6 OCTOBER 1928, Page 46

Mr. Desmond Coke's Confessions of an Incurable Collector (Chapman and

Hall, 21s.) is very unlike most books on the inexhaustible theme. It is uncommonly well written and charmingly illustrated, and the author is not continually boasting of his good bargains—indeed, he seems doubtful whether most " finds " are worth while. He has a great deal to say about Rowlandson, though he underrates the popularity of that erratic and prolific genius. He describes his collecting of panoramas, peep-shows, samplers and other oddities. But he commands our gratitude most of all by advising his readers to collect not merely the relics of the past but also the good things that are being done in our own time. The young artists of the present desire and need the encouragement that Mr. Coke would have us give them.

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