IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK
Reading edition
A book is a portion of the eternal mind caught in its progress through the world stamped in an instant, and preserved for eternity.
—Lord Houghton (1809–1885)
QUEEN MARY’S PSALTER, English, 14th Century
The Last Judgement
(Brit. Mus. Royal MS. 2B vii, 11 × 7 inches)
IN QUEST OF THE PERFECT BOOK
REMINISCENCES
& REFLECTIONS
OF A BOOKMAN
WILLIAM DANA ORCUTT
PUBLISHED · MCMXXVI · BOSTON
LITTLE, BROWN & COMPANY
Copyright, 1926, by Little, Brown
and Company · All rights reserved
·.·
Printed in the United States of America
Published September, 1926
·.·
Reprinted October, 1926
Reprinted November, 1926
THE AUTHOR is indebted to the Atlantic Monthly for permission to reprint as the first chapter of this volume an essay which originally appeared in that magazine; to the Christian Science Monitor for permission to use, in quite different form, certain material which has been drawn upon in literary editorials written by him for its columns; to Alban Dobson, Esq., G. Bernard Shaw, Esq., Henry James, Esq., Mrs. Anne Cobden-Sanderson, and others, for permission to print personal letters and photographs.
To ITALY
That great Country whose Master-Spirits
in Art, Typography, and Literature
have contributed most toward
THE PERFECT BOOK
this Volume is Dedicated