Historic Dress, 1607-1800. By Elisabeth McClellan. (John Lane. 42s. net.)—It
is unfortunately impossible with the limited means at our disposal to do justice to this very handsome and interesting volume. It is of dress in America that Miss McClellan treats, and she does the work in thorough fashion, dealing with it both from the literary and the artistic point of view, and illus- trating with an ample apparatus of pictures. And she does more than her title promises. We have an introductory chapter on "Dress in the Spanish and French Settlements under Philip II. and Louis XIV." The Spanish section shows us, among others, Fernando de Soto and Francis Drake in their habit as they lived. The portraits, which are given at intervals throughout the volume, add much to its interest and value. The names, in fact, are added whenever it is practicable, and now and then we come upon a downright romance. There is a picture of Mrs. Sartori, who, when she was Mademoiselle de Wofoin, went out with her father, a French official, to Santo Domingo, narrowly escaped death in the insurrection, was saved by her black nurse and brought to
Trenton, New Jersey, where she met her father, and not long after her future husband. Many families have treasures, especially of women's dress—that of men does not so often survive—and books of great interest might be written after this admirable model.
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