DOI Heft:
No. 128 (October, 1907)
DOI Artikel:Reviews and notices
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.28252#0353
Reviews and Notices
latter on gossipy grounds, in that elusive atmo-
sphere of “ tea-cup ” times which old engravings
more than anything else have the power of reviving.
Art and the Camera. By Antony Guest.
(London : G. Bell & Sons.) 6.r. net.—Those who
in spite of the abundant evidence furnished by the
productions of leading photographers in Europe
and America, still contend that photography can
never come within the category of art, would do well
to peruse this volume, the chief aim of which is to
set forth the principles underlying artistic work.
Mr. Guest’s position is a thoroughly sound and
reasonable one ; he makes no extravagant claims
for photography, recognising that only in its higher
phases and when controlled by operators who
are endowed with artistic feeling can it yield
results that can rightly be called artistic. The
difference between artistic and mechanical photo-
graphy is, in fact, pretty much the same as that
between artistic and imitative painting; in both
cases it depends upon the worker and not upon
the implements he uses whether the product is
artistic. The numerous reproductions of photo-
graphic pictures which accompany Mr. Guest’s
exposition are from prints by well-known workers
in photography, and, though in some cases they
hardly do justice to the originals, they disclose
qualities which undoubtedly justify their being
regarded as works of art.
William Blake. Vol. I. : Illustrations of the
Book of Job, with Introduction by Laurence
Binyon. (London: Methuen.) 21 s. net.—Ad-
mirers of the work of William Blake, and their
numbers have of late years been continually on the
increase, will eagerly welcome the very beautiful
reproductions of the masterpiece of his maturity—
the wonderful series of illustrations of the Book of
Job, in which he appears at his best alike as
designer and engraver. The subject evidently had
a peculiar fascination for Blake, and his marvellous
conceptions tell with a convincing force, never
surpassed, the pathetic story of the undeserved
sufferings of the patriarch and the final triumph of
his patient faith in the justice and mercy of God,
in spite of all the misery heaped upon him for no
apparent reason. In the three introductory essays
Mr. Laurence Binyon displays remarkable insight
into the character and aims of Blake, and defines
his peculiarities with subtle discrimination. Deal-
ing in the first with the poet-painter as a man, in
the second essay he proceeds to define the dis-
tinctive qualities of Blake’s work as an aitist,
special stress being laid on the fact that in the Job
designs the two long conflicting strains in their
author’s style, “ were grandly married and made
one.” Of Blake’s poetry also he shows himself a
most discriminating critic, but it is, perhaps, in his
notes on the individual Job engravings that he best
shows his appreciation of the essential qualities that
set them apart from all previous productions.
The second volume of Dr. de Gray Birch’s
History of Scottish Seals published by Mr. Eneas
Mackay of Stirling, was noticed in one of our
recent numbers, but as no reference to the first
volume has appeared in these columns, we should
mention that it deals with the Royal Seals of Scot-
land, the illustrations, of which there are fifty-
three, beginning with the seal of King Duncan II.,
and ending with the Scottish Seal of King Charles I.
of Great Britain. In this volume, as in the second,
dealing with the Ecclesiastic and Monastic Seals
of Scotland, Dr. Birch brings to bear his extensive
knowledge of the subject, an interesting one alike
to the historian and archaeologist. The third and
fourth volumes which remain to complete the work
are to deal respectively with the Seals of Local
and Corporate Bodies in Scotland, and Scottish
Personal and Family Seals. The price of each
volume is 12s. 6d.
The Year-Book of Photography and Amateur's
Guide for igoy-8, published by “ The Photographic
News,” under the editorship of Mr. F. J. Mortimer,
contains in addition to the usual fund of useful
formulas, data and general information, some
thoughtfully written articles by specially qualified
writers on the different divisions of photographic
work, each of them illustrated by numerous repro-
ductions of appropriate prints. The price of the
publication is 1 ,r. in paper; is. 6d. in cloth.
For French workers in photography the Annuaire
glneral et international de la Photographie, edited
by M. Roger Aubry and published by Plon-
Nourrit & Cie. (6 frs. cloth), is without a rival.
The issue for 1907, which has recently made its
appearance, contains numerous essays by recog-
nised authorities, among which we note as especially
interesting, an able treatise on the “ Chemistry of
Photography,” by MM. Wallon and Mathet; two
brief papers by Abel Buguet on “ Radiology and
Stereology,” one on “ Colour Photography,” by
M. Niewenglowski, and others on “ Telephoto-
graphy,” “ Stellar Photography,” etc. The illustra-
tions throughout are excellent.
Mr. Robert Little, R.W.S., requests us to state
that he has no second Christian name. In our
article on him last month he was erroneously called
Robert W, Little.
337
latter on gossipy grounds, in that elusive atmo-
sphere of “ tea-cup ” times which old engravings
more than anything else have the power of reviving.
Art and the Camera. By Antony Guest.
(London : G. Bell & Sons.) 6.r. net.—Those who
in spite of the abundant evidence furnished by the
productions of leading photographers in Europe
and America, still contend that photography can
never come within the category of art, would do well
to peruse this volume, the chief aim of which is to
set forth the principles underlying artistic work.
Mr. Guest’s position is a thoroughly sound and
reasonable one ; he makes no extravagant claims
for photography, recognising that only in its higher
phases and when controlled by operators who
are endowed with artistic feeling can it yield
results that can rightly be called artistic. The
difference between artistic and mechanical photo-
graphy is, in fact, pretty much the same as that
between artistic and imitative painting; in both
cases it depends upon the worker and not upon
the implements he uses whether the product is
artistic. The numerous reproductions of photo-
graphic pictures which accompany Mr. Guest’s
exposition are from prints by well-known workers
in photography, and, though in some cases they
hardly do justice to the originals, they disclose
qualities which undoubtedly justify their being
regarded as works of art.
William Blake. Vol. I. : Illustrations of the
Book of Job, with Introduction by Laurence
Binyon. (London: Methuen.) 21 s. net.—Ad-
mirers of the work of William Blake, and their
numbers have of late years been continually on the
increase, will eagerly welcome the very beautiful
reproductions of the masterpiece of his maturity—
the wonderful series of illustrations of the Book of
Job, in which he appears at his best alike as
designer and engraver. The subject evidently had
a peculiar fascination for Blake, and his marvellous
conceptions tell with a convincing force, never
surpassed, the pathetic story of the undeserved
sufferings of the patriarch and the final triumph of
his patient faith in the justice and mercy of God,
in spite of all the misery heaped upon him for no
apparent reason. In the three introductory essays
Mr. Laurence Binyon displays remarkable insight
into the character and aims of Blake, and defines
his peculiarities with subtle discrimination. Deal-
ing in the first with the poet-painter as a man, in
the second essay he proceeds to define the dis-
tinctive qualities of Blake’s work as an aitist,
special stress being laid on the fact that in the Job
designs the two long conflicting strains in their
author’s style, “ were grandly married and made
one.” Of Blake’s poetry also he shows himself a
most discriminating critic, but it is, perhaps, in his
notes on the individual Job engravings that he best
shows his appreciation of the essential qualities that
set them apart from all previous productions.
The second volume of Dr. de Gray Birch’s
History of Scottish Seals published by Mr. Eneas
Mackay of Stirling, was noticed in one of our
recent numbers, but as no reference to the first
volume has appeared in these columns, we should
mention that it deals with the Royal Seals of Scot-
land, the illustrations, of which there are fifty-
three, beginning with the seal of King Duncan II.,
and ending with the Scottish Seal of King Charles I.
of Great Britain. In this volume, as in the second,
dealing with the Ecclesiastic and Monastic Seals
of Scotland, Dr. Birch brings to bear his extensive
knowledge of the subject, an interesting one alike
to the historian and archaeologist. The third and
fourth volumes which remain to complete the work
are to deal respectively with the Seals of Local
and Corporate Bodies in Scotland, and Scottish
Personal and Family Seals. The price of each
volume is 12s. 6d.
The Year-Book of Photography and Amateur's
Guide for igoy-8, published by “ The Photographic
News,” under the editorship of Mr. F. J. Mortimer,
contains in addition to the usual fund of useful
formulas, data and general information, some
thoughtfully written articles by specially qualified
writers on the different divisions of photographic
work, each of them illustrated by numerous repro-
ductions of appropriate prints. The price of the
publication is 1 ,r. in paper; is. 6d. in cloth.
For French workers in photography the Annuaire
glneral et international de la Photographie, edited
by M. Roger Aubry and published by Plon-
Nourrit & Cie. (6 frs. cloth), is without a rival.
The issue for 1907, which has recently made its
appearance, contains numerous essays by recog-
nised authorities, among which we note as especially
interesting, an able treatise on the “ Chemistry of
Photography,” by MM. Wallon and Mathet; two
brief papers by Abel Buguet on “ Radiology and
Stereology,” one on “ Colour Photography,” by
M. Niewenglowski, and others on “ Telephoto-
graphy,” “ Stellar Photography,” etc. The illustra-
tions throughout are excellent.
Mr. Robert Little, R.W.S., requests us to state
that he has no second Christian name. In our
article on him last month he was erroneously called
Robert W, Little.
337