18 JULY 1891, Page 11

Birket Foster : his Life and Work. By M. B.

Huish. With numerous Illustrations. (Art Journal Office.)—This number of the Art Annual is devoted to Mr. Birket Foster. It tells a not un- interesting chapter in the history of black-and-white illustration, and gives some of those old vignette woodcuts which were the most satisfactory expression of the artist's gift. The copper and steel-plate illustrations cannot be commended, and the whole get_ up of the book, in cover, page, and type (see particularly the abominable types of the title-page), is everything that a book pro- fessing to deal with art should not be. The most interesting illustrations are some reproductions of designs by Mr. Burne- Jones in Mr. Birket Foster's possession.