Fine Printing elevates the book beyond its functional purpose and presents the book as Art. Those in fine printing believed that the book must be made with the highest standards, involving quality, handmade paper, as well as superior binding with fine materials. Similar to the Arts and Crafts Movement, the Fine Press Movement sought to bring aesthetic beauty and visual pleasure to a market of shoddy, mass-produced books.
In Book Set 2 one of the books that really caught my attention was The Wood Beyond the World by William Morris. It clearly reflects the influence Morris received from 15th century books, utilizing the dark, bold typographical colors of black and red. In accordance with his own standards of what a perfect book should look like, The Wood Beyond the World maintains large outside and foot margins, as well as quality vellum binding. In addition, Morris used a gothic font to print the text but instead of appearing cluttered the font letters had room to breathe and were quite legible. One of the most exquisite features of this book was the woodcut illustrations, the nature motif borders and intricate illustrates were expounded by the excellence of the book itself.
In Book Set 3, Harold McGrath’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has a particular hold in my memory because I had never seen a familiar text presented in such a beautiful format. This book follows Morris’s ideals to a T, the pages are clear and easily read, and the type is well designed. Furthermore, McGrath utilized space and whiteness throughout this book, utilizing large and bright pages along with large and comfortable print. Congruently, the illustrations by Smith’s very own, Barry Moser, are bold portraits centered on the white page and given plenty of breathing space. The book is a visual masterpiece.
While I was looking at The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, I could not help but think of this edition as a perfect embodiment of the issues with Fine Printing. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an American Classic taught in highschools and colleges throughout the nation and is therefore, readily available in the mass-market. Michael Russem would have abounding criticism for this book; he would say that McGrath’s printing of the book is extravagant and counter-intuitive to the functionality of the book. In comparison to mass-produced paperback copies McGrath’s edition is admittedly very large, heavy and pricey. It is certainly not ideal for classroom use nor is it accessible to the broke college student. However, it is crafted with reverence towards the text and the book form itself. It is beautiful as it exists as Art and succeeds and enticing me as the reader to interact with the text.