Studio: international art (54.1912)

Reviews and Notices

them. There is present to his mind what must so
often have been present to Dickens's own, the rela-
tionship of humour and beauty, as well as of humour
and ugliness. There is some psychology too in
Mr. Reynolds's drawing— Uriah Heep (p. 369) for
instance. Was there charm in Dickens's writings ?
Mr. Reynolds thinks so, as every one will see who
turns to his illustration I fall into Captivity^. 254).
Everything can be said for the general get-up of
this interesting volume.

Christmas Carol. By Charles Dickens. With
illustrations by A. C. Michael. (London:
Hodder and Stoughton.) 6s. net.—Mr. A. C.
Michael contributes the colour illustrations;
smaller pen-drawings are contributed by Mr. A. J.
Gough. Traditional lines have been followed, but
mere caricature avoided.

The Natural History and Antiquities of Selbourne.
Illustrated in colour by George Edward Collins,
R.B.A. (London: Macmillan and Co.) \os. 6d.
net.—With the advent of the illustrated books
of Christmas every year we have to insist on the
observance of an important point—the difference
between a landscape to be looked at in a book
and one to be observed at an altogether different
distance on the wall. Mr. Collins has borne this in
mind ; a discreet and not laboured insistence upon
outline, and no too reckless indulgence in " atmo-
spheric effects" are, we think, the secrets of his
success as an illustrator. Tastefully bound and
carefully printed, this is a book to be pressed upon
the attention of people interested in "Selbourne."

The Sensitive Plant. Illustrations by Charles
Robinson. (London: Heinemann.) 15j-.net.—
The inside cover design of this book in style reflects
Beardsley of The Savoy. The design on the next
page, without owing anything to him for character,
does not neglect his convention, and we could wish
it could have been run throughout the book—as it
reappears on page 81. A convention never sur-
passed for the printed page, it is not by any means
exhausted, and it seldom enough falls into such
good hands as those of Mr. Robinson, who is a
sound draughtsman and scholarly designer. This
book in white vellum with gold design and
supplements in colour in addition to page designs
by the artist is sumptuous in effect. It contains,
we may add, an introduction from the pen of Mr.
Edmund Gosse.

The more important illustrated gift-books of the
present season which have reached us in time for
review in this number have been separately noticed
above, but there remain a few others which call for
briefer notice here. One is a new story by Mrs.

Hodgson Burnett under the title of The Secret Garden
(Heinemann, 6s.), which we commend to the notice
of parents not only because of its beautifully clear
type and excellent illustrations in colour by Mr.
Charles Robinson, but because as a piece of litera-
ture it is thoroughly wholesome in tone as well as
entertaining. Messrs. Hodder and Stoughton have
enlisted the services of nearly a dozen artists for
the illustration of Francis Turner Palgrave's uni-
versally popular Golden Treasury of the Best Songs
and Lyrical Poems in the English Language (6s. net.)
The illustrations are all in colour, and the edition
is well got up as regards typography and binding.
From Messrs. Black we have an attractive edition of
Grimm's Fairy Tales (6s.), with illustrations in colour
by Charles Folkard, and from Messrs. Macmillan
a reprint of The Lngoldsby Legends ($s. net), with
sixteen coloured illustrations by H. G. Theaker,
who while he shows a more disciplined hand than
Mr. Folkard, also betrays like this artist the in-
fluence of Mr. Rackham. Messrs. Bell have added
to their popular " Queen's Treasures" series
(2s. 6d. net per vol.) a reprint of Charlotte Bronte's
Tane Eyre, to which Mr. Clement Shorter has
written an introduction, and Miss Wheelhouse,
who has illustrated other volumes in the same
series, has contributed a pictorial commentary.

We must not omit to mention here two books of
Irish tales recently issued by Messrs. Maunsel and
Co., of Dublin. One is The Kiltartan Wo?ider Book
(3.?. 6d. net), containing a number of stories as told
to Lady Gregory by Irish peasants, and written down
by her almost verbatim ; the other is a volume of
Celtic Wonder-Tales (3.?. 6d. net), retold by Ella
Young in her own phraseology. Both are books
from which the student of folk-lore may derive in-
terest. Lady Gregory's book contains a number ot
illustrations in colour by Margaret Gregory, which
in their quaintness make an appropriate accompani-
ment to the letterpress. The other volume is
illustrated in colour by Maud Gonne, who also
contributes some black-and-white decorations to
the book, the Celtic character being pronounced.

We have received some samples of a new kind
of hook for hanging pictures, &c, which appears
to us to be an improvement on the kind usually
employed for fastening to walls. It is called the
X-hook, and is attached to the wall by means of
fine but strong steel pins pressed or driven into
the wall in a downward direction, the pins being
easily removed by means of a knob with a milled
edge without damaging the wall.

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