* * * * *

It was as late as the middle of January when I came to my office one
morning and startled our editorial force by saying that THE SCRAP BOOK
would be issued on the 10th of February. Up to this time no decisive work
had been done on it. As I stated in my introduction last month, we had
been gathering scrap books from all over the world for some time, and had
a good deal of material classified and ready for use. It was an accepted
fact in the office that THE SCRAP BOOK would be issued sooner or later.
Indeed, the drawing for the cover was made more than a year ago. But no
one on the staff, not even myself, knew just what THE SCRAP BOOK would be
like or when it would make its appearance.

With a definite date fixed for the day of issue, however, and that date
only about three weeks away, intense work and intense thought were
necessary, and from this thought and work was evolved THE SCRAP BOOK as we
now have it. From the first minute, as it began to take shape, it became a
thing of evolution. Enough material was prepared, set up, and destroyed to
fill three issues of THE SCRAP BOOK, and display headings were changed and
changed--and a dozen times changed--to get the effect we wanted.

As it was something apart from all other magazines, we had no precedents
to follow, no examples to copy, either in the matter itself, the method of
treating it, or the style of presenting it. Our inspiration in producing
THE SCRAP BOOK was mainly, and almost wholly, our conception of what would
appeal most forcefully to the human heart and human brain--to all the
people of all classes everywhere. This, supplemented by our experience in
publishing, was our guide in evolving this magazine.

I have told you this much about the beginning and the development of THE
SCRAP BOOK because such information about the beginning of anything of any
consequence appeals to me individually, and I think generally appeals to
all readers. If THE SCRAP BOOK, therefore, is to make an important place
for itself in the publishing world, as certainly looks probable at this
time, it will perhaps be worth while to have the story of its inception
and evolution.

* * * * *

While I have created in THE SCRAP BOOK a magazine for the public, as I
interpret the public taste--and this is always my purpose in anything I
publish--I find that in THE SCRAP BOOK I have unconsciously created a
magazine fo