Iowa Heritage Digital Collections
State Library of Iowa

Letter from Charles Scribner's Sons, NY

Letter from Charles Scribner's Sons, NY

Title

Letter from Charles Scribner's Sons, NY

Description

February 5, 1936
Hiss Halla Rhode
Miss Bessie Coon
1357 East 13th Street
Des Moines, Iowa
Dear Miss Rhode and Miss Coon:
Again I am writing you about the pictures for CHA-KI-SHI. I had
a talk with our printer yesterday and he said that the pictures
presented great difficulties, the color ones calling for absolutely
the most expensive form of reproduction. We have to make this book
to sell for a dollar or less, and as the pictures stand at present
we cannot do it.
I am going to present to you the blackest side of the picture—all
The bookmaking problems that arise with these pictures.
1) The color is so expensive that we probably can use only four
(if that many) color pictures in the book. If the artist had known
how to prepare pictures for flat color reproduction it would have
been possible to have more. If we can only use four in color, he
will need to redraw the others in black and white. For this we
could probably pay a small sum. What was your arrangement with him?
2) The pictures are not planned with any shape of book in mind--that
is, many of them would have to be set in the wrong way so children
would have to turn the book around to look at the picture—poor for
a primary book.
3) Because of the use of a soft crayon in some of the black-and-
whites, the pictures are not sharp and when reduced will be very
black and not very clear.
Please don't have him do any more drawings until we can work out some
solution of this. To be perfectly frank, I don't think the drawings
in their present condition will make a very attractive book. I want
to do everything I can to help out on this and to make it a nice-
looking book.
Will you write me about your arrangement with the artist, and what
you think might be done? I wish we could have them redrawn here, but
this of course we would not do with his work.
The text of CHA-KI-SHI is so good that I do want the pictures to be
up to the standard it sets.
Yours very sincerely

Creator

Petersen, Christian, 1885-1961.

Source

RS 26/02/52

Publisher

Iowa State University Library Special Collections: http://www.add.lib.iastate.edu/spcl/index.html

Date

1936
2009-07-09

Rights

U.S. and international copyright laws protect this digital image. Commercial use or distribution of the image is not permitted without prior permission of the copyright holder. For permission to use the digital image, please contact Iowa State University Library Special Collections at archives@iastate.edu For reproductions see: http://www.add.lib.iastate.edu/spcl/services/photfees.html

Relation

Christian Petersen Papers1922 - [ongoing]; http://www.add.lib.iastate.edu/spcl/arch/rgrp/26-2-52.html

Format

Letter; 20.3x25.4 cm
Typewritten letter

Type

Image
Image

Identifier

26-2-52.ChaKiShi.5-2-1
https://digitalcollections.lib.iastate.edu/