GIFT-BOOKS.
ILLUSTRATED BOOKS.
Ma. EDWARD Htrrros has written a pleasant book on The Pageant of Venice (Lane, 42s. net), tracing her history lightly through the ages and relating anecdotes of Venetian magnifi- cence and dissipation. The volume contains excellent repro- ductions in colour of a score of Mr. Brangwyn's powerful and spirited drawings. Attractive in themselves, these pictures do not recall the placid beauty of Venice, as seen by Canaletto, Turner, Whistler and Henry Woods, and by most visitors.
Included in the Trip, by Mr. Reginald Cleaver (John Bale, Sons and Danielsson, 31s. 6d. net), is a book of comic drawings intended as " a tourist primer for a round tour." Mr. Cleaver illustrates the troubles of tourists in steamers, on the Riviera, in Italy, Egypt and elsewhere, with such vivacity that one begins to wonder whether it is not better to stay at home. It is an entertaining book.
Eskimo Folk Tales, collected by Knud Rasmussen, the well- known explorer, and edited by W. Worster (Gyldendal, 15s. net), are curious and decidedly novel. The story of " The Very Obstinate Man," who would always have his own way and who almost strangled the Moon Man, may be cited as an example of these odd and somewhat gruesome stories. They are illus- trated with strange drawings by Eskimo artists ; the picture of " Evil Spirits Entering a House " is a lively conception. Congo Life and Jungle Stories, by the Rev. John H. Weeks (Religious Tract Society, 7s. 6d. net), is another interesting volume of primitive folk-lore, interspersed with personal experi- ences and illustrated with photographs.
Messrs. Dent publish, for a Vienna firm, Christmas Pictures by Children (7s. fid. net), the proceeds from the sale of which will go to the " Save the Children Fund." The coloured pictures, which are beautifully reproduced, are the work of young children attending Professor Cizek's class at the Industrial Art School in Vienna, and they will astonish most readers who under- estimate the latent capacity of the youthful mind. The spirited though often inaccurate draughtsmanship is remarkable, but it is in their novel and fascinating patterns of colour that these child-artists are most to be admired. Professor Cizek is doing a great work and setting an example to art-teachers everywhere. His method, he says, is " not to teach " ; but it cannot be doubted that he inspires his young pupils.
Mr. Kenneth Grahame, who writes so well and yet so little, has republished his farcical tale of The Headswoman (Lane, 6s. net), with whimsical coloured woodcuts by Miss Marcia Lane Foster. The headswoman in this case was a young girl who insisted on her hereditary right to succeed to the office, and who very nearly executed the local seigneur by mistake. The book was written twenty years ago, when women did not sit in Parliament or on juries or play football, but its prophetic humour is still fresh.
We may mention here that the Blake Society, whose secretary is Mr. Thomas Wright, of Olney, has just issued to its members excellent coloured reproductions by Mr. Hillyer of two un- published prints by Blake, " The Temptation of Christ " and " Newton." The conception of Newton as a nude giant, seated on a rock and bending down to measure a line with a pair of dividers, is such as would have occurred to no one but Blake, and yet, though grotesque, it is powerful and arresting.
The Luck of the Bean-Rows, translated from the French of Charles Nodier, illustrated by Claud Lovat Fraser (Daniel O'Connor, 6s. net), is a charming book, particu- larly notable being its delightful cover and the end papers. Mr. Lovat Fraser's illustrations have unfortunately not all reproduced particularly well. It is also perhaps a pity that the excellent prose translation is printed in a long column in such a way as to make the reader feel all the time that he ought to be making it scan as blank verse. In spite of these two faults the volume is one of the most charming children's books that have appeared this season.
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