4 APRIL 1891, Page 29

Dante. Illustrations and Notes by P. A. Tra,quair and J.

S. Black. (T. and A. Constable.)—We have in this volume between forty and fifty illustrations, finely conceived and executed with delicate skill, of the Divina Commedia. Dante's images are some- times as difficult to reproduce in art as are the images of Scrip- ture; but here the task has been well grappled with. A "Dante Chronology" is added, with notes of the poet's literary, social, and political life. Then follows "A Short Bibliography," intended for beginners, as only the most helpful works for the study of the Commedia are given. Special praise is accorded to Cary's " Trans- lation," and Dean Pumptre's "Translation, with Notes, Essays, &c." " Dante's Library" gives "an alphabetical catalogue of authors whom he is known to have used, or who may be pre, euraed to have been more or less familiar to him." This list is long and interesting, but, for convenience' sake, authors are included in it of whom Dante knew little or nothing. Their names serve as an occasion for discussing the point.