Thomas Nast's Christmas Drawings for the Human Race. (Sampson Low
and Co.)—This, we are told, is the first collection of Mr. Nast's drawings. Under the circumstances, the public would probably have liked to hear something of the artist, whose name cannot be known to many English readers. Most of the pictures —certainly the best—have to do with the Santa Claus fancy, for it is a fancy in England, though exhibiting itself in a practical shape, even something like a belief, in Germany. Mr. Nast is, we presume, of German origin: The fun of his drawings is undeniable. We cannot say much of their beauty. Mirth and mischief are well represented in his children; but, as a rule, they are some- what coarse, and suggest too vividly Christmas dinners. Is the young woman in " Christmas Flirtation " meant for a beauty ? Probably not; she certainly does not look like it, and beauties do not need to plant themselves so resolutely under the mistletoe.
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