New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-12-22
being in the former four one but in the latter nine 70
one.
NEW PUBLICATIONS.

| I'D odf
| ICA. BY W. J. LINTON. Illus rated Llmiteu cur
| ton. 4to Boston: Estes & Lsuriat
| The Importance which wood-engraving mas as
sumed through its enlarged field of application the
| increasing number of illustrated periodicals. ana
the rapid development of the art for it may now
fairly be termed an art renders the appearance VI
these two volumes Of peculiar value and interest
| Mr. Woodberry has conscientiously set to work 10
trace the history of wood-engraving from its some
what shadowy origin down TO the present time, MS
| endeavor being to gather and arrange such iac's
as should be known to men OF cultivation h'eres'cu
| in the art Of engraving on wood" and 10 ue"'
| wood engraving in its principal works rs renec
fion of the life of men and an illustration OF sue
cessive phases of civilization, Mr.. Linton "hoSo
book is made up of papers contributed TO Ihe A"'F
| can Art Rere,c in 1850, and which, 1t VIII DO to
membered, stirred up lively CONTROVERSY, coh'one'
himself with treating the history of wood-engrd'-
| inc in This country dealing with the subject rs an
| engravcr Of emphatic views and as sonie"n"'
! prriudiced critic Mr. Woodberry lacks ME-
| Unions practical experience, which is vaiuapie
in suggesting points of detailed criticism, but on inc
gher hand he is free from any marked DlaS; aihougn
| his work is that of boOkman, 1t shows the mana
of trained writer the re ults Of most careful study
| and faithful investigation and apraiscworthy enort
| 10 famiarize himself with every fact which has
bearing upon his subject. He is a young man and
| his lie thus far has been that of student writer
and teacher. Mr. Unions entire life has been de-
voted the study and pr ctice of the art of which
he treas but one department. As regards the
ancient history OF wood engraving, Mr. Woodbury.
has been fortunate in the materials at hand
in and about Boston, especially so in the
advice of Professor Charles Eliot Norton,
and In access TO his collection. With this state
ment of the chisf limitations Of either wor 1t
seems fair to say that Mr. Woodberrys treatise Will
| prove useful 10 the mass of general readers,
| who wish to acquire the somewhat superficial
! knowledge of tho subject which "culturc " de-
mands, while Mr. Linton will address himself 10 a
more restricted audience who are interested IN the
ncetlcs of the craft and can follow HIM in bis OF en-
wearisome technical discussions.
Mr. Woodberry refers the origin of engraving
upon metal TO the goldsmiths of the t@ith
century, discussing III general way the
statements Of Herodoius as to the use
! Of maps engraved upon metallic plates
| by the Greeks 800 B. Co. aud of Du llAlde as to the
practice of tine art by the Chinese 1I2O b. {. Nor
does he give credence TO OFT eys belief that wood
engraving was introduced by the Veuetians, who
learned 1t from the Chinese, and that it was first
plactised by an Italian family of the name of Cunio
| lie lays stress upon the prevalence OF playing
cards in the thirteenth century, but contents him
self with fixing the gin of wood-engIavlng among
| the BfltjMQtCf ana fOfWScRhCiOCT OF inc uISb
quarter of the fifteenth century, the earliest
of whose engraved figures now existing,
"St. Christopher carrying the Infant Jesus
over the Sea- is reproduced in his volume.
The author takes issue with other authorities in
saying that no playing cards were known to have
been printed before 1923 they commonly
traced back to 1915. At the close of his first chap
ter Mr.. Wocdbcry gives resume of the develop
ment OF the art. "At first he says, "the art served
medieval religion; aflerward it took a
wider range, and by both its serious and
satincal rks afforded valuable aid
in the progress of the Reformation while 1t rendered
the earliest printed books more attractive. .
Finally, in the hands of the great engravers-of
Duier who, still mastered by the medieval spirit
employed it to embody the German Renaissance of
Maximlian's artists who recorded in it the dying
pctuTesqueness and chvalrlc spirit Of the Middle
Ages; of Hobein, who first heralded by means Of
il the intelligence and sentiment OF modern times
it produced its chief monuments, which, for the |
most part will here be dealt with in order to illus
trate its value as fine art practised for its own
sake, as a. trustworthy contemporary record of
popular customs, ideas and taste, and ele- |
ment of considerable power in the advancement Of
modern civilization"
Especially attractive is tho chapter on early |
Italian wCodengraying in which the author shows
has imbued him with the spirit of Italian art.
His words are emphasized by well-chosen repro
duetions Of some of the illustrations of the
Dream of Poipholo" which designs he attrib-
utes to Benedetto Montague.
The chapters upon Durcr and HClbein contain
little that is unknown to the readers of the mono
graphs upon these artists lie adds brief but excel
lent analysis of the causes which led to the decline
and extinction of the art in the latter part OF the
seventeenth and the first half of the eighteenth
centuries. Modern wood-engraving, from Bewck
and his pupils III England, NJ Best and NJ. Leoir in
France, and DR.. Anderson in America is summar-
lied in single chapter. Here Mr. Woodocrry
shows that he, tOo is keeny alive to the present
and future of wood-engraving. and. rapidly review
ing some example of modern work, he cIiticlses
with illustrations drawn from the past the present
tendency to too great refinement and TO abandon
meut of the line, and declares that white line
work is the peculiar province of the WOODEN
graver."
Those who are especially interested in modern
American wood-engrayng will be obliged to turn
to Mr. Linton for more detailed information AS
to it's history he has collected an amount of
material relative to the lines of Anderson,
Adams and Barber and the artists employed in the
old American Engraving and Printing Company,
aud on the publications of the Tract Society upon
uving's " sketch Book" and Knckerbocker,"
which will be of permanent value. In regard to
the growth of the illustrated press Mr. Linton states
that The Nelc- York Mirror was the first antedating
by ten years The Family Magazine. which appeared
in 1888 and considered by LOSING the first illus
ira ed periodical Ten years LATER" writes Mr. |
Linton, the only illustrated newspaper in New
York land believe there was none elsewlere) was 1
The Sunday atlas, illustrated to the extent |
of small portrait four inches square on the |
front page of the paper The Mercurg not
to be outdone. thcreupon embeished its Sunday is