New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-02-08
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
ONE MORE SKETCH OF THE PHYslod-
Monty OF PARIS.

4p9aSAScH TRsvEFS LES RuEs S,e1 rss
Seores nature de s-Courteemont Port
feule. Paris: Quantin. New-York: j. W. bou-
ton.
This sumptuous portfolio is a good illustra-
t,on of the way in which the French can take
nm an idea much In use elsewhere and exploit
=, en- as 10 cast every one else in the shade TO
photograph odds and ends of Partisan scenery
and tvpes. printing them with some airy text
would seem TO be the most ordinary undertake
ing in the world But as NM. Montorgueil ana
Geryais- Court element view IT, IT Is work ol
art Their pages are beautiful far beyond the
measure Of most Photographic miscehahies'
Indeed the little vignettes scattered throue"
the text seem too artistic to be photographs
.hev are as full of animation, or picturesque
ness. as though they were the product OF
skilled artists pencil and brush. II Is odd 100
that they art artistic, novel, without depar'iis
from the beaten track. AS rule the author
or painter who sets out TO show us Parls 'hiihs
that he must be original that he must show
Us hidden fragments that he must SNOW uo
in brief. a Paris we have never seen before
In the present work there has been no pre'ehsioh
OF departing from the Paris that we all know"
Tho makers of the book have simply made that
Paris more interesting.
Carefully considered, this Is just the way IN
which Paris should be regarded; not as world
of wonders, but place in when everyday
things are somehow fascinating and even oeau-
tiful For example, in writing anout the pleas
ures of Sunday in Paris NJ Montorsueh goes
straight to things that everybody Kno"s-ne
talks of the fishermen along the Seine, OF the
idlers who go with their lunch baskets 10 'he
Bots and to every other spot in the nelehpor-
hood of tho French capital that promises "
stretch Of turf, q bosky nook for picnic OF d
ta,e.Atate. He sees In these features Of urban
life. Of urban relaxation, just the elements vi
color and vivacity, Of national "verve" and
manner. which are grasped by the synpa'herc
observer. With his good-humored and thor
oughly intimate text with the clever pictures ol
his collaboration, one may revive memories or
LONG sunnv davs IN which there seemed nothing
20 realize but the sky overhead and the happ!
holiday makers in the streets or parks or by the
riverside This book, in truth. reminds us OF
one fact which is apt 10 be forgotten by those
who have never seen Paris, the fact that the
great Babylon Of stony streets and miles vi
dwellings is really richer than any city or the
world in what might be called pastoral re-
sources The Thames within London limits
Yields no such spectacle OF sem-rural charm
of almost bucolic activity. as the Seine presents
In the very heart Of the city on the proao
which stretch
there ia no grass to speak Of it is true. but the
life there Is very artless. Fishermen congre-
gate; hostlers take their charges in for bath;
boatmen idle and. with the roar OF Paris just
above the steep wall these people seem, and
actually are miles away from the Rightly or
city life Then in the green spaces OF the CITY,
IN the gardens OF the Tuileries or OF the Lux
embourg in some OF the small gardens attached
to the churches in the Champs Elysees and In
the Bots, there is peculiar freshness. ver-
dancy, which one expects only to find far be-
yond the fortiflcatiOns.
The finishing touch is given to the impression
produced by these scenes through the manner
of the Parisians when they move amid them
The most artificial people in Europe then be-
come the most childike. Families that we
would suspect Of knowing nothing about what
we call home" are seen to be enjoying them
selves with freedom and simplicity that re-
call patriarchal days. The old grandfather
walks out with his married daughter and
chuckles over the pranks OF her children me
portly and Immaculate yet judiciously seedy
"rentier" sits on the grass and beams dls-
creetly upon his neghbors. Everything ls easy
unccnstrained. as gentle as the weather The
Partisan under gaslight is usually sorry Great
ufe but under the LEAKAGE, and While tho sun
Is shining, he is a respectable Of the respecta-
bles. He is still the artist, too' his PdrhS Ill
unaffected things but they are somehow among
the loveliest in the world. No one who has not
explored the Bots in all its corners and in ali
weathers can guess how fruitful II Is in cunning
surprises. in glades that recall Corot. in long
paths that are primitive in their sweetness and
masterpieces in their subtle appeal to ones
sense OF proportion and color. NJ. Montorguei
has seen these things and has made good book
out OF them Furthermore, he gives US some
admirable ghnpses of the markets. OF the cab
men asleep on their boxes, Of the poorer types
in the streets. from the altogether AFFECT beg
gar to the man who goes abroad In the pride
OF harmless necessary cart. He has made
some familiar phases of Partisan life more ia
rniliar because he has made them more beauti-
ful through his artistic text and pictures. The
publishers have printed his work in superb
form and IL is likely TO be preserved with much
bolicitude by the discerning collector of such
gay ephemera