PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

Otago Witness, Issue 2667, 26 April 1905, Page 59

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

The Pall mall Magazine for April opens with a fine full-plate mezzo-tint of Nicholas

Man's celebrated "Boy With a Hawk" as

its frontispiece. Tile charms of the initial article, "Modern Athens," at once make themselves apparent in a series of interesting and excellent illustrations; the mellow tone of certain of the photographic reproductions having a remarkably pleasingeffect. - Another well-illustrated article in the higher and xnot-e appealing school of personal art — is that 'on "Westminster," the illustrator taking as his models those fine and fluent draughfsmen, Joseph Pen(neU, Hedley Fittori, Howard Trineham, and their school, -whose style he follows at a long distance as yet. It is difficult in turning the pages of the Pall Mall to realise that one may enjoy this varied pro- " gramme of excellent art and literature for ; sixpence ! Here is an article on "Social Russia," with numerous snapshots of life in Street and market, town and country. There !#a, story of Katherine Thurston, exquisitely illustrated by da Costa. Now it is the fascination of Joseph Conrad's "Mirror of the Sea" which, arrests the reader, or the humour of those caricatures portraying Sir H. Campbell Bannerman's well-known face and figure, illuminating an article on "The Leader -of tJie Opposition." Perhaps Mr Wells' s serial "Kipps" is rour fancy in fiction, or it may j be the "Thief in the Night" series of j jgood-Jaumoured impossibilities which passes an idle moment. Deeper and more vital, tiecause the reflex of real life, are the studies in personality, and this month we *>aye an appreciation of "Mr Winston ! Churchill" by Herbert Vivian. The series of j sketches entitled "London at Prayer" con- ' tinues with unabated interest and vitality ; , •Barry Pain, over "The xtound Table," discusses -well and trenchantly the topic of^ the modern child, and wisely prescribes the> ' simple formula — "back to the nursery." ! *""The Little Things of Dress" is a delicate innovation which cannot fail to be singularly appreciated by the feminine public.

The Windsor Magazine for March presents all its usual features of interest and fcntertainment at their accustomed point of excellence. That pleasant project for oomtoning art and appreciation afforded by the popular sketches of artists and their works Is carried 'out this^nionth by an appreciation of Mr Frank Calderon, the selection of pictures for reproduction being a very happy Dne, including the splendid " Crest of the Bill," "The Blu© Hussar," "A Son of the Empire," etc. But art anu artists do not appeal to eve—one, and to be as popular as the Windsor Magazine undoubtedly is argues a diversity of topics wide enough to meet the tastes of that vast and wonderful body, social and politic, known as "The Public." Therefore we ha\e such instructive and withal entertaining articles as "Electricity in the Railway- Service,' 1 " "The 'Rogues of a Zoo," with its fine illustrations ; "Some Walking Encyclopedias," etc. ; interesting fiction, of styles, as varying as the articles, from '"Ayesha.," by Rider Haggard, prince of imaginative impossibilities, to the modest short story of average magazine merit.

The Badminton Magazine for March is a

>cry excellent number in every respect The Badminton has .kept pace with the imperious demand for the best procurable which is the inevitable result of strenuous competition, and exhibits a marked improvement on its old form. Fiction, wit-h the caviare of sufficient sport to justify its inclusion, diversifies the pages otherwise devoted to the pursuit of sport amid the most beautiful and ' romantic scenery the world possesses. "RoyaL Homes of Sport," with numerous charming illustrations, ushers in many capital articles, of which we specially commend, as affording side-lights on the ceremonial of shooting in older countries, "The Unwritten Laws 'of Shooting:." "The Two-year-olds of the Season ' will interest' racing^ men ; 'Trout-fishing in British Columbia" will interest everyone, if only for the sake of the "illustrations ; which remark also .applies to the article "Shooting from a -Howdah" ; while it is obvious that "The -. Next Australian Team" appeals to all our cricketers ; and the *pages devoted to the month's prize competition photographs are attractive enough "to repay prolonged inspection.

Acknowledged with thanks from the editor (Mr TV. Garrard) copy of the Canterbury Rugby Union's Annual for 1905. JTirsfc in the field, as usual, this compactlittle publication is "Bovril" to the footballer.