Among the commentators and bibliographers, Robert Steele, in _The Revival of Printing_ (1912) makes no attempt at definition, and G. S. Tomkinson, in his _Select Bibliography of Modern Presses_ (1928) "still seeks the right answers." In the latter book, Bernard H. Newdigate's introduction contains two statements which indicate the spirit that informs private presses and in recent years has expanded into more public book-making: "... a zeal in the pursuit of their art which has been inspired by something more than mere money-making, and in many cases by the attainment of a degree of excellence which invests their work with a peculiar interest for all those who study printing..." and specifically about operators of private presses who "have printed their books because they have judged the books worth printing for their own sakes, or worth printing in some particular way; and it is the particular way in which each of these printers has sought to give expression to his conception of how his books should be printed and the way in which he has overcome the limitations of his type and plant and solved the several problems which beset the studious printer in every detail of his work, that give them so much individual interest...."
In later years, we have had noble bibliographies of the Nonesuch, Grabhorn, and Ashendene Presses, Bruce Rogers' _Paragraphs on Printing_, and Daniel Berkeley Updike's _Notes on the Merrymount Press_ and _Some Aspects of Printing, Old and New_. All of these are required reading for collectors of press books, and each represents a personal viewpoint, but only one defines a private press.
That is the Ashendene _Bibliography_, but one who seeks for a formal declaration will not find it. The few phrases that can be isolated--"... the absorbing interest of an otherwise busy life...."--"The Press was started solely for the sake of the interest and amusement I expected to derive from it...."--"... the striving after an ideal...."--these casual comments are slender evidence. If, however, the entire Foreword is read, one discovers just why and how a private press is operated--"the letter killeth, but the spirit maketh alive."
[Illustration]ALFRED W. POLLARD[Illustration]