International studio (30.1906/1907(1907))

Reviews and Notices

tive text by Walter G. Bell. (London : John
Lane.) 42s. net.—The intention of this work is to
deal with the modern aspect of the Thames, which,
as Mr. Way says, is picturesque enough to be in-
teresting without any antiquarian flavour. In the
collaboration with Mr. Walter Bell as an author the
artist has found a student of the river as apprecia-
tive of its unfamiliar aspects as himself. Mr. Way’s
lithographs witness to his artistic scholarship. lie
manipulates his medium with that appreciation of
blacks and greys which constitutes its charm, and
yet he has not been led astray into a technique
showing virtuosity at the expense of topographical
truth. He has restrained his delight in the artistic
possibilities of the lithographic chalk within the
boundaries imposed by a very conscientious adher-
ence to fact and to the details and relative propor-
tions of buildings, etc. His ability to practise
this restraint is the secret of his success in a field
where many have failed who, like himself, have
brought to a topographical task full artistic appre-
ciation of their subjects. This happy conjunction
of qualities gives an exceptional and permanent
value to Mr. Way’s work. It will interest our
readers to know that two hundred and fifty of the
lithographs are for sale in separate copies, and a
special set of twenty-five hand-pulled proofs, twenty
of which are also for sale, have been printed. The
ordinary edition has been restricted to three hundred
and ten copies, and all the drawings have now been
erased from the stone.
Decorative Plant and Flower Studies, for the Use
of Artists, Designers, Students and Others. By
J. Foord. (London : Batsford.) 30s. net.—Some
five years ago Miss Foord published a volume of
“ Decorative Flower Studies,” which formed the
subject of a special notice in our pages (see The
Studio, July, 1901). Since that time she has been
engaged in preparing an entirely new series of
studies which now make their appearance in the
handsome quarto volume before us. We may say
at once that excellent as were her first series of
drawings, those now published show a distinct
improvement, not only, as Mr. Lewis Day says in
his introductory note to the volume, in respect of
draughtsmanship, but also as we certainly think in
composition. The forty subjects included in this
series cover a wide range; besides a goodly selec-
tion of herbaceous flowering plants, cultivated and
wild, there are shrubs like Pyrus Spectabilis, Pyrus
Japonica, Diervilia Rosea, Kerria Japonica, Azalea,
Oleander, Rhododendron, Privet and Snowberry,
climbers like Cobcea Scandens and Clematis j and
among trees the Tulip Tree, the Ash lyee, Arbutus,

and the Spindle Tree. Each subject is illustrated
by a full-page coloured plate and numerous draw-
ings of details in black and white, the former
reproduced by a French stencil process as was the
case with the first series. They are all remarkably
beautiful, though not all decorative in the same
degree; in this respect there are few so attractive as
the purple Salsify, a denizen of the kitchen garden,
whose decorative beauty as here presented is
quite a revelation. Throughout these studies Miss
Foord’s aim has been, as she says, not to give a
naturalistic presentation of the plant, but to express,
“ by simple and severe treatment of line, the whole
strength, delicacy, and character of the form.” It
is the realisation of this aim which gives to her
volume its great value as a source from which the
student of design may derive inspiration in
abundance; but apart from purposes of utility,
the drawings—the coloured ones at all events—
have an intrinsic beauty of their own which will
commend them to others besides students—to ah,
in fact, who, like the author, are lovers of mother
earth’s floral offspring.
British Malaya. By Sir Frank Swettenham,
K.C.M.G. (London: John Lane.) i6v. net.—
This new and authoritative work on the origin and
progress of British influence in the Malay Archi-
pelago, from the able pen of the late Governor of
the Straits Colony, will appeal not only to those
interested in the geographical and political questions
discussed, but also to the comparatively restricted
public who delight in Oriental art work unmodified
by Western influence. The author has supple-
mented the many photographic illustrations of
typical scenery, natives, houses, etc,, with some
noteworthy examples of Malay textile fabrics,
gold, silver, and mixed metal vessels, niello work,
weapons of various kinds (some of them richly
chased), and baskets of plaited fibre—certain of
them relics that have been handed down from
generation to generation, others of modern manu-
facture—all of which are now in the possession of
the author, who appears to combine with the
courage and resource of the sailor and the political
acumen of the diplomatist no little aesthetic feeling.
A Book of English Gardens. By M. R. Gloag.
With illustrations in colour by Katherine Mon-
tagu Wyatt. (London : Methuen.) iov. 6d. net.
—In his interesting essay on old gardens in general,
serving as introduction to a series of typical English
examples illustrated in colour, the author dwells on
the fact that the love of the cultivation of flowers
was inherent in the human race from the earliest
times, and has ever been an ennobling and refining
277