Boccaccio, with his passionate nature and full and
eager participation in all the joys of life, makes
perhaps a stronger appeal to the sympathies than
do his greater contemporaries Dante and Petrarch.
He is famous throughout the civilised world as.
the worshipper of the fair but frail Fiametta, and as
the author of the wonderful series of tales known
as the " Decameron." Yet, although the life stories
of the lovers of Beatrice and Laura have been told
again and again, and the characters of their heroines
considered from every conceivable point of view,
English publications concerning Boccaccio are few
and fragmentary, the only serious study of him
as man and author being that published in 1895
by J. A. Symonds, who was the first English
writer to make a successful attempt to realise his
personality. This strange gap in the literature of
the Renaissance is, however, now well filled by a
scholarly and exhaustive work from the pen of the
indefatigable Mr. Edward Hutton, who in a
copiously illustrated volume embodies the re-
searches of his many Italian predecessors. As a
matter of course the most fascinating chapters are
those concerning the courtship and winning of
Fiametta which, alas! throw a lurid light on the
lax morality of the day; but the account of
the relations between Boccaccio and Petrarch,
revealing as it does the noble nature of the latter,
is of enthralling interest. Scholars will also find
the essays on the literary works of Boccaccio full
of suggestion, and the appendices, that include a
synopsis of the " Decameron," will be most useful to
future students.
English Costume, By George Clinch, F.S.A.
Scot (London : Methuen.) 7^. bd. net. — Die
Mode : Menschen und Moden im Achizehnien Jahr-
hundert. Text von Max von Boehn. (Munich :
Bruckmann & Co.) 8 mks, and 9 tnks. 50. — Modes
and Manners of the Nineteenth Century, Translated
by M. Edwardes. Introduction by Grace Rhys.
(London : J. M. Dent & Co.) 3 Vols. 25^. net. —
The almost simultaneous appearance of these three
works on costume seems to point to an increased
interest in the subject, the literature of which is
already pretty extensive, and we must suppose that
the revival of pageantry has had not a little to do
with it. It is hardly likely, however, that the
history of dress will attract the attention of many
outside those who make it an object of study for
particular purposes, such as the figure painter, or the
designer of theatrical and fancy dress costumes.
For these, the works before us in their respective
ranges, provide plenty of material. Mr. Clinch's
book does not profess to be more than a general
survey of English costume from the earliest times
to the end of the eighteenth century, but it is
well written and has special chapters on military,
legal, ecclesiastical and royal robes which give it
additional value, while the illustrations have been
selected with judgment. The other two works
deal with special periods, and consequently are
fuller in detail. The authors are apparently the
same in both cases, although their names do not
appear in Messrs. Dent's publication. And in
both the illustrations are very numerous, especially
of course in the three-volume work relating to
the nineteenth century, and coloured plates are a
prominent feature of the one as of the other. It
seems scarcely conceivable that the grotesque
modes which are here resurrected, with many others
which are fascinating in their gracefulness, should
ever have been tolerated by rational beings, but if
the old saying, de gustibus non est disputandum^
applies to anything, we suppose it is doubly
applicable to fashions in dress.
Hogarth's London, By Henry B. Wheatley,
F.S.A. (London : Constable & Co.) 21s, net. —
Mr. Austin Dobson's excellent work upon Hogarth
has left little to be said about the life and work of
this great painter-satirist, but Mr. Wheatley, by
approaching the subject from a quite different stand-
point, has ably supplemented the literature already
in existence. His aim has been to give us word-
pictures of the customs, the manners, and the
morals of the times which the painter in so
masterly a manner depicted upon canvas, and his
interesting chapters are full of anecdotes of famous
people of the day with whom, either directly or
indirectly, Hogarth came in contact. He succeeds
in giving us a vivid picture of a period which must
certainly rank as one of the most interesting in the
history of London, and he sheds an interesting
sidelight upon Hogarth's immediate circle, and
also the society of that day. The book contains
numerous reproductions of Hogarth's paintings
and engravings, and forms a valuable and interest-
ing survey of London life in the eighteenth century.
G, B, Tiepolo, By Pompeo Molmenti (Milan :
Ulrico Hoepli.) 45 lire, — It is much to be re-
gretted that the work of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
should be so little known in England, where the
gifted and versatile Venetian master is represented
chiefly by four clever sketches in the National
Gallery, and the more important composition, the
Education of the Infante of Spain^ in the BischofTs-
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heim Collection. He was from the first greatly
appreciated in his native country, receiving com-
mission after commission from important patrons,
and his frescoes are widely distributed in Italian
churches. Signor Molmenti contrasts him with
his famous predecessor Carpaccio, declaring that
he stands for the sunset as the latter does for
the dawn of Venetian art. He looks upon the
one as the antithesis of the other, for the work of
Carpaccio is severe and archaic, yet full of a
certain dignified repose, whilst that of Tiepolo,
who delights in contorted and audacious attitudes,
seems literally to palpitate with life. The critic
dwells on his extraordinary fertility of imagination,
rapidity of execution, and the courage with which
he conquered technical difficulties, claiming that
though he no doubt belonged to the decadence,
his brilliant achievements shed a fresh lustre on
the city of his birth that remained magnificent
even in her decay. As in the companion volume
on Carpaccio, every conceivable source of informa-
tion has been turned to account by Signor
Molmenti, who has included amongst his carefully
selected illustrations, examples of the work of
some of Tiepolo's predecessors and successors
that will be found useful for comparison.
Tanglewood Tales, By Nathaniel Haw-
thorne. Illustrated by Willy Pogany. (London :
T. Fisher Unwin.) 6^. net. — This children's classic
comes to us in this edition beautifully illustrated —
that is, as regards the line decoration, which so
very well incorporates itself with the character of
the printing and spacing of the letter-press. Mr.
Willy Pogany has done what few artists seem to
have the gift of doing now-a-days; namely, illus-
trate a book with drawings which in their character
show themselves to spring from the inspiration of
the stories which they have in hand. There is
originality in Mr. Pogany's drawings and con-
siderable grace of line, also an appreciation of the
tradition of the Greeks in their own interpretation
of their myths. When we come to the colour
illustrations — fortunately only two — we come to a
part of the book which we regard indifferently.
They fail to retain the Hellenic feeling which the
other pictures have. A child will, of course, turn
first and with most delight to the coloured pictures.
We regret, then, that responsibility for their truth to
Greek character has not been assumed.
The Rubdiyat of Omar Khayyam, Presented
by Willy Pogany. (London : George Harrap &
Co.) lOJ. 6^. net. — This book, illustrated by Mr.
Willy Pogany, does not give so much pleasure
as " The Tanglewood Tales." In the first place,
252
to give English words in a lettering which is made
to imitate the character of Persian script is, artis-
tically speaking, a somewhat clumsy attempt to
sustain the Oriental character, and we scarcely
think the readers will thank the publishers for
making the verses so difficult to read. The illus-
trations seem the result of some study of the East,
but they are not Eastern in feeling. In regard
to this, we do not plead for local truths, but for
an imaginative interpretation. There is much
realism in these illustrations that quarrels with the
purely decorative style of the book, and more
especially with the abstract kind of thought to be
expressed.
The Rubdiydt of Omar Khayydm, Translated by
Edward FitzGerald. Edited, with introduction
and notes, by Reynold Alleyne Nicholson,
Litt. D. (London: Adam and Charles Black.)
75. 6d, net. — Mr. James is more successful than
Mr. Pogany, but even his designs lose greatly in
sympathy through the fact that there is nothing
whatever in these colour schemes to help carry out
what is achieved so well in the line, the illusion of
Eastern setting. It is easy to make the right
selection of types, at least with an artist so gifted
as Mr. James, but it is not easy, we admit, to
arrange that the colour scheme of an Oriental
picture shall, in printing, be something different
from what it would be if its subject were a London
street. But decorative restraint might step in here
and save the situation. Is this realism of colour
necessary which publishers encourage ? — a realism
which Mr. James rejects in the line work of every
one of the contours of his beautiful designs.
Grimm^s Fairy Tales, Illustrated by Arthur
Rackham. (London : Constable & Co.) 151. net.
— Mr. Rackham's genius is at its best in subjects
that are weird and imaginative, and in this work
he has had a wide scope for his talents. But
Mr. Rackham's work is not always weird, for, when
occasion demands, his drawings are full of quiet
beauty and graceful composition. His consum-
mate draughtsmanship is always evident, and par-
ticularly so in his illustrations to " Grimm." These
wonderful stories have never been so worthily illus-
trated as in this volume. The book is, however,
too bulky and unwieldy. Thinner paper, smaller
type, and the absence of the cardboard upon
which the plates have been mounted, would have
greatly improved its appearance, and rendered it
more handy in use and more convenient to the
reader.
Undine, Adapted by W. L. Courtney. Illus-
trated by Arthur Rackham. (London : Heine-
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mann.) yj. 6rtf. net — Mr. Rackham's conception
of Undine is most admirable, and his drawing of
this figure unvarying in its charm. There is an
amount of knowledge packed into these drawings
of the figure, too, which must please the most
academic. But it is Mr. Rackham*s singular gift
to infuse this scholarship with caprice, and also
with emotion. The front cover of this book is
very beautiful, and the get-up throughout will
commend itself to every reader.
T?u Rainbow Book. By Mrs. M. H. Spielmann.
(London: Chatto & Windus.) 51. net. — These
" Tales of Fun and Fancy," charmingly written for
the delectation of juveniles by a lady who has a
keen sense of humour, are illustrated by pen-and-
ink sketches at intervals, after the fashion of
magazine stories, and in the same style. The
coloured frontispiece is by Mr. Arthur Rackham,
while numerous sketches are contributed by other
well-known illustrators, such as Hugh Thomson,
Bernard Partridge, Lewis Baumer, H. Rowntree,
C. Wilhelm — ^a galaxy of talent rarely found within
the covers of a single book.
The Forest Lovers. By Maurice Hewlett.
Illustrated by A. S. Hartrick. (London : Mac-
millan & Co., Ld.) 5^. net This is a pleasantly
bound book with a beauiiful cover design in gold
upon a serviceable green cloth. We are not quite
sure whether the numerous colour pictures, inserted
as they are upon brown papers, come within the
unwritten rules of book making. Here they are,
and can be nothing more than an accompaniment
to the text in a thick volume of prose matter.
As drawings in water-colour, however, they have
all Mr. Hartrick's refreshing handling and natu-
ralism. Mr. Hartrick is nothing if not a close
student of nature ; the value of his pictures and
the charm of the pieces of landscape depend
upon a lively observation. Added to this, he has
of course the art of imagining vividly the scenes
of a story.
The ''Song of Sixpence^' Picture-Book, Coloured
designs by Walter Crane. (London : John
Lane.) 4J. 6</. — "Sing a Song of Sixpence,"
** Princess Belle Etoile," and "An Alphabet of
Old Friends" — these are the three books in this
volume. No Christmas would be complete with-
out an illustrated picture-book by Mr. Walter
Crane. His books take one back to days when
he and Randolph Caldecott were first in this great
field of children's picture-books. In drawing Mr.
Crane betrays a loss of his old cunning, but in the
sphere of pure decoration some of his pages can
still challenge any other illustrator of the day.
Types and Characters of London IJfe, Sketches
by George Belcher. (London : Offices of " The
Sphere" and "Tatler.") 21s. net— This is a col-
lection of humorous drawings of great merit by a
talented young draughtsman. The "Types and
Characters " are true to life and full of vitality, and
they will not fail to raise many a hearty laugh.
They have been excellently reproduced, and put up
in an appropriate portfolio. Much credit is due to
both artist and publisher, and the collection is one
which we can recommend as an eminently suitable
and seasonable present
The Cloister and the Hearth, By Charles
Reade. Illustrated by Bvam Shaw. (London:
Chatto & Windus.) 12s. 6//. net. — The tradition
of partly decorative pen drawing is safe in Mr.
Byam Shaw's hands, whose art in this respect still has
the character which illustration first assumed upon
its release from the service of the wood-engraver.
It is a style perhaps in closer sympathy with the
arts of printing, binding, etc., than the impres-
sionism of a later school. But colour is the
problem in this volume, as it is becoming more
and more clearly the problem of the modem
illustrated book. In Mr. Byam Shaw's work we
have some attempt to remember in this matter
of colour that water-colours, admirable and beauti-
fully effective upon a gallery wall, are not neces-
sarily suitable for the leaves of a book to be seen
at close quarters. Until this question is studied
more closely the colour illustration of books is
likely to remain where it is and where it has been
brought by the modern illustrator, in his total dis-
regard of the conditions under which his art is to
be looked at
The Deserted Village, By Oliver Goldsmith.
With Illustrations by W. Lee Hankey. (London :
Constable & Co.) 15^. net— Goldsmith's "De-
serted Village " has been for more than a century,
and will always remain, one of the gems of English
literature. It is by no means a long poem, and that
it should monopolise a large octavo volume nearly
an inch and a half thick, seems a little incongruous.
The volume bulks large, however, partly because
the illustrative matter is so abundant. In addition
to forty coloured illustrations, Mr. Lee Hankey
has contributed numerous drawings in black-and-
white. The poem is rich in themes for a sym-
pathetic artist, and so imbued is Mr. Lee Hankey's
art with the homely sentiment which pervades it,
that this partnership of poet and painter has turned
out to be a most happy one. The artist's water-
colour drawings have been reproduced exceedingly
well, but without grudging ihem any of the praise
253
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which is their due, we must confess to a preference
in this case for his drawings in black-and-white
which, as seen here, have more of the true character
of book illustrations, and show how resourceful is
his line when devoted to such a purpose.
Irish Ways, By Jane Barlow. Illustrated
by Warwick Goble. (London: George Allen.)
15^. net. The Water Babies, By Charles Kings-
lev. Illustrated by Warwick Goble. (London :
Methuen.) 15^. net. — Mr. Warwick Goble in his
illustrations to " Irish Ways " observes some of the
principles we have already touched upon, and draws
very pleasantly. The colour printing in this book is
admirable, either from a wise choice as to schemes
of colour on the illustrator's part or the printer's
skill. We are sure we shall be right in giving the
praise to both. In " Water Babies " Mr. Goble has
had more opportunities than in the other book.
We may recall the name pf Mr. Rackham, whose
work we have been reviewing in another column,
as an artist who has apparently reached a stage of
accomplishment in which it is less easy for him to
fail with an illustration than to succeed. Mr.
Goble has not similarly freed his art from sense of
effort, and all his illustrations do not win our
admiration. But there is one vein in which he is
successful beyond the majority of illustrators.
We see it in the illustration to the lines He saw
the Fairies come up from below^ etc. Here in a
charming drawing he seems to have apprehended
the requirements for a colour page.
Legends and Stories of Italy for Children, By
Amy Stfedman. (London and Edinburgh : T. C.
& E. C. Jack.) 7 J. (yd. net. — Very few people
have the gift of telling stories to children in a
way to excite their sympathy, but Miss Steedman,
whose name is by this time a household word
among our little ones, has, in telling anew these
stories of old Italy, again given proof of possessing
this gift. The stories themselves are so full of
interest and so instructive that the volume, with its
delightful illustrations in colour by Katherine
Cameron, may be commended as a very suitable
gift for a child.
Beautiful Children^ Immortalised by the Masters,
By C Haldane McFall. (T. C. & E. C. Jack.)
21s, net. — Mr. Haldane McFall always writes
entertainingly, and his chapters with their quaint
and sometimes rather theatrical headings are full
of interest, and form certainly the best part of the
book. The task of selecting the works to be
reproduced as illustrations must have been an
invidious one, and the choice can hardly be com-
mended, as in several cases they do not show us
254
"children," even if we waive the "beautiful."
Where there is such a wealth of material to
choose from, surely pictures more appropriate to
the subject might have been included. No doubt
effort has been made to avoid the more hackneyed
paintings, but from the works of Greuze or Vig6e le
Brun, to take but two names at random, something
might have been selected that would be more en
rapport with the title.
The Confessions of Saint Augustine, Translated
by Edward Bouverie Pusey, D.D. Edited by
Temple Scott. Introduction by Alice Meynell.
(London : Chatto and Windus.) Cloth, 75. 6<f.
net. — Pusey's translation from which this reprint
is made was originally published seventy years ago
as the first volume of the Oxford Library of the
Fathers, planned by him, only the preface being
omitted. It is printed in good clear type, and
being tastefully bound and embellished with some
dozen coloured illustrations and an illuminated
title-page by Maxwell Armfield, it is sure to prove
popular among the gift-books of the season.
The Arcadian Calendar for igio. Invented by
Vernon Hill. (London: John Lane.) 3^. 6d.
net. — It is rather the fashion nowadays with a
certain number of artists to eschew the beautiful
and seek rather for the eccentric, the weird, and
the terrible, and in his "Arcadian Calendar" Mr.
Vernon Hill shows himself somewhat in sympathy
with this movement. We must, however, con-
gratulate him upon the fine decorative quality of
his black chalk drawings, which are well reproduced
by lithography. One of these we reproduce on
the opposite page, and we shall look forward to
seeing more work of this clever and original artist.
Among recent additions to Messrs. George Bell
& Sons' "Queen's Treasures" Series {2s, 6d. net
per vol.) are Mrs. Gaskell*s Cran/ord, with eight
coloured illustrations by M. V. Wheelhouse;
Little Women, by Louisa M. Alcott; and Lob-lie-
by-the-Fire, and other Stories, by Mrs. Ewing,
illustrated by Alice B. Woodward. These and
other old-time favourites, which form this series,
ought to be as popular now as they ever were, and
presented as they are in attractive binding, clear
type, and with coloured illustrations that give a
very successful portrayal of early Victorian types,
they make excellent gift-books for girls just in
their teens. The same firm publish a capital
edition of Robinson Crusoe (5^. net), with
numerous illustrations in colour and black-and-
white by Gertrude Leese, who has entered
fully into the spirit of this prime favourite among
boys.
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Messrs. F. Wame & Co.'s delightful coloured
picture-books for little children are known and
appreciated in every nursery, and it is hardly
necessary to say that a cordial welcome awaits
The House in the Wood {^s, 6d. net) and Ginger
and Pickles (u. net) which they have just added to
their list. The former, which Mr. Leslie Brooke
has illustrated with vivacious pictures in colour
and black-and-white, consists of ten old fairy
stories, selected from among those which are not
very familiar to our little ones, though they are
none the less entertaining. The other little book is
one of Beatrix Potter's "Peter Rabbft Books"
which have become so popular with children of
tender years.
The choosing of suitable gifts for presentation
to one's friends is often a matter of perplexity, but
for those in sympathy with the work of our great
painters of the present age we cannot imagine
anything more appropriate than the reproductions
in colour of notable pictures by the late G. F.
ILLUSTRATION FROM
•an arcadian calendar** (JOHN LANE)
BY VERNON HILL
Watts, R.A., which Mrs. Watts is publishing and
for the sale of which the Fine Art Society, of
148 New Bond Street, have been appointed sole
agents. These reproductions are based upon the
photogravure process, and a great amount of skill
and talent has been expended upon their produc-
tion, especially in regard to the application of the
colours, which are the same as those employed
by Mr. Watts and have been applied by those
conversant with his practice. The subjects already
published are Hope^ Endymion^ Love and Deaths
For he had great Possessions (a particularly fine
plate). Love Triumphant^ Sir Galahad^ Love and
Life^ each priced at three guineas, and Lord Alfred
TennysoHy issued at two guineas.
We have received from the Fine Arts Publishing
Co., Ltd., of Charing Cross Road, London, a copy
of their complete catalogue containing miniature
reproductions of the prints published by them.
These prints are produced by their "mezzogravure**
and " mezzochrome " processes, the former being
that used for producing their well-
known and popular Burlington proofs,
which now include just on 200 subjects,
while the latter is an adaptation of the
same process to colour reproduction.
Works by Albert Goodwin, R.W.S.,
Algernon Talmage, R.B.A., J. Mac
Whirter, R.A., Tom Lloyd, and other
artists are among the " mezzochrome "
prints catalogued at 155. each. The
prices of the mezzogravure prints range
from \s, to loj. 6</., according to size.
The publications of the Art for
Schools Association for the presen
year are two chromo collotype prints
— one a reproduction of a portrait or
King Charles /. at his Trials from the
original painting by Edward Bower in
the possession of All Souls' Collie,
Oxford, and the other a Decorative
Study of a Cock^ from a drawing by
Edward J. Detmold, a young artist
who, as most of our readers know, has
displayed a remarkable genius for por-
traying animal life. Bower's portrait
of King Charles is of unique historic
interest, since it represents him at a
moment when the shadow of an igno-
minious death was already upon him.
The size of this print is 17 J by 13^
inches, and that of the other 12I by
18 inches, and the prices are 4J. td,
and 3^. (id. respectively.
255
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T
The Lay Figure
HE LAY FIGURE: ON KEEP-
ING UP TO DATE.
"How unaccountable are the aberra-
tions of the human mind ! " sighed the Art Critic.
"How inconsistent people are, and how little
common-sense do they display ! "
"What is the matter?" laughed the Man with
the Red Tie. " This is an unusual frame of mind
for you to be in. Has anything serious happened
to give you a specially gloomy view of life ? "