THE BOQKFELLOW.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXI, Issue 23, 28 January 1911, Page 19

THE BOQKFELLOW.

Written for The Post, by A. G. SfceoneHß, (Copyright.— All Riahta Reserved.) ENGLISH ILLUSTRATORS. A. and 0. Black's "Brush, Pen, atid Pencil" serks, edited by A. E. Johnson, includes now the "books" of John Hassall, the late Tom Browne, Dudley Hardy, Frank Reynolds, and LawsonWood [each 3s 6d net). Each book contains about fifty examples of the subject's wdrk in black ot coloilfr, and the view thus given of 6onie of the leading exponents of the art of illustration in England at the present day is extremely interesting. The form of the books is fortunate, and the reproduction of paintings by the three-colour proceea (often so» disastrous) is particularly well managed. " The editor's commentary is not keenly critical, is deficient in biographical detail, and has been swollen unduly to fit the" plan — which necessitates carrying the letter-press to the »nd of each book. Bui it serves the purpose of supplying ah agreeable chorus to. the illustrations, and is not Without inf6rmation. " The tolato of the "Studio" special numbers, Which vpfint text and il- ¦ lustrations sepatately, frees a writer from the .painful necessity of being loiigWinded over a short-winded subject. The "Brush, Pen, ahd Pencil" series pleases the eye, and is> full of diversion lor the attentive mind. Both ofl. the artistic side, and on the popular side, it hate- a distinct merit. It is so well fitted for Australasian pleasure and instruction that we urge the publishers to sacrifice thai sixpence which is the straw too much on the counter's back (English 3s 6d net means New Zealand's 4s, and 4s is an awkwatd bookselling prioe), and try and flood our next Christmas counters With the items issued and with others. Dualey Hardy is a paihtef of ho mean repute; and the examples given in the book nllotted to him suggest that the repute is deserved. He Was bor_n in 1867, the eldest fcon of a marine painter, T. B. Hardy, and was brought up to the profession bi art. Striking design, rich colour, and intelligent ideas — sympathy both with the surface add the meaning of his subjects — appeaf in Hardy's paintings. He interprets modern themes with a fresh mind and a fresh brush. He does not app&B 1 as an illustrator, preferring to take his own vision of life. Mafiy examples of his black-and-white with pen df brush are offered. Apart from fine technical qualities, they haVe imaginative interest, and develop an Unusual sense 4>f the huntan comedy. Tho skilful interpretation of the subject is as noteworthy as the ease and freedom of the designs. Frank Reynolds is another painter less vigorous, with a softer style that is full of charm. He has won praise lately for a .series of illustrations of Dickens; and aome of these, such as "Tony Weller," ate excellent, though rather for colon* than for character. For black-and-white he works with a delicate, caressing line that is particularly effective in pencil; and he has a special talent for understanding and displaying character both on the humorous and on the pathetic side. Reynolds ako is son of a painter, and has adapted modern French method to his English uses. John Hassall is probably th& best known of English poster designers. He j owes his reputation to bold technic applied to bold ideas-. His treatment is not subtle, but it is ingenious and arresting 5 his colour is not fine, but on the hoardings it is" uncommonly efficient. He fills the public eye and satisfies the public mind. His black-and-white work | in line is rather stiff ; in -wash is rather obvious; nevertheless li 6is worth ao ooinpanyihg through his book in the series. Lawson Wood, like the others, reveals in this selection of his work a talent that is greater than one realises from the occasional examples that reach us at this distance from his sphere of work. The observation applies especially to his painting, which (as one might expect from his more familiar black-and-white) is distinguished by a bright fancy and beautiful qualities of tone. Most of the work shown is humorous, and there is no denying Wood a distinct gift of original humour. He sees things at the comic angle, and recreates his vision with spontaneous fun. Lawson Wood also is a son of a painter. The fertility of hiß invention, and his variety of style, make the Wood book one of thß most interesting in the series. The late Tom Browne supplies another book in "Brush, Pen, and Pencil," and here again we get in colour, in wash, and in careful little line sketches, A new view of the talent that is knewn by the reproduction of 10,GtX) comic pictures for the multitude. For the refinements of illustrative art .urowne is not) noteworthy. As a caricaturist of common life, with a quick eye and an expressive touch for absurdity, it is here made clear that hia popularity was well [ earned. C. J. Hyne'e "Empire of the World" (Bell) is worth tho average man's lazytime.' The new ether— ray — which disintegrates iron at a distance, and thus enables its discoverer to destroy navies, decree peace, and announce- hia theoretical empire — is anybody's dream nowadays. That "his crown fell at her feet," as Hebblethwaite shows us, is the most ancient history. But Hyne rattles hia bone^ agreeably, and his tune is ingenious. While ths Emperor is arranging the world he is one of the hardest-up men v in London, and his fat ex-actress of a landlady chivies him so that he has to slink to his throne like a cat, over Toofs. under cover of darkness. His incidental Mexican silver mines are worth a million , but Emperor and millionaire are glad to get a £2-a-week job on the South London tramway. Another touch of novelty is given by Hyne's breezy remarks about English, conventions : his attitude of a plain, man in a tin-crockery shop is diverting. In f 'Chains" (Constable) that excellent alchemist of actiiality, Edward Noble, leaves his familiar sea to tell a story of sex on the Peruvian coast. Noble is a writer with a conscience ; his fiction iB moral; and he has the force to find in ostentatious virtue not shackles, but wings, for his art. That is partly because he does not press ethics past instincts — of freedom, of jus- , tice, of revolt against tyranny — whose urtderiying dogma has become doctrine by general assent. Partly it iB because he does not press consequences past probabilities — lie deals with life fairly, and does not mutilate the message of his facts. In "Chains" two morale are let loose — one against the "white slave trade" in South America ; one against marriage sentiment and divorce l&w. The book does not quite justify the previous criticism of Noble method ; but characters and scenery have reality, the plot is plausible, and the display is interesting. The morals disappear in an earthquake. SCOTTISH VERSE. Last week the appearance of "The Edinburgh Book of Scottish Verses" was noted. Hot on its heels comes the jealous rivalj "The Book of Scottish

Poetry," "being an anthology of the best Scottish verse from the earliest times to the present, chosen and edited by Sir George Douglas, Bart." (T. Fisher Unwin). Both these books imitate, with sincerest flattery, the faeture of the Oxford books of verse ; both have a thistle border on the front cover, but Sir George Douglas gives us, beneath the golden title, a considerable golden, thistleblossom, with two Jeaves and sixteen prickles rampant, in lieu of the rampant golden lion of his opponent. In his brief introductory note, Sir ueorge makes his acknowledgment of sources, and refrains from making the custom&ry survey of the editorial field. "He does not apologise fot the introduction of a few pieces of his own, for he holds that to have practised an ai-t, though humbly and imperfectly, ensures a certain insight into the dbnditions bi thafc art rtot ' easily to be obtained by external study only.' Sir George's "pieces" are not amusing. For example i — A. rough cha^ iB Bob Robieson, His fauts I scorn to shirk — A rough chap, but ah eident ond, And one wha knows hie Work: A parelesß and convivial blade. His failings do not blink — He haunts the bub, but — here's the rub! For comp'ny final* as drink: Sir George's logic is invalidi . There is no causal relation between the humble and imperfect practice of an nrfc and the capacity to judge its fruits. Sit George's taste, in including "a few pieces" avowedly humble and imperfect in a book that (on the loose cover) claims with t the best one-volume collection of English verse) is ominous of the worek The worst has not befallen, for the reason that Scottish verse contains so many good things, judged things, poetty affirmed by a hundred yea*-s of hne ap--preciation and high esteem, that A collector cannot miss them. The typical anthology must of necessity be founded on a mass of work that will occupy the greater part of its space, Work already indebted to preceding critics and editors, and offering to a new editor only formal occasion of judgment. It is only in the last ten per cent., even in the last five per cent., of material that the difference between a fine and an inferior taste becomes manifest ; and fit preparation for that final test of editorial worth is not made by the writing of bad verses, but by the loving and continual intercourse with classic poetry of all languages and ages. Professor Dixoh's Scottish anthology leaves us an impression of contact With solid judgment and good taste exercised cafefully. If he has erred (and sometimes we have no doubt that he has etred) his error seems due partly to his fenvifoninefit and partly to the excessive influence of precedent, rule, aad formula. — the- academic guides that are always to be followed, ahd to he fc-1-loWed ilways with a questing spirit th&t demands at eVefy step "Why?" ahd "Whither?" Sir George Douglas's anthology leaves us ah impression of contact with ah unsound judgment and not good taste exercised rashly. He begins with two hundred pages of old Scottish verse that is caviare to the cannibal; because he has r^erVed the ancient spelling that is used rightly in a scholar's text, and wrongly in a book intended for ordinary readets to-day. Professor Dixon has modernised the same spelling sufficiently to make the text commonly intelligible, Without impairing the essential flavour. Sir George's error is maintained throughout his book. There is no good reason for asking us to read G. Hogg's "Kilmehy" in the fashion of "Kilmeny, Kilmetiy, (Juhair haif ye beine?'* Both editors explain unfamiliar words at the foot of the page; and again Prof. Dixon displays the better discretion. The middle o! Six George'e book contains necessarily a large body of interesting verse, with a good deal that seeme ill chosen or out of place in this particular collection. He is able, however, to remedy come of Prof. Dixon's omissions, as when he includes Lockhart's "Beyond," which closes with an emotion that many people have found well expressed. But 'tis an old belief That on sotno solemn she-re, Beyond the sphere of grief. Dear friends shall meet once more-** beyond the sphere of time. And sin and fate's control, Serene in endless prime Of body and of soul. That creed I fain would keep; That hope I'll not forego: Eternal be the sleep, Unless to Waken so. As a crucial example oi taste, we note that Sir George Douglas, by a slavish adherence to the early text — which may or may not be the original — has greatly reduced the value of "Helen of Kirkconnell," last week printed. For modern poetical usbb, the ballads are fair game for an editor' 6 acumen. The form of most of them rests on oral tradition; and when an auld-wife's memory is clearly susceptible of forma) improvement, change should be made. The best version is frequently not the oldest. Sometimes Sir George Douglas seems to be led by ways that he knows not; and we are grateful for the emphasis' laid Upon William Drummond's Shakespearian somiets. "The Ballad of^ a Nun" and other pieces, besides adding their atom to the touchstone of Sir Georges taste, remind us how soon a fashion may fade; though we do not deny the Nun's residum of _merit in message and phrase. We are introduced to another base imitator of Kipling in Lauchlan Maclean Watt^and what has Scottish verse to do with this?— We are the dead of England: Our dust is under the lead. They buried us deep, in pUr battle-sleep, They plunged us down in the seae. We are the brave of England, We fought for the bristling breach, And we died that our brothers might climb on our bones, And carry the flag Where we could not reach. . . We went down in the waste of waters: We gtappled the foe on fchips. . In the mist and emoke, where battle broke — And her name was on our lips 1 . Living ot dying, Our flag still flying, Where our hands had nailed ib fast, We fell for the might of England, And we were not her last. W. H. Ogilvie hag other foul' later utterances, not equal to his earlier Australian. Lord Alfred Douglas gets one inferior sonnet afbe? W. S. s " When to the Sessions " ; though some telling verse could have been culled from his first book. We regret to be unable to give " The Book of Scottish Poetry " a general recommendation; but we think that students and lettered Scots will find it worth having and holding for reading or i reference.

In the bhiek of a street, fight in Chicago in connection with the garment strike, were 400 tailors' cutters, who had joined the procession in frock-coats and silk hats, and were the conspicuous feature of the parade. The strike was j called chiefly on account of wages, though the cutters, who are making on an average over £7 a week, joined their comrades because they belong to the union, and a general strike had been ordered. These men seemed to be singled out) by the police for special attention, and for a while high-hats were ¦ flying in all directions. Some eighty of s the demonstrators were injured, while a i dozen or more of the police were severely hurt*