The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-02-15 00:00:00

HOLLOWAY'S CARTOON ENGRAVINGS.-

The series was commenced in the year 1800,and finished
in the year 1842, occupying the time of three engravers
during a period of 42 years.
The Cartoons of Raphael are England's chief treasures
of art ; they have been for centuries the admiration of the
world ; and the gallery at Hampton Court, built by Wren
for their reception, is as a place of pilgrimage to all who
appreciate true excellence and venerate the genius of the
greatest master of ancient or of modern times.
It is impossible to overrate the value of this great heir-
loom of the British crown ; critics of all nations have
lauded it as a collection of invaluable worth ; these match-
less specimens not only supply the safest and surest les-
sons of art, but they are powerful incentives to virtue and
religion ; for never have the mind and hand of the painter
so effectually aided the preacher in his great mission—
never has divine truth been rendered so impressive by the
pencil of the artist. _

Although there are few persons entirely unacquainted
with these great works, it may not be amiss to state that
the series was produced by Raphael, in the years 1513 •
and 1514—in order that tapestries might be worked •to
decorate the interior e the Sistine Chapel, where those •
tapestries still exist, although in a faded and dilapidated
condition. They were purchased by Charles 1., acting
under the advice of the painter Rubens ; and, although
England has been thrice in danger of losing these invalu-
able acquisitions, happily they have continued with us,
the boast of our country and, according to a quaint _
writer, " the envy of all other polite nations."
The cartoons, it is scarcely needful to say, consist of
" seven grand designs drawn with chalk upon strong -
paper, and coloured in distemper." They have been fre-
quently engraved ; but in nearly all instances the en-
gravings have been either " merely neat memoranda,"
or very inferior productions of the burin. There existed
no copies at all comparable with the great originals ; their
fame depended mainly on the reports of those who had
seen them ; and as lessons in art or incentives to piety
more than half their value was lost, because no master
mind had been entrusted with the duty of their multipli-
cation. In the year 1800, however, the task was under-
taken by a most accomplished engraver, the late Thomas
Holloway, and his able coadjutors, R. Slann and T. S.
Webb, under the immediate patronage of his majesty
George 111.
Each print was originally published separately as it was
produced ; and it will be obvious that .as works resulting
from such immense labour necessarily bore a corresponding
price ; their cost has hitherto confined their circulation to
the wealthy. Such impediment is now removed, as it is
the intention of the present proprietor, Mr. Webb, of
London, who is retiring, to submit the entire stock of this
truly national series of magnificent engravings from the
greatest works in the world to the lovers of fine arts and
admiring public in a manner announced in our advertising
columns of to-day, which affords an opportunity, by a
guinea subscription, of obtaining one engraving for a cer-
tainty, which was originally published at four guineas.
The series may be justly classed as among the most ad-
mirable examples of line engraving that have been exe-
cuted ; the engravers trusted for fame entirely upon these
productions, upon which the energies of the best part of
their lives were expended ; and it is not too much to say
that, as prints, they are worthy associates of the immortal
drawings.
The artist has now, therefore, an opportunity of ac-
quiring a means of study which all authorities concerning
art unite in characterising as the safest and surest guide to
knowledge—unerring guides to learning, facility, and
truth ; while to the amateur is opened a new source of
easily accessible enjoyment. The collector of fine en-
gravings will also consider this opportunity one which
ought not to he lost,—since the value of these productions
does not depend upon fashion or caprice : it will increase
with time ; for the veritable excellence of the engraved
copies, as well as the immortal original drawings, afford
security against any diminution of their worth.

On Thursday, another of the wretched murderers, John
Renehan, convicted at the Limerick Special Commission,
underwent the extreme penalty of the law. The unhappy
man made no declaration of his guilt. Very few persons
were present. The Irish liberal papers express their sor-
row for the fate of these miserable men, by insinuating
doubts as to the justice of the verdicts.
GAME.—Hitherto the metropolis has been held as the
market most important for supplying seasonable game;
hut when its inland position is considered and compared
with the facilities possessed by Liverpool of commnnica-
tion with Wales, Ireland, and Scotland, in all of-which
the supply is more than adequate to the consumption,
there is no reason why we should not stand at an equality
with London. Such is the opinion of Mr. Johnson, who
advertises in our paper today; and having appointed
agents in the four portions of the United Kingdom, and
entered into most extensive contracts for the produce of
many special preserves, it is to be hoped he will be sac-
cessful—bis aim being to offer a superior article at amuck
smaller price than Las hitherto been offered.