MASKS OF THE WORLD By Joseph Gregor
Herr Gregor, who is Director of the Theatrical Art Section of the Vienna National Library, has collected in this superlatively produced volume (Botsford, 126s.) illustrations of about 40o masks from every part of the world, and has introduced them with an essay which discusses the various functions of the mask. This is the first comprehensive pictorial survey of the mask that has been undertaken, and is a volume that must enchant aesthete, anthropolo- gist and psycl ologist alike. Theatrical designers too will be able to make prac- tical use of it, for many of the masks represented could be most effectively transferred to the stage. Those whose knowledge of masks is confined to modern examples seen in carnivals will he surprised to observe how large a proportion of masks are calculated to horrify and frighten ; there is barely a known anti-social impulse which does not find its expression in a dozen of the examples in this book. The quality of the book's production is such that the price must be considered extremely reasonable.
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