CHAPTER XIX
OUR NATIONAL POSSESSION
The Thames is a great national possession, affording means of recreation and delight to thousands yearly. It is difficult to compare it with anything else in Great Britain. It stands by itself, and is unique. Other rivers there are, which for a small part of their course are excellent for boating; but there is nothing in England to equal the Thames, where the water is now kept at a high level, and where, for the 112 miles between London Bridge and Oxford, there is practically continuous beauty and convenience for boating. The reproach has been brought against us that we do not make full use of our river at London as the Parisians do of the Seine at Paris. But the two things are not on the same footing at all. There are many problems in connection with the Thames as a tidal river that have not to be solved by the Parisians in regard to the Seine. Perhaps if the great barrage at Gravesend, which has been discussed, ever comes into existence, we shall be able to remove the reproach, to run our steamboats to time, and to use the river as a river of pleasure, even so far down as London Bridge. There are, however, grave objections to the barrage scheme, which for the present has been set aside. Though the tides interfere with pleasure boats, they are a source of motive power for innumerable barges; the river traffic would be seriously hindered by the elimination of the element of tide, and many owners of wharves and quays would be injured by the change. There are also other difficulties. At present the sewage, after being dealt with by filtration in sewage-beds, is returned to the river, and, having been rendered innocuous, floats out to sea, and mingles with the pure water satisfactorily. It would, however, be another thing to return thousands of gallons of water, which, however innocuous, can hardly be called clean, to the great lake of fresh water the river would become if dammed up by a barrage.
Yet the continual increase in the size of ships, and the consequent demand for a river ever deeper, is a source of perplexity to the Thames Conservancy. This involves constant dredging, which would not be necessary were a perpetual high tide to be maintained. It is true that this dredging in some parts is a source of profit, not of expense. Thames gravel is exceedingly valuable, and it is found to be worth while for men not only to buy and maintain large dredgers down near the river mouth, but to pay a rent of something like £1500 to the Conservancy for the privilege of doing so! The dredging, however, is not all so profitable. Where the river-bed is slime and mud, the channel has to be kept clear by dredgers at the expense of the Conservancy, and no delightful rents accrue from the process. This dredging is altogether rather an interesting matter. In some places it is found remunerative enough for men to do it by hand for the sake of what they bring up, and they obtain leave to go dredging.
It is a fact not realised by everyone that the whole river, and all the craft upon it are under the strictest surveillance. Everything that floats must be licensed and carry its number for purposes of ready identification. The barges seen lying about in shoals near Westminster or Waterloo Bridges are not lying haphazard, but in certain specified places marked by buoys and allotted by the Conservancy, much as cabstands are allotted by the police. It is true that quays, wharves, landing stages, etc., being on land, are not subject to the Conservancy, which is in the somewhat anomalous position of dealing with the water, but not with the banks that hem it in. Yet the Conservancy manages to have a finger in this too, for suppose a man buys a bit of the river's bank, and erects a boat-building establishment thereon, he is obviously at a loss without steps down to the water or a landing place, and for this he has to pay rent to the Conservancy. The amusing part of it is that a man's property is sometimes in the air. In the case of a tree growing out of the water, it would truly tax the judgment of a Solomon to say what the rights of the Conservancy are toward that tree; but it is held that if the tree constitutes any danger or obstruction to the river-way the Conservators may insist on its being lopped. In connection with this a curious case sometimes arises. Man is always cunning where his own interests are concerned. It is not only to one man that the idea has occurred of propping up his overhanging tree by a stake. And, if the stake remains for any length of time, silt and rubbish collect between it and the shore, and eventually the island or the land of the cunning man is enlarged by a foot or two! More; sometimes stakes have been planted in the river bed with the same object without even excuse of the tree. It is the duty of the Conservancy officials to deal with all such stakes.
Whatever may be alleged as to our neglect of the river at London, no such charge can be brought against us in our appreciation of it higher up. Day by day, in the summer, hundreds enjoy the air and the brilliance and the interest of the river reaches. House-boats are moored, permission and licences having been obtained, and men and women practically live in the open air for weeks together. The house-boats are not allowed to anchor everywhere, but are allotted certain stations, due regard being had to the width of the river. If they plant themselves near private ground they must gain the permission of the owner, as well as of the Conservancy, which is quite reasonable.
To preserve an unimpeded channel may be taken as one of the great duties of the Conservancy. For this reason they have power to remove snags; to prevent the egotistical punt-fisher from placing his punt broadside in the midmost current; and to regulate the rules for the passing of craft. It is rather amusing to see sometimes how the punt man edges his craft as far from the bank as he dare before he sits down on his cane-bottomed chair and sorts out his tackle; but if a Conservancy official come along, and, eyeing him, decides, in spite of his extreme innocency and unconsciousness, that he has encroached too far, back he has to go. It is a perpetual game.
In regard to the fishing, most of the Thames is free; and the coarse fishing--bream, dace, chub, and so on--is good of its kind. Here and there, as at Hedsor, there is a bit preserved. For the commonsense view is taken that, if both banks belong to the same owner, the river bed belongs also to him, and likewise the fishing. He cannot, however, prevent boats from passing up and down the stream flowing through his property, or the highway would be a highway no more. The fishery in the Thames has of late years greatly improved, owing to the disinterested action of many clubs and associations in putting in stock which they cannot hope subsequently to reclaim, but which, once gone into the water, belongs to everyone alike. An instance of this occurred recently, when 300 trout (_Salmo fario_), about fourteen inches long, were put into the Thames at Shepperton Weir in March by the Weybridge, Shepperton, and Halliford Thames Trout Stocking Association. These trout cost 2s. 6d. each! There is good coarse fishing in nearly all parts of the Thames; bream, dace, chub, perch, and pike can generally be caught.
There are many curious and interesting points in regard to the river, and none more interesting than those relating to the tow-path. This venerable and ancient right-of-way still remains, crossing and recrossing from side to side as occasion demands, but traversable from end to end. As, however, it passes through private grounds by far the greater part of the way, it _is_ private, and yet public. Bicycles are frequently forbidden by stern notices put up by owners, who yet cannot prevent the pedestrian. The Conservancy has no power over the tow-path. What, then, happens when a part of the tow-path gives way and requires making up again? In theory it is the owner's duty to do it; but it would be expecting rather more than is warranted of human nature to expect an owner, who must regard the right-of-way with dislike and suspicion, to incur expense by mending it. As a matter of fact, if he does not do it, the Conservancy does. It may be remarked here that a very simple and effective way of embanking, known as "camp-shedding," is often employed about the river banks and the projecting points of lock islands which are liable to be carried away by the current. This consists in dropping large bags of dry cement into the water. The water itself consolidates and hardens the stuff, which becomes a splendid barrier.
There is another point in connection with the breaking away of the tow-path which is still more perplexing. Supposing it breaks away from a private owner's land in such a way that it cannot be built up again, but must be carried inland, what right has the public to say, "My right-of-way has fallen into the water, so I am going to take some of your land to replace it"? Apparently none at all. Yet the tow-path must be carried on. One wonders how, in the beginning, it was allotted to one side or the other. How was it that one owner said, "My lawns must slope right down to the water's edge; therefore I will not have the tow-path on my side; let it go upon the other?" And why has it never happened that two owners, equally strong and equally determined, have both flatly refused it? Be that as it may, the tow-path runs its tortuous but continuous course, and will continue to run as long as the river flows.
Such things as locks and weirs are, of course, entirely in the power of the Conservancy, who pay the keepers and regulate the fees. The half-tide lock at Richmond has answered admirably so far (_see_ p. 196); but the question is, Where is this sort of thing going to stop? There is an idea now of a similar lock at Wandsworth, and then we come to the matter of the barrage. We are so greedy of our river, we want it to be pent up, and not allowed to flow away to the sea. Weirs of some sort, which were at first called locks, are very ancient. In the end of the twelfth century we find orders respecting them.
Stow tells us that about the year 1578 or 1579 there were twenty-three "locks," sixteen mills, sixteen floodgates and seven weirs on the river between Maidenhead and Oxford. In the next six years thirty more locks and weirs had been made in spite of complaints that many persons had been drowned "by these stoppages of the water." He adds that "the going up the locks was so steep that every year cables had been broken that cost £400." Especial complaint was made about Marlow lock, where one man had had his brains dashed out, and Stow remarks that all the compensation the widow received was £5! The barges were not charged for going up but only for coming down, and a barge passing from Oxford to London in Stow's time paid £12 18_s._ This was in the summer, when the water was low. In 1585 a petition was made to Queen Elizabeth "in the name of the widows and fatherless children whose parents and husbands were by these means slain, against the great mischief done to her loving subjects by the great number of dangerous locks, weirs, mills and floodgates unlawfully erected in many places on the river." Queen Elizabeth must have known something of the subject from her early acquaintance with Bisham. (_See_ Chap. XI.)
In an old book of 1770 we find this passage: "The locks were machines of wood placed across the river, and so contrived to hold the water as long as convenient, that is, till the water rises to such a height as to allow of depth enough for the barge to pass over the shallows, which being effected, the water is set at liberty, and the loaded vessel proceeds on its voyage till another shoal requires the same convenience to carry it forward. This arrangement was in the summer when the water was low; in other seasons the locks were removed."
When the present locks were made they were called "pound" locks; a great many of them were opened between 1770 and 1780.
The members of the Conservancy Board go up in their launch several times a year to see that all is in order, and that their officials are doing their duty. Once a year they penetrate beyond Oxford, where the launch cannot go, and they have to take to rowing boats. They are not supposed to preserve the amenities of the river, but only its highway properties. They have no power to remove unsightlinesses, such as hideous advertisement boards; but only obstructions. Yet, in keeping the river free from sewage contamination; by forbidding the casting of refuse into the current from house-boats or elsewhere; by exercising a general jurisdiction, which makes people realise they are not free to amuse themselves to the annoyance of their neighbours--no doubt the amenities are very much more preserved than they would otherwise be.
Stow ends up his account of the river: "And thus, as this fine river is of great use and profit to the city, so the many neat towns and seats on the banks of it make it extraordinary pleasant and delightful. So that the citizens and gentlemen, nay kings, have in the summer time usually taken the air by water; being carried in boats and barges along the Thames, both upward and downward according to their pleasures."
INDEX
Abbey Hotel, Medmenham, 126
Abbey River, 165, 168
à Becket, Thomas, 67
Aberlash, 74
Abingdon, 37
Abingdon Abbey, 41
Adam, 199
Addison, 228
Albert Bridge, 223
Ankerwyke Park, 157
Archbishop Laud, 71
Arnold, Dr., of Rugby, 167
Arnold, Matthew, 5, 167
Arragon, Katherine of, 196
Arundel House, 215
Athens, 149
Bankside, 211
Barbour, Geoffrey, 39
Barges, 234
Barn Elms Park, 228
Barrage, 232
Barrington Shute, 56
Barry, 218
Battersea Bridge, 226
Baynard's Castle, 213
Bell Weir Lock, 159
Benson Lock, 59
Billingsgate, 210
Birds, 17
Birinus, 50
Bisham Abbey, 112
Bisham Church, 111
Bishop of Winchester's Palace, 212
Bishop's Park, 227
Blackfriars Bridge, 213, 214
Bloomfield, 224
Blount, Sir Arthur, 66
Boat Race, 2, 201
Boleyn, Anne, 158
Bolney Court, 84
Borlase, Sir John, 127
Boulter's Lock, 128
Bourne End, 139
Boveney Lock, 150
Boyle Farm, 185
Bradshaw, 175
Braganza, Catherine of, 230
Brandenburg House, 229
Bray, 152
Bray Lock, 151
Brent River, 200
Brentford, 200
Bridges: Battersea, 226 Blackfriars, 213, 214 Charing Cross, 216 Chelsea, 223 Folly, 25 Hammersmith, 229 Lambeth, 221 London,210 Old London, 208 Putney, 227 Tower, 210 Walton, 173 Waterloo, 216
Brightwell Barrow, 49
Buckingham, Duke of, 137
Burford Bridge, 38
Burney, Miss, 143, 199
Burton, Sir Richard, 204
Bushey Park, 181
Cæsar, Julius, 172
"Camp-shedding," 238
Canning, George, 204
Carfax Monument, 36
Carlyle, 224
Caversham, 71
Charing Cross Bridge, 216
Charles I., 65, 98, 180
Charles II., 127
Chaucer, 213
Chelsea Bridge, 223
Chelsea Embankment, 224, 225
Chertsey, 168
Chertsey Abbey, 168
Cherwell, 26
Chestnut Sunday, 181
Chiswick, 201
Chiswick House, 204
Christ's Hospital, Abingdon, 40
Cleeve Lock, 59
Cleopatra's Needle, 216
Clieveden, 136
Clifton Hampden, 45
Climenson, Mrs., 96
Coln River, 159
Compleat Angler Hotel, Marlow, 107
Congreve, 228
Conway, Field-Marshal, 102
Cookham, 138
Cooper's Hill, 146, 157
Cornish, J. C., 85
Countess of Nottingham, 195
Countess of Suffolk, 193
Cowley, 5, 6, 169, 174
Cowley Stakes, 172
Cranmer, 221
Cromwell, 55, 180
Crowmarsh, 54
Cuckoo Weir, 149
Culham, 42
Custom House, 210
Damer, Mrs., 99
Danesfield, 124
Datchet, 146
Day, Thomas, 82
Day's Lock, 47
Denham, 5, 24
Denham, Sir John, 146
Despencer, Lord Le, 126
Ditton House, 185
Donne, Dr., 190
Dorchester, 49
Dorchester Abbey, 51
Dowgate, 213
D'Oyley, Robert, 53
D'Oyley, Sir Cope, 103
Drayton, 4, 5, 22
Dredging, 233
Druce, Claridge G., 32, 62
Duc d'Aumale, 192
Duchess of York, 171
Dudley, Robert, 196
Duke of Buckingham, 137
Duke of Gloucester, 192
Duke of Marlborough, 150
Duke of York, 172
Duke's Meadows, 201
Durham House, 216
Dyers' Company, 122
Earl of Essex, 196
Earl of Leicester, 215
Edward IV., 213
Edward VI., 180
Edward Plantagenet, 113
Edward the Confessor, 140
Eel-pie Island, 191
Eights, The, 28
Eliot, George, 227
Embankment, The, 214
Empress Maud, 67
Essex, Earl of, 196
Essex House, 215
Eton, 7, 148
Evelyn, 229
Exe River, 175
Fair Maid of Kent, 54
Faringford, Hugh, 69
Fawley Court, 101, 102
Ferry Hotel, Cookham, 138
Fielding, Henry, 8, 190
Fingest, 103
Fishing, 236
Fleet River, 213
Floods, 217
Flora of Oxfordshire, 62
Folly Bridge, 25
Forbury Public Garden, Reading, 70
Fox, Charles James, 169, 204
Frogmill, 125
Fulham Palace, 228
Fuller, 67, 152, 198
Garrick's Villa, 183
Gaunt, John of, 67, 216
Gaveston, Piers, 54
Gay, 190, 193
General description, 9 ff
George III., 98
George IV., 98, 172
George Hotel, Bray, 154
George Hotel, Wargrave, 82
Gloucester, Duke of, 192
Goring, 57
Goring Church, 61
Gray, 5
Great Hall, Westminster, 219
Great Marlow, 106
Great Western Railway, 8
Greenhill, 60
Greenlands, 103
Greenwich Palace, 6
Grey, Lady Jane, 198
Gwynne, Nell, 127
Halliford, 175
Ham House, 191, 193
Hambleden, 103
Hammersmith Bridge, 229
Hampton, 177
Hampton Court, 6, 178
Hampton Green, 182
Hardwicke House, 65
Harp Hill, 48
Hartslock Woods, 62
Hedsor Church, 138
Henley, 97
Henley Regatta, 3, 100
Henry I., 42, 141, 195
Henry V., 195
Henry VI., 169
Henry VII., 195
Henry VIII., 68, 158, 178
Hoby, Sir Thomas, 111
Hogarth, 6, 183, 204
Holme Park, 75
Home Park, 145
Hook, Theodore, 184
Horton, 158
Hotels, 18
House-boats, 235
Houses of Parliament, 218
Howard, Katherine, 198
Hurley, 116
Hurlingham Club, 227
Hurst Park Racecourse, 182
Icknield Street, 59
Iffley, 29
Isleworth, 197
James II., 221
James Stuart, 143
Joan, 54
John, 78, 156, 213
Johnson, Dr., 183
Jones, Inigo, 199
Juxon, 221
Kelmscott Press, 230
Kempenfelt, Admiral, 120
Kew Gardens, 199
Kew Observatory, 197
Kew Palace, 6
_Kingis Quair_, 144
King's Stone, 187
Kingston, 186
Kingston Rowing Club, 186
Kit-Kat Club, 228
Kneller, Sir Godfrey, 190, 191, 228
Lady Place, 116
Laleham, 161, 167
Lambeth Bridge, 221
Lambeth Palace, 221
Laud, Archbishop, 71, 221, 228
Leicester, Earl of, 215
Leicester House, 215
Leland, 78
Llyn-din, 212
Locks, 239 Bell Weir, 159 Benson, 59 Boulter's, 128 Boveney, 150 Bray, 157 Cleeve, 59 Marsh, 102 Teddington, 187 Temple, 115
Loddon River, 92
London and South Western Railway, 9
London Bridge, 210
London Stone, 159
Long Ditton, 185
Long Mead, 157
Louis Philippe, 192
Lower Hope, 149
Lower Mall, 230
Macaulay, 120
Magna Charta Island, 155
Maidenhead, 132
Mapledurham House, 65, 66
Marble Hill, 193
Marlborough, Duke of, 98, 150
Marryat, 230
Marsh Lock, 102
Medmenham Abbey, 125
Merchant Taylors' School, 213
Milton, 5, 7, 158
Mole River, 184
Molesey Lock, 182
Molesey Regatta, 184
Mongewell, 56
Monkey Island, 150
Monmouth House, 225
Montfichet, 213
Moore, Thomas, 185, 188
More, Sir Thomas, 225
Morris, William, 230
Mortlake, 202
Mount Lebanon, 192
Naval Volunteer Training Ship, 214
New Cut, 27
Northumberland Avenue, 218
Northumberland House, 218
Nottingham, Countess of, 195
Nuneham Courtney, 35
Oatlands Park, 171, 174
Obstructions, 234
Old Deer Forest, 197
Old London Bridge, 208
Old Windsor, 146
Orleans House, 191
Oxford, 7
Oxford Meadows, 32
Pang River, 64
Pangbourne, 63
Park Place, 102
Parr, Catherine, 225
Penton Hook, 161
Pepys, 229
Phyllis Court, 101, 102
Pope, 5, 6, 145, 190, 193, 204
Pope's Villa, 189
Prince de Joinville, 192
Prince Henry, 193
Princess Elizabeth, 225
Puddle Dock, 213
Punting competition, 170
Putney Bridge, 227
Quarry Woods, 109
Queen Anne, 192
Queen Caroline, 229
Queen Eleanor, 213
Queen Elizabeth, 70, 113, 240
Queen Mary, 180
Queen Maud, 54
Queenhithe, 213
Radley College Boat-house, 34
Ranelagh, 223, 228
Raven's Ait, 186
Ray Mead Hotel, Maidenhead, 135
Reading Abbey, 67
Reading Castle, 70
Red Lion Hotel, Henley, 98
Richard II., 195
Richard III., 213
Richmond, 194
Richmond Palace, 6, 195
Rivers: Abbey, 165, 168 Brent, 200 Coln, 159 Exe, 175 Fleet, 213 Loddon, 92 Mole, 184 Pang, 64 Thame, 52 Wandle, 227 Wey, 173
Robsart, Amy, 196
Rodney, Admiral, 175
Romney Island, 148
Rose Garden, Sonning, 72
Rossetti, 227
Royal Hospital, Chelsea, 223
Runney Mead, 156
Rupert, Prince, 201
St. Anne's Hill, 170
St. Helen's Nunnery, Abingdon, 40
St. Mary Overies, 210
St. Patrick's Stream, 92
St. Saviour's, 210
St. Thomas's Hospital, 221
Salisbury House, 216
Sandford, 33
Savoy, The, 216
Scotland Yard, 218
Seagulls, 218
Seymour, Thomas, 225
Shelley, 106
Shenstone, 99
Shepperton, 170, 175
Shiplake, 95
Shrewsbury House, 225
Sinodun Hill, 48
Skindle's Hotel, Maidenhead, 133
Smith, Rt. Hon. W. H., 103
Smith, Sydney, 78
Smollett, 225
Somerset, Lord-Protector, 198, 215
Somerset House, 214
Sonning, 72
Spenser, 5, 213, 215
Staines, 159
Star and Garter Hotel, Richmond, 194
Steele, 228
Stephen, 54
Stokenchurch, 103
Stow, 239
Strawberry Hill, 188
Streatley, 57
Sunbury, 175
Surbiton, 186
Surley Hill, 150
Sutton Courtney, 43
Sutton Pool, 43
Swan Hotel, Thames Ditton, 184
Swans, 121
Swift, 190, 193
Syon House, 197
Tagg's Island, 182
Taplow, 132
Tate Gallery, 223
Teddington Lock, 187
Temple, 214
Temple Island, 101
Temple Lock, 115
Temple Mill, 115
Tennyson, 95, 191
Terry, Ellen, 166
Thame, The, 52
Thames Conservancy, 233
Thames, derivation of, 4
Thames Ditton, 184
Thames Gardens, 19
Thomson, 6, 137, 230
Thorney Island, 222
Torpids, The, 29
Tow-path, 237
Tower, 210
Tower Bridge, 210, 211
Tower Royal, 213
Turner, 173, 191, 226, 230
Twickenham, 191
Twickenham Reach, 188
Upper Hope, 149
Upper Mall, 230
Upper Thames Sailing Club, 139
Vanbrugh, 228
Vauxhall Bridge, 223
Vintners' Company, 122
Walbrook, 208
Walbrook Wharf, 212
Walker, Frederick, 153
Wallingford, 53
Walpole, Horace, 6, 183, 189, 228
Walton Bridge, 173
Walton Church, 174
Walton, Izaak, 147
Wandle River, 227
Wandsworth, 227
Warbeck, Perkin, 196
Wargrave, 80
Warwick, "King Maker," 113
Waterloo Bridge, 216
Watermen, 206
Weirs, 239
Westminster Abbey, 222
Westminster Bridge, 220
Westminster Palace, 6
Wey River, 171
Weybridge, 170, 171
Whitchurch, 63
Whitehall, 218
Whitehall Palace, 6
White Hart Hotel, Sonning, 74
Whitehill, 60
Wigod, 53
William the Conqueror, 53, 141
William III., 141, 180
Winchester House, 225
Windsor Castle, 140
Wittenham, Little, 47
Wittenham Woods, 47
Wolsey, 178
Worcester House, 216
Wordsworth, 220
Wotton, Sir Henry, 147
Wren, Sir Christopher, 181, 182
Wyatt, Sir Thomas, 210
York, Duchess of, 171
York, Duke of, 172
York House, 191, 217
_Printed by_ Geo. W. Jones, Limited, _Watford_.
BEAUTIFUL BOOKS
ILLUSTRATED IN COLOUR
BY MORTIMER MENPES
JAPAN
WITH 100 FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR
PRICE 20s. NET
=The Times.=--"Mr. Menpes's pictures are here given in most perfect facsimile, and they form altogether a series of colour impressions of Japan which may fairly be called unrivalled. Even without the narrative they would show that Mr. Menpes is an enthusiast for Japan, her art and her people; and very few European artists have succeeded in giving such complete expression to an admiration in which all share."
INDIA
WITH 75 FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR
PRICE 20s. NET
=The Evening Standard.=--"This sumptuous book is the result of an ideal collaboration, for the artist is at his best with colour schemes and atmospheric impressions, such as we find in his famous 'Japan' and 'Durbar' books; while Mrs. Steel has not only the saving grace of imagination, but is able by the sympathy and wise knowledge gained by a long residence in India to write a text of more than ordinary charm."
THE DURBAR
WITH 100 FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR
PRICE 20s. NET
=Morning Post.=--"This splendid book will be accepted by all as the best realisation of an epoch-making ceremony that we are ever likely to get."
=The Academy.=--"Unquestionably the best pictorial representation of the Durbar which has appeared."
=The Globe.=--"Likely to be the most brilliant and lasting record of the historical occasion."
VENICE
WITH 100 FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR
PRICE 20s. NET
=The King.=--"Within the last few years the industry of contemporary writers, some with and others without a genuine sympathy for their subject, has helped us to glimpses of the Queen of the Adriatic, through the spectacles of art, history, archæology, poetry, and romance; but the _Magnum Opus_ of Mortimer Menpes embraces to a great degree all five points of view, and persuades us that at last (and that not a day too soon) the stones of Venice have found at once a painter and a writer equally worthy of the vanished glories, the memories of which still cling to every church, palace, or bridge drawn or described in this charming work."
BRITTANY
WITH 75 FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR
PRICE 20s. NET
=Pall Mall Gazette.=--"It is of course the picturesque aspects of Brittany that appeal to Mr. Menpes.... Whether he paints cottage interiors or peasant types, straggling village streets and coast-town alleys, or a market-place bustling and baking in the sunshine, it is all one to his graceful pencil; and reproduced, as the drawings are, by his own colour-process, they make another of those many charming albums of travel which Messrs. Black have made a special province of their own."
WORLD PICTURES
WITH 500 ILLUSTRATIONS (50 IN COLOUR)
PRICE 20s. NET
=The Scotsman.=--"Mr. Menpes has been a wanderer over the face of the earth armed with brush and pencil, and he has brought back with him portfolios filled with samples of the colour and sunshine, and of the life and form, quaint or beautiful, of the most famous countries of the East and of the West, and his charming book is a kind of album into which he has gathered the cream of an artist's memories and impressions of the many countries he has visited and sketched in."
THE WORLD'S CHILDREN
WITH 100 FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR
PRICE 20s. NET
=The Times.=--"Of the cleverness, both of the pictures and letterpress, there can be no doubt. Miss Menpes's short papers on the children of different lands are full of insight, human and fresh experience; and Mr. Menpes's 100 pictures ... are above all remarkable for their extraordinary variety of treatment, both in colour scheme and in the pose and surroundings of the subject."
WAR IMPRESSIONS
WITH 99 FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR
PRICE 20s. NET
=Daily Telegraph.=--"One hardly knows which to admire the more--the skill of the artist or the skill with which his studies have been reproduced, for the colours of the originals are shown with marvellous fidelity, and the delicate art of the impressionist loses nothing in the process. The book, therefore, is a double triumph, and will therefore be prized by collectors."
WHISTLER AS I KNEW HIM
WITH 125 FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR AND TINT
PRICE 40s. NET
Haldane Macfall in =The Academy=.--"No one who loves the Art of Whistler should be without this handsome book; it contains works of Art of exquisite beauty; it contains a delightful picture of the outward Whistler that the man himself wished to be mistaken for the real thing--half butterfly, half wasp, wholly laughing enigma."
=The Observer.=--"A singularly illuminating and intimate monograph."
REMBRANDT
WITH 16 FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR
PRICE 12s. 6d. NET
=Aberdeen Free Press.=--"The illustrations are magnificent examples of the perfection to which reproduction in colour is carried by Mr. Menpes, and the book as a whole is of very special interest."
=British Weekly.=--"An invaluable collection of superb reproductions of Rembrandt's work. The book is a most desirable possession."
PUBLISHED BY ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK · SOHO SQUARE · LONDON · W.