New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-05-07


are slowly and naturally instillcd into his mlnd'
and he himself becomes Phnnician, Greek,
Columbus discovering the roads of commerce ana
settling the seats of n race by instructive per-
ccption of convenience and social utility just so
it should be with an elementary guide BOOK 10 tne
History Of Art 1t should show the learner the
great facts that tower above the history oil AN III
each country where it has been richly developed
and trace the streams of influence that flow from
those heights to fertilze the lands. This done in
words the only way to make it of any practical uso
to the learner would be to accompany the text NJ
every step with wel.selected characteristic Illus
trations so that the seeing eye should go with the
hearing ear.
We find these conditions little regarded IN the
book before us. 1t is indeed stuffed full with iacts
for the industrious assembling of which we might
give the compiler more credit had not the work
been already done to his hand by such men as
Kigler and LHbke, to name only two OF the
Germans who have done yeOmans service in tho
field of art-statistics, historical and biographical
The chief fault OF the work is its want OF proper
ton Far too many names of artists OF little or no
importance are introduced to the bcwilderment OF
the reader and the inordinate swelling of the text
Thus to take the first example that oilers ltseh'
we have two pages given to Claude ana TWO 10
Ponssn Oct the wood-cut in each case count Tor a
third nacal and on the other hand half page
civen severally to such mares as Martin Freminet
and Jean Jouvenet, to each of whom kuger IN his
History of Painting" in three volumes gives Just
three lines and j. b. Santcrre whom kigler does
not think worth mentioning Mt all. Inc reader
will remember that are speaking only oil inc
authors neglect OF proportion; had he been Wilihg
an exhaustive history of Panting-and even
Kicler's book of $40 pages only pre;ends TO be
. land hno ii Gi IN q
names like these must have had their place. But
in n book of 773 pages in which not merely paint
ing. but architecture, sculpture and music are pro-
tossed to he treated the space occupied by notices
&C uuimportant people should have been given TO
making clear the part played by men who were
leaders and not followers. The case is much worse
when we core to Italy. Here we have two pages
civen 10 Mchelangelo as a sculptor and one page
to Ranks an Englishman whose name was never
heard of outside of England. But we suppose
allowance must be made for national feeling ana
wa mist excuse on this score the authors giving
6fty PAGES out of his 773 TO paintins in England
from Nicholas billiard in thFsXtcenth century to
TredcriclS Walker in the nineteenth, While only
eqbtveight pages are given to the whole history oil
painting in Italy from the tenth century to the
seventeenth. including all THAT Is SAID ABOUT
Nichelaugclo, Leonardo, Raphael anu IIllah III
he
usb sculpture where nothing memorable has been
nroduccd-uncss we except the work OF tiaNman
while only nineteen pages are given to Italian
scuIntnre including all its world-famous names.
To Snoin and her painters thiry-thrcc pages are
given and only thirty-fve TO those OF France, ana
!, the rotces of each of these countries the names
of a crowd of artists are gwen that have no more
importance IN the history OF It's art IMAM the par
ticular bulrushes in marsh have to the history ol
q stream. The stream indeed, where 1t Is sluggish
breeds bulrushcs, but there is surely no need 10
,i,.o cotalocue of them 1t is difficult to assign
,,loca IN such q book as this. As a history 1t Is
useless and useless as schooi-book while as
,,nide book a companion TO the traveller IL IS TOO
cumbersome TO be thought Of 1t IS handicapped
too. by the superficial hundred pages caiied an
Elementary History of Music, OF winch twelve arc
toLo, nm with large wood-cut portraits of com
nosersl II is unnecessary to say that with such
cride hooks as those of Baedeker and Escll-tcls
and Rurckhardt so cheapy accessible to the trav-
olor = ouidr-h book like this would he speedily laid
side As book of reference for the library table
NJ D'Anvers's may be recommended, because The
facts seem to be correctly given, but even mere
great improvement might he effected by printing
tho vast number OF second-ratc and thlrd-ratc
names in smaller type and in an abbreviated
form II would be impossible 20 give here all the
EXAMPLES We have noted in going through tue BOOK
of iucomplete statement, insufficient technical IN
sec the Introduction to the Divisions OF
Scnlnfure and Painting where the important and
the uuimportant are served up without dlscrmina-
t,onl and criticisms that snow q mere blind follow
inc of other mems conclusions. As for the portions
of the book that relate to America, they are as was
70 have been expected in an English publication.
only repetItions of WORKOUT matter and evidently
inserted out Of mere complaisance. word may bc
said about the wOodcuts and the dcvout wish
EXPRESSED that at no very distant day we may see
the last of these blocks the greater part OF which
having first seen the light in Germany, have since
been sold and resoll, copied and copied again, in
publication after publication. in Germany, in Eng
land and here in America, until they must have
become. to people whose business or study leads
them TO the examination of art-boolls verltablo
nightmare A large number of these cuts first APP
peared in England by agreement with the German
publisher in illustration of the late Miss Fanny
Bupnetts various translatiOns from Lubkc. The
use of them was again purchased for this country
by Messrs. Dodd & Mead, of this city for their cdi-
ton of Liibkes History of Art These publishers
have also used them in an elementary history of
Art prepared for them by Miss De Forest. And now
Libkes History, while the German publisher sends
the whole lot of cuts out in a cheap publication in
sheets to accompany any and all histories of Art
whatsoever. They have no artistic excellence they
do not pretend perhaps to great accuracy, and all
that can be said for them is that they are very fit
sauce for the very superficial publications which
they poured over