Studio: international art (9.1897)

Reviews of Recent Publications

the supreme importance of Velasquez, the teacher
for all time. To do this simply and unaffectedly
is to have succeeded where scores have failed.

A Handbook of Art-Smithing. By Franz
Meyer. (London : B. T. Batsford.)—The only
thing about this charmingly produced volume one
can carp at is the unlucky adjective " Art" in its
title. It is really a most excellent manual, crowded
with examples of ancient work, for the most part
extremely well selected. The introduction is by
Mr. J. Starkie Gardner, and students of his ad-
mirable manuals of ironwork, know what that name
implies. Meyer's earlier volume, Handbook of Orna-
ment, is also a book that is always proving anew
its right to be regarded as the most useful reference
volume on one's shelves. There is much that is
new herein. " Bloomeries," for instance, is proved
to be not a slang term for flower-shows, and the
intricate manipulation of iron and other metals
reveals a whole domain of unsuspected ignorance.
The 214 designs are admirable, some few as
examples to avoid, notably Figs 78, 212; and
others, by far the larger number, both instructive
and pleasing. One is sorry to miss the beautiful
designs of a practical craftsman, Mr. Pepper, some
of which appeared in The Studio. Indeed, with-
out undue patriotism, it is open to doubt if
anything, even in this well-selected series, surpasses
them for novelty combined with beauty.

French Wood Carvings from the National
Museum. Part I. By Eleanor Rowe. (London :
B. T. Batsford.)—This portfolio of most admirable
collotypes, edited by the accomplished manager of
the School of Art Wood Carving, South Kensing-
ton, needs only to be seen to be purchased by all
persons interested in the craft, whether archcelogic-
ally or practically. While deprecating absolute
copying of old work, either in details or completely,
the most original designer is one who, steeped
in knowledge of the past, is able to forget its
phrases and idioms, and speak for himself in his
tongue the same truths the older men uttered in
their own way. The selection is confined to
examples of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth
centuries, and includes therefore pure Gothic as
well as the transitional style of the Cinquo Cento.

A very well written introduction adds value to
the selection, as it points out the less evident
beauties and adds many details of the relief of
the ornament and the like, which even these
excellent plates could not impart so accurately.
Miss Rowe must be weary of praise, yet this
will cause still more to be bestowed deservedly
upon her.

The Bondwoman : A Story oj the Northmen in
Lakeland. By W. G. Collingwood. (London :
Edward Arnold.)—The author of Thorstein of the
Mere, having failed to exhaust his entertaining
chronicles of the old life in the lake country in a
single volume, now gives us a second, and does so
with all the charm of manner and quaintness of
style that distinguished his previous excursion into
a very fascinating region. The romantic story is
well told, and the handy little volume is embellished
with a pleasantly designed title-page, while good
taste in printing and binding are conspicuously
present.

Shakespeare's Town and Times. By H. Snowden
Ward and Catherine Weed Ward. (London :
Dawbarn & Ward. js. 6d. net.)—Lovers of
Shakespeare owe a debt of gratitude to the authors
of this work for supplying them with a sumptuous,
and at the same time instructive, souvenir of the
great poet and the town with which his name is
immortally associated. The illustrations, which
number considerably over one hundred, consist for
the most part of finely executed half-tone repro-
ductions of photographs, and include the Gower
statue, the supposed original of the Droeshout
engraving, the Chandos portrait, the Stratford
portrait and the Davenant bust, in addition to in-
numerable views of Stratford-on-Avon, and of
interesting points in the surrounding neighbour-
hood. Such a valuable addition to Shakespearian
literature should command a ready sale on both
sides of the Atlantic.

Ye Booke of Nursery Rhymes. Set to music by
Joseph S. Moorat, and illustrated by Paul Wood-
roffe. (London: Bell & Sons. Price $s.)—As
the evenings lengthen, and healthy amusement has
to be found indoors for little people, there is no
more delightful means of entertainment than to
gaiher them around the pianoforte and teach them
the old nursery rhjmes of long ago. For precisely
such a purpose this book has been made, and that
it answers all requirements there can be no manner
of doubt. Bright tunes with words " writ large,"
and clever understandable pictures on almost every
page will make it a happy possession for many a
mother with a little family.

Across the Channel.—From the French 01
Gabriel Mourey (London : George Allen). This
volume forms the second of the " As Others See
Us " series edited by Mr. Joseph Jacobs, and will
assuredly be found of far greater value than its
predecessor. It is the outcome of a visit paid to
this country in the summer of 1894 by a brilliant
and cultured Parisian critic, whose name will be

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