19 NOVEMBER 1898, Page 31

Renaud of Montauban. First done into English by William Caxton,

and now abridged and retranslated by Robert Steele. (George Allen. 7s. 6d.)—Mr. Steele complains, or laments, that

whereas the Arthur legend has caught hold of the popular taste, the corresponding legend in France, centring round the figure of charlemagne, has not succeeded in doing so. Is it because Charlemagne is historical, and we know too much about him, whereas Arthur looms through the mists of myth, humane major ? Well, the public has a chance of repairing its neglect. The story has been retold, with some concession to modern weak- ness in the way of abbreviation, and has been set off with illus- trations which Mr. Walter Crane, to whom the volume is dedicated, would not, we imagine, disdain. We wish it all success.