Characterizing the past year as the most successful in the history of the Harvard University Press, officers of that organization announced last night the publication of the 46 regularly bound volumes since last September. Five of these books have had the especial distinction of being included in the 50 picked for the annual exhibit of the American Institute of Graphic Arts which opens in New York today.

To Foster Art of Printing

The purpose of this exhibition which is now in its fourth year, is the fostering of printing as an art. The books which are chosen for the annual exhibit are those which are judged best from the stand-point of artistic printing and publishing, although the value of subject matter is also considered.

The products of the Harvard Press which have been picked for exhibition are "The Essays of Montaigne," translated by George B. Ives '76, "A Gorgeous Gallery of Gallant Inventions," edited by Hyder E. Rollins, "The Passports Printed by Benjamin Franklin at his Passy Press." "Shakspere's Debt to Montaigne," by George Coffin Taylor '99, and "Bruce Rogers: Designer of Books" by Frederique Warde.

The University Press has more books outered in the exhibit than any other press, and has hopes of again securing the medal which was in its possession for the first two years of the competition.

Gosse Lauds Montaigne Book

Sir Edmund Gosse, commenting on the first of these, "The Essays of Montaigne," in the London Times says, "The version of Mr. Ives seems to me masterly to a very high degree; it was worth waiting for, and completely supersedes all precursors. I hope this admirable work may eventually take its place as the authorized English translation." The "Gorgeous Gallery of Gallant Inventions," supplies the much felt need of all students of Elizabethan literature. This is the first time that this work has been reprinted since its original publication in 1578. It is based on one of the two copies in existence. The particular copy on which this is based formerly belonged to Edmund Malone. "Bruce Rogers: Designer of Books" is an artistic criticism of the works of Mr. Rogers who has been very closely associated with the University Press for a number of years and who directed the printing of this year's prize books.

Norweigan Series Published

Perhaps the most interesting group which the Press has undertaken during the last year is a series of lectures which are being given at the Institute for Comparative Research in Human Culture in Oslo, Norway. The Institute is conducting an extensive survey of the history and development of civilization and world culture and has appointed the University Press to do all of its publishing in America. The work of the Institute which is endowed by the Norweigian Government marks the beginning of one of the most important intellectual movements in the Scandinavian countries in recent years. Several volumes have already been printed and three more are now in preparation.

Among the books of a general nature "The Letters of Tobias Smollett, M.D." is of great interest. These letters which were collected and edited by Edward S. Noyes, Assistant Professor of English at Yale, contain 19 which have never been published before and establish several new facts in a life of which very little is known.

Harvard Hymn Book Revised

Other notable volumes which have come out recently are "Trends in American Secondary Education," by Leonard V. Koos, "The Harvard University Hymn Book," and "Gutenberg to Plantini," the latter by George Parker Winship '93. The first of these was a part of the Inglis Lecture series. The Harvard Hymn Book which is a thorough revision of the University Hymn Book of 1894 will be used in Appleton Chapel next year. The book contains in addition to hymns and Scripture selections, brief notes on authors and translators and on composers and sources. "Guttenberg to Platini" is an attempt by Mr. Winship, Librarian of the Harry Elkins Widener collection to present in a hundred pages all that the average reader needs to know about the early history of printing. He gives the accepted views, or in some matters of controversy the interpretation which he believes will come to be accepted, based on the bibliographical investigations of recent years, but without intruding on the reader any of the apparatus of scholarship.

Large List Announced

The list of spring announcements by the Harvard University Press is as follows: "Sheridan to Robertson," by Ernest Bradle Watson '19, "Antoine and the Theatre Libre," by Samuel M. Waxman '07. "Essays of Montaigne," by George B. Ives, "The Wedgwood Medallion of Samuel Johnson," by Chauncey B. Tinker. "The Letters of Tobias Smollett M. D.," edited by Edward S. Noyes "A Gorgeous Gallery of Gallant Inventions," edited by Hyder E. Rollins, "Ballads and Songs of the Shanty-Boy," edited by Franz Richby, "Harvard Studies in Classical Philology," by a Committee of the Classical Instructors of Harvard University, "Four Introductory Lectures," "La Methode Comparative en Linguistique Historique," by A. Meillet, "Custom and Right," by Paul Vinogradoff, "Mankind, Nation, and Individual," by Otto Jesperson, "Sanlede Skrifter," by Moltke Moe, "Santal Folk Tales," by P. O. Bodding, "Trends in American Seconary Education," by Leonard V. Koos, "The American Wool Manufacture," by A. H. Cole '13, Assistant Professor of Economics in Harvard University, "Cotton Mather, The Puritan Priest," by Barrett Wendell '02, "Increase Mather, The Foremost American Puritan," by Kenneth B. Murdock '17, "Guminberg to Platini," by G. P. Winship '93, "Prints and Books: Informal Papers," by W. M. Iryins '01, "Harvard University Hymn Book," "What Evolution Is," by G. H. Parker '87, "Mr. Secretary Walsingham and the Policy of Queen Elizabeth," by Cowpers Read '03, and "The Passports Printed by Benjamin Franklin at his Passy Press," by R. G. Adams and T. S. Livingston.