N OlitkettA and his Times. By J. T. Smith. Edited
by Wilfred Whitten. (Lane. 2 vols. 31s. 65. net.)—We are glad to see a good reprint of Smith's whimsical biography of his friend, Nollekens the sculptor, which is one of the most entertaining books ever written. Unlike Mr. Geese's reprint of 1895, this new edition includes the amusing biographies of Nollekens' artistic contemporaries which make up nearly half of the original editions of 1828 and 1829. Moreover, Mr. Whitten has anno- tated the book with great care, rightly treating it as a valuable authority for the history of Georgian a,rt and of -Georgian London. Fortunately Smith, who was Keeper of the Print Room at the British Museum, was no Dryaadust but a man of caustic humour and an indefatigable collector of anecdotes. His descriptions of Nollekens and his wife, a vulgar, parsimonious and yet not unkindly pair, are as clever and unforgettable as a Hogezth print. The new edition is illustrated with numerous reproductions of portraits, pietures, and scupture.
Previous page
