The subject of financing the publication of the genealogy tree, while placed at the end of this treatise, should be the first matter to be considered. It is a worthy occupation to prepare the history of a family, but if the history is not going to be published, the amount of work and expense involved would scarcely be justified. Before the genealogist actually begins his compilation of facts he must determine what method he, or someone else, is going to employ to give the result of his work to the family and to the public.

Public Publication

Many genealogies are printed privately. If the writer has the means and wishes to finance his own publication it is perfectly proper that he do so. Genealogies financed this way are, however, usually brief sections of a main family, being only that branch which covers the writer and his por­tion of the family. A complete work covering an entire fam­ily is ordinarily considered too large a proposition for one person to feel he should finance alone.

The settling of the financial question will determine to a large degree the size of the work to be undertaken. It is use­less to prepare a genealogy tree for which publication funds can­not be secured. If there can be raised only enough money to print a two hundred page book there is no point in going out and gathering data for the printing of which four hundred pages are necessary. If there cannot be found sufficient funds with which to publish an exhaustive compilation of the fam­ily history in all its branches, the work must be limited to such branches as can be financed, or the whole family cov­ered to a certain point which will exhaust the available funds. It is an open question, however, if there cannot always be found sufficient capital to print worth-while material. Scarcely anything can be more humiliating than for a geneal­ogist to be obliged to face the fact that sufficient funds can­not be mustered to guarantee his accomplishing the most careful and exhaustive work that lies within his power to do. It must be agreed that much in the nature of family histories is not worth printing, but it requires strong evidence to con­vince, that really worth-while work, in genealogy tree or in any other line, cannot find sponsors for its recognition and preser­vation.

It is not uncommon for some one to appoint himself as a family genealogist and carry the entire project to completion. There was recently published by an old American family a large and expensive genealogy tree covering, on about a thousand pages, an entire family in America. The work was financed by the family association and compiled by a member of the family who was selected by the association to do the work. Within a year another member of the family at his own ex­pense brought out a genealogy tree covering a large branch of the same family. While there was no objection to the second work, it was not necessary and if its author had depended upon subscriptions to finance it, he could not have printed his book.

Genealogies as money-makers are never successes. The demand is too limited for a book for which the price must necessarily be high. Because of the composition work, a genealogy tree is an expensive book to print, and because it treats of a limited subject, the market is correspondingly limited.

If, too, it is suspected by the family that the book is being published with a view of making money, the whole proposi­tion is a failure from the start. A family will not subscribe for its history knowing that some one member is attempting financial gain by its publication.

Publication by a Group

Next to the absolute independence which the genealogist enjoys when he publishes at his own expense, is the plan of securing an underwriting by some group composed of mem­bers of the family.

It is entirely possible to get together a few kinsmen who will have a sufficient interest in the project to guarantee the necessary funds for publication, realizing that eventually they will get back some portion of their investment, but that a certain percentage will have to be charged off on their profit and loss accounts to family interest. This plan may be easier for the genealogist than having to deal with the family as a whole.

Unless the genealogist proposes to finance his own work, there should be a very clear-cut and definite business arrange­ment covering the entire proposition. If the funds for publi­cation are coming from other sources than the genealogist himself, he should not be expected to have any prominent part in the securing of them. The gathering of the data and the preparation of the manuscript are usually labors of love on the part of the genealogist, and are all that should be ex­pected of him regarding the project. Neither the writer nor other members of the family expect it to cost the genealogist real money, but it does cost him years of painstaking labor and time which might be productive of financial gain along other lines of activity. It is ample contribution for the editor to prepare the history with his mind free from the financial cares of its publication.

In making the financial arrangements, whether with a selected group or with the family as a whole, the genealogist should obey the Biblical injunction to sit down and count the cost before he commences his construction. First, he must determine if there is a real need and demand for a family history. While the public may appreciate the book which it may consult in the libraries, the public is not going to be the purchaser. Does the family have sufficient interest in the publication to guarantee their willingness to back the scheme with the money necessary for publication?

Next, the genealogist having satisfied himself that there is a proper demand for the history, he must determine if it is the wish of the family that he become its compiler. There is a vast difference between choosing to write a family geneal­ogy, and being chosen to do the work. The genealogist should beware of a self-appointed task unless he is prepared to be the paymaster.

In counting the cost it should not be forgotten that print­ing the book is by no means the entire cost involved. There is  much  expense  of postage,  stationery, printing, travel, clerk hire where the genealogist cannot search the records himself, and innumerable other ways of spending sums of money in the preparation of the manuscript.

Financing by a Family Association

While it is not the province of this treatise to go into the forming of family associations, that is another method, and the most common one, by which the preparation and publi­cation of a family history can be accomplished. Although the association should, and probably will, include a large mem­bership, it is not necessarily any harder for the genealogist than the group method. If the matter is to become the work of the entire family through a family association a Commit­tee on Records and Publication should be elected to have the entire matter in charge. This committee should be chosen with the greatest care. They are to have the supervision of a very important undertaking involving the expenditure of a considerable sum of money. There should not be over five members of the committee, and three is better, and they should be so situated that they may meet without undue ex­penditure of time or money. It may be advantageous to the life of the association to have a large board of directors or trustees scattered from Maine to California, but it is fatal to a records and publication committee to be so separated terri­torially. The committee should be selected for their willing­ness to put active work into the proposition and with a knowl­edge of what is to be done and how it is to be accomplished. Election to certain offices in the association tendered mem­bers, may be with a view to honor them regardless of whether they do any specific work or not, but on this committee keen interest and ability should mark the selection of its mem­bers. The genealogist should always be a member of the committee, either elected or ex-officio, as he must keep in close touch with the committee and they with him and the progress of his work.

There is much to be said in favor of bringing the entire family into the financial arrangements. Assuming that there is a family association, there can be no more laudable cause for its existence and activity than the recording and publish­ing of its family history. That will furnish a worthy object for the family activities for a number of years. If the geneal­ogy is to be published as a family enterprise it will serve the double purpose of providing funds and awakening interest among the various members of the family. This is very es­sential for the final distribution of the published book. The genealogist must learn early in his labors that a very impor­tant part of his work is to arouse a co-operative spirit in the minds of as many members of the family as possible. Con­tact should be made with many members of the family. This is absolutely essential for the success of the work. People are not interested in plans in which they have no part. Members of the family must be made to feel their re­sponsibility, both in the preparation and in the publication of the family history. They must be convinced that it is their united business. While the quest for knowledge and infor­mation will do much along these lines, there is no method which can be devised which will bring out interest quite so well as financial co-operation. A membership with a small fee attached making one a member of a family association which has under way the preparation of a genealogy tree will tend to foster that mental attitude of family solidarity which is so essential in all this work.

In a family association where a genealogy tree is contemplated there should be established a publication fund. This fund should have nothing to do with the operating funds of the association. There will be found many members who will make contributions of various sums if they can be assured that the money so given is set aside for publication purposes only, and does not become a part of the general funds of the association to be spent for its ordinary operating expenses. This fund should be preserved for publication purposes and may or may not include the cost of compilation. The secur­ing of pledges, the seeking of endowments and the general trusteeship of this publication fund should be a vital part of the work of the records and publication committee.

It is no part of the subject of gathering and recording family history to discuss other objectives which might claim the attention of family associations, but, nevertheless, at­tention should be given by the association to the object of its existence at such time as the genealogy tree shall have been pub­lished. This should enter into the general financing plan as a continuation project. There will come a time when the ob­ject of publication reaches its culmination, and the financing of the genealogy tree is greatly enhanced if there is indicated be­yond its publication an open door for the activities of the association. There are many excellent projects which may be worked out to keep alive and healthy a family as a unit of activity. Some determined forward movement should be selected which can be the recipient of such special funds as shall remain after the publication of the family records. By this means the records and publication committee can ap­proach members for financial assistance, guaranteeing them good use of substantial sums of money for generations to come, and making the gathering and preserving of the family history one department of an institution devoted to the highest and truest interests of an American family.

Publishers

The work of printing the book should be entrusted to some publishing house with experience in the publication of rec­ords. There are a number of firms who specialize in book-making, as differentiated from other kinds of printing. They have special equipment for doing the work with accuracy and safety. Their proofreaders are experienced in their specialty. Their work may not surpass that of others from the standpoint of general printing, but a specialist in any line of activity has advantage over the general manufacturer, and the publishing of a genealogy tree is a highly specialized printing operation.

After the genealogist has selected a printer of experience and ability in this line of work, he should take him into his confidence as he would his lawyer or his doctor. He will find by doing this he will save himself unnecessary expense and possible grief after the book has been made.