New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-11-25
ILLUsrRArED BOOKS

nh TILE CLUp-1- A~wspu
\ BOOK OF TT aE ton Sti ca
SHE oqs ssSS.. 4 G ssn;s Rssy
pe ssn poSson Folio PIP. III Harper Brosnara
THE nLEssEp p nrsmns. Kenyon cox Fos
Doid Mead Co.
CHARACTER SKETCHES FROM IHA M.nkisn Repre-
Snced In photoeravure. Portfolio Casseh u 70
sEYSARD THE FOX After the German veT TS!.r OF
tiors from the Designs Of wilhelm Won ksuibacn shs
Joseph Wolf. small ito PIP 3i2 Roberts nfo'hS'~
An the finest gift-books of the present day are
MANNED and executed with consideration TOT INC
Individuality of the illustrator which may almost
he called n novel sense Mere pictorial representa-
t,ons of the subjects touched upon by the text
however well drawn. artfully engraved and care
SnlIv pr,nted. no longer satisfy and objection Is
even made 70 the extraordinary finish and tone OF
our hest wood engraving-an art In when tbis
counttv leads the world-on the ground that 100
much OF the oharac eristc quality OF the ARTIST Is
lost through the very excellence OF MS INTERPRETER
The increasing desire tor a more obvious iei"uoo
upon the original hand. more impulse ana 'es'
mechanism is partly tho consequence OF higher
estimate of the illustrators functions Decora-
tion is only part Of his business, ana not
the most important part. we ash u
him creative power not necessarily eQusi 10 'n''
of his autaor. but harmonious vita IT, ihe'o NV"
demands. however while they indicate an @dvanc-
ing popuiar taste, have been principally sIimu
lated Inv tho recent inventions In the reproducing
processes Photography brings the artist almost
into direct contact with the thousands Oh DOCK
buvers. and the application OF this method oas
been 90 nearly perfected that for certain styles OF
craving 1T leaves nothing 20 be desired
One OF the most remarkable publications OF inc
season ia undoubtedly the magnificent large quar'o'
~ Book of the Tile Club prepared by the famous
hand of arusts whose rambles and vagar'eS "a'o
been so pleasantly celebrated IN rnaay mag z,a"
The text. written bE Edward strabah ana f. hop'
kinson Smith. gives rafting account VI '"o
oiub. a sketch Of its quarters. hveiy samples VI
i,s wit aud nonsense, and appetlzing description
90 "urocecdings 10 which its merry evenings
s,o,o m ha eagerly devoted. But the main purpose
of thu hook IA TO exhibit the club by specimens Oh
a. work The mem bers have contributed hberally
making their own choce of drawings, painu gs ana
reliefs. A controlling idea in the publication mas
been to reproduce the ARTISTS act1ai hanoiwofk'
with the least possible intervention or any other
skill The full-page plates, of which there are
twenty-seyen are printed by the photogravure
process which Is here applied for the most part
with entire success the chief exceptions oelng inc
ts, u,etures by J. Alden Weir Many of the small
illustrations
the sixty or seventy pen and Ink sketches appear
20 have lost none of their original spirit IN the
transfer to the press. Amoug the most
effective of the large plates are W. NJ
Chase's "A Woman in White" which
stands as the frOnuspiece; Strange Gods. oy
George w. Maynard, two young womea AT 'ao'e
examining a lot OF rsnagra figures; An autumn
Day." pretty figure piece. by Frederick Dielmah |;
Launching the Boat" and The Gos>lps." BY
C. S. Reinhart; velder's strong and sonoro
"sibyl" and his some hat hard 'Pielades the
suggestive and cleverly grouped picture by T.. A.
Abbey "The Old Song; two graceful and well
drawn compositions by f. ID. Millet, At the
Inn" where q gallant young travellers dinner
cools while he watches the handsome serving maid.
md A Pompean Girl" bearing aioft heavy vase
through pillared hall and two figures OF eossa-
mer grace by Mr. Salony, "The vesta Virgin and
"A Fairy" Arthur Quartley's The Irish Chan
mel " has the breeze aud hurry of the fresh sea-
Honkinsou Smiths " By the River" and The In
FAINT Thames" by Alfred Parsons, are successful
landscapes Photography has not treated Swan
(ifford's " Sheep Pasture" very we'll, but he has
been much more justly represented IN the wind
swept Sand Dunes at Naushon." and In some OF
the small pen and ink drawings. Indeed the COL
lection of small drawings is a mine of richness
We find among them some OF the most
vigorous and characteristic work In the
book. Small portraits of many OF the
members of the club are introduced; otherwise the
pictures are generally independent OF the tex' ana
the variety Of subject is striking as the variety
of STYLE The typography of the volume Is superb.
Every detail of the manufacture Is IN heautiui
TASTE. and we are disposed TO call the Book OF the
Tile Club" q GROWING triumph OF the riverside
Press.
Mr.. Abbcy's Illustrations of She Stoops TO Con-
onorD have been greatly admired In Harpers
MONTHLY but they show 10 so much higher advaA'-
ace in the Injurious volume now devoted to them
that they seem like new things. Indeed those VINO
have not seen THIN In the book can hardly be sald
to have seen them at all. Not only are they set on
nv a beautifully printed text an ingenious distri'
button of pictures, and score of other accessory
devices of book making: they are also positively
finer in themselves now that they are printed on
the most suitable quality of paper, and by ieisurey
work which was unattalnable IN a popular
magazine Mr. Abbey prod uces his most character
istic effects by a thln sharp. free line winch needs
careful printing and 1t must De confessed
that the fast type-press sometimes iea' o.
his drawings a little scratchy and ragged This de-
feet disappears when the impression is taken by
the appropriate process on the right sort OF paper
The illustrations become more distinct, ana tht
faces especially acquire clearness and vlvacity o.
expresslon lie gives Us now In She Stoops 10
CONQUER" gallery Of characters, both Winning
and eccentric-all Of them exactly IN the spirit OF
the comedy as if the artist had been STEPPED 10 the
hsvors of the last century, They are not coutempo
rary models dressed in old-fash oned costumes. out
the actors and actresses of hundred years ago
with their old-time faces their old-time attitudes
and their old time droeres. We shall not fine
many examples of book illustration more entirely
sympathetic.
In this publication as in the Book of the Iil'
Club the purpose has been TO let the artist SPEAK
for himself, with no intermediary but mechauica