DOI Heft:
Nr. 156 (February 1910)
DOI Artikel:Reviews and notices
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19868#0527
Reviews and Notices
silently io rest; And hidden by the sleeve of Night
and Morn ; Oh, plagued no more with Human or
Divine; and Oh Thou, who Man of baser Earth didst
make, are worthy to rank with the best work Mr.
Dulac has given us. The volume is excellently
produced in every respect, and should enjoy a
well deserved success. Mr. Heath Robinson has,
by sheer merit, gained for himself a prominent
position amongst English illustrators of the day,
and he has in this branch of art produced nothing
finer than the series of coloured and pen-and-ink
drawings for Kipling's " Song of the English."
The black-and-white illustrations are particularly-
good, and show a breadth of feeling and execution
and a facility for suggesting effects which are at
once satisfying and convincing ; indeed it is sur-
prising that with the paucity of inspiration to be
gathered from the letterpress he should have been
able to accomplish so much. Many of the
coloured drawings, too, are excellent, especially
The wrecks dissolve above us; Auckland; Cape Town;
and Calcutta. This book again is well presented,
and should be popular not only amongst the
many admirers of Kipling, but also with those who
appreciate the work of a talented illustrator. With
regard to Mr. Edward Detmold's illustrations of
" The Fables of /Esop," we must admit a certain
feeling of disappointment. The subjects are such
as must have appealed very strongly to this original
and clever artist, and yet the drawings fail to
convince us of the fact. It is possible the
coloured reproductions do not do full justice to
the originals, but of this we are not able to form
an opinion. Some of the simpler compositions,
notably The Ants and the Grasshopper; The
Mountain in Labour; The Monkey and the Fisher-
man; and The Hare and the Tortoise, axe. delightful;
but those in which the artist has introduced a more
extensive arrangement of colours are often confus-
ing, and appear to us to lack those high decorative
qualities which we are accustomed to associate with
his work. We are compelled to judge the art of
Mr. Detmold, and that of his late brother, by a
high standard, and we cannot help feeling that in
some of these twenty-five illustrations he has
failed to do himself full justice. Nevertheless,
there is much to admire in this volume for those
who are interested in the work of Mr. Detmold,
and he has an extensive public. The two
Shakespearian books are produced in an attractive
form and at a reasonable price. Mr. Thomson's
forty dainty drawings lend themselves admirably
to the process of reproduction in colour, while Sir
James Linton is invariably seen at his best when
depicting Shakespearian characters and episodes.
Mr. Cuming's book is one which will appeal very
strongly to the devotee of the open-air life. The
average sportsman is not much of a reader, but he
will find here an abundance of matter to entertain
him, for the book deals with a large range of out-
door sports other than those usually classed as
athletic. Besides chapters on hunting, shooting
and fishing of various kinds, there are others on
coaching, tandem-driving, coursing, polo, deer-
stalking, falconry, racing and steeplechasing, and
anecdote and adventure are so plentifully intro-
duced that the reader can have no reason to
complain of being bored. The illustrations, thirty-
one in number, and all in colour, fully maintain
the high reputation enjoyed by Mr. Armour in this
specialised branch of pictorial art. Especially
good are those relating to the hunt, for here the
artist reigns supreme ; and remarkably successful
too are his drawings illustrating sport in the past.
An uncommon note is given to these prints by
the little drawings at the foot of each like the
remarque on the margin of an etching.
The Medici. By Colonel G. F. Young, C.B.
(London : John Murray.) 2 vols., 365. net.—
Many monographs dealing with individual mem-
bers of the famous house of Medici, which for
three centuries dominated the politics of Italy,
and through Italy of the whole of Europe, have
already appeared, but it has been reserved to
Colonel Young to trace the history of the family
as a whole, from the birth in 1366 of its founder,
Giovanni de Medici, to the death in 1743 of his
last descendant, the Princess Anna Maria Lodovica.
In two copiously illustrated volumes of enthralling
interest the author, whose arduous task has evi-
dently been a labour of love, after indulging in an
enthusiastic eulogy of Florence, and relating all
that is known of Giovanni, follows the fortunes,
first of the elder and then of the younger branch
of his family. Full of dramatic incidents such as
the exile and triumphant return to Florence of
Cosimo, the murder of Giuliano de Medici, and
the miraculous escape of his brother Lorenzo in
the dastardly Pazzi conspiracy, the brave defence
by Clarice de Medici of her ancestral home, and
the flight of the young Catharine de Medici,
the future wife of Henri II. of France, the
fascinating narrative also contains scholarly essays
in art and letters, with biographies of their chief
exponents, and with its appendices giving genea-
logical tables, plans, etc., it will no doubt at
once take a place amongst standard Renaissance
literature.
337
silently io rest; And hidden by the sleeve of Night
and Morn ; Oh, plagued no more with Human or
Divine; and Oh Thou, who Man of baser Earth didst
make, are worthy to rank with the best work Mr.
Dulac has given us. The volume is excellently
produced in every respect, and should enjoy a
well deserved success. Mr. Heath Robinson has,
by sheer merit, gained for himself a prominent
position amongst English illustrators of the day,
and he has in this branch of art produced nothing
finer than the series of coloured and pen-and-ink
drawings for Kipling's " Song of the English."
The black-and-white illustrations are particularly-
good, and show a breadth of feeling and execution
and a facility for suggesting effects which are at
once satisfying and convincing ; indeed it is sur-
prising that with the paucity of inspiration to be
gathered from the letterpress he should have been
able to accomplish so much. Many of the
coloured drawings, too, are excellent, especially
The wrecks dissolve above us; Auckland; Cape Town;
and Calcutta. This book again is well presented,
and should be popular not only amongst the
many admirers of Kipling, but also with those who
appreciate the work of a talented illustrator. With
regard to Mr. Edward Detmold's illustrations of
" The Fables of /Esop," we must admit a certain
feeling of disappointment. The subjects are such
as must have appealed very strongly to this original
and clever artist, and yet the drawings fail to
convince us of the fact. It is possible the
coloured reproductions do not do full justice to
the originals, but of this we are not able to form
an opinion. Some of the simpler compositions,
notably The Ants and the Grasshopper; The
Mountain in Labour; The Monkey and the Fisher-
man; and The Hare and the Tortoise, axe. delightful;
but those in which the artist has introduced a more
extensive arrangement of colours are often confus-
ing, and appear to us to lack those high decorative
qualities which we are accustomed to associate with
his work. We are compelled to judge the art of
Mr. Detmold, and that of his late brother, by a
high standard, and we cannot help feeling that in
some of these twenty-five illustrations he has
failed to do himself full justice. Nevertheless,
there is much to admire in this volume for those
who are interested in the work of Mr. Detmold,
and he has an extensive public. The two
Shakespearian books are produced in an attractive
form and at a reasonable price. Mr. Thomson's
forty dainty drawings lend themselves admirably
to the process of reproduction in colour, while Sir
James Linton is invariably seen at his best when
depicting Shakespearian characters and episodes.
Mr. Cuming's book is one which will appeal very
strongly to the devotee of the open-air life. The
average sportsman is not much of a reader, but he
will find here an abundance of matter to entertain
him, for the book deals with a large range of out-
door sports other than those usually classed as
athletic. Besides chapters on hunting, shooting
and fishing of various kinds, there are others on
coaching, tandem-driving, coursing, polo, deer-
stalking, falconry, racing and steeplechasing, and
anecdote and adventure are so plentifully intro-
duced that the reader can have no reason to
complain of being bored. The illustrations, thirty-
one in number, and all in colour, fully maintain
the high reputation enjoyed by Mr. Armour in this
specialised branch of pictorial art. Especially
good are those relating to the hunt, for here the
artist reigns supreme ; and remarkably successful
too are his drawings illustrating sport in the past.
An uncommon note is given to these prints by
the little drawings at the foot of each like the
remarque on the margin of an etching.
The Medici. By Colonel G. F. Young, C.B.
(London : John Murray.) 2 vols., 365. net.—
Many monographs dealing with individual mem-
bers of the famous house of Medici, which for
three centuries dominated the politics of Italy,
and through Italy of the whole of Europe, have
already appeared, but it has been reserved to
Colonel Young to trace the history of the family
as a whole, from the birth in 1366 of its founder,
Giovanni de Medici, to the death in 1743 of his
last descendant, the Princess Anna Maria Lodovica.
In two copiously illustrated volumes of enthralling
interest the author, whose arduous task has evi-
dently been a labour of love, after indulging in an
enthusiastic eulogy of Florence, and relating all
that is known of Giovanni, follows the fortunes,
first of the elder and then of the younger branch
of his family. Full of dramatic incidents such as
the exile and triumphant return to Florence of
Cosimo, the murder of Giuliano de Medici, and
the miraculous escape of his brother Lorenzo in
the dastardly Pazzi conspiracy, the brave defence
by Clarice de Medici of her ancestral home, and
the flight of the young Catharine de Medici,
the future wife of Henri II. of France, the
fascinating narrative also contains scholarly essays
in art and letters, with biographies of their chief
exponents, and with its appendices giving genea-
logical tables, plans, etc., it will no doubt at
once take a place amongst standard Renaissance
literature.
337