Pictures and Engravir gs at Naughton Hall, Tarporley, in the
Possession of Ralph Brocklebank. (George Allen. £4 4e. net.)—This beautiful book is, in fact, an illustrated catalogue of a notable private collection. Only twenty-six of the pictures are repro- duced, but those are all worthy examples of great masters. The rest of the pictures and engravings are fully described, and good notes are supplied in regard to the painters. Some of the pictures—as, for example, the "Shylock " Turner and the Turner of Somer Hill—are well known, but others will have the charm of novelty even to experienced gallery-goers and auction-room experts. Conspicuous among these is the very striking "Lutheran Minister," by Jacob Gerritz Cupp. This half-length of a bearded man in surplice and stole is not less remarkable as a piece of painting than as a study of character. The eulogistic comment of Mr. Radcliffe Carter, who edits the book, is, indeed, fully justified. We agree with him when he asserts that "the real workaday humanity of the man extinguishes the ecclesi- astical effect of the vestments." A very different but most fascinating portrait is "The Student," by Opie,—the portrait of a little boy holding a book. This picture shows what splendid work Opie could do when at his best. Even in the photo- gravure the picture has a haunting charm which it is im- possible to express in words. Of the volume generally we may say that nothing could be handsomer or in better taste than the printing and paper, and that the photo- gravures are good examples of process work. We hope the plan of publishing illustrated catalogues of private collections that have been made with taste and care will be followed. It certainly deserves to be. We have only mentioned two of the illustrations in detail. Had we space we should have dealt with the two Clouets, the magnificent portrait of Sir William Weston, and the Etty, which, we are told in the introduction, Thackeray described as " Endymion with a dirty, affected, beautiful, and slatternly Diana,"—a not unfaithful dealing with the picture, as far as we can judge from the photogravure.
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