Mr. Pennell has illustrated with leaves from his sketch-books Mr.
Henry James's Italian Hours (W. Heinemann, 25s. net). Mr. Pennell always manages to get a feeling of distinction in his work, but surely both the places, and Mr. James's very elaborately thought out sentences about them, call for a little more than the very summary treatment they have received at the hands of the illustrator. The cypresses of the Villa d'Este, and the pines of the Villa Borghese, deserve to have their beauties more liberally rendered if they are to be drawn at all. Some of Mr. James's journals, for this word best describes these writings, are published now for the first time, though they date from many years back. He has the aptitude to appreciate, and the power to make his reader feel his delight in his subject, even when the subtlety of the sentences renders it necessary to read them more than once to arrive at their meaning.
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