New-York tribune., 1884-12-05
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
rupisi,MAs nooKa. T.

...,,,,,,. ed,ion ot kanco And Juliet >
irasseii A val s illustrated w twelve "taW"ss w
A. n,.tsea 4 Il. 4, aud tuhtahsa q sohoia'N w"V-
s.,s,,,,, ,,s,y IA, rtofessaf Edward nowdeh W ~
r,,otad th,,aahnnt uron the thcbr7' ., "eN"A
pamE aud the illustrations e'e trrrdn'en w ''''"-
,,,,ura undst the sapvfiNtendcnce ot tho No"PNH'
al Pairs Tho s,ee ot tho volume is q large n""''e'
a., tne ~ now aud beautiful, tae impression nearly
,,,fet and tn fact tho luxury ot mechahloHl H'
,onil scarcely 40 luther The PLAY Is rel"''o nv
an essay ar,hrolouoal aud analytic li'h Va"
learned aud judicous pen ot d'st'hsnH"'" '"'"'
spearian commentator aud IN this essay "o "''
oathered tosather all that II known cohco'h"g tn'
origins of the tragedy. The illustrations "i MI
picksce are of unequal merit, Though none "i 'n'"
.,n he SAID to be wholly unsatisfactory The Illus
,r,tion of Romeo aud Ju'et," however, must ever
be an unthaukiul task save to ranscendent genus
lust as its representation on the stage must ever Try
most anuly the capacities of all but the greatest
aciors For the play is u poem IN which human
nature s so cthercalized and refined bv the passion
which pervadcs it that there is kind oi proiana-
ton in the realism which incarnates TINS sno''e
.pir,t The most successful drawing IN TINS Vola'ho
j. that which represents Juliet mcditathg upon no'
apnrnaching fate after she has resolved 10 urN 'c
notion prepared by the friar. The nnrse mas oech
pesterng her 81 select the garments she W "o'
ON the morrow when the County Paris comes. She
SAYS absenty:
~A,. those ot,bcs are hest Bn gentle 9th, nurse
Ipfav thee leave me To myself io-nlSht
Tho artist has succeeded in giving to her eyes
luminousness which not all earthly "aHihg
fortnight. she seems to he looking beyohu t''"
+ropblc of the present to be realizing, in an exalted
france perception a future reunion with Romeo ~
is very suggestive and full of tender grace Inc
,cene a, the festival, when the first meeting OF the
LAYERS occurs. is also happily illustrated, though
nehaps the Photographic process has mere sohlc-
what unduly intensified a certain miStIness IN 'he
face OF Juet. The frontisplecc, which represents
Tine balcony scene, is not 80 satisfactory. lhero Is
ananxious almost hagsard expression III DOM t"o
faces which is surely foreign TO any tue conception
of the scene The face of Juliet however. is very
sweet and loving, and the atitu les are Si"eelu 'u
natural In the drawing illustrating the felgneu
I,h ~ Iul;et we notice that Mr. Dicksee has read
his Shakespeare to some purpose, lnasmuch as he
bas reprcseutol Lady Capulet as young woman
The conventional stage conception oil JuHe'S
mother is that of an old or elderly person on'
Shakespeare has given MS her exact age an" 1t Is
,wenty-eicht: for she tells Juliet that when shc
p WAS the age of the latter (fourtcen) she was u
,uothcr and had Juliet in her aims. Allowing then
3r the speeder decline OF female beauty under the
Southern sun il is clear that Lady Capnlet was IN
her nrn,c and thus the artist has drawn her AZ she
lneels hy thc be side of her daughter. Another
very satisfying drawing is that of the interview ne
tween Romeo and the apothecary. where the IooN"h
the face of the former speaks rs plainly as words Oh
his purpose and the fierce aVarice of tbe com
pounder of drugs is as clearly drawn to the surface
ly the sight of the lavish reward ohefeu lot MS
wan. Here again the artist has shown his skill n
the expression put into the eyes, and all thronrh
these drawings that point IS most strongly marked.
Tho f,ce of Romeo here, and that of Juliet in the
scene nrcvIously described are baunting faces. oi
,h, remaining illustrations less requires to be SAID
They are good. but IN a mediocre way ana not
spec.nlly impressive. In the scene OF the street
br,vl indeed some Of the attitudes are strangely
st,f and constrained and tho general effect is not
that of rapid movement and confused herce "ouoh'
which ought 70 be conveyed. Tho volume, however,
isa most luminous and on the whole beautHul
xdit,on of the play. aud is entitled to tate rank
.,non, the most artistic aud valuable gift books of
the season.
"Thc pilgrln's rrogrc,s.' with ono hundred
Illustrations. by Frederick barnard aud others Is
,nblshod by Alexander Straban, London. aud i'm.
p,rtod by A. -. +. Randolph " Co. BROADWAY
The hook Ia printed In comfortably large type
Tho Illustrations realistic aud for the most part
o,cord well with the text Tho on9raVing To NUS
,rpto VANITY Fair, however. is long way h'h'hd
George Crukshaphs conception and scarcely any
oAort has been made 60 represent the more spi''u"
s,ncs of tho great allcgory. Turner's draw ngS are
4 Il
of the older representations of characters Ike Hiaht
pespair Giant Glim. GrcatheIrt. ETC., please us
b,tter than the new ones. IL must also be SAID mat
thero is a rnughncss and crudcncss about some oi
the cprravngs with winch the rapid progress OF
American art has taught us to be discontehtcd
lint the book is ON the whole solid piece ol WORK,
and the multiplicity of new editions of the " FRO
,rcss shows no " strong hold this masterpiece stl
has upon the world. Notwithstanding the assumed
advance of stage of thought calculated 10 relesate
snch works to the background. Macaulay was
probably right in predicting that Hunyans book
would enjoy an indefinite lease of life and popu-
lautr.
There appears 70 have been kind OF run upon
Seotts Marmion this year, as subject Tor Nus
tration We have two editions before us, differing
greatly in merit. One of these trhomas Y Crowell
a Col is illustrated by Garrett shelton, Sheppard
Taylor aud others. under the supervision OF George
T. Andrew The engravings of this volume though
much superior to what would have passed. current
ten or fifteen years ago. have no pretenslon to he
regard-d as excellent nowadays, and IT nnst be sald
that they Will stand no sort of comparison with the
Illustrations of the other Marmion James k.
O.cood 4 Co.. Boston, This second edition is
much more ambitious, elaborate and satisfactory
book. IL is printed on larger and HEAVIER paper The
Introduction t. the cantOs enriched with orna-
mentcd borders of graceful, varied and novel
design. The drawings and the engravings are
i .IA1 ifAI and fRIn