CURRENT LITERATURE.
ART-BOOKS.
In the "Makers of British Art" Series (Walter Scott Publishing Company, 3s. 6d.) Mr. R. Chignell writes the Life of Turner. A feature of the book is the space given to the accounts of Turner recorded by those who knew him. These make very interesting reading, and from them we can form a clear notion of the strange personality who was really anything but the mysterious monster he is so often made out to be. From all the different accounts emerges the fact of Turner's extraordinary kindness in giving help to those who needed it. It mattered not if it were a widow in want of money or Constable troubled about a picture on varnishing day. In the latter case we are told that Constable asked Turner what was wrong with one of his pictures, and the latter took a brush and drew a long ripple on the water ; and the former agreed that this was what was wanted. The space in the work before us devoted to criticism is not great, but the views expressed are sound and well-considered. We regret that most of the illustrations are process reproductions, not of the pictures themselves, but of engravings. The quality and surface of the engravings are lost, and only the inaccuracies of translation remain.
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