New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-09-05
IN FRANCE AND ENGLAND.
SOME BOOKS OF TRAVEL.

that the little Collection of sketches calle'
.Plav in Provence the Century Company
which Mr. and Mrs Pencil have written, ana
the former has illustrated, will increase the
volume of tourist travel on the roads OF Scutli-
ern France If it does not then the tourist
is insensible TO the persuasiyencss OF paih' un'
vanished tale The theme Of these writer's was
one upon which they might have dwelt WIN
1amhovsnt rhetoric They in the at
mosphere of redundancy which Daudct has maze
70 sweep so breczy through the pages of Tar
+arin dc Tarasconn But they have chosen 10
tell in a matter-of-fact, chatty way what you
may find if you 90 about it in the righ' spi'i,
in the country Of Mstral, of Bouquet an"
Bompard They travelled as artists. but th'y
snare you the artistic pose which is the wors' u,
ell the distempcrs affecting the modern book OIL
travel They are not ashamed 70 say LOT en-
ample that at the time they visited Mar''guc7
they were under the impression that Mohs'c"i
Ziem had been dead for years
Monsieur Ziem is not dead. He Is sui Piln''h7
his roseate views of Venice He is painting them
at Marticucs, which justifes the Pcnnells az
sumption touching the painter. iDaSmuch a. IL H.
according TO them, painters paradise. IL II q
Mediterranean town lying short journey hor'h-
west of Marscilles. The Pencils started out 10
"discover" it and found TO their chasrln tna'
horde of artists had discovered it before them
the town vas alive with eases ana whi'e UNI
brellas But the genera! traveller has not yet made
the place his own, and this account OF IL pron'-
Uses that whoever has the enterprise 70 look II
up will find French Venice with pcturesqueness'
and beauty enhanced by novelty. Inc authors
describe the farand0c it Is danced III '"'
south the buUfrhts a. they are joyousy min'
aged there the branding OF cattle on ue
Mains near Aries and the most unique sport of
battles on the water must be delightful. plat
form is projected OIL beams from the bow of
boat rowcd by twelve oarsmen and is raised
high above the heads of the latter. On tins
olatform man stands clad in shirt and brooches,
protected by wooden shield and armed with
wooden lance His opponent faces INN mounted
and armed in similar way The two ooa'S
anproach each other at racehorsc speed and the
Iances are levellcd There is crash, and Nv"
minutes later, while man struts upon his
platform in exultation, another climbs dripping
upon the hank, to be asked by some charming
and tantalizng Arcscnne if il has been raining
where he came from. Sometimes both platforms
are shorn of their riders and two butts Tor the
wit Of the natives emerge upon the shore' Inc
Pennells present an excellent report of these
frolics The drawings are sparkling ana clever,
nc Mr.. Pencils drawings always are, and the
which will he recognized by travellers and by
readers of Daudet, Henry James, Miss Preston
and Mr.. Janvier II is consistent text. Ii deals
with PLAY in Provence Serious topics are lG-
nOrcd
It requires GIFT to treat serious topics prohtapN
IN book of travels If writer has such siit,
If he is an Arthur Young lie will produce book
like the we'll known Travels in France book
Of holm He'd
has not such gift if lie is Henry Blackburn, he
will compile a work like Artistic Travel Charles
Scribners Sons) This illustrated octave records
the authors experiences in travelling at various
times during the last twenty years through Nor
mandy Brittany, the Pyrenees. Spain ana Algeria
He observed, he sketched, ne made notes, and he
added TO his own illustrations others by 'rustave
Dore Randolph CalGecott and Samuel Prout. ills
observations and notes are valueless. Any guide
book will give the information that certain doors
in tie Cathedral of st. Pierre at Llsieux are
worth seeing, and no reputable guide book VIII pe
ungrammatical in so doing. Nor will il add that
one of the doors is quite maurcsque in the del
ic,cy of its design whatever that may mean.
The pictures in Mr. BlackbuIns book are no more
attractive than is his wOfuly dull text. The old
blocks from Dore and Cadecott ale in style that
long ago went out of date. The book Is, on the
whole. poor enough. Ii has neither the freshness
of book of Impressions nor the point oil col
lection of carefully asccrtained data.
An illustration of what can be done by in
telligent work in the direction of mere lnforma-
ton, with only occasional reference 10 personal
adventure is the monograph Oh one OF the south
eastern counties of England. written and Illus
trated by Mr. C. r. b. Barrett. His EsNeA'
Highways, Byways and Waterways Lawrence
& Bullenl is well-written book of topo-
graphical, historical and anecdotc fragments
1t could not pretend to be more than that. Ii
is discursivc not an exhaustive, study OF the
portion OF England covered by the writer 5
rambles Nevertheless, Mr. Barrett has contrived
to throw into his chapters considerable enter
tanning gossip Of the curious sort associated with
most old English towns. In Essex there are
memories of some exceedingly picturesque figures.
, At Saffron Walden lived Gabriel Harvey who
y was not himself il must he said particularly
fascinating man. hut one who looms large upon
the Elzabethan horizon as friend OF Spcnseg,
and as the cause of some Of Thomas Nash's most
p,rngcnt essays in literary vftupera'lon. Near
Barking, around mansion Of Queen Marys
time Eastbury House, there still float traditions
of Guido Fawkes and his fellow conSpirators.
The Manor of Barking i famous as the occasion
OF a really honorable act TIM part Of Charles ].
He sold the house 10 Sir Thomas Fanshaw, and
at one time during the NEGOTIATIONS received
s250O from that nobleman without giving him
safe security. The King actually recognized the
unfairness of the situation and ordered the
treasurer to rectify the error
In his paragraphs on Cogscshall Mr.. Barrett
pives an anecdotc illustrative Of the idiocy that
is traditional Of the town. A man was told
by his master 10 transplant apple tree. He
cut the tree down first and then dug up and
carefully replantcd the roots In Essex when
anything particularly silly is done they call il
a "Coggcshall job" Little Dumow provides
Mr. Barrett with some interesting notes on the
"fitch of bacon" stal surviving in popular con-