The "Fifty Books" Over Thirty Years

ROLAND BAUGHMAN
 

' EXACTLY what progress is being made in the United
■"^ States in the direction of better printing and better book-
_^^ making? In view of the conflicting opinions of experts,
 

varying all the way from scathing rebuke to enthusiastic flattery,
how can the men who are doing the work be sure whether their
progress is slow or fast—or even whether it is backward rather
than forward?"

Searching questions, these. They were asked in the introduc¬
tion of the listing of the first exhibition of the "Fifty Books of
the Year," the exhibition representing the output of American
printers and publishers during the year 1923. The author of the
introduction went on to say: "The American Institute of Graphic
Arts . . . believes that the nearest approach to a specific answer
will come through the adoption of some definite measure or
yardstick which can be applied at regular stated intervals and in
the presence of those most concerned. This belief has taken con¬
crete form in the present exhibition."

It might seem reasonable to assume that the "yardstick" which
the A.I.G.A. set out to establish three decades ago, after being
applied annually on thirty occasions, has achieved a degree of
monotony, a pattern, an evidence of policy. Indeed, the very
word "yardstick" would imply that such a result would be in¬
evitable. But the Institute wisely took steps to circumvent this
by adopting a system of rotating juries—different each year, rep¬
resenting divergent opinions and fresh reactions, alive and sensi¬
tive to the need for flexibility. At the same time, pubUc interest
in the project has never faltered. "The Show" is eagerly awaited
and enthusiastically attended each year, not only in those cities
where it is regularly scheduled for display, but as traveling ex-

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