Biograph Company

“ Thus the Company made every provision to furnish information and even entertainment to the public. Several of these gentlemen afterward wrote accounts for different magazines—Blackwood, Cornhill, and Macmillan's. Their different reports, and especially the volume of Dr. Russell, which combines the accuracy and minuteness of a diary kept from day to day, with brilliant descriptions, set off by illustrations [Pg 269] from drawings of Mr. Dudley, furnish the public as full and complete an account as if there had been a special correspondent for every journal of England and America. ”

“ In the matter of immediate sales, such books are not unlike others: some have a good run and others sell more slowly. Nor can the author or publisher be certain in advance of the fate of a book. The favor of the public is a peculiar thing, and the quality which makes a book popular is frequently beyond the power of analysis or the ken of the prophet.
In the case of "clan" genealogies, much depends upon the size of the "tribe," its financial circumstances, degree of family pride, and proper education in a genealogical direction. ”

“ The stationer, if terms were arrived at, carried off the manuscript to his Company and registered the title in the books, and thereupon became, in his opinion, and in that of his Company, the owner, at common law, in perpetuity of his 'copy.'
The stationers, having complete control over their register-books, made what entries they chose, and all kinds of books, even Homer and the Classics, became the 'property' of its members. The booksellers, nearly all Londoners, respected each other's 'copies,' and jealously guarded access to their registers. ”

“ We have no reason to suppose that the foundries connected with the presses of Day, Wolfe and others differed in practice from those of their Frankfort and Antwerp contemporaries, or that when, in 1597, Benjamin Sympson, a letter-founder, gave bond to the Stationers’ Company not to cast type for the printers without due notice, he, or the founders who followed him, knew any other methods of producing their type than those already familiar to every printer at home and abroad. ”

“ The libraries have become wonderfully popular, thronged by multitudes who have enrolled themselves in the army of amateur genealogists. So onerous has become the work of handing out historical and genealogical books that in some large libraries such works have been gathered into alcoves which are thrown open to the public, where the ancestry-hunter may help himself.
Formerly such public records as deeds and wills constituted the special preserve of the lawyer. But his monopoly is a thing of the past. The genealogist has invaded this domain and established equal rights. ”

“ In conclusion we will suppose that the reader has at length tasted all the delights of research, all the excitement of the discovery of ancestors. He has experienced the pleasure of compiling a Grafton genealogy, and the joy of seeing it pass from the manuscript state into that of the printed volume. The triumphs of successful publishing, the delight of [Pg 71] reading the reviews and the satisfaction of realizing a fair profit on the sales, have all been his. ”

“ The only genealogist who may hope for any measure of financial success by his own efforts, is the author of a "clan" genealogy who has systematically [Pg 68] gathered the names and addresses of the living representatives of the "tribe" his book exploits. These may be circularized, and appealed to on the ground of family pride and of fair play. The least they can do for a historian who has toiled for their glory is to take a copy of his book. ”

“ This certificate refers to certain laws of the company, and these laws declare, that such certificate shall be complete evidence of title, that the assignee shall become a member of the company, authorized to vote, on having his assignment recorded in books kept for that purpose. These certificates are offered to the public; confiding to the promise they contain, an individual becomes a purchaser, has his assignment recorded, and is received, without objection, as a member. ”

“ Before 1559, however, he had become a freeman of the company; on 24 Aug. of that year he 'presented' an apprentice of his own, and on 6 Nov. obtained licenses for printing his first publication, a 'morning and evenyng prayer.' From 1561 to 1571 his name occurs repeatedly in the Stationers' Registers as obtaining licenses for printing books and pamphlets, and as 'presenting' apprentices, and throughout those years he apparently drove a thriving trade. ”

“ Genealogical research has, however, made great advance during the last generation. The critical spirit shown in such works as Round’s Studies in Peerage and Family History (1901) has assailed with effective ridicule the methods of dishonest pedigree-makers. Much raw material of genealogy has been made available for all by the publication of parish registers, marriage-licence allegations, monumental inscriptions and the like, and above all by the mass of evidences contained in the volumes issued by the Public Record Office. ”

“ Do we not desire a full history of each ancestor, with all the interesting facts, traditions and illustrations which can be brought together? Then let us set to work to gather these, and to make our own line the subject of the first monograph of a Grafton genealogy, which will show all [Pg 54] the luxuriant branches of our particular family tree, a happy intertwining of many stocks and surnames, of which we are the final product. Those who work in the hope of realizing a profit from the sales of the printed book should consider the possibilities of the Grafton genealogy. ”

“ As ghastly figures stare from the written pages of autobiography, reminders that the mortal or weak parts dominated the whole, and left a record that is unchangeable.
To the biographer, not too closely related to his subject, and to the editor, belongs the task of telling the truth—not the simple or the whole truth, but as much as the records will afford. The writer of biography has the wider field, the better opportunity, for he may wander far and invoke the dramatic and the picturesque, even infusing into the relation a color of his own. ”

“ The bulk of this massive accumulation of documents relates to administrative matters, but there is considerable material on individuals that is too rarely explored by literary biographers. Although lacking the tradition of important discoveries made in the Public Record Office and thus not as well known to literary researchers, the National Archives repositories are an obligatory stop for biographers of writers associated with the federal government, whether by election, through employment, or under surveillance. ”

“ The sale of genealogical works depends very largely upon a special kind of circularizing which will bring them to the attention of those particularly interested—public librarians, historical and genealogical societies, and special collectors. ”

“ A collection of letters is one thing, a biography another; and they do not mix well when a career abounds in incident. Letters are material for biography, as original documents are material for history; but as documents are not history, so letters are not biography. The historian and biographer by publishing virtually contract to present their readers with a digested, reasoned whole; the best expression, full yet balanced, that they can give of the truth concerning a period, or a man. ”

“ We have spoken of the legal method of investigation, and said that the genealogical investigator is like the lawyer who is getting his evidence together. But this having been done, there remains the preparation of the case for its presentation to the court. The work of the genealogical compiler corresponds to this. As the lawyer's brief compels the favorable decision of the judge, or as the logical presentation of the case convinces the jury, so should the argument of the compiler of family lineage convince the court of public opinion. ”

“ It is a little figurative to say that a tree which carries in itself a hundred annual records of its growth is a library in the sense of a public record office which keeps the annals of a nation’s growth for a like period. There is however a certain analogy which the discussions of natural records and object writing suggests may even have some slight germ of scientific interest. ”

“ He collects himself, and proceeds to give his facts and traditions with the greatest care. As we stop him with questions, or take time to write the facts, his memory is stimulated. With skillful questions the genealogical worker can draw out all the information, taking care to cover every point which may come up later.
In consulting books and documents we generally wish to copy in full all important references, and we will initiate the reader into a cunning stratagem of the old campaigner. We often run across a paper or paragraph which we can see at a glance is a "find." ”

“ The notebook devised for the "clan" genealogy will serve admirably for collecting the skeleton of facts desired for these notices of the brothers and sisters of our ancestors.
The research necessary for a "Grafton" genealogy sounds every note in the gamut of joys peculiar to ancestry-hunting, and adds a special appeal to those who wish to join one of the patriotic societies. If the line of our surname fails to yield ancestors who had the foresight to qualify us for membership in a given organization, it may be that another line will give better results. ”

“ The spreading desire to know something of paleography is very remarkable, and is much to be commended. For all persons who interest themselves in the documents to which they may have access in the possession of private persons, or in repositories not generally known, are helping in the grand work of making clear the laws and customs and mode of living of our ancestors, and thus constantly come across information, not to be found in our more public collections of records, which often throws light on many dark passages of history. ”

“ The services of The Grafton Press can be secured as the publishers of any good genealogy, as well as in all the other capacities hitherto mentioned. Probably such a connection would approach as near to the ideal set forth in this chapter as any which it would be possible to make. Added to all the rest, it certainly would secure the hearty co-operation of an experienced firm which pushes the works of genealogists with special zeal and enthusiasm.
The publishing of a "clan" genealogy will be cheerfully assumed at any stage in the production. ”

“ Advantages to Worker of Making his Own Records. — These possibilities of mental development are still further increased when the man makes his own records. This leads to closer attention, to more interest in the work, and to a realization of the man as to what the record really means, and what value it represents. Though even a record that is made for him and is posted where he can see it will probably result in a difference in his pay envelope, no such progress is likely to occur as when the man makes his own record, and must be conscious every moment of the time exactly where he stands. ”

“ The Inventors, sensible of the great utility of their Discovery, have mentioned it to several of the Trade, who have made very considerable offers to encourage the laying open the Secret: But as their desire is, that every Printer in the Kingdom might be benefited by it they propose to make the Discovery as universal as possible, by making an honourable and generous present of it to the whole trade: To many of whom they are under some Obligations for the kind encouragement of their new Foundery. ”

“ Laws of copyright and patent still clung to printing,223 but, except for a proposal made about 1695 by one W. Mascall224 that every printer, letter-founder and press-maker should enter with a statement on oath the number of his presses, the weight of his letter and the extent of his other utensils, we find no reference to letter-founding in the Public Records for upwards of a century. ”

“ Professor Sollas, of Bristol, has proposed to the British Association a scheme for securing a complete record of published scientific work, the essential feature of which is, that each nation furnish a record of its own work and of that only, and exchange with all other nations for their records. ”

“ If expense is not much of an object, it is especially interesting to prepare for one's own library one copy of the edition printed, sumptuously bound and enriched with original documents, or certified copies of them,—old prints, silhouette portraits and other illustrations gathered solely for that copy. In fact, some people may prefer to limit the edition to this one copy. These ideas may be followed in the Grafton plan of genealogy with brilliant results. ”

“ These, with the legislature itself, are the departments of government in which our archives originate.
Archives we have defined as the records, the business papers, of the province having a permanent value. All archives need not be of historical value in the narrow sense. Public documents may have a business or record value apart from history, yet it would be hard to say that any given document might not be found useful in some way in connection with history. The main value of a document is as an evidence of truth. ”

“ A location register of book trade archives in Britain and Dublin (and a few in the United States) . Entries are organized alphabetically in six sections: publishers and printers, stationers and booksellers, literary agents, professional associations, bookbinders, and Dublin book trade archives. A typical entry includes the location of the archive, dates of coverage, references to microforms or catalog entries, cross-references to other entries, source for the entry, and locations of related material. ”