18 SEPTEMBER 1897, Page 23

English Illustration in "the Sixties." By Gleeson White. (A. Constable

and Co.)—It was a happy idea to collect together the illustrations scattered through books and magazines of such men as Millais, Sandys, Whistler, Houghton, and others. Besides the reproductions of the wood engravings themselves, there are also facsimiles of some of the original drawings. By this we see how much has been gained by modern processes. But can we say modern illustration has improved ? We think not. In the sixties style and artistic spirit were evident. Now too often the ideal of the illustrator is the photograph. In the work before us we have ample evidence of the genius of Mr. Sandys. In the frontispiece of Morgan le Fay, and in the illustration to one of Christina Rossetti's poems facing p. 63, we see the marvellous power this artist has of combining infinite detail with passionate expression. Mr. Gleeson White gives an exhaustive account of the various periodicals in which the illustrations in this book originally appeared.