The Ideal Book?

Let's be honest, when you walk into a bookstore with the intentions of purchasing an item (nothing in particular, whatever catches your eye) you tend to look for a certain dimension to your book. Back home, I head straight for the Fantasy Literature section at which point I start browsing. The first thing I look for is size. I like my books to be portable, about the same size as my journal, around 7.5/4.5" give or take.

Moleskins are perfect -->

Next, I flip through the first couple pages. A book with very large text will just not work. I want to be able to read it, but I don't want to feel like I'm using a magnifying glass. The texture of the paper is important to. I'm going to be taking this book with me everywhere. It needs to be sturdy and withstand many borrowing hands as I often lend my books out to friends (I believe in sharing the wealth). I'm also very particular about my cover art. I will scrutinize the front cover a book with utmost judgment if it doesn't suit the story. Along with the front cover, I also try to stray away from hard cover books. It's not that I have anything against hard covers, I just enjoy a paperback book. To me it says "READ ME" while a hardback says "Don't damage me, I'm expensive."

Considering all the things I subconsciously calculate about the quality of my own preferred books, I find it easier to understand the complexities of The Ideal Book as Morris sees it. He goes into detail explaining the proportions and quality of a book, while remarking on the aesthetics of the book as well. As he sees it, there is no reason for a book to be ugly, which I find refreshing in this mass-produced culture, even if Morris was writing some years ago.

First and foremost, he mentions the spacing between text, and states that a single space should be placed between words for clarification (something that I had never even thought about until reading his perspective on it), next he clarifies the ideal spacing laterally between words, for both aesthetics and accessibility. Down to the thickness of a page in relation to the size of the book, Morris specifies exact proportions that make significant differences to us now as book readers. He goes on describing font type, size, etc. and while these issues may seem trivial, they play an important part (at least in my opinion) to the development of the written word on a page in codex form.

***Update: Plans to discuss Immanuel Kant's perspective on aesthetics and how they coincide with William Morris' Ideal Book ALSO Morris' architecture and its function as an aesthetic TEXT.