New-York tribune., 1896-12-02
NEW ART PUBLICATIONS.
NAsARrs LIVES ACCESSIBLE AT LAST
IN GOOD ENGLISH EDITION

oh MaStprDecPS
sss. VI ~ as. ~ Charles scribner's Sons
H. cAMposANTo DI rlsA P 2,rirza: b: Fqatei FqpteHi
Illustrate. Ottavo. PIP. 5-l r"'"~'
AlnarL
FRANCE UNDER LOUIS KY me be GeaqG French Of
Emile Bourgeois By Mrs Cashe, r,ds a,oS SScrbner's
ira,ed. Folio PIP. xvii. 40 'na''eS
Sons
t.E Mr-sEE NATIONAL DE VERSAILLES. Par per
Pierre de Nohac ct AndTe ,,es res" lea Orginaux
5einSo' 51snSoeS pp f" sss Paris Mason Ad Braun ct
Gle
MODERN FRENCH MASTERS SeTies Sc amsrlean %. h,v
srspheai W,lh Sna II Wood Engravlngs and 2s
Haf-tonc Illustrations Edited by SO,mrv SOmm - COM
Dyke Folio pp XIV 20 Inc
pany.
Vasaris Lives are something more 'hai '"e
of the most useful contributions to the data OF
hrt criticism They also literature. fuons'eu
al a time when the best and most charac'ei-
,s,ic forces Of the Renaissance had spent thei"-
se,ves this work nevertheless was interpehe
,rated nv the spirit which gave the fehihsu'"
.,o nob,est monuments OF art. and IL the au-
thor. criticism and methods were occasionally
Adjective they were at the same Time coioieu
by splendid inspiration. which ne cou'o "o'
have rejected II he tried That ne wrote WV"
The ease and at the same time Win the ouii
oict, t,resnue dignity Of the Renaissance 10 'ho
more important TO modern readers. inasmucn as
II makes him. we repeat, literature and a sou'.e
of delight where writers less ehsae"e "
style would become sources OF mere inIo'h'a.'o'
The beautiful new edition of a selection from
the Lives which we owe 10 MT anu N
R,asbneld and Mr. Hopkins might only pe e*
,oc,ed IN appeal to specialists If 1t presented
the labors of a pedant but Vasari Is perhaps
tho most human of commentators in the "hoie
history of art criticism. ana these 'oo
should be eagerly received by many VINO nave
never studied art at all.
yasari has been discredlted in thousand de-
tails but the value Of his work as "hoi'
stands firm Read with the assistance Oh euo"
notes az the present editors nave pro''oeo' he
"a not an old authority nvalidated. put CLASSIC
purged Of the i'll effects or tlme' set iien'
~ Tho minor points which more scientific
investigation has traver. ed ana permahe"'
~ renewed In such condition and IN an
,.,,h tor,, be has been sorely needed. The
,r,fass,onal student has been able to give the
,,r,e nodded to the grea; edition OF Milanesi
hut few readers generally speaking. nave any
scnuaintance with those scholarly VoiuheS'
When Vasari has been known at ALL ne mas
been known in the translation by Mrs fos'er' Vi
which as we are reminded by note IN '"e
preface to this edition. no annotated editioh mas
onneared since 1850. In the interval, as the
preface mentioned also points out, the his'oiS
of Italian art has been practically getting 'seh
written All over Europe the enthusiastic re-
searches OF specialists have set ior'h the ai' u
.hs Peninsula in its true light: and to some In
dividuals such as Morelli the world mas peeh
Indebted for studies which have completely
changed essential points In the development OF
our aesthetic literature. !. VIII DE seer 'n"'
with these immense advances to be reckoned a
rev edition Of Vasari has involved most
minute scrutiny OF the text. Is IL not strlNihs
test of his profound rectitude as an historian
that when all this minute scrutiny mas ehdeo'
when the scores upon scores OF correc'ohs nave
been made he has gained much. pu' mas iost
ro,hirqo The old Vasari is still there. the
vasari whom the epithets Of innumeraole critic
ssters with their charges OF 'crimihai ma"
raov " "yarrulty" and so on. have been pow
erless to hurt He has been cai'eo e"' .o
,,o,roe his STYLE is discursive and familiar
familiar with that quaintness when Is oisco'
\ cred in far more scholarly writer's OF the feha'S
.o,oe than himself "Visar takes II for grantee
.h., his reader has loitered and gossiped under
tho shrine lamps on the famous corners OF 10Y
orce has caught and Gagged crickets on Asceh-
sion Day has crunched waters on the Caizoieiid'
and has heard the cicadas shrilling among 'he
,h,ck-tufted trees in the villa gardens on not
afternoons.
A ossump;ion like this is hardly likely to pla-
o.+. academic readers But 1t Is just because ne
"a not academic that Vasar Is Immortal IL ~ pe
aus. no gives us at first hand vivid picture OF
tho art amid which he lived that he carries con-
,ction and. with conviction peculiar delight
Our editors have retained the text of Mrs Foster
on ths excellent ground that she hit more napplly
than would be probable with new translator
tho archaic favor of her original. They nave Sc
cured in this way text to which ther own
iabors set the capstone. leaving the 'oiu"'es as
seryiceable as they are attractive III may DC
added that the selection they nave hiaue iio'''
,ha hn,k of yasari's work is notably discreet 1t
is regrettable that while the edition was pe'i's
,rode u coud not have been made conclusive
Valuable as this edition is. 1t would De more
,o,rab,e II the text were complete to the utter
most fragment. Being what 1t is' however II
commands the warmest admiration The pub
,,shers have spared pains to make the FOUR
volumes perfect The type and paper are Do'n
,oa tho nhotosravures are well printed. the
,,,,u.s are Of convenient size and weight. and
a,,ogs,ber they combine an almost luxurious
v.,,v with the strength and compactness
reeded in a working library. Into such library
.,. rew edition will go everywhere as one VITA
,rb,tb II will be impossible to do without The
editors in their condensation have omitted none
NJ the really important biographies. for all
practical purposes Vasari is here complete we
are certain that the books will he appreciated IN
schools and among amateurs OF art. we sha'i
be much surprised. Also If they do not AWAKEN
wider sense OF the diverting qualities IN this oio
Italian classic He has humor anecdote
naIvete that is one of the most persuasive things
. IN Italian literature and. above all, he reveals
himself as a man OF sympathies as sane and en-
during as they are catholic He deals in person
a,ities with a free hand. and personalities seem