New-York tribune., 1896-12-09
HOLIDAY BOOKS.
SKETCHES OF TRAVEL IN ENGLAND AND
SPAIN.

VII
ssI''efSs ISL TSa Sac@iiisRa Il oifRa Company s%si ' "
ON TIE 1gA Don 3UXo,TPP P1dS'n@s nsns 81 Ff1 a
Mancha By Angus, r. Jaccaci. Jllus,rated
by Daniel vierse. Octave pp XIV. 80 Charles
scri3ner's Sons.
II Mrs. Dodd has one gift more than another
Il IS FOR making her reader believe that he mas
shared In her experiences. She cxer;ed IRIS sh'
In har Cathedral Days" again in Three Nor
mandy Inns" and now In her new book. Oh
the Broads." size IS NOR. persuasive than ever
She writes Of that watery Norfolk region which
recalls in It's fat meatowy expaDse the diked
and weu-tied surface Of Holland Through
the green fertile plain she has drifted with her
friends and while introducing into her narra-
tive enough accurate description to give topo-
graphical account OF her wanderings she re-
wives chiefly the personal charm OF her preced-
Ing books. touching the imagination with a
sense Of good fellowship and days and evenings
OF purc social enjoyment. Her sense OF humor
is keen Her sympathy for the riverside lie
with which she comes in contact is constant ana
true. There is vvacious talk In her book ana
her reader becomes her comrade. That In itsef
is something whereof she may feel proud since
It is something rare enough in the literature Of
outdoor life. ION the Broads' Is essentially an
outdoor book The exhilaraton Of Norfolk
folk landscape is present In every chapter
Most Of all is there present the sense Of delight
in English ways upon a trip Of mild adventure
when the familiar happenings Of a picnic are
rendered new AM .iouant through the explora-
ton OF unfamila' feds.
The district VII use idyllic attractions are cele-
bra.ed in this volume lies. in the words OF our
author between the sea beaches OF Yarmouth
and Lowestoft. tn grain fields of Wroxham and
the crowded river wharves of Norwich. Here
are the plains and valleys through which flow
the Bure the Yare. and the Wavency. Before
losing themselves irrevocaoy In the sea- these
rivers turn aside. as it were. now anu then, from
their more serious daty Of providing a watcry
highway, 20 frolc in series of wild lakes and
meres" The picture conveys an impression OF
discursivo sailing. it suggests the kind OF boat
Ing which involves no objective point in particu-
lar. but lures the holiday maker up and down
tho meadows in obedience to whlm and the at
fractions Of the hour If the reader will turn to
q map of England he will see how much that is
historical and picturesque lies within the reach
Of the voyager on the ErOads but If ne reads
Mrs Dodd With care he will realize still more
that the first thing to do in a Norfolk wherry Is
10 throw the guideboot overheard and to float on
frcm day to day wherever it seems most anus
ing at the moment to go. In the journey de-
scribcd BY the volume before us this principle OF
casua! selection seems TO have obtained without
CESSATION and there Is no logic of progression
exemplitied half so much as the logic of pleasure
Mr. Pennell has worked at his drawings in the
same happy spirit They recur at interval- pom
taneously. almost caprciousy. and when they
arc grouped together they do less to mark the
salient points in a definite itinerary than to re-
peat the broad impression of careless summer
idling which Mrs DOdd is so successful in pre-
serving Altogether. this is one of the most light
footed of recent books of travel. The personages
who embarked upon the Vacuna are drawn with
sufficient funess to make them real. and from
one end Of the cruise to the other 1t Is impossible
to shake off the conviction that the onlooker is to
some extent a participant in the episodes de-
scribed. The publishers have done full justice
to text and pictures. Both are printed we'll upon
good paper, and the shapely volume is attractive
ly bound.
The papers by Mr. Jaccac which brought the
picturesqueness of the Manchegan Plain and
the romantic spell of Don Quixote into the pages
Of "Scribner's Magazine" have reappeared In
handsome book form. and inspire feeling OF
satisfaction in their final and permanent asso-
cation among the Independent volumes OF
Cervantsta's library The work represents a
dual activity a dual enthusiasm. inasmuch as
the vivid prose Of the author is combined on
every page with the brilliant pictorial record
drawn by Daniel Vierge. The latter has been
known for many years as perhaps the great
est Of modern pen draughtsmen He reveals
himself in these sketches the most consun-
mate deneator yet discovered Of that back
ground against which the imagination must
see Don Qu!xotc IL he IS to be seen as part OF
Spsin part 0: the genius OF his native land.
We have spoken Of Mr.. Jaccaci's transference
of the picturcsquencss Of La Mancha 10 the
printed page. The truth is that he who would
feel the beauty of Spain must bring some OF
that beauty with him. following the example of
the rueful knight. The latter saw romantic
things IN the Spain of his day The modern
traveller must have an equally subtle vision;
he must grasp the mysterious charm which lin
gers on barren Spanish hisides. which i, flung
like magic over sceres which to the less sympa-
ttctic eye are as bald az those OF some OF our
own far Western States. This fact is effectively
emphasized by both author and illustrator in
the present volume. They have taken Spain as
they have found II. bleak. dirty, we had almost
said prosaic; but they have felt the poetry In
the austere landscape; they have responded to
tine fantastic appeal in figures which Indifferent
observers would find commonplace to the last
degree and imbued with the spirit which per-
vades their chosen romancer. they interpret
with him the indehnable enchantment OF the
most enchanting province In the world That is
high praise. yet no one who has felt the thrill
OF Spanish landscape and legend will question
It for a moment. No one will question 1t. we
may add who turns the pages OF this book with
a cordial willingness to grant the writer and
his companion their foundation OF enthusiasm
for Cervantes and his hero. To read the artless
chapters is to recall the time the temper. OF an
immortal teller Of tales. and to forget with him
the prose Of life for the sake OF Its mex
tipguishable poetry.