Shorter notices
Goodbye Baby and Amen David Bailey and Peter Evans (Conde Nast/Collins 95s). A photographic record and rather fulsome paean devoted to the 'sixties, which invites immediate and not altogether favourable comparison with similar albums by Irving Penn, or even Beaton's annuals of the 'thirties. Generally speaking, the things tren- dies have to say about themselves (Mary Quant's professed enthusiasm for pubic topiary work, for instance) can be passed without comment, but the pictures may be enjoyed on a simply hedonistic level.
The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics edited by Alan Aldridge (Macdonald 25s). For singing in the bath. The perfect stocking filler, with admirably multifarious illustrations and a chance to check at last on all those words missed because of fluff on the needle.
The Man Who Drew the Twentieth Century edited by Michael Bateman (Macdonald 25s). This anthology of H. E. Bateman's best cartoons is something of a period piece—hard to gauge, after thirty years, the social apoplexy involved in such masterpieces as 'The second Lieutenant who took the co's savoury' or 'The man who rang the bell in a city tea shop'. Bateman was a master of the long wait for the punch line, typified by 'The One Note Man', a day in the life of a musician immortalised by Hitchcock in no less than two versions of the same film.
Posters Bevis Hillier (Weidenfeld and Nicolson 95s). The first full-length study of what was once a street corner art since James Laver's small monograph of many years ago : it is still surprising to think how many great artists devoted themselves to this medium but, apart from the long acknowledged masterpieces by Lautrec, Steinlen and Bonnard, it is good to see recognition given to the very many minor but talented artists who never did anything else.
The Decorative Twenties Martin Battersby (Studio Vista 105s). Mr Battersby, an en- thusiast on the art nouveau and art deco fronts, has produced a useful compendium with some excellent illustrations and good coverage of the European scene.
In Russia Inge Morath and Arthur Miller (Seeker and Warburg 105s). Good photographs of Russian writers, notably Ehrenburg, Simonov and Yevtushenko, and a moving portrait of the widow of Osip Mandelshtam, with the kind of informed commentary one would expect from Mr Miller.
The Saturday Book Edited by John Hadfield (Hutchinson 45s). This bedside gallimaufry, now in its twenty-ninth year, ranges from an excellent article on jigsaw puzzles to a gallery of male impersonators. Sorriething for everybody in a very fetching box.
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