International studio (32.1907)

Reviews and Notices

“THE TROMBONE PLAYER” BY GIOVANNI BOLDINI

the truth of Shelley’s poetical relation to Nature it is
only necessary to reverse all that he has already
said about Scott; Mr. Coleridge observes that
Coleridge was country-born but town-bred ; pro-
fessor Collins likens Tennyson’s descriptions to ex-
quisitely finished cameos, and Mr. Loftie humour-
ously observes in his essay on Keats at Enfield,
that the operation of church restoration was not
invented a hundred years ago. It is somewhat to
be regretted that the numerous illustrations of a
book of such varied attractions should all be from
a single hand, especially as, with some exceptions,
notably in his renderings of the Vale of Health,
Hampstead, and the Poet’s Walk, Eton, Mr.
Walker takes an essentially prosaic view of his sub-
jects, ignoring the delicate and mysterious grey
effects that are so characteristic of the atmosphere
of the British Isles. His love of red often leads
him astray, his reflections are not always true to
Nature, and it is sometimes a little difficult to re-
cognise his interpretations of familiar themes, such
as Byron’s Tomb, at Harrow, which, instead of
being perched on the edge of a hill has the appear-
ance of being in a flat, green field.

Te Tohunga: The Ancient Legends and Tradi-

tions of the Maoris. Collected and
pictured by W. Dittmer. (London :
George Routledge.) 25c. net.—Appro-
priately dedicated to the Right. Hon.
R. J. Seddon, who during his long term
of office did so much for New Zealand,
this collection of the quaint and grue-
some legends of New Zealand with their
weird interpretations in black-and-white,
will do much to clear up certain pro-
blems that have long puzzled the student
of folk lore. At first repelled but later
fascinated by the strange stories told
him by the tattooed natives with whom
he foregathered around their camp fires
during his wanderings, Mr. Dittmer
carefully wrote down all that he heard,
and later endeavoured with varying
success to give pictorial expression to
his notes. Specially noteworthy are the
Chant of Rangi-Nui, the Creation of
the Stars, the Fight of Night and Day,
and the Creation of New Zealand, the
illustrations of which are less weirdly
grotesque than those for instance of
Tiki and the Creation of Hawaiki, in
which the figures are mere caricatures
of humanity.

Three Vagabonds in Friesland with a
Yacht and a Camera. By H. F. Tomalin. With
photographic pictures by Arthur Marshall,,
A.R.I.B.A.,F.R.P.S. (London: Simpkin, Marshall.)
•js. 6d. net.—The purpose of this delightful volume,
as explained by one of the three “ vagabonds ” re-
sponsible for its production, is to divert rather than
educate, and it must certainly be conceded that its
primary aim has been fully realised, for the interest
is sustained from beginning to end, the reader
being kept constantly on the qui vive as to what is
coming next. The “vagabonds” were evidently
travellers of the best type, who left their insular
prejudices—if they ever had any—behind them,
made a point of getting into true rapport with the
natives, the charm of whose unsophisticated ways
they recognised, and met all the difficulties
with which they had to contend with cheery
brightness. Their experience proved how false
is the libel that in matters commercial the
fault of the Dutch is giving too little and asking
too much, for they met with nothing but kindness
from the countrymen with whom they were brought
into contact, the result of course in a great measure
of their own wisdom in not expecting too much.
To them the human interest always forcibly appealed,

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