4 MAY 1907, Page 26

CURRENT LITERATURE.

WOOD-CARVING.

Practical Wood-Carving. By Eleanor Rowe. (B. T. Botsford: 7s. 8d.)—This book is not only practical, but thorough, and is written by one who obviously knows the art of wood-carving from one end to the other. The chapter on construction should be carefully studied by amateurs. Carving should decorate a previously planned object constructed of wood, and not be made up into something afterwards. Miss Rowe devotee attention to what she calls "the outcome of the tool"; that is to say, the patterns which rise naturally out of the different cuts made by various-shaped tools. These patterns, when applied with a fine sense of design, always have an appro- priate look. The old English wood-carvers made use of these patterns with the utmost effect. No one who reads this book can help being the wiser, for it is clear and practical, and the advice of the letterpress is well illustrated by reproductions of old and new work.—Wood-Carving Designs. By Muriel Moller. (Same publisher. 6s.)—This is a portfolio of six sheets of drawings in outline ready to bo transferred to the wood, including some designs for furniture. The last are of the type to be seen too often at Arts and Crafts Exhibitions; but many et,

the wood-carving patterns are good in design, and have the advantage of not being made in the abstract, but for specific objects.