Whether the offspring of our love and labor be a clan or a Grafton genealogy, we will now suppose it has attained its maturity. It will grow no more. Not alone is the research complete, but our data has been compiled into a book in manuscript form. What next?

We sincerely trust that no genealogical worker who reads these lines has any other thought than that of giving the fruit of his labors to the public. The whole genealogical world protests against any other idea. It is a patriotic duty as well as a moral obligation to put it in print. Having ourselves profited from the printed pages of many a worker, shall we refuse to repay the debt?

We hope better things of every reader of this book, and assume that all his researches are to appear in print as soon as they can be put into proper shape. It matters not whether we have much or little, one page or a thousand, enough copy for a chart, a pamphlet or a volume: it should be printed and published. If we have worked out only a single ancestral line, and have no leisure for further work, or must turn away from such labor for some time to come, let us print what we have collected.

If we commit our manuscript to type, we are quite likely to receive a rich reward. Some one sees our[Pg 57] production, gets into communication with us,—being interested along the same lines,—and very soon we find ourselves learning things we long desired to know! Hundreds can tell of such experiences.

Do not hesitate to print because your work is fragmentary or incomplete. Sometimes one strikes a genealogical "snag," and, do what he may, is unable to proceed in the work of investigation. Under these circumstances some genealogists become discouraged, holding back their entire work for years in the hope of solving their perplexities. This is the wrong way. It is much better to print the work in its incomplete form, frankly setting forth the difficulties encountered. This has many times resulted in the solution of the problem. Some one, somewhere, may hold the key, and as soon as our printed page catches his eye he will supply the needed link.

Sometimes two genealogists, unknown to each other, are at work on intersecting lines, which cause them the greatest perplexity, while each has in his hands the precise facts which would solve the other's puzzle. In this situation they may grope on for years without making material progress. If they would only print what they have completed, each would discover the complement of his work in the other, and each could then go on with his task rejoicing.

Printing in itself is another reward. The exultant thrill of actual authorship is only felt when we see our work in black and white on the pages of the[Pg 58] printed volume. This is the true goal of literary desire.

But this leads us to warn all that only correct and tasteful printing produces this result. Poor type, incompetent proof-reading and inferior presswork produce that which will be a perpetual eyesore and humiliation. When we have come to the point of printing, we cannot afford to practice an undue economy. It is not even "good business" to do so. People do not like to add inferior specimens of book-making to their libraries, and every publisher knows that the quality of the printing may turn the balance and make or mar the success of a book.

Peculiar difficulties attend the printing of genealogies because of their charts, names and dates. We must have exact work as well as tasteful work, and neither of these things is found everywhere, while still less frequently are they found in combination.

In the first place, we would say, put your manuscript in the hands of careful and responsible parties. It is your treasure, and you cannot afford to entrust it to those who will not provide a safe place for it, and guard and watch over it from beginning to end.

In the second place, choose a printer who is accustomed to genealogical work. This is always preferable. Only thus can we obtain the facilities and the experience our book deserves. When the manuscript is in the hands of printers untrained to the peculiar kind of work needed, one of two results generally follows. The book is inaccurate in matter and[Pg 59] slovenly in appearance, or we may have to insist that much of the work be done over. A printer often trains himself at our expense, his bill piling up far above his estimate, while the book comes forth at last with an unmistakably amateurish touch everywhere apparent.

But it is not sufficient to choose a printer accustomed to genealogies. We know of some who have done this kind of work for many years, yet scarcely ever have done it well. Their books are many, but in wretched taste, some of the volumes being a disgrace to the book-maker's art. Genealogy is worthy of better things!

Choose a printer and publisher who has taste and enthusiasm, who is unwilling to resort to cheap material, ordinary type, and careless labor for the sake of a wider margin of profit on his contract. It is not difficult to select the right man. Examine samples of his book-work, and see if all are attractive, the lowest-priced as well as the expensive editions. If he is the right man, a touch of taste and excellence will appear in all his work.

Ascertain, if possible, the character of proof-reading you will receive. The author, of course, will read his own proofs, but even if he is an experienced writer, and has carried several books through the press, he will be saved many a mistake by good proof-reading. It is a peculiar fact that a mistake which our own eye has once passed over in the manuscript is likely to escape our notice many times. But the[Pg............