International studio (34.1908)

Reviews and Notices

the town, its racial history, the struggle between
the Church and Imperial Federation, the growth
of civic life, its reflection in art, etc. The purely
secular buildings are described as they were in the
golden age of the Republic and as they are now,
the way in which they reflect the life of the town
being very forcibly brought out. The whole book
is indeed instinct with the very spirit of Florence,
that virile community which, to quote Mr. Brown’s
own eloquent words, “ in the very decay and death
of the city proved its immortality, winning a wider
freedom in the very hour when Florentines seemed
only fit to be enslaved.” As compared with the
scholarly text with its impression of reserved power
the drawings of Mr. Railton cannot fail to appear
sketchy and inadequate, for they are but picturesque
fragments with little character about them and
with a mannerism so marked that at first sight the
buildings they represent seem to have little to diffe-
rentiate them from those depicted in other works
illustrated by the same artist.
The Royal Manor of Richmond. By Mrs. A. G.
Bell. (London: George Bell & Sons.) 7s. 6d.
net.—Though in her latest book Mrs. Bell cannot
be said exactly to break new ground, she never-
theless deserves great credit for gathering together,
from many different sources, all the information
possible upon the matter. She gives us a most in-
teresting and eminently readable history of Rich-
mond and the neighbourhood, and it is indeed well
that nowadays, when so many places, most interest-
ing in themselves, are being swallowed up by greater
London, some one should remind us, as Mrs. Bell
does, that each of them has its own associations
and its own individuality. The illustrations, of which
there are ten in colour by Mr. Arthur G. Bell, while
of rather unequal merit, are in several cases, for
instance the Maids of Honour Row and Wardrobe
Court, Richmond Palace, quite charming.
Erzahlungen einer kleinen Schere. By Heinrich
Wolff. (Konigsberg, Prussia : Aderjahn’s Verlag.)
8 Mks. 50.—In a note accompanying this portfolio of
“ shadow ” pictures, Herr Wolff tells us that he first
began to draw silhouettes when he was fifteen years
old as a change from the tedium of Greek grammar,
but that more serious pursuits occupying him, he
did not return to this kind of work until after a
lapse of many years. We presume that all, or at
all events most of the pictures included in this port-
folio, belong to the later stage, for they appear to
be the work of a practised draughtsman. They
include various kinds of subjects, some with figures
and others with landscape effects, many of them —
the latter especially—being exceedingly clever.

The second annual volume of Pictures and their
Value, which comes to us from H. C. Digby,
Eltham (105-. 6d. net), gives a record of the prices
realised at the picture sales conducted at the
principal London sale rooms during the season
1906 — 7. The faulty sequence of names in the
alphabetical list of painters, of which several
instances occur, is a serious blemish in a work of
this kind.
Several new volumes of the “ Masterpieces in
Colour” series, published by Messrs. T. C. and
E. C. Jack, have appeared since we referred to
this interesting and successful venture. One of
them is on Lord Leighton, by Mr. A. L. Baldry
(who is engaged on two others dealing with Millais
and Burne-Jones respectively); another is on
Holman Hunt, by Mary E. Coleridge, while Mr.
Bensusan writes on Titian. Each volume contains
eight pictures reproduced in colour and is published
at the low price of is. 6d. net.
Those who intend seeing the forthcoming his-
torical pageant at Chelsea should secure a copy of
the descriptive pamphlet giving a synopsis of the
scenes. The reproductions of rare old prints in it
are worth more than the twopence charged for it.
It may be obtained from the Pageant Committee,
at the Town Hall, Chelsea.
The latest volume of that excellent annual the
Photographisches Jahrbuch, edited by Herr Matthies-
Masuren, and published by Knapp of Halle-a-S.
(8 Mks. paper, 9 Mks. cloth), contains, as usual,
a large amount of interesting matter bearing on
the progress of artistic photography, illustrated
by an extensive series of attractive pictures con-
tributed by workers of different nationalities, special
prominence being given this time to those of
Austria.
Dressler’s Kunstjahrbitch for 1908 (Kuhtmano,
Dresden, 7 Mks.), has several new features which
increase the usefulness of this trustworthy book of
reference. The new German law of artistic copyright
is summarised; the biographical section, which now
fills about 250 pages, has been supplemented by a
classification of artists according to their speciali-
ties ; and in addition to the tariff setting forth the
remuneration of architects, there is given one
proposed at the last Congress of the Union of
German Arts and Crafts Societies for the re-
muneration of designers of certain classes of work.

In our February number we omitted to acknow-
ledge the Berlin Photographic Company as owners
of the copyright in the picture Dans la Foret, by
Franz Courtens, reproduced therein.

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