New-York tribune., 1901-01-20

so carefully guarded, of his grounds and the
mysteries, never betrayed, of his mixtures.
This is all we are inclined to borrow from
Mrs Frankau on the more technical side of her
subject She has much else to say under this
head Scattered through the text are pas
sases which throw a little light on the color
printer at work But these passages are. in the
long run, only tantaizing. and even the close
student of technical processes is content to give
up the problem and look only to the authors
general narrative. This profits by Mrs. Fran
kau's confessed prediIection for human traits
for the little personal details which make her
ensravers more real if they do not explain their
enSravings The story of the Cunios those
Italian children who may or may not have
played significant part in the history of en-
craving. is suggestive to the romancer rather
than to the critical writer. Giuo CampagnoIa.
leaving few engravings to posterity. hardly
asks to have commemorated in a book prints
the love affair which brought him in disastrous
collision with Cesar Borgia. Pages de-
voted by Mrs. Frankau to the martial woes OF
Ugo da Carp his jealousy of Giorgione. and
his unhappy wanderings. when. strictly speak
ing. his relation TO the development of color
printing is such that he demands far less space.
And so with many other heroes of the art But
this book is delight to read. We make
serious objections In fact when the record
comes down 20 the middle of the eighteenth
century, and with the stipple engravings Of
Ryland and Bartolozzi color printing is started
on brief but glorious career in England we
are positively grateful TO Mrs. Frankau for the
dverting biographical notes she gives on both
men. Her picture of the social conditions which
made their success possible is also extremely
interesting. Art was for the moment much in
favor among the British. Gainsborough and
RpXp Vp bair ar4bI L.
traits: the manufacture of furniture was rising
into the art which make the names Of
Chippendale and Sheraton famous: Wedgwood
was transmogrifying English pottery into some
thing and strange and very much worth
having the siIversmith5 producing The
pieces that are now among the most highly
priced treasures of the collector and, what is
equally important. the clever. gregariOus. pleas
ure loving men and women of the time
not only bent gay living. but demanded. as
a matter of course a decorative background
for the social pageant that they made Color
prints entered easily and effectively into
the general scheme paintings statuary.
embroidered waIstcoats enamelIed snuff
boxes and maIacca wands-
They entered it in company with the noble
mezzotints. plain and cOIored." which occupy
a unique position in the annals of the repro
ductive arts; but the stippIe ensravers. with
whom Mrs. Frankau is more especially
cerned. eschewed. a rule. the ambitions and
the stat illness of their colleagues The author
of this book mentions two We'll known prints
done generous scale by SOiron. after
couple of crowded compositions by NOTIand.
"A Tea Garden" and st. Jaraess Park" prints
dear % the collectors heart: but she rightly
lays stress upon the fact that most of the
stipplc enSrayinSs which went 10 adOrn the
English homes of the eighteenth century were
the products of little art" dainty trihes
which gracefully frivolous in style and
small in scale. As color prints they are beauti-
ful. but if one looks sOlcly To the spirit in which
they We're designed the more natural epitheJ 20
use is pretty" Angelica Kaufman. with her
sonew hat nsipid elegance. was A gold mine
for the stipple enSrsavers. who found N her fas-
tidiOus conceits exactly the motives which the
society of that day liked to introduce into its
house decoration OF course. the themes were
hot always trivial One of BartoIozzi's plates,
reproduced in this book is after so elaborate
a composition as Sir Joshua's portrait of Lady
Smith and Her Children" Portraiture in all its
stages of convention and dignity was bound to
appeal TO the stipple engTavers as we'll as to the
scrapers of meZzotints- But even when they
undertook thoroughly serious plates the former
avoided as has been said. any thing like a di-
rect rivalry with the latter. Mrs. Frankaus 3
EXAMPLES all have a certain fraoiIa charm,