Annals of the Artists of Spain. By Sir William Stirling
Maxwell. 4 vols. (Nimmo and Co.)—This is a new edition (printed with some luxury and in limited numbers) of the standard history of Spanish artists. The old edition had become very scarce, as much as .418 a copy being obtained for it. It was first issued in 1848 ; and the author, in the course of thirty years, had accumulated considerable material for alterations in the text and notes. These corrections and additions have been given effect to by the present editor, and he has added some notes as to the present ownership of pictures referred to. The most considerable change in the text is the substitution of a later account of Velazquez, published separately by the author in 1856, for the account as it -originally stood in his pages. It was found difficult, however, to make the introductory part of this fit in with the old introductory chapter, and it was accordingly relegated to an appendix. Some ;fresh illustrations are added from Sir William's collections. On matters of fact, a keener scrutiny is likely to upset the attributions of pictures here and there, and further research tb add to what is known of the artists ; but it will be long before the book is out of date as a general history of Spanish painters, written in a style that has the virtue of a certain Gibbonian dignity and irony. All students of the history of art will welcome this new edition of an indispensable book.
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