OCR Text |
Show ____......., . ""' .. - . - one's sense of form, by the quality of the impression, the strength of line, its condition. Old prints were always made with margins, some of them very generous ones, and in buying these one should purchase only those on which the margins remain. This matter of margins is not so important in present-day prints, for most etchers now cover the whole surface of the paper with the design. Rarity in prints is not to be esteemed too highly. Unless there are beauty of form and strength of line it is better in most cases to let the . other fellow have the rare print for which a large sum .is demanded. Don't collect for an investment. Buy a print for its beauty and for its appeal. As a rule prints so purchased will prove a good investment. Etchings do not tell stories, and rightly so. The beauty lies in the drawing of the lines, in the sense of 12 form given to the whole- proportion, harmony, order yet freedom. We love prints and in our love for them we have the backing of some pretty good authority. We all have a warm spot in our hearts for Eugene Field, the lover of childhood, the western poet and essayist who had the fine faculty of surrounding himself with ardent admirers who soon came to be his firm friends. Field loved books and prints, but the state of his finances many times kept him from their possession. Here is an expression of his fondness for one of his hobbies as well as a frank statement of his financial condition that are quite characteristic: Down at Noseda's, in the Strand, I found one fateful day, A portrait that I Pined for as only a maniac may1 - 13 |