Evening star., 1933-10-11
NEW. BOOKS
AT RANDOM
Margaret Cern1ond.

author of Classic Myths in Art
etc. Illustrated. Boston: The Page
Co.
A handsome addition to the long
list OF art volumes produced by the
Page house has just been released. The
publication Is a timely one, for 1t deals
with the handicrafts which fourished
AID developed to extraordinary perfec-
ton during that period known as the
being revived in this country and
arousing keen interest on the part of
the uninitiated as we'll as those who
are actively engaged in applying the
so-called minor arts to utilitarian pur-
poses.
The steady march toward revivalism
In America during the past few years
has been one of the most interesting
phases OF temperament ever presented
to the mere layman for the study Of
human nature in reaction. There are
numerous logical reasons to account for
the deficiency in the makeup Of the
average American in regard to cultural
development and the failure of the
masses to understand and to appreciate
the workmanship Of the craftsmen Of
centuries ago. Perhaps even now this
present tendency toward antiquity
arouses no unusual interest among the
majority Of the people. But with every
new effort toward a revival of the
beautiful things created in other ages
a new group of admirers and students
comes into being, and this is a whole
some sign that beauty, wrought by the
hands OF man, shall not perish from
the land in Difference to the avid god
OF modern progress.
The influence Of medieval art upon
the things accepted as mere utilitarian
necessities in the daily business and
home life Of the individual is apparent
to only few and is fully appreciated
only by those who know the origin of
designs and the laborious efforts which
brought them to perfection in their
actual creation. But with the increas-
ing application Of medieval art to mod
ern creations deeper interest is being
shown in unexpected quarters and the
desire for greater knowledge as to
how these crafts were pursued and of
the original processes of their perfec-
tion is becoming manifest.
Covering period from the eleventh
to the sixteenth centuries this ex-
cellent book, which is a work OF art in
itsen, includes nearly all of the ma
| terials employed in the crafts for which
that era was famed. The first chapter
tells Of the work of artists who wrought
marvellous creations from gold and sill
yer. and OF the processes which were
employed in their execution. Chapter
two Is devoted to the designing of Jew
elry and to the adaptation of precious
stones in the intricate perfection of
this form Of ornamentation. Another
chapter gives the history and the de-
velopment of the art of enamel. There
is chapter on iron. brass. lead. bronze
and all other metals which were used
for objects of utility as well as art, and
I there are other chapters dealing with
tapestries, embroideries. sculpture in
stone, carving in wood and ivory inlay
and mosaic and on the illumination
Of books.
The average individual has for so
many years been surrounded with
things that are beautiful that little
thought has been expended upon the
manner of its coming about. Only a
comparatively few realize that only a
little more than century ago art was
luxury to be enjoyed only by the
rich. The application Of art and beauty
to the designing of the utilities OF
daily existence was a new idea then.
| though these craftsmen Of the Middle
Ages applied their art to every object
OF which man made use. The poorest
people today are blessed with the privi-
lege OF gazing upon some little scrap
OF decorative art within their own pos
session which the working classes Of
the days Of Benvenuto Cellini and
Michelangelo could never have thought
of owning.
Like all of the othef books in the
various art series which have been
published by the Page Company, this
work Is handsomely bound in blue and
gold. with gold edges, and it is profusely
| illustrated with many very beautiful
| color plates included. Every page is
| filled with interesting information. The
author has herself produced a work of
art and made valuable contribution
10 the history of the crafts in this
volume on the workmanship of the
medieval period in the departments of
applied art. and of the special artisans
in the early Renaissance.
4 Y X X
GYPSY WAGON. BY sheila Kaye-
Smith. New York: Harper g. Bros.
There is something about the way
Sheila Kaye Smith handles the sub
Jects Of her novels that gives them
riot. When she writes of the soil and
OF those who farm it, as she does in
this new book, the smell of the rich,
fruitful earth and the tenacity with
which its tillers cling to it become so
real that it would not be surprising
to find the entire scene Just around
the corner, or in the back yard.
In 1924 Jim Parish Is the owner of
COCK f'arllng. a one-time wealthy es-
tate in Sussex, and Fred Sinden. a
plowmal on a neighboring estate,
known as Float Farm, owns nothing.
Fred's father had been plowman for
the owner OF the farm for many years
and at his death Fred succeeded to his
loo at reduced pay. even though he
mad done his fathers work for a long
time. England is in 1924 feeling the
nrst real pinch of the aftermath Of
war and the entire neiehborhood has
been thrown into something of a panic
over the breaking up of another one
time wealthy estate by a visionary in
heritor who believed that the land
should be owned by those who titled
1t and not by those whose worldly DOS
sessions enabled them to take care of il.
Like all errors Of Judgment in this
respect. instead of helping the farm
ers among whom it was divided. 1t
ruined them. and one after another
the estates neighboring around Cock
Marilng went under the hammer Of the
auctloneer, sold by the mortgages, or
sold for taxes. By 1927 the owner Of
Float Farm had reached the limit of
ms credit and in a conversation with
Jim Parish, to whom he had come for
help as a last resort, he summed up
the plight of the farm owners of Eng
land In compact little nutshell:
The government don't take much
notice Of us, does it? When it's Con-
servative they think Of nothing but rich
men and farmers, and when it's Labor
then they don't call us labor at all be,
cause we don't live in towns, and when
It's Liberal, as it used to be years ago.
tney only meddled and meddled till
they'd smashed up everything"
A more accurate description of the
political situation and the condition of
the English farmers at that time would
be hard to imagine. No money, no
credit and no buyers for the property.
even when 1t went on the block. Mr.