New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-02-01
A NEW VASARI
Master Giorgios Best Work in
Perfect Form.

LIVES OF TIE MOST EMINENT
PAINTERS. SCULPTORS AND AR
CHITECTS. BY Giorgio Nasari. Newly
Translated by CASTOR Du &. De We're.
With 800 Illustrations. In Ten Volumes.
Vols. |. II. III. Royal syo PIP. liX. 927;
xii. 260; tx. Sl. The Macmillan COM
pany.
Vasari had, despite the critics, his
happy moments as an artist The
"Pazienza" in the Pitt that he painted
is good picture The Palazzo del
Cavaliori that he built ut Pisa is GER
tainly not a work of great architecture,
but neither is il contemplate; this
building has. in fact. very pictu-
rescue charm But il was in mis- book
that Nasari triumphcd. the Lives
without which the artistic history of
the Italian Renaissance would have re-
manned forever imperfect and incom-
plctc. II is an enchanting work, and
II is not surprising that "A new transla-
tor. Mr.. CASTOR On G. DeVere. has
make an English version Of his own.
His edition has been nobly planned.
4 tall and broad but still convcn-
lent octave has been chosen as the
form for the volumes, and the
handsome open Typography is set off
by really good paper, with generous
but not excessive margins. There are
to he five hundred Illustrations in all,
fifty 10 each volume. and fair proper
ton of these are printed by the Medici
Society in colorcd plates that are quite
the best Of the kind We have cncoun-
tered in book The rest OF the pict-
urcs. which are all. of course. photo
graphic reproductions of the master
pieces mentioned I'm the text, are mon
ochromcs" 81 fine quality. The hand
some binding of stout blue buckram
bears only tho title on tho back and
the lily Of Florence stamped in gold in
/ the centre of the front cover. II is
sheer luxury to turn these pages.
The author himself would have re-
! joiccd in Mr.. DeVere's invaluable illus
trativc apparatus, and possibly might
| have envicd, too, a page so large and
clear Nevertheless, Giacomo Giunti,
his printer, served him pretty well.
Nasari's own edition, the dcfinitive edi-
ton of 1868, lies before us. side by side
with the fresh modern volumes. In its
mellow vellum covers IT has fascina
ton Of its own. The old Florentine
Typography is small, il is true. but il
has character and beauty, and the
familiar portraits which head the chap
tiers, with their pompous decorative
frames count for much i'm the creation
Of that subtle atmosphere which hangs
around an ancient book. Then they
used superatively good paper in the
/ Florence OF CUNT, and these pages,
| though stained with time, are pleasant
| to the touch and to the eye. After all,
IL is under just such conditions az these
battered volumes impose that it is most
exciting and inspiring to attack Va
saris vivid narratives
What has Mr.. DeVere made of them
.
hitherto had in English. In his preface
q he speaks of the well known version by
Mrs Foster as embodying "A para
phrase rather than a translation. The
saying is not absolutely just, for com
pairing the two translations, here and
there. we have found that Mrs. Foster
is, on the whole no less faithful to the
substance OF her original than is Mr..
DeVere. But the latter unquestionably
comes closer to Nasaris form, and
especially in that matter Of movement
which is Of prime significance. The
style Of the Italian text, he remarks. is
sometimes labored and pompous, but,
as he adds, the narrative Is generally
lively" and he is more successful than
Mrs. Foster in making us feel this. He
is smoother, more elastic, and more
concise without the sacrifice of any
shade OF meaning. Preserving the
idomatic SAVIOR of his author, he still
gives us "A text close-knit enough 70
carry the reader along without the
fatigue promoted by his predecessor S
rather awkward way of pulling the
clauses OF a sentence together. IL is
important for a translation 10 be ac-
curate, but ii is equally Indispensable
that il should be comfortably readable.
so that one may get at the sense with
no thought Of language as such. We
take Mr.. DeVere to be scholar, and
we are sure that he is man OF letters.
He is modest withal. and his transla-
ton is as yet practically unburdened
with notes. the few that appear in the
volumes already printed bearing only
upon questions OF translation. Possibly
we shall have more from him in an
notation when his last volume comes
from the press. In the mean time he
is to be congratulated on a piece Of
work 80 good and 80 useful that we