DOI issue:
No.9 (December, 1893)
DOI article:Books for Christmas presents, and others
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.17189#0120
New Publications
The Life of Michel Angelo Buonarroti. By John
Addington Symonds. 2 vols. (London : J. C.
Nimmo. 2\s.)—The second edition of this book,
which has already taken classic rank, is in many
respects more desirable than the first, since it
embodies some pages of replies to criticisms,
which are of considerable interest. It is but rarely
that the literature of art gains so important a work
as this, which towers among the ephemeral gossip
on modern schools, much as Michel Angelo him-
self towers above their lesser heroes. In a day
when the extreme rebound from the tyranny of
the old Masters has landed into a cosmopolitan
indifference to anything but the latest " move-
here. Among the most beautiful plates are the
Choir Screen of Palencia, a superb example of
metal work; the Staircase of Burgos, details of
houses at Salamanca, an exquisite iron screen from
Toledo Cathedral. Although the plates are
measured drawings, set out in architectural man-
ner, many of them are in perspective with a bold
treatment of wash, singularly well preserved in the
reproductions. The book should give new vitality
to the Renaissance style of architecture among us ;.
for both in buildings and their decorations the
Italian variety most usually chosen has been worn
threadbare by the constant imitation. If .'Mr.
Prentice can induce a new departure in the style
)
>
■ 7
V r''f ' \b
' THE ARCIERI." A DRAWING IN RED CHALK (FROM SYMONDS' "MICHAEL ANGELO." NIMMO)
ment," such a book as this is a healthy tonic. The
illustrations, some fifty in number, are adequate in
all cases, and in some notably good, while the paper,
print, and binding are in immaculate taste. For
a Christmas present to a serious student what could
be better ?
Renaissance Architecture and Ornament in Spain.
By Andrew D. Prentice. (London : Batsford.)—
The interest of this stately folic is not confined to
its sixty full pages of drawings selected from " the
purest works executed between the years 1500-
1560," but begins with the very title-page itself, a
singularly beautiful example of the revival of fine
printing. One of the first impressions left by the
study of modern Renaissance work in the United
States is that its undoubted freshness is due in
no slight degree to the study of Spanish work of
the period Air. Prentice has so admirably set forth
108
his book will be as great a national benefit as it is.
already an artistic triumph.
Fairy Tales from the Arabian Nights. Illus-r-
trated by J. D. Batten. (London : J. M. Dent
& Co.)—The text of this edition, selected from
Galland's translation, by Miss E. Dixon, is obvi-
ously but the excuse for a quantity of highly
imaginative illustrations by a very accomplished
limner of fairyland—Mr. J. D. Batten, The fine
photogravures, admirably executed by the Swan
Electric Engraving Co., are as good as—one
might almost say better than—those to any chil-
dren's book one recalls. Midway between the
severely conventional and the purely naturalistic,,
they catch some of the beauty of both schools.
The frontispiece especially is clever. The designs
have fancy, power, and grim humour, Si?idbad in the
Rocs Nest being a really delightful bit of diablerie.
The Life of Michel Angelo Buonarroti. By John
Addington Symonds. 2 vols. (London : J. C.
Nimmo. 2\s.)—The second edition of this book,
which has already taken classic rank, is in many
respects more desirable than the first, since it
embodies some pages of replies to criticisms,
which are of considerable interest. It is but rarely
that the literature of art gains so important a work
as this, which towers among the ephemeral gossip
on modern schools, much as Michel Angelo him-
self towers above their lesser heroes. In a day
when the extreme rebound from the tyranny of
the old Masters has landed into a cosmopolitan
indifference to anything but the latest " move-
here. Among the most beautiful plates are the
Choir Screen of Palencia, a superb example of
metal work; the Staircase of Burgos, details of
houses at Salamanca, an exquisite iron screen from
Toledo Cathedral. Although the plates are
measured drawings, set out in architectural man-
ner, many of them are in perspective with a bold
treatment of wash, singularly well preserved in the
reproductions. The book should give new vitality
to the Renaissance style of architecture among us ;.
for both in buildings and their decorations the
Italian variety most usually chosen has been worn
threadbare by the constant imitation. If .'Mr.
Prentice can induce a new departure in the style
)
>
■ 7
V r''f ' \b
' THE ARCIERI." A DRAWING IN RED CHALK (FROM SYMONDS' "MICHAEL ANGELO." NIMMO)
ment," such a book as this is a healthy tonic. The
illustrations, some fifty in number, are adequate in
all cases, and in some notably good, while the paper,
print, and binding are in immaculate taste. For
a Christmas present to a serious student what could
be better ?
Renaissance Architecture and Ornament in Spain.
By Andrew D. Prentice. (London : Batsford.)—
The interest of this stately folic is not confined to
its sixty full pages of drawings selected from " the
purest works executed between the years 1500-
1560," but begins with the very title-page itself, a
singularly beautiful example of the revival of fine
printing. One of the first impressions left by the
study of modern Renaissance work in the United
States is that its undoubted freshness is due in
no slight degree to the study of Spanish work of
the period Air. Prentice has so admirably set forth
108
his book will be as great a national benefit as it is.
already an artistic triumph.
Fairy Tales from the Arabian Nights. Illus-r-
trated by J. D. Batten. (London : J. M. Dent
& Co.)—The text of this edition, selected from
Galland's translation, by Miss E. Dixon, is obvi-
ously but the excuse for a quantity of highly
imaginative illustrations by a very accomplished
limner of fairyland—Mr. J. D. Batten, The fine
photogravures, admirably executed by the Swan
Electric Engraving Co., are as good as—one
might almost say better than—those to any chil-
dren's book one recalls. Midway between the
severely conventional and the purely naturalistic,,
they catch some of the beauty of both schools.
The frontispiece especially is clever. The designs
have fancy, power, and grim humour, Si?idbad in the
Rocs Nest being a really delightful bit of diablerie.