The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-29 00:00:00

LITERATURE;

The Seven Ages of Man, Described by William
Shakespeare. Depicted by Robert Smirke.

L. Booth.

We presume that we are to regard this beautiful
little limp-bound quarto volumette but as the pre-
cursor of a far nobler work of a similar character,
now fast preparing for publication by Mr. Booth.
The celebrated Shakespeare Gallery, that is to say,
which that enterprising publisher now announces
as almost immediately forthcoming. In it, that is
in the Gallery thus declared to be upon the eve of
making its welcome and timely appearance—
timely we mean as in opportune anticipation of the
approaching ShaksperianTercentenary—no less than
ninety-eight Photographs of Engravings from
Pictures by the most eminent of English Masters,
Pictures every one of them, of course, illustrative
of the Dramatic Works of William Shakspere,
are to be comprised. In truth—a noble
gallery ! A superb preliminary celebration of the
glory of Shakspere's genius—before the actual advent
of the date of the grand tercentenary anniversary !
Meanwhile, as an avant courier to this far grander
undertaking of the Shakespeare Gallery,
there has just now been issued from the press
by Mr. Booth, a charming collection of photographs
of the seven beautiful pictures by Robert Smirke,
illustrative of the immortal description (act ii., sc.
vi., of " As you Like it") the wonderful descrip-
tion of " The Seven Ages of Man" Those
Seven Ages dating according to Arnold's
Chronicle, ed. 1811, p. 157), the First (" Infancy")
from birth
,to Seven, the Second (" Childhood") to
Fifteen, the Third (" Adolescence") to Twenty-Five,
the Fourth (" Youth") to Party-Five, the Fifth
(" Manhood ") to Fifty, the Sixth (" Maturity") to
Seventy, the Seventh and last (" Old Age") leading to
Death through second childhood and extreme de-
crepitude. Prefixed to the little series of these
same charming photographs from Smirke's original
paintings, are two other photographs represent-
ing the head of Shakspere. One of them, a
minute fac simile of Droeshoat's well-known
Engraving, the other of a slight outline sketch of
the still better known Stratford Bust. As for the
seven photographs after Smirke, they are everything
that could really be well wished for, in that way,
as photographs—having been, every one of
them, most carefully, one might almost think,
tenderly manipulated. It is curious to note,
by the way, two very glaring errors of
Smirke's own making as an illustration of the words
of Shakspere—mistakes made by Smirke in conse-
quence of his flourishing himself in an essentially
close-shaving age ! One is, his portraiture of the
Soldier " bearded like the Pard," as a smooth-faced
warrior with the faintest suspicion of the merest
hint of a most delicate moustache ! The other
being Smirke's still more ridiculous limning of the
Justice with " beard of formal cut"—ef a cut so
formal, indeed, that it (the beard) is out
off altogether! Nothing this Christmas-tide could
well have come out more exquisitely a propos,
as a little gift book, than this gracefully thought of
set of embellishments 0 one of the most world-
famous fragments of poetry—" familiar in our
months as household words"—from the Dramas of
Shakspere.

Faith—Hope—Charity. Illuminated. By Mrs.

F. G. Delamotte.

During the last few years there have been issued
to the public in this country many brilliant evi-
dences of the revival of the long-neglected and at
one time, indeed, almost abandoned art of
illumination. At the head of this revival has
unquestionably stood Mr. 0 wen Jones. Others have
co-operated in various ways with that eminent
master in the art of colouring and general illumi-
nation, whether as applied to Books or to Build-
ings, whether in connection with Printing or
with Architectural Decorations. And thus—by
the combined efforts of many fellow labour-
ers in the same good and lovely work
of illumination, the reviving art has long
since begun to flourish anew in earnest.
As signally indicative of which, it would really
be enough to direct attention—as we have
here in truth much pleasure in doing—
to these three exquisite exemplars of the
artist's cunning skill of hand and exquisite taste as
an illuminator. It we were to make a choice of
one out of the three, we should be compelled to
acknowledge that Mrs. Delamotte has fairly be-
wildered us ! "Faith" with its deep blue sky studdei
with golden stars—" Hope" with its delicious sprays
of May-blooms, here the pink, here the white blos-
soming hawthorn—" Charity" garlanded with holly
and ivy, the holly with its scarlet, the ivy
with its blue-black berries! They are each of
them eminently beautiful, and published, as they
are, together, they seem to bring out their very
dissimilar graces and splendours all the more
vividly to the beholder's appreciation by the mere
force of contrast.

Manhattan—Scraps from his Last Letter.

" STILL ALIVE !"

The last words that were spoken by the late
Daniel Webster were, "I still live." It was con-
sidered very remarkable at the time that he should
have possessed such extraordinary knowledge up to
the last moment of his life. The sentence has been
preserved by the Whig prosterity, and filed away
among the archives of great sayings by our great
American men, such as " The Union, it must and
shall be preserved "—by Jackson ; " Don't give up
the ship"—by Lawrence ; " All men are born free
and equal, except niggers "—by Jefferson ; " Mil-
lions for defence, but not a cent for tribute "—by
General Washington. " I shall live," was good in
its day. It applied to Webster then ; it applies to
the great Democratic party now. It has been sup-
posed to be dying for some months, but it has said
"I still live," upon two recent occasions.