New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-12-18
BOOKS OF THE SEASON.
ILLUSTRATED EDITTONS-NEw PUBLICA-
T1oNs AND OLD FAvORITEs.


The English rural life Of the later Georgian
rer.od had no contemporaneous historian more
gifted than Miss Milford. and since her death IL
has had no more successful Interpreter IN PIC
toriaI art than the illustrator Of the new edition
OF "Our Village (Macmillan Coz. We
might go further in eulogy Of Mr.. Hugh Thomson
and say that not Of his predecessors no
matter how far back you go. has surpassed him
IN preserving the very spirit of a long vanished
generation rosy-checked. poke-bonnetted and in
tensely British George Morland. famous as an
animal painter, was also noted illustrator OF
life among the villagers and farIn-people or the
late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries
He painted these men and women so well 'hal
the rustic genre Of his time may be SAID TO nave
reached its highest expression in his really I'M
aspiring art His pictures arc Incompatible Tor
bald truth for an English quality as unaf1ccted
as that Of an English village itself. Yet Moriand
made his women buXOm rather than grace1uly
idyllic, his men more reminiscent or the stable
and the plough than Of the hay barn and the
understanding hedge-bordered roads. lie chose
and chose wisely. we must admit. the most un-
mstakable features of nature. But on tie size
n, history that is idoaxed in fictitious literature
seen through veil Of sentiment and fancy; on
the side of history which Goldsmith knew. or
AIRS. Gaskell or Miss Milford the inhabitants Of
rural England have Quaintness ard humor
which make them more companionable than Nor
lands sturdy hobbedeh)ys and robust dairy
maids 1t is this quaintness and this humor
which Mr. Thomson co-Operates perfectly with
Miss Milford to re-crcate in the new edition or
"Our Village" Mrs T:itchie who contributes a
pleasant Introduction to the book. surinises mat
she is the only living author who in Childhood
had the exciting experience of wearing patterns
The only living artist who can give you a true
picture Of the time when pattens were an every
day article of dress is Mr. Thomson. In that
picturesque ard not, after all, so terribly remote
age he is absolutely at home with wnat ease
and spontaneity he sketches the village girl III
bonnet plumes. ribbons and high-waisted. furbe-
lowed gown. What reality there is in the smas
and smocks Of his gentlemen. shepherds ana
barn-yard yokels, And how thoroughly alive are
Tho wearers of these habiliments. From the de-
mureness OF his maidens to the benevolence OF
his old ladies' from the harmless vanity OF his
beaux TO the matchess vacuity Of his merry
bumpkns he never misses a shade Of expression
And through all his scenes and groups, through
all his spirited pictures. thare goes Clean
breezy tone which carries one back straight 10
the fragrance Of the English country side. In
his drawings for "Our Village" Mr. thomson mas
outdone himself. His sympathy. developed STEAD
fly through his study Of the time has IN this book
reached a far-advancc1 stage and his draughts
manship has kept pace with his sympathy.
Never have his drawings been better conceived
or better executed. Even his COWS are poetic.
70 tbore ,s 70 he n renaissance Of formal gar
den,nr at this latter end Of the nineteenth
century and If America Is to share In Its
Clories. the efforts of more than one recent
writer on the subject will be remembered with
gratitude. But it is doubtful If any one Will
have accomplished as much in propagating the
architectural idea in matters OF gardening as
the author Of italian Gardens Narper IL
Brothers. The chief service which Mr.. Platt
has done in preparing this handsome book has
been to select the best subjects for a series OF
illustrations. His taste is trustworthy and the
reproduction of the photographs has been left
in safe hands He places before u.s. therefore.
an artistic pictorial sketch Of the most artistic
country residences in the world. Abiding to
the villas on the hills Of Frascati. which are
distinguished in remarkable degree by the
magnifcence and eccentricity Of their aerial
sites Mr. Plat remarks that the builders Of
these retreats rarely allowed ideas Of cOnven-
fence 10 interfere with their desire to produce
beautiful effect" This formulates in line the
spirit IN which the italian villas were con-
ceved. We are justified in assuming that a
strong sense of architectural unity controlled
their original designers-much they have
suffered from the caprice Of later times-but
what Is written more clearly across the
terraces and groves of these enchanted gardens
is the lavshness of scale with which they were
cree ted, and the imperial splendor with which
their aristocratc owners piled riches upon riches
until they renewed the loneliness Of fairyland It.
self In works like the Villa d'Este at Tivo. or
the Villa Lante near Viterbo. the doctrine of art
for arts sake was followed to the very last
clause. The object Of their early proprietors
seems to have been nothing but the production
OF artistic effect so purely and singly do
they minister to our sense Of what Is rhythmic.
poetic and sensuous in architectural art. Take
the fantastic fragment from the Guist Gardens
which Mr.. Plat reproduces. the stately ascent
Of terraces which appears in Of his illus
trations Of the Villa d'Este. or the bosquet at
Portici which represents his sole selection from
the villas Of the south. 1t requires eXag |
geration to figure these visions Of glimmerng J
fountains sunny box-bordered paths. heroic ter
races and mournful cypress groves with marble
nymphs and fauns. az glimpses of the land in
which Aladdin lives and rubs his magic lamp.
There is indeed. much of Aladdin in the
beauty Of Italian villas as they exist to-day as
there is Of the men who designed thcm-an adj
mission which takes nothing from the legitimate
laurels of the latter, earned by their genius for
structure and picturesque effect. Whatever in |
spiration the villas have for modern builders is |
inspiration Of an architectural character; but the
clements in their spell Of which an unprofes- /
siona] observer is most instantaneousy sensible /.
are elements Of mystery. Of romantic and his
torical suggestion. Of extraordinarily vivid |
natural grace. No constructive blemishes in !
troduced by modern hands. no ford details |
marking the trail Of Bernn and his followers.
no crlminaltics Of neglect can in the long run /
diminish the phantom-like opulencc OF these ,
gardens. Even in their decay they are superb. |
and In spite Of their decorative note. their |
Of private rather than Of civic life, |