International studio (47.1912)

Reviews and Notices

(London : Hutchinson.) 65.—In this book are set
forth principles upon which the author has con-
structed a colour-organ, with a view to the produc-
tion of colour-music by means of the projection of
mobile colour upon a screen. An endeavour is
made to show the use of such music, and the
emotional influences of colour are examined.
Points of analogy are remarked between sound
and colour, and resemblances between music and
mobile colour. But colour-music is independent
of accompaniment by music, its appeal being
through the eye alone. The chief difficulty that
occurs to us is that of securing quality in colour,
as quality of tone is understood by musicians.
The author in one place makes the attempt to get
over the difficulty of those who instinctively ask for
form in association with colour, but we do not find
him dealing with the far more important question
of that relation of colour to substance in nature
which is the source of all the most profound
feeling in the art of painting. Since artificial white
light has dispelled beauty of colour from the
stage, we see insurmountable difficulties in the
way of its bringing it back again in the concert-
room. The book contains diagrams and illus-
trations of the organ. It is prefaced by a note
from Sir H. von Herkomer, R.A., M.V.O., and a
short note from Dr. W. Brown, of King’s College,
London.
Edinburgh Revisited. By James Bone. (Lon-
don : Sidgwick and Jackson, Ltd.) 21J. net.—In
this volume the author, a Glasgow man, has taken
stock ot Edinburgh after a long absence in the
South, and noted some of the changes that have
taken place in the interval. He made a special
point of exploring those Old Town buildings which
were once the residences of the upper classes, but
are now the haunts of the very poor, in search of
relics of their former splendour. The book is
written in a pleasant vein, and the only drawback
to it is that it is too bulky. Mr. Hanslip Fletcher
has contributed a large number of drawings,
giving picturesque glimpses of the city and its
surroundings.
The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles.
By Ella S. Armitage. (London : John Murray.)
15.L net.—This valuable work deals with a subject
which although of great interest is only studied by
comparatively few ; but to all students of the history
and architecture of old Norman castles in these
islands, and to all who are interested in archaeology
generally, this book should strongly appeal, bearing
as it does evidence of wide knowledge and careful
research on the part of the author.
1 70

Hirtenflote. By Arthur Schnitzler. Illus-
trated by eight etchings and an etched portrait of the
author by Brof. F. Schmutzer. (Vienna : Deutsch-
Oesterreichischer Verlag.) Price 60 kronen.—
Arthur Schnitzler, the well-known Viennese writer
and dramatist, has written a delightful visionary love
allegory expressed in charming prose lyrics, which
Prof. F. Schmutzer has interpreted with eight
miniature etchings of a singular refinement and
rare power of expression. This is exactly what we
unconsciously demand from the artist, who has here
shown the same mastery of the needle and lofty
purpose in miniature which is everywhere per-
ceptible in those large plates for which he is
held in such high esteem. The book is printed on
hand-made paper and the edition is limited; the
book-covers, in tooled leather, are designed by Prof.
Hoffmann and executed by the Wiener Werkstatte,
and harmonise with text and illustrations ; and thus,
small as the book is, it is indeed a work of art
from every point of view, and worthy a place on
the shelves of all bibliophiles.
Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors,
and Architects. By Giorgio Vasari. Newly trans-
lated by Gaston Du C. Vere. (London: Mac-
millan and Co. and the Medici Society.) Vol. I.
255-. net.—Many are the editions which have been
published of Vasari’s Vite de piu eccellenti Pittori
Scultori e Architetti, that for nearly four centuries
has maintained its reputation as the chief authority
on its subject as well as a model of biographical
style, but the one of which the first volume has
just appeared bids fair to excel them all. Newly
translated by an accomplished scholar with a con-
summate knowledge of the language in which it is
written, who has preserved the letter as well as the
spirit of the original text far better than certain of
his predecessors, admirably printed and enriched
with a great number of excellent illustrations that
form a pictorial record of the evolution of Italian
Renaissance art, the publication when the ten
volumes into which it is to be divided are all issued
will indeed merit an honoured place in every
connoisseur’s library. Unencumbered by notes
except such as are absolutely necessary for the
explanation of obsolete local terms, Mr. Vere’s
rendering may justly be said to be pure unadul-
terated Vasari, with all its author’s bright vivacity
and nciivete retained. Students who do not know
Italian can with its aid go straight to what will ever
remain a true fountainhead of information con-
cerning the Early Renaissance and the glorious
Golden Age during which one master spirit after
another arose, each inspired by some noble aim.