New-York tribune., 1900-12-15
VIRGINIAN ANNALS.
PROFESSOR FIsKE's TEXT. WITH NEW
PICTURES.


OLD VIRGINIA AND HER NEIGHBout.RsHv H,.6e 6y
John Ffske illustrated with Fortrasess: Sls, ~
Facsimies Contemporary Views; Tv,o Pi5s Xo'umes s
Octave. pp. XXI 2ss; Sxv. Ss'- housh'o"
Mimi & Co
For the purposes OF q holiday edition Few
works Of recent years could have been more az
ceptable than this. Professor Fiske has put MS
hand 20 the plough in the rich. new heio OF
American history he has no; looked back, ana
already his labors have brought forth fruit IN
which there is abundant promise of great re-
sources for students Of history in the next gen.
Grafton. .'Old Virginia and Her Neighbours mas
already had its recognition ia the world or let
ters ana the interval OF three years since It's
first appearance has only increased the fsNor Il
won al the first. Chief among the merits OF lHe
work is the felicity with which its author MAKES
the very thoroughness Of his methods IN uea'ihe
American history contributory TO his readers
enjoyment, where many have taken the way
OF superhciality their only hope OF aVoioihs
dulness.
A work like this dealing with numbers OF
striking personalities from princes and gentle
men adventures down 10 the great Nirginlahs
~ the age lust preceding the Revolution, pre-
sents vast opportunities for illustration "old
Virginia" is taken here as including al ihe
territories 10 which the name applied IN the
rerfod between the charter Of loOS ana the war
Cf the Spanish SUCCESSFUL ans NAAA-bS
the scope Of the work all the worthies-and
,,snv ~ the less worthy-connected with the
histories Of MARYLAND the Carolinas and Georgia
The neriod covered happens 10 have been one IN
which portraiture fourished. The Elizabethan
era left hundreds OF canvases from which the
strong features OF makers OF history look Ou'
upon posterity, and the multiplication OF por-
traits did not cease even in the somewhat oe-
generate age Of the Georges. Hence there was
ample material for Illustration in perfect Keep
.ne with the sentiment CT the motto from Alcseus
on the title page Of the book: Not zones nor
.,robers nor the art Of builders make cities;
hut wherever there are men knowing how 10
HELM themselves. there are walls and cities"
The frontspiece is, appropriately oeauuiiui
pbotogravure from Zuccaro's portrait Of Raleigh,
ana the succeeding reproductions are only less
admirable when the original paintings have oeeh
inferior 10 Zucearo's or less suitable lot oooA
Illustrations Among the portraits OF men
knowing how 10 help themselves some OF the
most interesting are those OF Captain 1onh
Suith-a photogravure from a portrait OF ms
General Historic Of Nirgnia"-the nrst Earl
~ salisbury. Colgny, and George Calvert nrst
Lord Baltimore. The fair Pocahontas, from the
original painting in the possession Of the Edwin
family at Boston Hall, Norfolk. is even more
interesting. Throughout the work facsimiles
nf autographs.
often very recondite, sources, add much 10 the
powerfully graphic effect which is evidently one
Of the chief aims Of this edtion-at least so It
win be found by those readers who believe that
a mind reflects itself in its handwriting.
Portraits and autographs are not, however
bv any means all Of the $50 illustrations intro
duced in this edition. There are number OF
facsimiles OF old maps. not many Of them mere
tofore familiar outside the circles OF speclal
students and collectors. These old maps help
the reader wonderfully in the effort which every
genuine amateur OF history wishes to make 10
enter into the point Of view proper TO the period
he is studying For instance. Farrer's map.
made in 1851, impresses on the imagination more
deeply than pages Of reading could the wild
misconception under which the pioneers OF
American civilization came 10 these shores The
facsimiles Of old prints and title pages OF rare
old pamphlets are hardly less valuable aids 10
the imagination, and what il was 10 be popu-
lar hero in the sixteenth century is strongly and
quantity suggested by the three woodcuts OF
John Smiths three victorious single combats
with Turkish champions before Regal.