Studio: international art (75.1918)

Reviews

marionette-skeletons in a dance of death round
soaring flames. Though sombre fancies pre-
dominate, there is a great beauty of line in the
head of La Belle Giline, the spy-courtesan of
Courtrai (No.34), in the boldly drawn Notre
Dame of Antwerp (34), and notably in the sea-
pieces, one of which is here reproduced.

Canadian Wonder Tales. By Cyrus Mac-
millan. With illustrations in colour by George
Sheringham. (London : John Lane, The Bod-
ley Head.) 15s. net.—The " Wonder Tales "
included in this sumptuously illustrated volume
form part of a large collection gathered in
various parts of Canada, and most of them
among the haunts of the Indians, by Capt.
Macmillan of McGill University, who is now
serving with his University contingent in
France. They were collected by him for the
purpose of scientific study, but that fact does
not in the least detract from their suitability
for boys and girls, who will find them very
fascinating as well as a pleasant variation
from the collections of Grimm and other
European writers ; and they will also have an
opportunity of appreciating good art in the
beautiful illustrations of Mr. Sheringham, who,
if he has not had the advantage of immediate
contact with the environment in which these
folk-tales have been current, has undoubtedly
imbibed their spirit.

Manuscript Writing and Lettering. A Hand-
book for Schools and Colleges. By An Educa-
tional Expert. (London : John Hogg.) 5s.
net.—The object of this handbook is to show
" the historical development and practical
application to modern handwriting of several
manuscript styles derived from Ancient Roman
Letters" and we cordially commend it to
teachers as a valuable aid in the movement
which has, for some time past, aimed to effect
a much-needed improvement in penmanship.
The author makes out a strong case for the
adoption of styles derived from the old Roman
mode of writing, and their superiority to the
" current hands," based on the engraved
copybook models with which we are all familiar.
The reformed styles he advocates are not only
far more agreeable in appearance, but their
practical advantage in the matter of legibility
is incalculable. If some statistician were to
estimate the loss of time and temper caused
by obscure handwriting, to say nothing of the
severe eye-strain inflicted on those who have
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to read much of it, most people would agree
that the need for improvement is very urgent.

A History of Everyday Things in England.
Written and illustrated by Marjorie and
C. H. B. Quennell. Part I (1066-1499).
(London : B. T. Batsford, Ltd.) 8s. bd. net.—
The fault of most histories of England is that
they leave us very much in the dark as to the
mode of life of our forefathers ; they tell us a
lot about the doings of our rulers and next to
nothing about the social and domestic in-
stitutions of the population at large—their
habitations, their garments, their sports, and
so on. The aim of the author of this enter-
taining and instructive volume is to rectify
this defect by describing and illustrating various
aspects of the life led by our ancestors, and
though primarily intended for boys and girls
of school age, in whom they desire to arouse
an interest in the work accomplished by the
craftsmen of old, so that they may themselves,
in the years to come, be better fitted to help
in solving the problems of reconstruction which
the Great War will leave behind it when it is
all over, the book is one fiom which grown-ups
also may extract much useful knowledge.

Practical Wood-Carving. By Eleanor Rowe.
Second edition, revised and enlarged. Part I,
Elementary. (London : B. T. Batsford, Ltd.)
4s. net.—The first part of this new edition of
Miss Rowe's popular manual embodies her
earlier publication " Hints on Wood-Carving,"
which has proved a boon to many thousands
of beginners. The course of instruction followed
in the manual is much the same as that pursued
at the South Kensington School of Art Wood-
Carving, of which she was manager for twenty
years, and is admirably clear as well as abun-
dantly illustrated.

Flower-Name Fancies. Written and designed
by Guy Pierre Fauconnet. English Rhymes
by Hampden Gordon. (London : John Lane,
The Bodley Head.) 5s. net.-—M. Fauconnet's
clever pen drawings, some thirty in number,
illustrate in a quaint and original manner the
French and English nicknames of some of the
familiar flowers of the garden, the meadow,
and the wayside—heartsease and columbine,
buttercup and daisy, snapdragon and foxglove,
with many otheis. Quaint also are the French
verses he has written to accompany the drawings,
and the English verses supplied by Mr. Gordon
contain many witty turns.