5 MAY 1888, Page 45

The Book of British Ballads. (G. P. Putnam's Sons, New

York.) —This is a selection of some fifty-five ballads, profusely and beau- tifully illustrated after designs by Creswick, Gilbert, and others. Such a small number of ballads can hardly be called representa- tive, and many favourites are not present, notably some by Hood, Cunningham, Thornbury, and others. On opening the book, we are sorry to see the modern and inferior ballad of " Chevy Chase." The old ballad is one of the finest heroic pieces we possess in the English language. On the other hand, we are glad to see " Katherine Fanfairie," which is so often displaced in ballad collections for Sir Walter Scott's " Lochinvar." Though hardly " the book of British ballads," it is a very neat and pretty volume.