CHAPTER VIII: SOME ILLUSTRATED BOOKS OF THE PERIOD 1860-1864

Among the books dated 1860, or issued in the autumn of that year, are more elaborately illustrated editions of popular poets--all, as a rule, in the conventional quarto, or in what a layman might be forgiven for describing as 'quarto,' even if an expert preferred to call it octavo. Of these Tennyson's _The Princess_, with twenty-six drawings by Maclise, may be placed first, on account of the position held by author and artist. All the same, it belongs essentially to the fifties or earlier, both in spirit and in style. A more ample quarto, _Poems_ by James Montgomery (Routledge, 1860), (not the Montgomery castigated by Lord Macaulay), 'selected and edited by Robert Aris Wilmott (Routledge), with one hundred designs by John Gilbert, Birket Foster, F. R. Pickersgill, R.A., J. Wolf, Harrison Weir, E. Duncan, and W. Harvey, is perhaps slightly more in touch with the newer school. Its engravings by the brothers Dalziel are admirable. _The Clouds athwart the Sky_ (p. 23), by John Gilbert, and other landscapes by the same hand, may hold their own even by the side of those in the Moxon _Tennyson_, or in Wilmott's earlier anthology. Of quite different calibre is Moore's _Lalla Rookh_, with its sixty-nine drawings by Tenniel, engraved by the Dalziels (Longmans, 1861). If to-day you hardly feel inclined to indorse the verdict of the _Times_ critic, who declared it to be 'the greatest illustrative achievement by any single hand,' it shows nevertheless not a few of those qualities which have won well-merited fame for our oldest cartoonist, even if it shows also the limitations which just alienate one's complete sympathy. Yet those who saw an exhibition of Sir John Tenniel's drawings at the Fine Art Society's galleries will be less ready to blame the published designs for a certain hardness of style, due in great part (one fancies) to their engraver.

In Bunyan's _Pilgrim's Progress_ (Routledge), with a hundred and ten designs by J. D. Watson, engraved by the Dalziels, we are confronted with a book that is distinctly of the 'sixties,' or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that most of its illustrations are distinguished by the broader treatment of the new school. It is strange that the ample and admirable achievements of this artist have not received more general recognition. When you meet with one of his designs set amid the work of the greatest illustrators, it rarely fails to maintain a dignified equality. If it lack the supreme artistry of one or the fine invention of another, it is always sober and at times masterly, in a restrained matter-of-fact way. Some sketches reproduced in the _British Architect_ (January 22, 1878) display more freedom than his finished works suggest.

_Quarles' Emblems_ (Nisbet), illustrated by C. H. Bennett, a caricaturist whose style seems to have lost touch with modern taste, with decorative adornments by W. H. Rogers, must not be overlooked; nor Tennyson's _May Queen_ (Sampson Low), with designs by E. V. B., a gifted amateur, whose work in this book, in _Child's Play_, and elsewhere, has a distinct charm, despite many technical shortcomings.

_Lyra Germanica_ (Longmans, 1861), an anthology of hymns translated from the German by Catherine Winkworth, produced under the superintendence of John Leighton, F.S.A., must not be confused with a second series, with the same title, the same anthologist and art editor, issued in 1868. This book contains much decorative work by John Leighton, who has scarcely received the recognition he deserves as a pioneer of better things. At a time when lawless naturalistic detail was supreme everywhere he strove to popularise conventional methods, and deserves full appreciation for his energetic and successful labours. The illustrations include one fine Charles Keene (p. 182), three by M. J. Lawless (pp. 47, 90, 190), four by H. S. Marks (pp. 1, 19, 57, 100), and five by E. Armitage (pp. 29, 62, 111, 160, 197). The engraving by T. Bolton, after a Flaxman bas-relief, is apparently the same block Bohn includes in his supplementary chapter to the 1861 edition of Chatto and Jackson's _History of Wood-Engraving_, as a specimen of the first experiment in Mr. Bolton's 'new process for photographing on the wood.' As this change was literally epoch-making, this really beautiful block, with its companion p. 111, is of historic interest.

_Shakespeare: His Birthplace_, edited by J. R. Wise, with twenty-three pictures drawn and engraved by W. J. Linton (Longmans); _The Poetry of Nature_, with thirty-six drawings by Harrison Weir (Low), and _Household Song_ (Kent, 1861), illustrated by Birket Foster, Samuel Palmer, G. H. Thomas, A. Solomon, J. Andrews, and others, including two rather powerful blocks, _To Mary in Heaven_ especially, by J. Archer, R.S.A.; _Chambers's Household Shakespeare_, illustrated by Keeley Halswelle, must not be forgotten; nor _A Boy's Book of Ballads_ (Bell and Daldy), illustrated by Sir John Gilbert; but _The Adventures of Baron Munchausen_, with designs by A. Crowquill (Trübner), is not very important.

An illustrated edition of Mrs. Gatty's _Parables from Nature_ (Bell and Daldy) would be remarkable if only for the _Nativity_ by 'E. Burne-Jones.' It is instructive to compare the engraving with the half-tone reproduction of the original drawing which appears in Mr. Pennell's _Modern Illustrations_ (Bell). But there are also good things in the book by John Tenniel, Holman Hunt, M. E. Edwards, and drawings of average interest by W. (not J. E.) Millais, Otto Speckter, F. Keyl, L. Frolich, Harrison Weir, and others. In the respective editions of 1861 and 1867 the illustrations vary considerably.

Another book that happened to be published in 1860 would at any time occupy a place by itself. Founded on Blake, David Scott developed a distinctly personal manner, that has provoked praise and censure, in each case beyond its merit. Yet without joining either detractors or eulogists, one must own that the Bunyan's _Pilgrim's Progress_ (Edinburgh, 1860), illustrated by David and W. B. Scott, if a most ugly piece of book-making, contains many very noteworthy designs. It is possible, despite the monograph of J. M. Gray (one of the earliest critics who devoted special study to the works of Frederick Sandys) and a certain esoteric cult of a limited number of disciples, that David Scott still remains practically unknown to the younger generation. Yet this book, and Coleridge's _Ancient Mariner_, which he also illustrated, contain a great many weird ideas, more or less adequately portrayed, which should endear themselves to the symbolist to-day.

_Goldsmith's Poems_, with coloured illustrations by Birket Foster, appeared this year, which saw also many volumes (issued by Day and Son), resplendent with chromo-lithography and 'illuminations' in gold and colours. So that the Christmas harvest, that might seem somewhat meagre in the short list above, really contained as many high-priced volumes appealing to Art, 'as she was understood in 1860,' as the list of 1897 is likely to include. But the books we deem memorable had not yet appeared, and the signs of 1860 hardly point to the rapid advance which the next few years were destined to reveal. In passing it may be noted that this was the great magenta period for cloth bindings. 'Surely the most exquisite colour that ever left the chemist's laboratory,' exclaims a contemporary critic, after a rapturous eulogy.

The 'wicked fratricidal war in America,' we find by references in the trade periodicals of the time, was held responsible for the scarcity of costly volumes at this date. Perhaps the most important book of 1862 is Willmott's _Sacred Poetry of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries_ (like many others issued the previous Christmas). It contains two drawings by Sandys, which are referred to elsewhere, three by Fred Walker, seven by H. S. Marks, two by Charles Keene, twenty-eight by J. D. Watson, one by Holman Hunt, eight by John Gilbert, and others by G. H. Andrews, H. H. Armstead, W. P. Burton, F. R. Pickersgill, S. Read, F. Smallfield, J. Sleigh, Harrison Weir, and J. Wolf. Although the absence of Millais and Rossetti would suffice to place it just below the Tennyson, it may be considered otherwise as about of equal interest with that and the earlier anthology of _Poets of the Nineteenth Century_, gathered together by the same editor. It is distinctly a typical book of the earlier sixties, and one which no collector can afford to miss.

_Poetry of the Elizabethan Age_, with thirty illustrations by Birket Foster, John Gilbert, Julian Portch, and E. M. Wimperis, is not quite representative of the sixties, but of a transitional period which might be claimed by either decade. _The Songs and Sonnets of Shakespeare_, with ten coloured and thirty black-and-white drawings by John Gilbert, to whatever period it may be ascribed, is one of his most superb achievements in book-illustration. _Christmas with the Poets_, 'embellished with fifty-three tinted illustrations by Birket Foster' (Bell and Daldy), can hardly be mentioned with approval, despite the masterly drawings of a great illustrator. As a piece of book-making, its gold borders and weak 'tinted' blocks, printed in feeble blues and browns, render it peculiarly unattractive. Yet in all honesty one must own that its art is far more thorough and its taste possibly no worse essentially than many of the deckle-edged superfluities with neo-primitive designs which are popular at the present time. The work of this artist is perhaps somewhat out of favour at the moment, but its neglect may be attributed to the inevitable reaction which follows undue popularity. There are legends of the palmy days of the Old Water-Colour Society, when the competition of dealers to secure drawings by 'Birket Foster' was so great that they crowded round the doors before they opened on the first day, and one enterprising trader, crushing in, went straight to the secretary and said, 'I will buy the screen,' thereby forestalling his rivals who were hastily jotting down the works by this artist hung with others upon it. But even popular applause is not always misdirected; and the master of English landscape, despite a certain prettiness and pettiness, despite a little sentimentality, is surely a master. There are 'bests' and bests so many; and if Birket Foster is easily best of his kind, and the fact would hardly be challenged, then as a master we may leave his final place to the future, sure that it is always with the great who have succeeded, and not with the merely promising who just escape success. Among the minor volumes of this year, now especially scarce, are Dr. George Mac Donald's _Dealings with the Fairies_, with illustrations by Arthur Hughes; and several of Strahan's children's books: _The Gold Thread_, by Dr. Norman Macleod, with illustrations by J. D. Watson, J. M'Whirter, and others; and _The Postman's Bag_, illustrated by J. Pettie and others. A curious volume, _Spiritual Conceits_, 'illustrated by Harry Rogers,' is printed throughout in black letter, and, despite the title, would be described more correctly to-day as 'decorated' by the artists, for the engravings are 'emblematical devices' more or less directly inspired by the emblem books of the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries. As one of the few examples of conventional design of the period, it is interesting. New copies are by no means scarce, so it would seem to have been printed in excess of the demand, which, judging by the laudatory criticism it received, could not have been meagre.

1862, the year of the second great International Exhibition, might have been expected to yield a full crop of lavishly produced books, but as a matter of fact there are singularly few. Two important exceptions occur: Christina Rossetti's _Goblin Market_, with the title-page and frontispiece by her brother, and _The New Forest_, by J. R. Wise, with drawings by Walter Crane, 'a very young artist, whom we shall be glad to meet with again,' as a contemporary criticism runs. Yet, on the whole the men of the sixties appear to have exhausted their efforts on the new magazines which had just attained full vigour; hence, as we might expect, publishers refrained from competing with the annual volumes, which gave at least twice as much for seven shillings and sixpence as they had hitherto included in a guinea table-book. Birket Foster's _Pictures of English Landscape_, with pictures in words by Tom Taylor (Routledge 1863), contains thirty singularly fine drawings engraved by Dalziels, of which the editor says: 'It is still a moot point among the best critics how far wood-engraving can be profitably carried--whether it can attempt, with success, such freedom and subtlety of workmanship as are employed, for example, on the skies throughout this series, or should restrict itself to simple effects, with a broader and plainer manner of execution.' Its companion was styled _Beauties of English Landscape_, and appeared much later.

_Early English Poems, Chaucer to Pope_ (Sampson Low, 1863), is another book of the autumn of 1862, which like the rest is a quarto, with an elaborately designed cover and the usual hundred blocks delightfully engraved, after John Gilbert, Birket Foster, George Thomas, T. Creswick, R.A., R. Redgrave, R.A., E. Duncan, and many others. Although there is no reference to the fact in the book itself, many of the illustrations had already done duty in other books, or possibly did duty afterwards, for, without a tedious collation of first editions, it is difficult to discover the first appearance of any particular block. Probably this was the original source of many blocks which afterwards were issued in all sorts of volumes, so frequently that their charm is somewhat tarnished by memories of badly printed _clichés_ in children's primers and the like.

_The Life of St. Patrick_, by H. Formby, is said to be illustrated by M. J. Lawless, but the labour in tracking it was lost; for, whoever made the designs, the wood-engravings are of the lowest order, and the book no more interesting than an illustrated religious tract is usually. A sumptuously produced volume, _Moral Emblems_ (Longmans), 'from Jacob Cats and Robert Fairlie,' contains 'illustrations freely rendered from designs found in their works,' by John Leighton. The text is by Richard Pigot, whose later career affords us a moral emblem of another sort; if indeed he be the hero of the Parnell incident, as contemporary notices declared. Its two hundred and forty-seven blocks were engraved by different hands--Leighton, Dalziel, Green, Harral, De Wilde, Swain, and others, all duly acknowledged in the contents. It is only fair to say that the decorators rarely fall to the level of the platitudes, interspersed with Biblical quotations, which form the text of the work. Among other volumes worth mentioning are: _Papers for Thoughtful Girls_, by Sarah Tytler, illustrated by J. E. Millais; _Children's Sayings_, with four pictures by Walter Crane; _Stories of Old_, two series, each with seven illustrations by the same artist; _Stories little Breeches told_, illustrated by C. H. Bennett; and volumes of Laurie's _Shilling Entertainment Library_, including probably (the date of the first edition is not quite clear) Defoe's _History of the Plague_, with singularly powerful designs by Frederick Shields,--'Rembrandt-like in power,' Mr. Joseph Pennell has rightly called them; and _Puck on Pegasus_, a volume of humorous verses by H. Cholmondeley Pennell, illustrated, and well illustrated, by Leech, Tenniel, Doyle, Millais, Sir Noel Paton, 'Phiz,' Portch, and M. Ellen Edwards. The Doyle tailpiece is the only one formally attributed, but students will have little difficulty in identifying the work of the various hands represented in its pages. A volume, artless in its art, that has charmed nevertheless for thirty years, and still amuses--Lear's _Book of Nonsense_ appeared this year; but luckily its influence has been nil so far, except possibly upon modern posters; Wordsworth's _Poems for the Young_, with fifty illustrations by John Pettie and J. M'Whirter; an illustrated edition of Mrs. Alexander's _Hymns for Little Children_, mildly exciting as works of art, _Famous Boys_ (Darton), illustrated by T. Morten; _One Year_, with pictures by Clarence Dobell (Macmillan), and _Wood's Natural History_, with fine drawings by Zwecker, Wolf, and others, are also in the sterile crop of the year 1862. _Passages from Modern English Poets_ (1862), illustrated by the Junior Etching Club, an important book of its sort, is noticed elsewhere.

In 1863 Millais' _Parables of our Lord_ was issued, although it is dated 1864. Of the masterpieces it contained a reviewer of the period wrote: 'looked at with unfeeling eyes there is little to commend them to the average class of book-buyers.' This, which is no doubt a fairly representative opinion, may be set against the wide appreciation by artists they aroused at the time, and ever since, merely to show that the good taste of the sixties was probably confined to a minority, and that the public in 1867 or 1897, despite its pretence of culture, is rarely moved deeply by great work. It is difficult to write dispassionately of this book. Granted that when you compare it with the drawings of some of the subjects which are still extant, you regret certain shortcomings on the part of the engravers; yet, when studied apart from that severe test, there is much that is not merely the finest work of a fine period, but that may be placed among the finest of any period. We are told in the preface that 'Mr. Millais made his first drawing to illustrate the _Parables_ in August 1857, and the last in October 1863; thus he has been able to give that care and consideration to his subjects which the beauty as well as the importance of _The Parables_ demanded.' It is not necessary to describe each one of the many illustrations. Those which appeared in _Good Words_ are printed with the titles they first bore in the notice of that magazine. The other eight are: _The Tares_, _The Wicked Husbandman_, _The Foolish Virgins_, _The Importunate Friend_, _The Marriage Feast_, _The Lost Sheep_, _The Rich Man and Lazarus_, and _The Good Shepherd_, all engraved by the brothers Dalziel, who (to quote again from the preface), 'have seconded his efforts with all earnestness, desiring, as far as their powers would go, to make the pictures specimens of the art of wood-engraving.' Here it would be superfluous to ask whether the designs could have been better engraved, or even whether photogravure would not have retained more of the exquisite beauty of the originals. As they are, remembering the conditions of their production, we must needs accept them; and the full admiration they demand need not be dashed by useless regret. In place of blaming Dalziels, let us rather praise lavishly the foresight and sympathy which called into being most of the books we now prize. Indeed, a history of Dalziels' undertakings fully told would be no small part of a history of modern English illustration. If any one who loves art, especially the art of illustration, does not know and prize these _Parables_, then it were foolish to add a line in their praise, for ignorance of such masterpieces is criminal, and lukewarm approval a fatal confession.

It is difficult to place any book of 1863 next in order to _The Parables_; despite many fine publications, there is not one worthy to be classed by its side. Perhaps the most important in one sense, and the least in another, is Longmans' famous edition of the _New Testament_, upon the preparation of which a fabulous amount of money was spent. Yet, although an epoch-making book to the wood-engraver, it represents rather the end of an old school than the beginning of a new. Its greatly reduced illustrations, wherein a huge wall-painting occupies the space of a postage-stamp, the lack of spontaneity in its formal 'correct' borders, impress us to-day more as curiosities than as living craft. All the same, it was considered a marvellous achievement; but its spirit, if it ever existed, has evaporated with age; indeed, one cannot help thinking that it was out of date when it appeared. Ten years earlier it would have provoked more hearty approval; but, with Millais' treatment of the similar subjects, who could look at this precise, unimaginative work? That it ever exercised any influence on wood-engraving is doubtful, and that it repaid, even in part, its cost and labour is still more problematical. Bound, if memory can be trusted, in sham carved and pierced oak, it may be still encountered among the _rep_ and polished walnut of the period, a monument of misapplied endeavour. Its ideal seems to have been to imitate steel-plates by wood-blocks. Just as Crusaders' tombs had been modelled in Parian to do duty as match-boxes, and a thousand other attempts, then and since, with the avowed intention of imitation, have attracted no little common popularity; so its tediously minute handiwork no doubt won the approbation of those whose approval is artistic insult. One has but to turn to the tiny woodcuts of Holbein's _Dance of Death_ to find that size is of no importance; a _netsuke_ may be as broadly treated as a colossus, but the art of the miniature is too often miniature art. Therefore, side by side with the splendour of Millais, this mildly exciting 'art-book' comes as a typical contrast. No matter how Millais was rewarded, the mere engraver in this case must have been paid more, if contemporary accounts are true; yet the result is that nobody wants the one, and every artist, lay or professional, who is awake to really fine things, treasures a chance impression of a _Parable_, torn out of _Good Words_, as a thing to reverence.

On turning back to a scrap-book, where a number of them were preserved by the present writer in the late sixties, the old surprise comes back with irresistible force to find that things which he then ranked first still maintain their supremacy. At that time, when the wonders of Japanese Art were a sealed book, the masterpieces of Dürer and Rembrandt, the triumphs of Whistler, and the exquisite engravings of the French wood-engravers, past and present, all unknown to him, he, in common with dozens of others, was conscious that here was something so great that it was almost uncanny, for, obvious and simple as it looked, it yet accomplished what all others seemed only to attempt. There are very few pictures which after thirty years retain the old glamour; but while the Longmans' _New Testament_ when seen anew raises no thrill of appreciation, the _Parables_ appear as astoundingly great to one familiar with modern illustrations as they did to an ignorant boy thirty years ago. Other _fetishes_ have gone unregretted to the lumber-room, but the Millais of 1863 is a still greater master in 1896. They builded better than they knew, these giants of the sixties, and that the approval of another generation indorses the verdict of the best critics of their own may be taken as a promise of abiding homage to be paid in centuries yet to come.

Curiously enough, among some literary notes for Christmas 1863, we find that 'early next year Messrs. Dalziel hoped to issue their Bible pictures,' and the writer goes on to praise several of the drawings--notably the Leightons, which were even then engraved: this note, nearly twenty years before the book actually appeared, is interesting, but it must not be thought that the time was devoted entirely to the engraving or in waiting for the perfection of photographic transfer to wood.

An English edition of Michelet's _The Bird_, illustrated by Giacomelli (Nelson), was issued this year, and the highly wrought naturalistic details of the engravings became extremely popular. Its 'pretty' finish, and tame, colourless effect influenced no little work of the period, and, coupled with the _clichés_ of Gustave Doré engravings, so lavishly reprinted here about this date, did much to promote a style of wood-engraving which found its highest expression in the pages of American magazines years afterwards, and its lowest in the 'decorated' poems of cheap 'snippet' weeklies, which to-day are yet imitated unconsciously by those who work in wash for half-tone processes.

The next important volume of the year, after Millais' _Parables_, judged by our standard, is unquestionably Dalziels' edition of _The Arabian Nights_ (Ward, Lock, and Tyler)--'illustrated by A. Boyd Houghton,' one feels tempted to add to the title. But although the book is often referred to as the work of one artist, as a matter of fact it is the work of many. Houghton does not even contribute the largest number; his eighty-seven designs are beaten by T. Dalziel's eighty-nine. Nor is he the greatest draughtsman therein, for there are two by Millais. Still, notwithstanding these, and eight by John Tenniel, ten by G. J. Pinwell, one by T. Morten, two by J. D. Watson, and six by E. Dalziel, it is for Houghton's sake that the book has suddenly assumed importance, even in the eyes of those who do not search through the volumes of the sixties for forgotten masterpieces, but are content with _Once a Week_, the _Cornhill Gallery_, and Thornbury's _Legendary Ballads_. One thing is beyond doubt: that with the _Arabian Nights_ and the others on this short list you have a National Gallery of the best things--not the best of all possible collections, not even an exhaustive collection of specimens of each, but a good working assortment that suffices to uphold the glory of 'the golden decade,' and can only be supplemented but not surpassed by the addition of all the others.

The book was issued in weekly numbers, as you see on opening a first edition of the volume at the risk of breaking its back. Close to the fold appears the legend, 'Printed by Dalziel Brothers, the Camden Press, N.W.,' etc. It was eventually issued in two volumes in October 1864, but dated '1865.' Mr. Laurence Housman's volume, _Arthur Boyd Houghton_ (Kegan Paul, 1896), and his excellent article in _Bibliographica_, are available for those who wish for a fuller appreciation of this fine book.

By the side of the books already mentioned the rest seem almost commonplace, but another edition of _The Pilgrim's Progress_, with one hundred illustrations by T. Dalziel, must not be overlooked. These show that one of the famous engravers was also an artist of no mean importance, and explain much of the fine taste that distinguished the publications of the firm with which he was associated. Elsewhere the many original designs by other members of the firm go to prove this up to the hilt.

It is curious to find 1864 the date of the 'new' illustrated edition of _The Ingoldsby Legends_ (Bentley).[6] Those familiar with contemporary volumes would have hazarded a time ten to fifteen years earlier, had the matter been open to doubt. It is profusely illustrated by Leech, Tenniel, and Cruikshank, but in no way a typical book of the sixties. _English Sacred Poetry of the Olden Time_ (Religious Tract Society, 1864) was issued this year. It contains F. Walker's _Portrait of a Minister_ (p. 184); _The Abbey Walk_ (p. 6), and _Sir Walter Raleigh_ (p. 60), by G. Du Maurier; ten drawings by J. W. North, three by C. Green, three by J. D. Watson, and many by Tenniel, Percival Skelton, and others, all engraved by Whymper; _Our Life illustrated by Pen and Pencil_ (Religious Tract Society, undated), is a similar book with designs by J. D. Watson, Pinwell, C. H. Selous, Du Maurier, Barnes, J. W. North. Aytoun's _Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers_ is another book of 1863 that is noticeable for its illustrations, from designs by [Sir] Noel Paton. _Robinson Crusoe_, with one hundred designs by J. D. Watson (Routledge); Wordsworth's _Poetry for the Young_, illustrated by J. Pettie and J. M'Whirter (Strahan, 1863); C. H. Bennett's _London People_, and the same artist's _Mr. Wind and Madam Rain_ (Sampson Low); _Hymns in Prose_ by Mrs. Barbauld, illustrated by Barnes, Whymper, etc.; Dr. Cumming's _Life and Lessons of our Lord_, with pictures by C. Green, P. Skelton, A. Hunt, and others; yet another _Pilgrim's Progress_, this time with illustrations by H. C. Selous and P. Priolo (Cassell), and another _Robinson Crusoe_, illustrated by G. H. Thomas (Cassell); The _Family Fairy Tales_, illustrated 'by a young lady of eighteen,' signed M. E. E., the first published works of M. Ellen Edwards, who soon became--and deservedly--one of the most popular illustrators of the day; _Homes without Hands_, by J. G. Wood, with animal drawings by F. W. Keyl; _Hacco the Dwarf_, with illustrations, interesting, because they are (I believe) the earliest published work by G. J. Pinwell; and _Golden Light_ (Routledge), with eighty drawings by A. W. Bayes, are some of the rest of the books of this year that must be dismissed with a bare record of their titles.

_The Lake Country_, with illustrations drawn and engraved by W. J. Linton (Smith and Elder, 1864), is of technical rather than general interest. Champions of the 'white line' will find practical evidence of its masterly use in the engravings. _The Victorian History of England_ (Routledge, 1864) has at least one drawing by A. B. Houghton, but, so far as a rapid turn over of its pages revealed, only one--the frontispiece. _The Golden Harp_ (Routledge) appears to be a re-issue of blocks by J. D. Watson used elsewhere. _What Men have said about Women_ (Routledge) is illustrated by the same artist, who is responsible--indirectly, one hopes--for coloured designs to _Melbourne House_, issued about this time. _The Months illustrated with Pen and Pencil_ (Religious Tract Society, undated) contains sixty engravings by Butterworth and Heath, after J. Gilbert, Robert Barnes, J. W. North, and others; uniform in style with _English Sacred Poetry_, it does not reach the same level of excellence. A book, _Words for the Wise_ (Nelson), illustrated by W. Small, I have failed to see; a critic calls attention to it as 'the work of a promising young artist hitherto unknown to us.' _Pictures of English Life_, with sixteen engravings by J. D. Cooper, after drawings by R. Barnes (Sampson Low), contains blocks of a size unusual in books. The superb drawings by Charles Keene to _Mrs. Caudle's Curtain Lectures_ (Bradbury and Evans) enrich this prolific period with more masterpieces.