In the series of "Beautiful England" (Blackie and Son, 2s.
net per volume) we have Dickens-Land, described by J. A. Nicklin, pictured by E. W. Haslehust ; The Peak District, pictured by E. W. Haslehust and described by R. Murray Gilchrist ; and The Cornish Riviera, pictured by Ernest Haslehust and described by Sidney Heath. All three are highly interesting subjects; possibly the first has the advantage in this respect; the unity given by the presence, so to speak, of great personality is the cause. Of course there is a special responsibility thrown upon the " describer "; but Mr. Nicklin is equal to it. He is an accomplished " Dickensite." The Peak book has, of course, attractions of its own. There is the story of Eyam, the plague-stricken village, for instance, of the tragical kind, and others of a brighter sort. The title of the third has been criticised as applied to a certain region of the South Coast. Were there not some angry letters from visitors who thought that they could get a Mediterranean climate without crossing the sea, and found that Cornwall could not always provide it? Still, it is a convenient name and, we are quite ready to believe, often well deserved. The illustrations—twelve coloured plates in each volume—make the picture part of the three volumes as attractive as the descriptions.
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