was necessary for them to begin their work from such articles as those on
etching, lithography, batik and wood engraving. Such men as Muirhead
Bone, E. Lumsden, Arthur Young, Hugh Ferriss, Geo. B. Bridgman and
Stanley Morison have had many years of experience and have found many
short-cuts and above all have perfected a correct technique which is just as
easy to learn as an incorrect and less useful one.

I would suggest that the student, after he has read the articles on gen-
eral theory, follow this sequence: First read and adopt in continual practice
all the material under the heading Drawing. Next, read Design, Perspective
and Drawing (Anatomical), practising always. And at this point the student
is prepared to take up the various articles on the different arts and may make
up his mind whether he would prefer to work with the Japanese brush, the
burin, the etching point or any other tool. Most artists find that one me-
dium suits them better than any other, but this is no reason why they should
give up completely all others. Each medium will present a different view-
point and it is an excellent experience to try them all from time to time.
Most of these arts can be practised at little expense and, if they are practised
seriously, there is a good chance of their paying in real money for the effort
expended in study. The chief reason, however, why a man may profitably
practise them lies in the personal satisfaction of having created a thing with
his own hands. No other sense of accomplishment is so secure in this world
and none can be more pleasant.

It seems to me that the collector also should attempt to practise the type
of art he is interested in. No one can possibly understand the mastery
shown in a fine etching, for instance, until he has himself experienced the
hazards that endanger a plate from the time it is conceived to the pulling of
the last print. I believe, too, that if collectors practised the arts there would
be far better taste shown, for they would then the more easily detect those
insincerities which spoil the beauty of a work, and they would understand
the almost magical touch of the great masters. This might keep their in-
terest from becoming too limited by what I call the stamp collector's atti-
tude; that is, the valuing of things on the basis of rarity alone. Art is a
very difficult thing to describe because it has so many possible attributes,
but rarity is certainly not one of them, and the man who thinks he has a
beautiful or great work of art simply because he has the only one, may be
deceiving himself. It is true that the very nature of painting makes it im-
possible to have two exactly alike, but on the other hand a score of etchings

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