International studio (47.1912)

Reviews and Notices

been given both in literature and art to men, and
he has done his best to remedy this inequality.
With a keen appreciation of feminine beauty he
combines a great love of children, and so long as a
painting, statue, or group in marble appeals to his
aesthetic sense he is comparatively indifferent to
its authorship. The very naivete of his criticism,
however, gives to it a charm of its own.
Romanesque Architecture in France. Edited by
Dr. Julius Baum. (London: William Heine-
mann.) 255. net.—The series of illustrations of
Romanesque architecture in France collected in
this volume graphically tell their own story of the
evolution of that most beautiful and dignified style,
but the introductory essay is disappointing. There
is nothing on the title-page to indicate that the
letterpress is a translation, but it bears on every
page the impress of its German origin. Fortunately
it is as brief as it is unsatisfactory, a dozen pages
in large type being considered enough to discuss a
subject of absorbing interest.
The Cathedrals of England and Wales. By
Francis Bond. (London : B. T. Batsford.) ^s. 6d.
net.—After running through three editions, Mr.
Bond has revised, and, indeed, remodelled, his
“ English Cathedrals Illustrated,” and the -new
edition which Mr. Batsford has issued under the
above title will, we are sure, meet with a hearty
welcome from students of ecclesiastical architecture.
The arrangement followed in this new edition of
treating each cathedral separately and in alpha-
betical order will prove a great convenience to the
traveller (for whose use a thin paper edition in limp
binding is published). The book contains over
two hundred remarkably clear illustrations from
photographs, nearly all new, and another feature
which enhances the usefulness of the handbook
is the addition of a series of ground plans on a
uniform scale of 100 feet to the inch.
Our Old Nursery Rhymes. The original tunes
harmonised by Alfred Moffat. Illustrated by
H. Willebeck Le Mair. (London : Augener, Ltd.,
and A. and C. Black.) 55-. net.—This collection
of nursery rhymes is to be commended to the
notice of parents not only because it contains in
addition to the words the musical scores to some
thirty of these time-honoured favourites, but also
and especially because of the delightful coloured
illustrations by Miss Le Mair, a Dutch young lady
who here reveals a remarkable talent for decorative
composition. Her line is dainty and her colour
vivacious; and in all her drawings we perceive
at work a genuine sympathy with the little ones
for whom the book is intended.

Fairies and Flowers. Poems by Francis Ward,
illustrations by “ Maggie.” (London : W. Heine-
mann.) 55-. net.—Writer and artist, printer and
publisher have combined to make this a really ideal
book for children. Miss Ward’s verses would, as
Mr. Turley says in a benedictory note, extract a
word of kindness from the Prince of Pedants and
a smile of friendliness from the King of Prigs.
And as for the illustrations by “ Maggie,” who we
learn is only nineteen, their charm is irresistible.
They are printed in colour from wood blocks by
the firm of Edmund Evans, and the text is in a fine
bold type which will not tire the eyes.
The Walpole Society, which was founded last
year to promote the study of the history of British
art, has issued to subscribers its first annual
volume. It contains a reprint of Nicholas Hilliard’s
treatise concerning “The Arte of Limning,” with
introduction and notes by Philip Norman, LL.D.;
a sketch of English mediaeval figure-sculpture, by
Prof. E. S. Prior; a paper on London and
Westminster painters in the Middle Ages; two
papers on Reynolds’s first portrait of Admiral
Keppel, one by Mr. L. O’Malley and the other by
Mr. Collins Baker; and finally a paper on Turner’s
Isle of Wight Sketch-book by Mr. A. J. Finberg,
with very fine collotype reproductions of over thirty
of the sketches. The other papers are also illustrated
by half-tone or other reproductions, and the volume
as a whole, which is printed at the Oxford University
Press, forms a worthy memorial of the society’s
inauguration.
Prof. Alfredo Melani, whose handbooks on the
history of Italian art are so well known, has recently
prepared a new edition of his Manuale di Scultura
Italiana antica e moderna, which, as now issued by
the house of Hoepli in Milan (lire 10.50), con-
tains more than double the matter in the two earlier
editions. The illustrations number over two hun-
dred, and the artists whose work is referred to
more than sixteen hundred. In the final chapter
on the Modern School Prof. Melani speaks very
plainly regarding what he considers one of the
sources of corruption in contemporary sculpture—
“ la monumentomania,” or “ statuomania,” as an
example of which he instances the great monument
(“ il monumentissimo ”) to King Victor Emanuel
inaugurated last year at Rome, but still incomplete.
Those whose taste lies in the direction of
“old world” homes may by writing to Messrs.
Bartholomew and Fletcher, of Tottenham Court
Road, London, obtain gratis a copy of an interest-
ing illustrated booklet recently published by them,
entitled “ An. Eighteenth-Century Home.”
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