CURRENT LITERATURE.
Examples of Contemporary Art. Edited by J. Comyns Carr. (Chatto and Windns.)—This is a sumptuous work. It contains fourteen high- class etchings from the works of living English and foreign artists, executed by men who take a front rank in gravure- The paper upon which they are printed is of the finest quality, and adds considerably to the beauty of the pictures, well bringing out the delicacy of tone and line. The letterpress is splendidly printed, and the book bound in a simple and artistic manner. The essays of the editor on the Grosvenor 'Gallery and this year's exhibition of the Academy are admirable and appreciative criticisms, conceived in no narrow or academic spirit, but with the stamp of true catholicity. The articles on the Salon are from an equally able pen, that of the editor of L'Art. And yet, with so much to please,we are not satisfied, and the cause of our dissatisfaction is the paucity of plates representing English Art. While nine are devoted to selections from the Salon, five only remain to represent the cream of two collections here. Nor should we have so much cause of complaint, were the French pictures of surpassing excellence, but the " Fin d'Octobre " is an insipid genre painting, the portrait of M. Carrier Bellenze is not particularly • striking, and the " Sabotiers dans les Bois de Quermerches," though well done and doubtless a graceful painting, is not a subject which can be adequately represented by an etching, however good. If instead of these we had had one of Mr. Albert Moore's out of the Grosvenor and one of Millais's, and one of Mr. Boughton's or Leslie's out of the Academy, the work might more justly have claimed to be representative. "The Beguiling of Merlin" of Borne Jones, etched by Lalanze, cannot be praised too highly; but surely the crutch in the middle-distance in 4‘ The Queen of Swords," by the same hand, is too short. It appears as 'though the remainder were sheathed in the bosom of a lady's dress.
international Art, with introduction and descriptive text by Edward Btrahan (Bradbury, Agnew, and Co.), is a souvenir of the Centennial Art Gallery collected at Philadelphia last year. It is in two distinct parts, the one pictures, the other text, which interlace each other
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