New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-02-08
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.

magnificent work on that edifce or 1t must he hit
off in fragments of vvacous talk 1t Is this second
method which has been employed by Henri PERL
the author OF "Venezia' handsome folio trans
lated from his German by Mrs Arthur Bel ana
nublished by the Scribners with numerous Illus
tratons There Is history In this booK' IN sieIuei
s,reaks and there is erudition OF that sort "hich
tells YOU something about gondolas ana Nehe"a"
WAYS The bulk Of the text is concerned with the
authors Impressions. which are those OF a'i 81"
,husiastic and intelligent amateur who was aware
of nothing lovelier In Venice than It's mere Pas
eantry and pleasure It's scenes on the Hrahd '""a''
and its trips to the Lido. its happy-go-iucKy mee'
1ngs with thousand picturesque figures III the
Piazza and In the CALI There is not much 10
remember In the text. which lacks the personal
quality 10 make such dthyrambs OF permanent
value: but such 1t is 1t is stun to make eh'e'
tainment you read. and 1t fits very wen i'i'o
place with he many pictures from German anu
italian hands that swell the book The fiustra-
tons are half the battle in this instance. WIN
Ettore Tito at their head, one OF the cieveres'
brushes in Italy, the artists have renoere' NV
architecture and the types OF Venice It's 'i'''
and it's movement, with good deal OF ''u'i' ar"
sharpness. There is sparkle ABOUT most vi ~
half-tone plates which lights up the page "onue'
f,l,v and makes this book OF the pretuest
~ recent publications. The cover, done IN lm'a-
ton OF mosaic is a shade too gaudy perhaps ou'
It is novel and decorative.
Another work OF pictorial elaboration which mas
inst been launched is the new edition OF 'he
..Faerie Oueene" edited by Mr.. l. D. WISE ana
published by the Macmans 1T Is coming out III
narts each issue making luxurious quarto OF
some fourscore pages and printed win so lie"
stanzas on a page (only three that the hrst three
instruments will complete not more than the mrs.
book OF Sponsors poem This arrangement Is the
result OF the illustrative plan Of the venture MI
Walter Crane has undertaken the embellishments
of the poem with four full-page and several
smaller Illustrate in each part 1t is TO intro
duce his pictures, apparently that the new edition
has been started Ii is welcome on that score AS
an Interpreter of Spenser on his most poeuc sue
4; is not plain that Mr. Crane rs gifted with special
c,airvoyance. He misses altogether the sweetness
Of the a sweetness as OF wnd-s'irred
meadow, drowsy with the hum OF bees But MI
Crane Is fully in sympathy With the decorative
elements in Spenser. feeling keenly the picturesque
and rocco quaintness o. his knights and ladies'
and he has hnaly-to make his report OF these
things interesting and artistic-an excellent sense
OF convention Every page in this book that mas
been intrusted TO Mr.. Cranes fertile pen mas
emerged enhanced. His borders are a rine
crowded AMI his compositions too. for that mat
ter might often have been expressed without sueh
absolute profgacy Of line as that In when ne mas
,ndu1ged But these are minor faults. In the man
the designs are admirably carried out in the spir''
of Spenser the artist; and for this We can DE
grateful while waiting for some illustrator 10
arise who can move freely In the atmosphere Oh
Spenser the poet
7, Mr. John Kendrick Bangs should chance to
meet his grandfather's spirit he would prooaoN
elan him on the back and ask him TO nave
cigar gif, Of humor goes great way toward
establishing friendly relationships IN m'o"aru
circumstances 1.-The Water Ghost ana O'hers
Harper e. Brothers. reveals Mr. Bangs as al ui'-
awed Intimate Of shades He deals with ghost as ne
,rou,d with a cabman and he writes a gnost story
that is interesting without any OF the harness
mystery and creepness which conVentionaiiS oeio"s
IN these gentry. great many wonderful innings
bannen but nothing goes "bam, blam IN wa!
10 keep awake nights the children VINO near tne''.
perbsns the stories are most accurately descriDed
as hur,esoues though some OF them are more
nearly clever fantasies. Mr.. Bangs also has the
Gift Of making neat sketches OF real types OF me"
and women who with the ghosts divide the honors
Of peoping his pages
The fourth edition of Mrs. Arthur Bells Element
arv History Of Art" which has just been printed by
the Scrbners. leaves that useful llttle WORK JUST
where II stood before 1t had been newly revised
nv the author No amount Of revision could make so
suner6cial a volume, with so vast field 10 cover
ANYTHING more than sketch. But 1t Is c!ever Dit
of compression. surveying with much rdp'u"y
and simplicity the broad outlines OF architecture
sculpture and painting. and for use In Inc siiiier
schools II may be pleasantly commented Mrs.
\ rails natriotisn leads her to devote unwarrant-
ah,v large amount OF her space to the Engish
school. and she shows an almost comic ignorance
~ art in America but neither OF these departments is
Of as much Importance among the students for whom
her book is intended as the older schoois OF ru-
rome and there she exercises discretion ana intei-
gence The fair and the book Is proViueo
with toerable indexes
So long as there are hero worshippers in the world
sbere will be a public for works such as the Great
Men and Famous Women tSelmar Hess), which Is
appearing under the editorshp OF Mr.. Charles r.
Horne There 10 be eight volumes TWO have
been issued giving the lives of some OF the TWO nun
dred or more historical figures who are TO MI the
gallery when It is completed The personages cele-
brated are themselves interesting Alaric, Cyrus
P,zarro Charles Martel, Miles Standish, Cogny.
Perry Porter, Farragut and Drake are among the
soldiers and sailors to whom these first volumes
are devoted. General Viscount Wolseley. Theodore
Roosevelt, Clarence Cook, Archdeacon Farrar'
Eroude Walter Besant and Carlyle are among those
who have been relied upon for the text In some
cases the biographies have been prepared for the
occasion by the author. In others. writer's IKE
Froude and Macaulay have been freely drawn upon
BY the editor The lives are concsely drawn up the
requirements OF a popular audience having been
kent well in view and for purposes OF Illustration
the handsome photographers prefxed TO some or
the monographs good as could be desired
They are mostly from famous paintings by mod
artists
More than fifty years have elapsed since the first
boat was propelled by an electric motor but the
method has not been in vogue, on commercial
basis for a single decade As yet the practice is
confined almost entirely to private and public ex-
cursion boats OF small tonnage, but already in Eu-
rope 1t has extended 10 freight hauage on canals,
and its possibilities in this field now much dis
cussed In America. Hence the volume which Messrs.
Thomas Commerford and Joseph Sachs have pre-
pared and which c. c. Shelley. OF NewYork. has
published Electrical Boats and Navigation" meets
a distinct Industrial need. The authors are widely
known and deservedy respected in the electrical
englneer.ng profession. and they have handled
the present subject so Complementary and in
diligently as deserve the gratitude OF every one
interested therein from either the historical or
technical side. Numerous illustrations add to the
interest and value of this work.