The Lays of Ancient Rome. Illustrated. (Longmans.)—The edition would be
perfect, but for two things. The print is one degree too small, so small that it is a work of high art to print clearly from it, and the binding, as usual with all fancy binding this year, is inappropriate. The gilding on it has a spluttery effect, and we would put it to any first- rate binder whether he has any sound argument for giving a book an obverse and reverse like a medal. The Lays, however, are better bound than most such books, the outline drawings are appropriate and clear, and the bordering of the "Prophecy of Capys," a panorama of the incidents of a Roman triumph, is infinitely more satiafactory than the ordinary arabesques. It will bear a strong glass, a great triumph of printing. Altogether the edition is a real addition to editions de luxe.
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