New-York tribune., 1905-11-18
Literary .Nese's end Criticism.

medi1val gardens of the period were ecclesi-
el astical rather than prineely and where the most
she unitarian grounds of monasteEies One might
ever conceived Of gardening in purely decorative
spirit, from ambition TO oyerpower Nature with
Babylon consecratIng it to no deity, cultivatine
their extended fora for TO faShlon o. cnapet weav,
only accidental detail With the Moors, all
the Roman school on q minutefy delicate scale.
purely for pleasure; for the JOY OF living Of wan
s2f to nhale it Never perhaps. did a Moorish
81 eeR k and Id Violet Violet SIDE BY side ' ''-7 ''-'9
But vita this a]llqSion ] to the humble leek or
the taste and fashion for it came and went among
an order Of Chivary the statutes of Whieh for6ae
its members the use OF the onion. and those who
court for a month. Yet In the seventeenth century
strong perfumes in food had reached such exagger-
alton that at the procession Of the king and his
erected along the route, and each person held in
his hand o an 9n2n de la des cboqes dent lar
thinking of that when he wrote:
Smell. fancy. nc Of SPsPiIs gaPio
This book considers Spain from fresh point
of view, and this fact. together with its un-
usually sympathetic tone makes It a more than
ordinarily welcome contribution to minor travel
literature. 1t is handsomely made, with good
Typography and broad pages Mr.. Fitzgerald's
illustrations, many of which are reproduced in
color, are cIeverly drawn and through their
reds. blues and whites are not precisely like
anything we have ever seen in Spain, they
make, the whole, a rather pleasant accom-
paniment 10 the text.
The writer of the text IN Normandy the
book filed with pictures IN color by Mr. Nico
Jungnan. is, like Miss Fitzgerald undaunted
by convention. TT is the fashion," says this
traveller, G. E. Milton. "to praise French cook
ing, but to Englishman who has passed the
day bicycling with nothing but a couple Of
soft-boiled eggs and some sour cream, there is
something unsatisfying about the ordinary din
ner menu at a French hotel" This candid OBJ
server has also the courage TO say that while
there parts Of Normandy which are beauti-
ful. there also parts as duly monotonous
as the worst of Holland or Picardy." When, q.
little further along. we come upon the frank ad-
mission that the quaint costumes, which are
familiar to us from many a picture fast
dying OUT are encouraged to believe that
the author is really intent on giving a faithful
picture of the province, and not one more of
those too familiar rose-colored affairs which
suggest nothing save foolish rhapsody. The
book is the better for it's frankness, and, of
course. the knowledge of Normandys defects
does not keep the writer from appreciating its
external beauties and its charms of associa-
ton. Indeed, the towns identified with the Con-
queror and other historic figures are sketched
with much interest and the volume, though
brief. gives an excellent idea of the whole region
traversed. Mr.. Jungman's drawings salts
factory when he cultivates IN them the quaint
realism which appreciatively remember as
characterizing the Dutch series he published
some time ago. The bolder. broader examples
are far less attractive. All have been well re-
produced at the Mempes Press.
Among French Inns is to be amiably ap
praised for it's illustrations rather than for its
text The half tones lavishly scattered through
the book from good photographs. and they
form really delightful panorama Of land
marks in Normandy, Brittany, Touraine and
Provence. Mr.. Gibson's account of what he
has is not bad. when he confines him
self to modest descriptions and opposite his
torical notes; but he has been tempted to blend
the narrative Of a tourist with matters of
sentiment, introducing divers travellers, love
affair and on. and for work Of the sort he
has not quite the right touch. The reader
gets a little impatient with the romantic ex-
cursons, and wishes that the author would
stick to his text A book going with some
thoroughness into the subject of French inns
would have been welcome. and, though Mr..
obvious that he knows enough about them to
the mixing of fiction and fact.
The two volumes Russia" give a transla-
ton OF Gautier's notes on the country, with
supplementary chapters by Anatole Leroy |
BeauIeu. Gustav Lejeal, Marius Vachon and
others, turning work of impressionsIn into |
something like history. The translator. Flor
ence MacIntyre Tyson, gives at the end a brief |
sketch of Russia's Eastern policy. Gautier's /
style of writing is scarcely well represented in |
this version. but what he had to say is at least F!
set forth smoothly and clearly. The ilustra-
tons important. There many of them. !
and they are all crisp photographers from well |
chosen photographs. These plates are printed |
in tints, gray or blue or brown and they give |
the volumes appropriately holiday air, |
which is also noticeable in the richly decorated /
covers.
TOTT6TRY NOVETTCT'