EMBELLISHED PERIODICALS.
Part XL of the Landscape Illustrations of the Waverley Novels con- tains a View of York Minster, an object of particular interest just now; also a very beautiful picture of Bothwell Bridge, by ROBERTS; and an effective scene introducing Fast Castle, by COPLEY FIELDING. The en- gravings of the number are excellent. Part VII. of Captain ELIOTT'S Views of India contains some beauti- ful scenery. The plates are well engraved, and have not the faults that we complained of in some previous numbers.
The National Portrait Gallery for this month contains portraits of Lord Tenterden and the Bishop of Peterborough, by J. W. WRIGHT ; and of Sir George Murray after LAWRENCE. The engravings are not remarkably good, and are besides printed in a very blue colour. The second number of the Library of the Fine Arts manifests a con- siderable degree of improvement in the novelty and variety of its topics, and an acquisition of spirit, which, if continued, will establish its cha- racter and render success certain.
The New Monthly is emulating with a praiseworthy spirit the ex- ample set by Fraser's Magazine, of giving portraits of distinguished au- thors; it does not, however, go to the full lengths of Fraser, but stops short at the bust. The latter gives us a clever sketch of the Honourable Mrs. Norton, most femininely employed in doing the honours of the breakfast-table ; as the former gave us last month a view of her counse- mance in a more poetical character. The New Monthly for March gives a head of Mr. Poole, looking more insipidly sweet and comely than we should judge the author of Paul Pry and Hamlet Travestie to be in re- ality. But as the portrait is by Mr. PICKERSGILL, who, the critic in the Magazine informs us, " has no rival" in his art, we must take it for granted that Mr. Poole is the very smug and sleek personagehe is repre- sented to be. The artist must have been thinking, while be was paint- ing the portrait, of the passage in Shakspeare—" there be some whose faces do cream and mantle like a standing Pool." The Second Number of Heath's Historical Illustrations of the Wa- verley Novels embellishes "Rob Roy," and contains six plates, very neatly engraved from designs by Messrs. WRIGHT, CORBOULD, and RICHTER, which are pleasing in style and make effective prints. The three by Mr. WRIGHT are by far the best, being not only remarkable for graceful composition and good drawing, but for, appropriate expression and natural character ; the duel scene is particularly spirited. Mr. WRIGHT sometimes reminds US of STOTHARD, as Mr. CORBOULD does Of WESTALL ; the designs of the former also recal to our recollection the embellishments of the old poets and novelists, by reason of their reality and unaffected simplicity of style.
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