“We must set up the strong present tense against all the
rumours of wrath, past or to come. So many things are
unsettled which it is of the first importance to settle,—and,
pending their settlement, we will da as we do. . . . Expe¬
diency of literature, reason of literature, lawfulness of writ¬
ing down a thought, is questioned; much is to say on both
sides, and, while the fight waxes hot, thou, dearest scholar,
stick to thy foolish task, add a line every hour, and between
whiles add a line. Right to hold land, right of property is
disputed, and the conventions convene, and before the vote is
taken, dig away in your garden, and spend your earnings as
a waif or godsend to all serene and beautiful purposes. Life
itself is a bubble and a scepticism, and a sleep within a sleep.
Grant it, and as much more as they will,—but thou, God’s
darling! heed thy private dream: thou wilt not be missed in
the scorning and scepticism: there are enough of them: stay
there in thy closet, and toil, until the rest are agreed what
to do about it. Thy sickness, they say, and thy puny habit,
require that thou do this or avoid that, but know that thy
life is a flitting state, a tent for a night, and do thou, sick or
well, finish that stint. Thou art sick, but shalt not be
worse, and the universe, which holds thee dear, shall be the
better.” —Emerson.

“I began to think that if I should discover how to make
enamels, I could make earthen vessels and other things very
prettily, because God had gifted me with some knowledge of
drawing. And thereafter, regardless of the fact that I had
no knowledge of drugs, I began to seek for the enamels as a
man gropes in the dark!’ —Palissy.

. . in that communion only, beholding beauty with
the eye of the mind, he will be enabled to bring forth, not
images of beauty, but realities (for he has hold not of an
image but of a reality), and bringing forth and nourishing
true virtue to become the friend of God and be immortal, if
mortal man may.” —Plato.

AUTHOR’S PREFACE

The arts of WRITING, ILLUMINATING,
& LETTERING offer a wide field for the ingen¬
ious and careful craftsman and open the way to
a number of delightful occupations. Beyond their
many uses—some of which are referred to below
—they have a very great educational value. This
has long been recognized in the teaching of ele¬
mentary design, and the practice of designing
Alphabets and Inscriptions is now common in most
Schools of Art. Much would be gained by sub¬
stituting, generally, writing for designing, because
writing being the medium by which our letters
have been evolved, the use of the pen—essentially
the letter-making tool—gives a practical insight
into the construction of letters attainable in no
other way. The most important use of letters is
in the making of books, and the foundations of
typography and book decoration may be mastered
—as they were laid—by the planning, writing,
and illuminating of MSS. in book form. Of this
a modern printer, Mr. T. J. Cobden-Sanderson,
says :

“ In the making of the Written Book, the

adjustment of letter to letter, of word to word, of picture
to text and of text to picture, and of the whole to the
subject-matter and to the page, admits of great nicety and
perfection. The type is fluid, and the letters and words,
picture, text, and page are conceived of as one and are all
executed by one hand, or by several hands all working
xi

Author’s

Preface

WRITING