Gray's Elegy. With Illustrations printed in colours. (Sampson Low.)—We can
say but little in praise of this volume, which is not a happy example of the method of printing in colours. It offends the nose, and does not often please the eye. In the copy before us many of the illustrations are utterly spoilt by the want of the ordinary pro- tection of tissue-paper. The "ivy-mantled tower," for instance, seems to be in the middle of a snowstorm. We see that the "Village Hampden" and "The Little Tyrant of his Fields" appear in their must form of two country lads. It is time that the illustrators ceased to copy from each other this ridiculous misreading. The little tyrant is, of course, an oppressive squireen. Some of the pictures are pleasing. The best we should say is that with the motto, "On some fond breast the parting soul relies." There is also an interesting facsimile of Gray's MS., a fair copy, written out for circulation among friends. "Stanzas wrote in a Country Churchyard," is its reading of the title ?
Previous page
