THE original prospectus for TIME, written more than 40 years ago, took pains to express "a respect for the old, particularly in manners," and an "interest in the new, particularly in ideas." In an era when the pace of change puts almost overwhelming emphasis on the new, the old may often seem old hat. But not a week's news goes by without offering--when studied in some depth--a few striking examples of how much the very old affects what is quite new.

Take this week's cover subject. Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark is a very modern miss from a land of the most advanced institutions and culture. And yet she represents and carries forward the old and now increasingly rare institution of royalty. To strike this note of present and past, Artist Bernard Safran used as the background for his portrait of the pretty young princess part of the heraldic insignia of Denmark's large coat of arms. Its lions passant (walking, three paws on the ground, the right forepaw raised, the head looking forward, the tail curved over the back) and hearts are derived from the family design of the Valdemars and can be traced to the indistinct seal of King Knud IV dating back to 1190.

MODERN LIVING links the old and new in its report on the atrium house, which comes from a blueprint as old as the hills of Rome but is fast becoming the newest thing in town housing. ART touches on old v. new as it studies the argument whether Paris should or should not have its face washed, whether old buildings (or people) should look young, whether decades of dirt add character or merely hide style. The issue of old and new comes out in a hopeful way in THE HEMISPHERE story about a sensible move toward land reform--at long last--in Peru. It shows its unhappier side in THE NATION story about this summer's new kind of agony as sociological change moves relentlessly on the Old South.

The old is always there, though too often it is forgotten; in the mid-60s the new presses in upon events with a force so strong that only the alert can grasp its significance. TIME'S continuing aim is to respect the old that is worthy of respect, to be interested in the new that is worthy of interest, and to relate them to one another in a way that sheds intelligent light on both.

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