Studio: international art (41.1907)

Reviews and Notices

especially in Germany, at the present time, devote a
great amount of attention to the planning of gardens;
though not, it seems, without vigorous opposition
on the part of landscape gardeners, who, as Prof.
Muthesius tells us, have at their gatherings through-
out Germany, uttered protest after protest against
the new movement. The gardens illustrated at the
end of his volume, are all of the regular, " archi-
tectonic " class, though not all of them exhibit the
same degree of formality. As regards the country
houses with which his volume mainly deals, the
diversity of design is too great to admit of any
general characterisation; they are represen'ative,
however, of the best tendencies in modern domestic
architecture and interior decoration. Here, as in
the case of Mr. Mawson's book, we have a volume
which should be in the hands of every one who is
interested in domestic architecture and gardening,
whether as architect, designer, or client.

Dante and his Italy. By Lonsdale Ragg,
B.D. (London: Methuen.) \2S. 6d. net.—To
look at Italy through the eyes of Dante himself,
and having looked to realise her for others, as she
appeared to the poet during his sojourn upon earth,
has been the chief aim of the author of this new
study. Canon Ragg is steeped to the finger tips in
Dantesque lore, is thoroughly familiar with every-
thing written by the man to whom his book is
one long tribute of homage, and is gifted with
an imagination so vivid that he has been able
to piece together a very realistic picture of the
period at which his hero lived. He begins with
a rapid sketch of the state of Europe as a whole at
what he calls the " critical moment of Dante's life,
the ideal state of his vision," passing on to concen-
trate his attention first on Italy, then on Plorence,
and finally on Dante himself, tracing his literary
antecedents, calling up one after another the pos-
sibilities of his contemporary authors and of bis
hosts during the weary wanderings of his exile, the
narrative terminating with an eloquent account of
the last days at Ravenna, and of the impression
caused by the news that the great genius had passed
away.

Eighteenth-Century Prints. By Julia Frankau.
(London and New York : Macmillan.) js. 6d. net.
—This new edition of a publication that was the
outcome of ten years of close study and has taken
the position of an authority on the subject of
eighteenth-century stipple engravers and their work
in colour, appears very opportunely, when many
experts are struggling to conquer the difficulties
that still beset the adequate interpretation of
the masterpieces of the past by means of the

colour process. "She has," to use her own words,
" endeavoured to tell the history of the courtship
and marriage of stipple engraving with colour-
printing, and to recognise and identify their legiti-
mate offspring." Moreover—and this is the secret
of the charm of her narrative—she has managed to
realise in a really remarkable way the personalities
of those who aided in bringing about that union.

Atlraverso gli Albi e le Cartelle. By Vittorio
Pica. (Bergamo: Instituto Italiano d'Arti Grafiche.)
Parts IV., V., and VI.—The three new numbers
of this useful publication contain a very representa-
tive series of reproductions of Dutch, Belgian,
French, Italian, and English black-and-white work,
prominence having been given to that of Aubrey
Beardsley which seems to appeal with peculiar force
to the Italian imagination. As a rule the selections
are made with discriminating care, but it would
have been well if some of the drawings in Part IV.
had been omitted.

Messrs. Dent & Co. have added to their series
of " The Art Collections of Europe" A Guide to
the Paintings in the Florentine Galleries (3^. 6d. net)
by Maud Cruttwell. The words on the title-
page, "A critical catalogue with quotations from
Vasari," explain the scope of the book; and
numerous miniature illustrations are given of im-
portant pictures described. On somewhat similar
lines, except as regards the quotations, is Edith
Harwood's Notable Pictures in Rome, also pub-
lished by Messrs. Dent (4s. 6d. net).

A print which will prove of great interest to
Oxonians is that which Messrs. Ryman & Co., of
Oxford, are issuing of The College of St. Mary de
Winton, or New College, from a pen drawing by
Mr. Edmund Hort New. Mr. New's aim has been
to give a comprehensive view of the College
buildings, and to achieve this purpose he has fol-
lowed the method adopted by Loggan in his Oxonia
Illustrata, by taking the buildings from an
imaginary elevated standpoint. The print is a
photogravure, and is issued at £1 is.

The Report of the Principal of the London
County Council School of Photo-Engraving and
Lithography (published at the School in Bolt
Court, Fleet Street) shows that substantial progress
was made during the eleventh session, with which
the report deals, in the various departments of the
institution. Accompanying the report are some
excellent examples of reproductions executed and
printed by the students, the high standard of the
work reflecting great credit on the Principal and
his staff, under whose supervision they were done.

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