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THE EX-LIBRIS SERIES. Edited by Gleeson White.

THE DECORATIVE ILLUSTRATION OF BOOKS. BY WALTER CRANE.

PRINTED AT THE CHISWICK PRESS BY CHARLES WHITTINGHAM & CO. TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON, E.C. AND FIRST PUBLISHED DECEMBER, 1896 SECOND EDITION, REVISED, FEB. 1901 THIRD EDITION, REVISED, JAN. 1905

PREFACE.

his book had its origin in the course of three (Cantor) Lectures given before the Society of Arts in 1889; they have been amplified and added to, and further chapters have been written, treating of the very active period in printing and decorative book-illustration we have seen since that time, as well as some remarks and suggestions touching the general principles and conditions governing the design of book pages and ornaments.

It is not nearly so complete or comprehensive as I could have wished, but there are natural limits to the bulk of a volume in the "Ex-Libris" series, and it has been only possible to carry on such a work in the intervals snatched from the absorbing work of designing. Within its own lines, however, I hope that if not exhaustive, the book may be found fairly representative of the chief historical and contemporary types of decorative book-illustration.

In the selection of the illustrations, I have endeavoured to draw the line between the purely graphic aim, on the one hand, and the ornamental aim on the other—between what I should term the art of pictorial statement and the art of decorative treatment; though there are many cases in which they are combined, as, indeed, in all the most complete book-pictures, they should be. My purpose has been to treat of illustrations which are also book-ornaments, so that purely graphic design, as such, unrelated to the type, and the conditions of the page, does not come within my scope.

As book-illustration pure and simple, however, has been treated of in this series by Mr. Joseph Pennell, whose selection is more from the graphic than the decorative point of view, the balance may be said to be adjusted as regards contemporary art.

I must offer my best thanks to Mr. Gleeson White, without whose most valuable help the book might never have been finished. He has allowed me to draw upon his remarkable collection of modern illustrated books for examples, and I am indebted to many artists for permission to use their illustrations, as well as to Messrs. George Allen, Bradbury, Agnew and Co., J. M. Dent and Co., Edmund Evans, Geddes and Co., Hacon and Ricketts (the Vale Press), John Lane, Lawrence and Bullen, Sampson Low and Co., Macmillan and Co., Elkin Mathews, Kegan Paul and Co., Walter Scott, Charles Scribner's Sons, and Virtue and Co., for their courtesy in giving me, in many cases, the use of the actual blocks.

To Mr. William Morris, who placed his beautiful collection of early printed books at my disposal, from which to choose illustrations; to Mr. Emery Walker for help in many ways; to Mr. John Calvert for permission to use some of his father's illustrations; and to Mr. A. W. Pollard who has lent me some of his early Italian examples, and has also supervised my bibliographical particulars, I desire to make my cordial acknowledgments.

WALTER CRANE.

Kensington: July 18th, 1896.

NOTE TO THIRD EDITION.

reprint of this book being called for, I take the opportunity of adding a few notes, chiefly to Chapter IV., which will be found further on with the numbers of the pages to which they refer.

As touching the general subject of the book one may, perhaps, be allowed to record with some satisfaction that the study of lettering, text-writing, and illumination is now seriously taken up in our craft-schools. The admirable teaching of Mr. Johnston of the Central School of Arts and Crafts and the Royal College of Art in this connection cannot be too highly spoken of. We have had, too, admirable work, in each kind, from Mr. Reuter, Mr. Mortimer, Mr. Treglown, Mr. Alan Vigers, Mr. Graily Hewitt, and Mr. A. E. R. Gill; and Mrs. Traguair and Miss Kingsford are remarkable for the beauty, delicacy, and invention of their work as illuminators among the artists who are now pursuing this beautiful branch of art.

So that the ancient crafts of the scribe and illuminator may be said to have again come to life, and this, taken in connection with the revival of printing as an art, is an interesting and significant fact.

As recent contributions to the study of lettering we have Mr. Lewis F. Day's recent book of Alphabets, and Mr. G. Woolliscroft Rhead's sheets for school use.

I have to deplore the loss of my former helper in this book, Mr. Gleeson White, since the work first appeared. His extensive knowledge of, and sympathy with the modern book illustrators of the younger generation was remarkable, and as a designer himself he showed considerable skill and taste in book-decoration, chiefly in the way of covers. As a most estimable and amiable character he will always be remembered by his friends.

WALTER CRANE.

Kensington: June, 1904.

CONTENTS.

hapter I.—OF THE EVOLUTION OF THE ILLUSTRATIVE AND DECORATIVE IMPULSE FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES; AND OF THE FIRST PERIOD OF DECORATIVELY ILLUSTRATED BOOKS IN THE ILLUMINATED MSS. OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 1.

CHAPTER II.—OF THE TRANSITION, AND OF THE SECOND PERIOD OF DECORATIVELY ILLUSTRATED BOOKS, FROM THE INVENTION OF PRINTING IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY ONWARDS. 45.

CHAPTER III.—OF THE PERIOD OF THE DECLINE OF DECORATIVE FEELING IN BOOK DESIGN AFTER THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY, AND OF THE MODERN REVIVAL. 125.

CHAPTER IV.—OF RECENT DEVELOPMENT OF DECORATIVE BOOK ILLUSTRATION, AND THE MODERN REVIVAL OF PRINTING AS AN ART. 185.

CHAPTER V.—OF GENERAL PRINCIPLES IN DESIGNING BOOK ORNAMENTS AND ILLUSTRATIONS: CONSIDERATION OF ARRANGEMENT, SPACING AND TREATMENT. 279.

INDEX. 329.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

GERMAN SCHOOL, XVTH CENTURY.PAGE

"Leiden Christi." (Bamberg, 1470)3

Boccaccio, "De Claris Mulieribus." (Ulm, 1473)7, 11

"Buch von den sieben Todsünden." (Augsburg, 1474)15

"Speculum Humanæ Vitæ." cir. 1475)17

Bible. (Cologne, 1480)21

Terrence: "Eunuchus." (Ulm, 1486)27

"Chronica Hungariæ." (Augsburg, 1488)35

"Hortus Sanitatis." (Mainz, 1491)39

"Chroneken der Sassen." (Mainz, 1492)41

Bible. (47

"Æsop's Fables." (Ulm, 1498)53

FLEMISH AND DUTCH SCHOOLS, XVTH CENTURY.

"Spiegel onser Behoudenisse." (Kuilenburg, 1483)25

"Life of Christ." (Antwerp, 1487)31

FRENCH SCHOOL, XVTH CENTURY.

"La Mer des Histoires." Initial. (Paris, 1488)37

"Paris et Vienne." (Paris, cir. 1495)51

ITALIAN SCHOOL, XVTH CENTURY.

"De Claris Mulieribus." (Ferrara, 1497)54

Tuppo's "Æsop." (Naples, 1485)55

P. Cremonese's "Dante." (Venice, 1491)56

"Discovery of the Indies." (Florence, 1493)57

"Fior di Virtù." (Florence, 1498)58

Stephanus Caesenas: "Expositio Beati Hieronymi in Psalterium." (Venice, 1498)59

"Poliphili Hypnerotomachia." (Venice, 1499)63, 65

Ketham's "Fasciculus Medicinæ." (Venice, 1493)295

Pomponius Mela. (Venice, 1478)297

ITALIAN SCHOOL, XVITH CENTURY.

Artist Unknown. Bernadino Corio. (Milan, Minuziano, 1503)67

School of Bellini: "Supplementum Supplementi Chronicarum, etc." (Venice, 1506)69

"The Descent of Minerva": from the Quatriregio. (Florence, 1508)71

Aulus Gellius. (Venice, 1509)73

Quintilian. (Venice, 1512)75

Ottaviano dei Petrucci. (Fossombrone, 1513)77

Ambrosius Calepinus. (Tosculano, 1520)121

Artist unknown: Portrait title: Ludovico Dolci, 1561. (Venice, Giolito, 1562)133

GERMAN SCHOOL, XVITH CENTURY.

Albrecht Dürer: "Kleine Passion." (Nuremberg, 1512)81, 83, 85

Albrecht Dürer: "Plutarchus Chaeroneus." (Nuremberg, 1513)87

Albrecht Dürer: "Plutarchus Chaeroneus." (Nuremberg, 1523)89

Hans Holbein: "Dance of Death." (Lyons, 1538)91, 92

Hans Holbein: Title-page: Gallia. (Basel, cir. 1524)93

Hans Holbein: Bible Cuts. (Lyons, 1538)95, 96

Ambrose Holbein: "Neues Testament." (Basel, 1523)97

Hans Burgmair: "Der Weiss König." (1512-14)99

Hans Burgmair: "Iornandes de Rebus Gothorum." (Augsburg, 1516)101

Hans Burgmair: "Pliny's Natural History." (Frankfort, 1582)103

Hans Burgmair: "Meerfahrt zu viln onerkannten Inseln," etc. (Augsburg, 1509)105

Hans Baldung Grün: "Hortulus Animæ." (Strassburg, 1511)107, 108, 109, 110

Hans Wächtlin: Title Page. (Strassburg, 1513)111

Hans Sebald Beham: "Das Papstthum mit seinen Gliedern." (Nuremberg, 1526)113

Reformation der bayrischen Landrecht. (Munich, 1518)117

Fuchsius: "De Historia Stirpium." (Basel, 1542)123

Virgil Solis: Bible. (Frankfort, 1563)131

Johann Otmar: "Pomerium de Tempore." (Augsburg, 1502)147

FRENCH SCHOOL, XVITH CENTURY.

Oronce Finé: "Quadrans Astrolabicus." (Paris, 1534)127

MODERN ILLUSTRATION.

William Blake: "Songs of Innocence," 1789137

William Blake: "Phillip's Pastoral"139

Edward Calvert: Original Woodcuts: "The Lady and the Rooks," "The Return Home," "Chamber Idyll," "The Flood," "Ideal Pastoral Life," "The Brook," 1827-29141, 143

Dante Gabriel Rossetti: "Tennyson's Poems," 1857151

Dante Gabriel Rossetti: "Early Italian Poets," 1861153

Albert Moore: "Milton's Ode on the Nativity," 1867155

Henry Holiday: Cover for "Aglaia," 1893157

Randolph Caldecott: Headpiece to "Bracebridge Hall," 1877158

Kate Greenaway: Title Page of "Mother Goose"159

Arthur Hughes: "At the Back of the North Wind," 1871160, 161

Arthur Hughes: "Mercy" ("Good Words for the Young," 1871)304

Robert Bateman: "Art in the House," 1876162, 163, 164, 165

Heywood Sumner: Peard's "Stories for Children," 1896167, 170

Charles Keene: "A Good Fight." ("Once a Week," 1859)169

Louis Davis: "Sleep, Baby, Sleep" ("English Illustrated Magazine," 1892)171

Henry Ryland: "Forget not yet" ("English Illustrated Magazine," 1894)173

Frederick Sandys: "The Old Chartist" ("Once a Week," 1861)175

M. J. Lawless: "Dead Love" ("Once a Week," 1862)177

Walter Crane: Grimm's "Household Stories," 1882179

Walter Crane: "Princess Fiorimonde," 1880181

Walter Crane: "The Sirens Three," 1886183

Selwyn Image: "Scottish Art Review," 1889187

William Morris and Walter Crane: "The Glittering Plain," 1894191, 290, 291

C. M. Gere: "Midsummer" ("English Illustrated Magazine," 1893)195

C. M. Gere: "The Birth of St. George"197

Arthur Gaskin: "Hans Andersen," 1893199

E. H. New: "Bridge Street, Evesham"201

Inigo Thomas: "The Formal Garden," 1892204, 205

Henry Payne: "A Book of Carols," 1893209

F. Mason: "Huon of Bordeaux," 1895211

Gertrude, M. Bradley: "The Cherry Festival,"213

Mary Newill: Porlock215

Celia Levetus: A Bookplate217

C. S. Ricketts: "Hero and Leander," 1894219

C. S. Ricketts: "Daphnis and Chloe," 1893223

C. H. Shannon: "Daphnis and Chloe," 1893224

Aubrey Beardsley: 225, 226, 227

Edmund J. Sullivan: "Sartor Resartus," 1898228

Patten Wilson: A Pen Drawing229

Laurence Housman: "The House of Joy," 1895231

L. Fairfax Muckley: "Frangilla"233

Charles Robinson: "A Child's Garden of Verse," 1895235, 237, 239

J. D. Batten: "The Arabian Nights," 1893241, 242

R. Anning Bell: "A Midsummer Night's Dream," 1895243

R. Anning Bell: "Beauty and the Beast," 1894245

R. Spence: A Pen Drawing247

A. Garth Jones: "A Tournament of Love," 1894249

William Strang: "Baron Munchausen," 1895251, 253

H. Granville Fell: "Cinderella," 1894254

John Duncan: "Apollo's Schooldays" ("The Evergreen," 1895)255

John Duncan: "Pipes of Arcady" ("The Evergreen," 1895)257

Robert Burns: "The Passer-By" ("The Evergreen," 1895)259

Mary Sargant Florence: "The Crystal Ball," 1894261

Paul Woodroffe: "Ye Second Book of Nursery Rhymes," 1896263

Paul Woodroffe: "Ye Book of Nursery Rhymes," 1895265

M. Rijsselberghe: "Dietrich's Almanack," 1894266

Walter Crane: "Spenser's Faerie Queen," 1896269, 281, 283, 285

Howard Pyle: "Otto of the Silver Hand"271, 273

Will. H. Bradley: Covers for "The Inland Printer," 1894274

Will. H. Bradley: Prospectus for "Bradley His Book," 1896275

Will. H. Bradley: Design for "The Chap Book," 1895277

Alan Wright: Headpieces from "The Story of My House," 1892309, 341

The untitled tailpieces throughout this volume are from Grimm's "Household Stories," illustrated by Walter Crane. (Macmillan, 1882.)

APPENDIX OF HALF-TONE BLOCKS.

I.Book of Kells. Irish, VIth century.

II.,III., IV. Arundel Psalter. English, XIVth century. (Arundel MSS. 83 B. M.)

V.Epistle of Phillipe de Comines to Richard II. French, XIVth century. (Royal MSS. 20 B. vi. B. M.)

VI.,VII. Bedford Hours. (MSS. 18, 850 B. M.)

VIII.Romance of the Rose. English, late XVth century. (Hast. MSS. 4, 425.)

IX.Choir Book. Siena. Italian, XVth century.

X.,XI. Hokusai. Japanese, XIXth century.