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Our attention is first claimed by' Mrs. Lees's Illustrations to Tennyson's " Princess," * on account both of its subject and its lady authorship. The selection is ambitious,, and its treatment.of singular difficulty. We cannot say that the peculiarity of the poem, its modern soul and' future aspiration draped with chivalry and speaking the language of the past, has-been met by its illus- trator : nor perhaps could it be. Art is " one and indivisible," and, can scarcely reconcile incongruities. A. more valid objection is the, want 'of' individual character : there is no Cyril or Florian, no‘ - Blanche, Psyche, or-Melissa. Mrs. Lees; indeed, seems to aim as far as possible• at avoiding rather-than grappling with this arduoui,, portion of her task ; as in the plate of Ida rescued from the- stream, where all the faces are hidden save that. of the Princess,. herself.. In the scene after the combat, where the Prince lies Sore, dead, expression is the essence of the subject ; yet the relation of his ffither, "-the old lion," watching above him, and of Ida who. stands by, is scarcely to be guessed. The groundwork also of the' poem is not very clearly brought out. The accessory figures are. Lain-aped- one stamp; and the treatment of still life, as of vases, flowers, &c., is on the most approved plan of short work. There. is much skill of hand; however in the plates, with firm. and' practised touch not generally expected in the works of a lady. The last plate contains delicate feeling ; and where Psyche mourns, bereave& of her child, there is- a finely-conceived shril ....akng from intrusion, in' the figure of the Prince, with a sensitive sympathy and gentleness, in which. the true woman's- hand is recognized: On the whole, even. failure in such an attempt would be an honourable failure ; and. Mrs. Lees is entitled to much credit for-the taste which has guided. her choice, andfor the amount of her success.

As-appropriate and pleasing a book as the season is likely-to' produce is Christmas with time Poets ;•'—valuable on more solid grounds than most of its companions. It is not often that an ele, gent gift-book contains poetry, of a high class : yet here we have. some of the most exquisite of the many deathless old Christmas-. carols, followed, by a selection, moderately judicious, from recent• and contemporary sourees—(among which, however, we miss one- of the most perfect, Mrs. Browning's "VirginMary to the Child', Jesus") : the whole being arranged according to date, with brief;` but apt introductions. Contrary to wont, the matter here is hotfoot than the manner. • The getting up is. costly ; but the wood-cut- lustrations, tinted to no particular purpose, are of the mildest' quality as works of art, and class rather as part of the decoration. The antithesis to the:foregoing is Winged Thoughts, t—a corn- panien,to the " Fruits.from the Garden and the Field" of last. year. This, is a volume-truly sumptuous.; solid in its luxury. The point here. is in the decoration. The plates—birds gorgeously printectf incalours—are the. staple of the volume, and the verse becomesif- at best. merely illustrative. The excellence attained in the art oC which. this book is a: sample is, finely exemplified in the prints ot ' the swallow, the nightingale,. the woodpecker, and the peacoek,--,2% the last, as it should he, especially resplendent. And yet more noticeable than the birds themselves are the title-letters, replete- with grace and fancy. That the invention of such is no ignoble art,: no person conversant with. the mediaeval and ecclesiastical al- phabets will question ; that the art has not died out or fallen into less worthy hands, Mr; Jones and Mr. Bateman bear- witness. The intrinsic charm of which it is susceptible is shown as well in the plumelike binding. of the book as in the several.titles. A. quite extraordinary amount of beauty—and of suggestive beauby-toe..--- is introduced into the word "swan," which sails forward breasting- the water-lilies like the creature whose name it is. Here the art is in as.high a form as it is capable of reaching. Home Pictures§ furnish the illustrator of Dickens and Lever- with a, theme for the exercise of his very facile and dextereus etching•point. But. this. is only another proof—and we had enough before—that his province is strictly confined to dashing sketches. Venturing beyond these, Mr. Browne's sketchiness degenerates into flimsiness, and becomes offensive ; his light-fingered delicacy. of touch shows as merely artificial ; and his very cleverness is, irk- some. Some signs of, a better knowledge there are in Home Pie, tures,—as, in the " Winter's Tale," the grim distorted shadow on

• Illustrations to Tennyson's Poem " The Princess." By Mrs. S. C. Ices. Pub- lished by Dickinson. Brothers. Christmas with the Poets: a Collection of Songs, Carols, andDescriptive 'Verses-, relating to the Festival of Christmas, from the Anglo-Norman Period to the Present Time. illustrated by Dirket Foster. Published by Bogue, t Winged. Thoughts. Poetry, by Mary Anue Bacon. Drawn on Stone- by E._ L.. Bateman; Owen Jones direxit. Published by Longman and Co.

1 Horne Pictures: Sixteen Domestic Scenes of-Childhood. Drawn and Etched lay HADA Knight Browne. Published by Caudal/ and Addey.

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7 kef: IPA; ?.trards in need of, our,

comnieMatioU , ough atiih Alpe less, heartily bestowed. For fanauf bean , for truth spice, with quaintness in exactly the right proportio Mr. Doyle stands unrivalled. He would have

created the giants 's prowess, had not the imagination oi

several races of c enjdone, so already : as it is, Ins musthence-

forward remain the veritable portraits, all others ranking as". so- lemnly-constituted impostors." Mr. Doyle is an artist of original and admirable powers, and a man of genius.

Mr. Welinert, who, in conjunction with Mr. Weir, illustrates a new Pleasure-Book for l'oungis C7illdren,tt proves himself scarcely less qualified' for the task. A' designs are well drawn, healthy, and artistic in style, and in just that spirit of convinced yet half humorous gravity which is the very soul of the best fairy tales,— such as the never-to-be-supplanted Puss in Boots. Of this spirit we know no more first-rate specimen than the conversation piece (a, beautiful design on its own, merits) of the Marquis of Carabas, the Princess, and the King,—who is excellently conceived through- ont. The last design to "Peter the Goatherd,' and several others; might also be mentioned. The stories are well selected, but we fancy the first must have been abridged till it scarcely explains itself : and the book is altogether the right one for children,--as they will doubtless lie, eager to admit. A pretty little illuminated edition of Mrs. Dorset's: capital Pea- cock at Home 1-1 -to whose attraction for small readers'our memory vouches—and some suitable domestic and descriptive tales by Mrs. Myrtle, §§ illustrated by the indefatigable Gilbert, close our budget the-wall.,_the-stern-pertz! 'sit, and-the-sole listens;, or we might instowea-t in "The Musician," "Be-

1

peep," and " Good Night." 6 Qin ONFI JIiowever, their treatment is the extreme of the unrea-i-es-hew-eeuld--it be otherwise, when, on a herxlieow iltatien,jtorim he presitined,that nature has been Roll tftlic r9.1499f, Xi?, 'no ',CI& A ' o: 24g851i 441413.4 iNgt ? 43% Mill;6i tit .-;

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