Letter

CO-3090 Macy, George; Limited Editions Club. [Carta] 1941 Apr. 7, New York, NY [para] José Olympio; Candido Portinari, Rio de Janeiro, RJ. 2 p. [inglês][datilografado] COPY FOR SENOR PORTINARI Dear Senor Olympio Today I am sending you a package which contains a copy of The True History of Hans Staden in the English translation, and the maquette showing the kind of book we would like you to prepare for us, and the maquette of Jean de Lery which you sent to me some time ago. The maquette (in English, it is called a dummy) shows the order in which the text is to be printed: there is a half title, then the title page, then the table of contents, then the translator’s introduction, the author’s introduction, Dr. Dryander’s introduction, then the text and the notes and the index; and, of course, when the index is printed, the page proofs must be changed to correspond with the page proof of our edition. The wood-cuts which are reproduced in the English text are of course to be left out of our edition. Senor Portinari is to supply the illustrations for our edition! The first problem is that of the type to be used. The English type which you used for the making of the dummy of Jean de Lery is very old fashioned now. The type used in our dummy is called Scotch Roman, and it is made by the Mergenthaler Linotype Company. I think it is possible that you have this type in your shop, and will be able to use now that you know that we would like it. Or it is possible that you can obtain it in your city without great expense. If neither of these possibilities proves true, it is possible that you could obtain a good version of a Garamond type. In any case, it is very important that the spacing between the words should resemble the spacing in our dummy. The type used for the headlines and the initials is French. I think it possible that you can find this type in your city. It would, however, be very easy for us to send you electroplates of our title page and of the headlines. The next problem is that of the paper to be used. You will see that we have used in our dummy a very rough paper, and one which is almost the color of coffee. It is possible that Senor Portinari will not like the surface of the paper, or the color; I am ready to agree, if the prefers a paper with a smoother finish or a paper with a white color to serve as a better background for his picture. I would like to know what kind of paper you are able to obtain in your city. I ask you to remember that we can have the paper made in this country, and shipped down to you, as soon as you tell us what kind of paper you would like to have and how much of it you will require and in what size. Third, there is the problem of the illustrations. We have made no attempt to suggest the placing of the illustrations in this dummy. Senor Portinari has promised, when making a dummy with you, to indicate for us the kind of illustrations he wants to make and how he wants to have them placed. Fourth, there is the question of the binding. We would greatly like to have a binding such as you put on the dummy of Jean de Lery. Upon our dummy, we have only suggested the binding with a veneer of wood, because we don’t have the same kind of wood. It would be greatly preferable, to have a panel of wood such as you have upon your volume. Now I hope you will be able to send me, in return, a fresh dummy which will show these things: the kind of type you are able to use, the kind of paper you would like to use, your understanding of the arrangement of the text, the method to be used in making and placing the illustrations, and the type of binding. I will get in touch with you promptly, upon receipt of this revised dummy from you, so that the financial arrangement can be completed and you can begin the work. It should be a great pleasure for Senor Portinari and yourself, to produce this book for collectors in this country; and it will certainly be a pleasure for collectors in this country to have a beautiful book from you. Cordially yours George Macy Director