The Printing Art Sample Book, Vol. VII, No. 6 (July 1911)
The July 1911 issue of The Printing Art Sample Book, a monthly from the University Press in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
What it is
The July 1911 issue of The Printing Art Sample Book, a monthly from the University Press in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Each issue is a bound set of inserts printed on the papers they advertise, so the buyer sees and handles the stock instead of reading about it. It opens with Part I of an essay by the chemist Arthur D. Little on what quality in paper means. His answer: there is no general standard, only fitness for a stated use. Notes on each exhibit follow: King Enamel, Canterbury Bible, Advertisers Text, Buckeye and Herculean covers, Hammermill's Satin Gloss Book, Levant covers for shoe catalogues, a private watermark from Southworth. A column reviews new advertising literature, and a house ad sells exhibit space with printer testimonials. The last page offers free books to readers who report orders placed because of the issue.
Why read it now
Two ideas still hold. The first is the format: the ad is printed on the product, so the proof arrives with the claim. Research on sampling agrees that trial moves buyers; Bawa and Shoemaker's 2004 study of free samples found sales gains that outlasted the sample, and sellers of materials, finishes and packaging still win with swatch books. The second is Little's definition of quality as fitness for a stated use, the idea Joseph Juran later made standard in quality management. It is a useful brake on copy that calls a product best without saying best for what. The closing offer deserves attention: the publisher admits mills cannot see sales that pass through dealers, and pays readers in books to report them. That is the attribution problem of every brand that sells through distributors today. What has dated: the exhibit notes are paid copy set as editorial with no label, which now needs disclosure, and the testimonials cannot be checked. Use: if you sell through resellers, give buyers a small reward and a short form to name the piece of marketing that led to the order.
Passages worth keeping
There is, in a word, no such thing as a general basis for quality in paper, and no other possible basis for quality in case of any particular paper than its suitability for its intended use.
لا توجد جودة مطلقة للورق، فالجودة تعني مدى ملاءمته للغرض الذي سيستعمل فيه.
Good writing paper is bad blotting; good news print is poor wrapping; good book paper is an impossible cigarette paper; and so on.
الورق الممتاز لغرض ما قد يكون رديئًا لغرض آخر، فالحكم على الجودة يبدأ من تحديد الاستعمال.
The properties which confer high quality upon a paper intended for one purpose are precisely those which condemn it for another.
الصفات التي تجعل الورق جيدًا في استعمال معين هي نفسها التي تجعله غير صالح لاستعمال آخر.
Now paper is recognized as one of the most influential factors in good printing.
تقول المجلة إن الورق صار يعد من أهم عناصر الطباعة الجيدة بعد مراحل اهتمت بالحروف ثم بالتصميم والرسوم.
The place for The Printing Art Sample Book is on the “Inspiration File” near where catalogues are laid out and recommendations made to our customers.
مطبعة تشهد بأن المجلة مكانها ملف الأفكار قرب طاولة تصميم الكتالوجات، أي أنها أداة عمل يرجع إليها عند اختيار الورق للعملاء.
The scanned text has OCR errors. The passages are quoted from it, with only obvious slips fixed.
What it teaches best
Read the original archive.org
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