International studio (15.1901/1902(1902))

Reviews

wider circle of readers. The ground covered in it
has not been so thoroughly explored as that of
decorative art, and where there are some ten con-
noisseurs able to appreciate at their true value
works of painting, sculpture, or architecture, there
are hundreds eagerly interested in Furniture and
Decoration. Written in the incisive style character-
istic of everything from the pen of Lady Dilke,
every chapter of this unique volume is a fresh
illustration of her thorough grasp of her subject,
her masculine decision of judgment, her power of
sifting evidence and of building up out of ap-
parently conflicting facts a really trustworthy
theory. Her lucid, vigorous language carries con-
viction with it, and the student is led on step by
step to conclusions of which he realises the in-
evitableness, although in many cases they are not
in accordance with those at which he would have
arrived by his unaided efforts.

The Decorative Work of Robert and James
Adam. Being a Reproduction of the Plates
illustrating Decoration and Furniture, from their
“Works in Architecture,” published in 1778-1812.
(London : B. T. Batsford.)—This is not the first
time that Mr. B. T. Batsford has done full justice
to the historical work in design by the Brothers
Adam, but as many as twenty-one years have
passed since he issued a set of twenty-six plates
from the “Works in Architecture.” In the present
edition will be found twenty-five of the plates pub-
lished in the first issue (November, 1880), and to
these are added five new designs from the “Works
in Architecture.” The publisher has now done all
that can be done in order to put before students
of architecture a facsimile record of the most
characteristic work designed by Robert and James
Adam. The old engravings have been admirably
rendered in photo-lithography by Mr. James
Akerman, and it may be said with truth that
architects of all schools, after studying the plates
attentively, will find that their minds will be
refreshed and invigorated. Even those to whom
the ornamental detail will seem trivial, not to say
trifling, will be delighted by the spacious dignity
of proportion in much of the work represented.

Shakespeare's Heroines. By Mrs. Jameson.
With decorative designs by R. Anning Bell.
(London: J. M Dent & Co., New York: E. P.
Dutton & Co.) Price 5 a. net. — Mr. Anning
Bell’s work, so familiar to readers of The Studio,
is essentially decorative, and rarely dramatic; and
in his illustrations to this reprint of Mrs. Jameson’s
fascinating essays, the beauty and the limitations
of his art are especially apparent. A book dealing

with such characters as Portia, Juliet, Ophelia, or
Cleopatra would seem to open up great possibilities
for the artistic imagination. The incomparable
Portia, whose “strength of intellect takes a natural
tinge from the flush and bloom of her young and
prosperous existence, and from her fervent imagina-
tion ” ; Juliet with her “passionate, self-abandon-
ment ”; the good, the sweet, the fair Ophelia
“cast upon the briars of this working-day world,”
to “ fall and bleed upon the thorns of life ”;
the capricious “enchanting queen” and “witch”
Cleopatra; each and all are problems worthy the
skill of the greatest painter to portray. Such
dramatic presentments as would be therein implied,
Mr. Anning Bell has, we think most wisely, not
attempted ; and we say this, not that we question
his possession of the required ability to express
them, but because we consider that decorative
illustration is not only less disturbing and less
pretentious but it is more appropriate for book
ornamentation than the purely pictorial or natural
element in design. It is only the true book-lover
who is quite able to appreciate this sentiment;
but as our knowledge and acquaintanceship with
books ripen, the more we feel that the reproduc-
tion of the naturalistically painted subject is out of
harmony with the printed page. Mr. Bell’s illus-
trations belong to the text and are part of the
book. They relieve the monotony of the greyness
of the type and have a distinguished delicacy
which is pleasing to the most fastidious eye.

Poets of the Younger Generation. By William
Archer. With thirty-three full-page portraits from
woodcuts by Robert Bryden. (London and New
York : John Lane.) Price 21 s. net.—In this bulky
and well-appointed volume Mr. Archer has under-
taken on behalf of the younger generation of poets
the same service as The Studio has consistently
attempted to render to the younger generation of
artists. In the hope of enhancing the reader’s
estimate of the value of contemporary poetry he
has set himself the task of defining and appraising
the talent of individual poets who are still more or
less on probation, whose position is still in some
degree a matter of doubt. In all, thirty-three
writers are dealt with, and in the quotations and
selections from their works accompanying his
critical remarks Mr. Archer has succeeded in
gathering together a striking body of poetry full of
strength, beauty, and originality. In handling the
mass of material at his disposal Mr. Archer has
brought to bear on the subject a mind well-
equipped for the delicate and somewhat formidable
undertaking. Broad-minded, alert, witty, keenly

2I5