New-York tribune., 1908-04-15
Some Impressions Of Italy, IN Prose
and in Verse.

TUSCAN FEAsTs AND TlseAM T1,ss,4 FRIgESDs ,gE,S Ry
as podd Mead & CO.
-uRor-GH ITALY WITH CAR AND CAMERA.
BY Dan fSoTT syo pp x%i as g G Putnams Sons
7HRoCGH ITALY WITH The POETS 2S &c Gomplaf TIi
1ss Mofat Yard & Co.
r-,-erv one who has a serious interest in Italy
,,,vps and deplores, the fact that in recent
,,.srs she has beer getting written TO death by
che casual tourist. The publication OF unneces-
.s-v books about the land and its treasures has
ta,or,e so vexatious that almost any new vol
r,a on tie subject is picked up With skepti-
c,s,n. Now and then. however the patient
-sado, IS rewarded. He comes upon book
,,le Mis- Lees's Tuscan Feasts and Tuscan
r--ia, This is 3 good book because If is
sincere because il gives US unaffected irhpHes-
sjons Of inlple things. The author has de-
sire % a.. her culture TO say anything, meant
70 he nen. on Wen worn subjects. she Is con-
cent # sh, can help you 10 see the Italian land
sca7,e as she has seen Il. and to enter into the
,,,sr-vdav emotions of humble Italian types.
She loves children, and she writes about those
she has found in Tuscany in such wise that
they become, for the moment, important to the
reader Blanca Maria is an adorable little
younester. Miss Lees has nothing dramatic TO
reIort about her, but merely to be in the COM
pny Of the child is amusing. After ell, the
experience shows US how. at one obscure point.
life is lived in italy. Incidentally, too. the
author brings out broad trait of the people.
some common belief or superstition. Here is
Characteristic passage:
When frst saw PasquaIina she was one week
Oh ana Iay tightly sWaddIed in the great bed be-
meath Grcucclo feehly hicking the dangling bell
20 snd fro with tiny. aimless hands
What beautiful blue eyes," remarked. anxious
20 show myself apprcciative of this first girl in 3
aut of my mouth than repentel, for Assunta hast
ened 70 correct my error and set me right
"No 20. SiqN0Tiud' she said reproVngly, they
u-iH become black like those of her brothers
s1d renrernbered that the blue eyes which we ad-
;nire considered by the peasants almost dis;
seen q serious tauc pas.
II is OF trfes like this that Miss Lees book is
composed and so it makes very light reading.
IB-t as one turns the pages one is conscious OF
genuine Italian sentiment and atmosphere The
7ays Of children and peasants are put before Us
.ith an unpretentious but sensitive touch. We
are asked TO assist at a Florentine funeral.
70 spend day at Cortana. witness
Tuscan marriage or to watch the humors Of
2 Tuscan fair. Always the author treats
Ter subject with a delicate sense of actu-
ality. She fees the poetry in Italy and we feel
+; with hc-. in pages like those which she has
given 10 the cypress and the olive; but neither
IN he- sketches Of trees nor in her vignettes OF
human beings does she force the note. Tuscan
Feasts and Friends is a charming book.
Through Italy with Car and Camera" is an
odd book at once interesting and irritating. 1t
: we'll hlled with excellent hal'tones from photo
graphs OF works of art, roadside scenes and so
on. including many snapshots taken by the
author. Most OF these are good 10 have but
some Of Mr.. Platt's own photographs might well
have been spared. 1t adds nothing to the dig
nifty OF one Of the great basilicas at Ravenna to
nave an automobile planted in front of it. The
text contains much more that Jars upon the fas-
tidous reader. 1t is the kind OF rapid record
hat might have been made in letters home,
commonplace and scrappy. The author is
1ortADly conscious Of his ability to admire the
right thing, but his remarks matters of art
sometimes provoke amused reflection on the old
rroverb an [ the possession Of a little knowl
edge. Mr., Platt remarks that facility is every
Jay detracting from Ra phael's greatness and
-,ursues the subject in sentences which
quote. He says:
We nay be more than thankful that he did not
art Of the great genius would have degenerateo
MO by that time. superlative facility detnrones
Raphael Greatest Of Craftsmen his p9pulaLlIE ,
seif Irls7rian he gives Us pleasure; but we cease
. ioFe him from The Gay Re becomes eciFGL' MS
Comment On this is superfuous. 1t has been
.eft 70 Nj Piatt to stand in Alberti's famous
ciaJlr,h at Rinlini. and. observing the inter-
tanned initials there of Sigismondo Malatesta
and his Isotra TO discover that they form dol
,er marks" AS though this precious bit Of wit
u-ere not enough, the author goes on to say
that the elephant. too, is frequent symbol
lansing an irreverert member of the party 70
notice the propinquity Of the dollar mark TO
he 9 O P" Eentirnentality in traveller in
italy is bad enough, but this kind of humor is
u-orse. There are signs in this book that the
author has z genuine interest in old pictures,
but IN writing the story Of his tour he should
nave stuck 70 his automobile and left art alone.
A happy idea is embodied in Mr. schauf1ers
anthology. Through Italy with the Poets" Tn
numbered singers major and minor, in the past
snd IN our own day. have found inspiration in
the south and their poems make a collection
which ought 70 prove useful for purposes of
reference II is true that IT has been swelled to
Include some rather tepid verse, and the COM
pliers purpose Of supplying the traveller with
Z pocket friend who shah do for his soul what
ne potent Baedeker does for body and mind
is scarcely aided by the size of the volume.
Many z reader, however. will doubtless make
room for it in his travelling bag and will find
= companionable.
The John Lane Company announces that a
rfe Of the American composer the late Edward
NacDoweI, IS being prepared by Mr.. Lawrence
Gilman for publication in the autumn He is
Gesiro0s Of obtaining for use IN his work any
available letters or other data, and would be
grateful for the lean Of such material may
r. ia tho possession of the musicians friends
and pupils Documents sent to him at No 227
Esst 72d street. in this city, viii he carefully