"Ailsie, My Bairn," and the exquisite "Old English Lullaby," contained
"a homely little ballad," as Field described it, "which reminds one
somewhat of 'Winfreda,' and which in the volume before us is entitled
'A Valentine.'"
The "Winfreda" here referred to is one of the poems upon which Field
exhausted his ingenuity in composing with the verbal phraseology of
different periods of archaic English. The version which appears in his
"Songs and Other Verse" is his first attempt at versification "in pure
Anglo-Saxon," as he says in a note to one of the manuscript copies.
Field intended to render this finally into "current English," but, so
far as I know, he never got to it.
The publication of numerous poems and tales in the Daily News during
the years 1888 and 1889, together with those printed in America,
culminating in "The Golden Week," in July of the latter year, was but
the prelude to the issue of his two "Little Books," according to a
unique plan over which we spent much thought and consumed endless
luncheons of coffee and apple pie. As I have intimated, Field was
quite piqued over the cavalier reception of "Culture's Garland," and
was determined that his next venture in book form should be between
boards, a perfect specimen of book-making, and restricted, as far as
his judgment could decide, to the best in various styles which he had
written prior to the date of publication. He did not wish to entrust
this to any publisher, and finally hit upon the idea of publishing
privately, by subscription, which was carried out.
The circular, which was prepared and mailed to a selected list of my
friends, as well as his, will best explain the rather unusual method
of this venture:
PRIVATE CIRCULAR
CHICAGO, February 23d, 1889.
Dear Sir:--It is proposed to issue privately, and as soon as
possible, a limited edition of my work in verse and in prose.
Negotiations for the publication of two volumes are now in progress
with the University Press at Cambridge.
1. It is proposed to print one volume (200 pages) of my best verse,
and one volume (300 pages) of tales and sketches. These books will
be printed upon heavy uncut paper and in the best style known to the
University printer.
2. The edition will be limited to 200 sets (each set of two
volumes), and none will be put upon sale.
3. It is proposed to pay for the publication by subscriptions. One
hundred (100) shares are offered to my personal friends at ten
dollars a share, each subscriber to receive two (2) sets of the
books.
If you wish to subscribe to this enterprise, please fill out the
accompanying blank (next page) and send it before March 25th, with
money-order, draft, or check, to Mr. Slason Thompson, editor of
"America," who has consented to act as custodian of the funds
necessary to the accomplishment of the purpose specified.
Very sincerely yours,
EUGENE FIELD.
The accompanying blank addressed to me read:
Find enclosed ------ for ------ ($ ) representing my subscription
for ------ share ------ in the two-volume publication of Eugene
Field's original work.
------
------ P.O. Address.
If Field had any doubts as to the estimation in which he was held by
his friends, they were dispelled by the ready response to this appeal,
while the generous words accompanying many of the orders were well
calculated to warm the cockles of a colder heart than beat within the
breast of "The Good Knight _sans peur et sans monnaie_." Many persons
to whom circulars had not been sent heard of the proposed publication
and wrote asking to be allowed to subscribe. The largest single
subscription was for five shares. There were three for two shares, and
all the rest were for one share each, many echoed the "Certainly! and
glad of the chance," which was Stuart Robson's response. F.J.V. Skiff,
Field's old associate on the Denver Tribune, added a postscript to his
order, saying, "And wish I could take it all," while Victor F. Lawson,
in a personal note to me accompanying his order, wrote, "If you run
short on this scheme I shall be glad to increase my subscription
whenever advised that it is needed." This spirit pervaded the replies
to our circular and gave Field keener pleasure than he ever
experienced through the publication of any of his other books.
Chicago, as was to be expected, took a majority of the shares; Denver
came next, and then Kansas City. Comparatively few shares were taken
in the East, for Field's fame had scarcely yet penetrated that region.
But the names of Charles A. Dana, of Whitelaw Reid, and of Field's
"Cousin Kate" were early among the subscribers. His friends among the
stage folk responded numerously, and so did journalists and railway
men. There were only some half dozen bibliomaniacs on the list, for
Field had not then become the poet, torment, and idol of the devotees
of rare and eccentric editions. To remind them of the unusual
opportunity they missed, let me recall the negotiations for the making
of this original _édition de luxe_, which was not published for
profit, but as an example of the excellence of simplicity and
clearness in printing. From the start Field insisted that everything
about the "Little Books" should be American, and the best procurable
of their kind. The letters from John Wilson & Son show the progress of
the negotiations for the printing of the two books, which were carried
on in full assurance that there would be no failure of funds to carry
out the enterprise. I quote their first reply to my request for an
estimate on the work:
CAMBRIDGE, MASS., February 5, 1889.
SLASON THOMPSON, ESQ.,
Dear Sir:--In your request for a rough estimate of two volumes of 200
pages each, on paper 5 x 8 and printed page 2-1/2 x 4-1/2 you forgot
to state the number of copies desired and the size of the type. We
enclose two samples of paper that we can find. We have doubts about
finding enough of the 5 x 8, but think we can that of the 5 x 7-1/2.
We prefer the former. If the edition is small--say 100 or 150--we
can, we think, scrape up enough of the 5 x 8. The size of your page
could not, we think, be improved on. We also enclose samples of long
primer, bourgeois and brevier sizes of type. [Here followed a detailed
estimate on 250 copies of bourgeois type of $668.70 for the two
volumes.]
We should be most happy to execute the work. Hoping to hear from you
again,
We are respectfully yours,
JOHN WILSON & SON.
As soon as we had arrived at a clearer idea of our desires, and also
of our means, I again communicated with Messrs. Wilson & Son, and
received the following reply:
CAMBRIDGE, April 4th, 1889.
Dear Sir:--After much delay we have succeeded in finding a paper
manufacturer in Massachusetts (the only one in America) who has just
commenced making a paper similar to that used in "Riley's
Old-Fashioned Roses" (printed on English hand-made paper which I had
sent them). To-morrow we shall send you a specimen (printed), also a
specimen of another paper which we used some time ago on an _édition
de luxe_ of "Memorials of Canterbury" and of Westminster Abbey for
Randolph & Co., of New York. No. 1 is a hand-made paper 16 x 20/28, at
60c. a lb.; No. 2, a machine made 20 x 22/60 at 20c. a lb.
ESTIMATE No. 1.
For comp. and electro (say 500 pages in the
two vols.) about $400.00
For 8 boxes for plates, 75 cts. 6.00
For 250 copies presswork (2 vols.), 66 forms,
$1.50 99.00
For Paper, 16 x 20/28, 20 reams, $16.80 336.00
For Binding 250 copies, 500 (2 vols.) 25c.
Parchment back and corners 125.00
For Dies, say 10.00
______
$976.00
Alterations from copy, 50 cts. an hour. (The estimate on No. 2 paper
was $727.00.)
We return "Riley." Both of these papers have the rough, or deckle,
edge.
We are anxious to make this book in the _best style_, and of American
materials if possible.
Respectfully yours,
JOHN WILSON & SON.
Three things in estimate No. 1 caught Field's fancy--yea, four; the
paper was to be hand made, deckle edge, of American manufacture, but,
above all, sixty cents a pound. As a contrast to the stiff bleached
Manila of "Culture's Garland," dear at a cent a pound, this sixty
cents a pound decided Field in favor of No. 1, though we had to
economize on everything else to get the job done within the $1,100 we
had in bank before we gave the order. The No. 2, having a softer
surface, would have given us a better printed page, and its cost would
have enabled us to embellish the edition with a steel-plate engraving
of Field, as had been our intention, but the thought of using the most
expensive American paper procurable for his "Little Books" outweighed
every other consideration, and we forwarded the copy of the two
volumes to John Wilson & Son, with orders to go ahead and push
publication.
It was well into the middle of the fall when I received the following
note from the printers, showing that the work had been completed:
University Press,
CAMBRIDGE, MASS., October 19th, 1889.
SLASON THOMPSON, ESQ.
DEAR SIR: Herewith please find our bill for printing and binding
_Profitable Tales_ and _Western Verse_.
We shall send the two copies of each volume (unnumbered) to secure the
copyright, and when the certificate is received, will send it to you.
These copies are over and above the 250 copies sent to you.
Regretting the delay incident to the bringing out of two such volumes,
and hoping that the author and his friends may be gratified and
pleased with their mechanical execution, we are,
Respectfully yours,
JOHN WILSON & SON.
It is needless to say that both the author and his friends were
gratified and pleased with the mechanical execution of the "Little
Books," while Field's admirers have never wearied in their admiration
of their contents. Every cent of the fund subscribed for these books
went to pay for their printing; and as Field started for Europe before
they were received from Cambridge, the task of numbering them, as well
as the cost of forwarding them to subscribers, fell to my lot.
These two books contained not only the best of what Field had written
up to that time, but their contents were selected with such care that
they continue to represent the best he ever wrote. Much that he
rejected at that time went to make up subsequent volumes of his works.
The popular editions from the subscription plates of "A Little Book
of Western Verse" and "A Little Book of Profitable Tales" had a
phenomenal sale, and made a handsome return in royalties to him who
sent them forth with the words:
_"Go, little book; and if any one would speak thee ill, let him
bethink him that thou art the child of one who loves thee well."_