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Fulf Illrent Or the Degree of I FLORIDA S1 THE COLOPHOIP: I Submitted to th Florida State I: fulf illrent or the degree of I Approv Chapter I. HISTORY ABD DWELOP"P . 4 11. EDITORS AND COloeRIBUTORS. 28 111. FORMAT.. 50 Iv. COm... I... 60 SUWEURY.. ................e... 81 APmIX0.. 85 BIBLIOGRAPHY.. 87 WTRODUCT ION Onme tulit punctum qui miscuit utile dulci Lectorem delectando pariterque monendo Horace's statement in Ars Poetiea that "he has gained every vote who has mingled profit uith pleasure by delighting the reader at once and inatructhg him'' is as timely in the twentieth century as it was in his Own age. It is delightful to read for pleaaare and instruction at the ame time, but only rarely does the reader find mate- rial that satisfies him equally on both oomts. Too often is presented 'more matter uith less art" or form with too little substance. A happy combination conducive to both pleasure and instruction, however, may be found in -The +rter 3. This magazine, which for thirteen years provided readers with entertain- ing articles concerning bibliography, book illustration, and fine printing, was able to survive the depression, yet was unable to be continued during the period when the nation uas preparing for war. A detailed conaideration of its history and an evaluation of ita contenta is the burden of the paper, 1Tranalation by Wickham, The Oxf ord Dletionars or notations (2d ed.; London: Oxford University Presa, 19533), 1 2 a project which would seem appropriate in the training of a librarian in that the evaluation and selection of maganinea is a part of almost every librmian's dntfes and is of as much importance aa the aelection of books. The 11bFarian is unable to study carewly every magaeine that crosses his desk, and he nust be able to judge quickly the merits of periodicela. It was felt, thereforer that such an endeavor would contribute appreciably to the back- ground of and give perapsctive to thia miter in waking from time to time critical, even if more cursory, evalu- rations of magazines in the futuxe. The Colophon was discovered as a possible subjeot for study through a searoh of the "Births and Deaths" announcementa in the Bulletin of Bibliography.' All Issue8 of the magazine were available for study and pro- vided a major portion of information used. With the ex- ception of Volume Five of The Colophon and the 2 boprowed fro= Suax=thmore, and The Annual of Boob borrowed from Oberlin College, the volumea of the uere found in the Florida State DniversitJ librarJ. Because of the wealth of information on authors and books contained in The Colophon, it -8 chosen both for '"Births and Deaths, A Record of New Titlea, Changed Titles, and Deaths In the Periodical World," Bulletin of 9 XvII (1940-1943); XIX 11946-19491; XX (InFn 3 the value of the magazine as a primary and secondary source of material and for the additional background in American and English literature it would glre the writer. Aside from concern with the maga&ins itself, back- ground infomation was found through consulting Reader's Guide to Periodiaal Literature and the leu York Times Index for reviews, and Biography Index and Who's who in America for biographical information. In presenting the findings of this study, this paper hms been divided into four main parta, covering different phaaea of the periodical. In the first chapter, the history of the magazine ha8 been traced through its Pirst ten years and additional three years of' publication. Although six editors seemed to be the chief personalities connected with the quarterly, contributors mnd contributing editors influenced the stature of' the magazine. Chapter I1 presents brief biographical information fer moat of the con- tributing editors and an analysis by prvfesaion of those contributors whose work appeared frequently in The Colonhon. The third chapter is an analysis of the f'onaat, giving characteristics of the quarterly in ita different stylea and including briefly the presses which praduced the uork and the papers and tjpes they used. In Chapter IV the con- tents of' the quapterly have beem examined fer trends in sub- ject concentration and level of interest. CHAPTER I HISTORY AND D%vEw)PHEIBT For ten years, from 1930 to 1940, a quarterly for book collectors entitled The ColoDhon was published in New York. It ma PnUSUal in that it resembled a book more than a magazine in format and had a great deal of emphasis placed on the typographical quality. The articles sometimes were related to book collecting only indirectly. "By normal standards of value this ambitious project should have enjoyed a succes d'estime, and after a year or two 1 of laudable activity, quietly retired from the scene." Not only did it survive for ten years, but it was resw- Fected in 1948 for three moru years of publication. This is the story of The CsloDhon. A Book Calectorst Quarterlq. The word "colophon" comes to us from ancient Qreece, where it was the name of an Ionian city, the cavalry of which traditionally struck the decisive blew.' From this early association, colophon aame to denote the finishing 'Philip Brooks, "The Latest Colophon,* New York Times Book Review, January 15, 1933, p. 18. 2New York Times, February 14, 1940, p. 19. 4 5 stroke or crowning touch, and scribes and early printers adopted the word to stand for the inscription or device placed at the end or the muacript or book.' Since then, the meaning of the word has been corrupted to connote aay printer's mark or device, no matter where it appears in a book. The editors of the periodical ColoDhon, however, had in mind the original meaning of the word when they named the magazine, for they hoped that the magazine articles would deliver a crowning touch or a finishing stroke to unsolved problems in bibliography and other phases of book collecting. The idea of publishing a book collectors' magazine belonged to Vrest Orton. He took his project first to Bennett Cerl of the Random House publishing company, and then at CerS's suggestion, to Elmer Adler at Pynson Printers. Adler and Orton invited John T. Winterich and Burton Emmett to join them, and 80 formed the "original Colovhon quartet." One Tuesday in 1928 the fsnrsome met for lunch in a three-step-down restaurant en Fortpsecond Street in New York. For eleven or twelve years thereafter, Tuesday was Colouhon luncheon day, even though later it was only an egg salad sandwich brought into the Pynson Printers offices from fhs New York Times cafeteria. 2 10xford English Dictionary. 2John T. Winterich, "Through Fire and Flood with the Colophon," Publishersl Wesklg, November 22, 1947, p. 2398. 6 Xach of these four mea who helped tQbring Thc, Colophon to lite uas not only a bibliophile but also had background in the publishing or printing business a8 uell. Vrest Orton's activities prim to the foundfng of Ths Colophon indicated a variety of interests. He had been a partner in the advertising agenty of Baccus and Orton for a short while before going to Mexico as a member of the U.S. Consular Service in 1922. After two years in this government position and two years in the advertiaing de- partment of the American Hercur& he beaame advertising manager of the Saturday Review of Literature. It was while he was uith the Saturday Review that he conceived his idea for a book collectors' magazine. 1 John T. Winterich is remembered most often as a member of the editorial staff of Stars and Stripes, offi- cial newspaper of the American Xxpeditionary Forces (1918-19191, and as managing editor of The Home Sector (1919-1920). After the war he became editor of the American Legion Weekly (later monthly), with uhich publicsltlon he remained for eighteen years. Between 1927 and 1935 he wrote five books on book collecting: A Primer of Book Collsctinq (19271, Collector's Choice (1928), Books and the Man (1929)s (19331, and Early American Books and Printing (1935).2 lwho's Who in America, Vol. XXIX (1956-571, P. 1951. 21bld-9 I Vol. x)NI (1950-511, P. 2994. 7 Elmer Adler had organized Pynson Printers in 1922, and in 1927 had been instrumental in organizing Random House, of which he was vice president for five years. As a result of these two connections with the publishing world, Adler uas in a position to contribute concrete information on the printing of the magazine. Continued study of printing and publishing during the eighteen years he was president OP Ppson Printers enabled him to accept the position as curator of the GPaphic Arts Division of the Princeton University Library in 1940 when The Colophon suspended publication. At his retirement from this position in 1952, he was described as "one of the country's foremost authorities in the field of graphic arts. nl Burton Mett, a graduate of Harthuestern, had spent some years as a newspaper repopter and press agent before entering the advertising basinesa. He had retired from his Newell-Emmett advertising agency in 1926, and at the time of The Colophon founding had become an active patron of the arts, filling two houses with his collections of prints and pare books. Re had served as president of the American Institute of Graphic Arts for two years and had re- ceived the institute medal "for service to the graphic arts in America. n2 l"Retlrements," College and Research LibrarLes, XI11 (October 1952), 391. 2New York Times, May 7, 1935, p. 23. 8 With this combination of editors whose background included advertising, editing, and printing, the new magazine had a strong foundation on which to build.
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