Studio: international art (37.1906)

Reviews and Notices

all who have pictorial talent of any kind. It goes
to the very root of the matter, no detail being con-
sidered too trivial for examination. The student
is told, for instance, how to solve the difficult
problem of where to begin in making a sketch, and
many excellent hints are given to "special artists,"
whilst the amusing anecdotes told in the concluding
chapter are full of pregnant suggestion.

India. By Mortimer Menpes. Text by
Flora Annie Steel. (London : A. & C. Black.)
20s. net.—The comprehensive title given to this
attractive volume is somewhat misleading, for
though the text contains a brief summary of the
history of the great peninsula, only very few of ^ts
cities are dealt with by Mr. Menpes. Among the
best of his drawings are the Fruit Stalls of Delhi,
A Wandering Grain Merchant, A Bazaar in
Amritsar, and Watching a Native Workman ; but
in some of the others, notably the Benares, the
Bazaar at Peshawar, and the Unclassified Shop, the
point of view is not altogether well chosen, for they
lack those effects of perspective which are always so
great an element of charm. Mrs. Steel, too, seems
to have been to some extent hampered by the
necessity of keeping to the truth, and has failed to
give us a satisfactory consecutive narrative. Her
work is however full of vivid word pictures that vie
in richness of colouring with the best of the drawings
they supplement.

Country Cottages. By "Home Counties."
(London: Heinemann.) 6s. net.—It is no fafon
deparler to say that this book reads like a romance
with its revelations of the many difficulties that be-
set the path of the so-called " Backto-the-Lander "
and its clear expositions of how to conquer them.
No one who aspires to own a home of his own in
the country should fail to master its contents
before taking the initial steps to realise his ambi-
tion, for having done so he may be able to convert
romance into fact.

The Architects' Law Reports and Review. Illus-
trated. By Arthur Crow. (London: A. Crow.)
io.c net.—So numerous and important are the
legal suits which nowadays come before the Courts
on questions affecting the work of architects, sur-
veyors, and others concerned with building opera-
tions, that the publication of a volume such as this
meets a pressing need. Some fifty or more cases
are here reported in extenso, and where required
to elucidate the point in dispute illustrations and
plans have been added. The reports are preceded
by the full text of the London Building Acts
(Amendment) Act of last year. The legal editor
of the volume is Mr. A. F. Jenkin.

The Homes of Tennyson. Painted by Helen
Allingham, R.W.S. Described by Arthur
Paterson, F.R.Hist.S. (London : A.& C. Black.)
is. 6d. net.—To give a true picture of the homes
of the famous poet that should in no way trespass
on the sanctity in which they were held by him,
was a task needing the greatest tact, but it may
truly be said that Mr. Paterson has triumphantly
achieved it. There is not one word in his book
that could have wounded the susceptibilities of
Tennyson, yet the record is full of interest and
charm. It is a pity, however, that the illustrations
interpret only the summer aspect of the scenes the
poet loved, and give no hint of the storm and
stress in which he especially delighted.

Who's Who for 1906—(A. & C. Black), 7*. 6d.
net—is larger by nearly a hundred pages than last
year's. Among new features we note that in many
cases motor and telephone numbers and telegraphic
addresses have been given. Its value as a book of
reference is so generally recognised that commen-
dation is superfluous. The companion volume,
Who's Who Year-book (is. net), contains a variety
of useful information, which until last year used to
be given in the preliminary pages of the larger
volume. A new annual issued by the same pub-
lishers makes its debut this year under the title of
The Writers' and Artists' Year-Book (is. net). It
contains much information and useful advice for
those engaged in journalism.

The Year's Art—(Hutchinson & Co.), 7s. 6d. net —
is another of those annual publications which grow
in size as well as usefulness as the years go by.
The great mass of reliable information it contains
on all matters relating to art gives it a deservedly
high place amongst works of reference. It is inte-
resting to note that its" list of artists and art-workers
now comprises more than eight thousand names.

Willing's Tress Guide, published by J. Willing,
Jun., at the low price of is., is a handy and com-
prehensive register of the thousands of periodical
publications now current. The convenience of
advertisers and others has been consulted in the
various classifications which are given in addition
to the general alphabetical list.

The plate which the Art Union of London are
this year issuing to their subscribers is one which
is sure to prove popular, irrespective of its un-
doubted artistic qualities. It is an etching especially
executed for the Union by Mr. W. L. Wyllie,
A.R.A., from his picture of Trafalgar, October 21st,
iSoj, which was hung at the Academy last year.

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