The science of
advertisement writing, which meant to him the capacity to say much in
little space, appealed strongly. He found himself more honestly
attracted to this than to the writing of his literary letter, his
editorials, or his book reviewing, of which he was now doing a good
deal. He determined to follow where his bent led; he studied the
mechanics of unusual advertisements wherever he saw them; he eagerly
sought a knowledge of typography and its best handling in an
advertisement, and of the value and relation of illustrations to text.
He perceived that his work along these lines seemed to give
satisfaction to his employers, since they placed more of it in his
hands to do; and he sought in every way to become proficient in the art.

To publishers whose advertisements he secured for the periodicals in
his charge, he made suggestions for the improvement of their
announcements, and found his suggestions accepted. He early saw the
value of white space as one of the most effective factors in
advertising; but this was a difficult argument, he soon found, to
convey successfully to others. A white space in an advertisement was
to the average publisher something to fill up; Bok saw in it something
to cherish for its effectiveness. But he never got very far with his
idea: he could not convince (perhaps because he failed to express his
ideas convincingly) his advertisers of what he felt and believed so
strongly.

An occasion came in which he was permitted to prove his contention.
The Scribners had published Andrew Carnegie's volume, _Triumphant
Democracy_, and the author desired that some special advertising should
be done in addition to that allowed by the appropriation made by the
house. To Bok's grateful ears came the injunction from the steel
magnate: "Use plenty of white space." In conjunction with Mr.
Doubleday, Bok prepared and issued this extra advertising, and for
once, at least, the wisdom of using white space was demonstrated. But
it was only a flash in the pan. Publishers were unwilling to pay for
"unused space," as they termed it. Each book was a separate unit,
others argued: it was not like advertising one article continuously in
which money could be invested; and only a limited amount could be spent
on a book which ran its course, even at its best, in a very short time.

And, rightly or wrongly, book advertising has continued much along the
same lines until the present day. In fact, in no depar