Messrs. Hodder and Stoughton have published a sumptuous edition of
As You Like It (10s. 6d. net). The text, we are told, has been taken from the Oxford edition. The illustrations, forty in number, are by Mr. Hugh Thomson. We have said enough to show that this is one of the best gift-books of the season ; it would adorn any room.—Another very handsome volume with a very different charm is The Fairy-Tales of the Brothers Grimm, Translated by Mrs. Edgar Lucas, with Illustrations by Arthur Rackhani (A. Constable and Co., 15s. net). Some of the illustra- tions have, we think, been used before, and, as every one knows, the literary matter is familiar. Still, the book may be taken as substantially a new one. The artist's originality and power are exhibited in a striking way. The characteristics of his art lend themselves with a peculiar aptitude to the subject with which he deals.—Another attractive volume may be mentioned along with these : Legends and Stories of Italy for Children, by Amy Steedman (T. C. and E. C. Jack, Is. 6d. net). It is not, perhaps, very easy to distinguish between "legends" and " stories "; possibly the legend has something of the nature of a parable. St. Mark and the Fisherman may be taken as an example. One of the most characteristic of the stories is that of " Stellante and Bartolo." Bartolo is the son of a merchant prince of Venice, Stellante the kidnapped daughter of the Grand Turk. Obviously this is a situation which admits of no little development. The pictures which illustrate the volume are attractive.
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