The Author Looks At Format (With Markings By Ian Ballantine)

American Institute Of Graphic Arts, 1951. Soft cover. Very Good. 57 Pp. Annotated By Ian Ballantine, With Four Page Numbers On Front Endpaper, Directing The Reader To: P. 17, Pearl S. Buck "I Appreciate Very Much Indeed A Beautifully Made And Designed Book. But Even More I Appreciate Books Which Are Cheap Enough For People To Buy. Somehow Or Other We Must Get Books Within The Range Of Low And Average Income, So That Book Reading Is No Longer A Luxury As It Is Now. Whenever I See A Book That Is Both Beautiful In Design And Low In Price, I Am Especially Grateful." The Quotation Has Ballantine's Emphasis Mark In Margin. P. 23, John Dos Passos: ... To My Way Of Thinking, The Great Problem Before The Book Designer At Present Is The Design Of Cheap And Pocket Books. In A Period When The Continued Use Of Books On Any Large Scale Is Very Much A Moot Question, It Is To Be Hoped That The Dangers And Hazrds Which Confront The Trade Will Stimulate New Inventiveness In Design As In Other Directions." This Part Of The Quotation Has Ballantine's Emphasis Mark In The Margin. P. 27 ( Through P. 34, "Some Random And Randy Thoughts On Books", Hayashi 1066, Which Is Otherwise Hilarious): "... For Myself, I Like The Whole Theory Of The Twenty-Five Cent Book. For One Thing The Very Cost Of A Trade Edition Encourages A Degree Of Selfishness. Such A Book Must Be Hoarded And Put On The Shelves. It Becomes Property And Property Must Be Protected... With The Cheap Editions The Opposite Is True. You Load Your Friends' Arms With Books...I Don't Know How Many Writers Have The Feeling I Have About Books. I Do Not Love Books For Themselves ... I Would For Myself Much Rather Have Thousands Of Cheap, Dog-Eared Volumes Filed In Closed Cabinets Like Phonograph Records..." This Section With Ballantine's Emphasis Marks In Margins. P. 37, Thornton Wilder: " I'm Ashamed To Say That I Must Have Been Brought Up Wrong. I Never Took To Noticing The Chassis On Automobile Engines, Clothes On People, Facades On Buildings, Nor The Format Of Books. I Wish That English Books, Like French Ones, Had Plain Covers And Cost 60C." The Whole Piece With Ballantine's Emphasis Mark In Margin.On The Front Cover, Their Are Five Sets Of Pencil Initials, Glb, V, Wp, Sd, And C (?) M, Each Of Which Is Also Crossed Out, Apparently Indicating That It Was Being Distributed To Each And Then Passed On. Ian Ballantine Founded Ballantine Books In 1952 And Then Bantam Books; Bantam Concentrating On Well Made Paperbacks With Covers With Original Art, Ballantine Books Usually Publishing Original Works In Both Small Runs Of Hardcover Editions With Simultaneous Large Runs Of Softcover Editions, Or, In The First Few Years, Simultaneous Or Early Softcover Versions Of Original Hardcover Editions By Other Publishers. Ballantine Soon Began Publishing Original Sf, Becoming The First Mainstream Publisher To Concentrate On This Genre, With Fine (And Now Exceptionally Valuable) Cover Art By Now-Classic Sf Illustrators, And Also Began Publishing Sf Paperback Originals Which Are The True Firsts Of Some Classic Works, There Being No Simultaneous Hardcover Version. Fahrenheit 451 Was First Published In Several Hardcover Versions, Including One Bound In Asbestos, But The Ballantine 1953 Softcover Is The True First Of That Classic Work.