Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 4.djvu/506

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NOTES AND QUEEIES. [ii s. iv. DEC. is, 1911.

simple, lucid style, and wholly devoid of the pompous and tortured language which makes the work of some philologists dull and lifeless.

Chats on Postage Stamps. By Frederick J.

Melville. (Fisher Unwin. )

MR. MELVILLE has given us a delightful book which will prove very interesting to stamp collec- tors. In his preface he says : " True students of stamps will extract from them all that they have to teach. They will read from them the development of arts, manufactures, social, com- mercial, and political progress, the rise and fall of nations." They will further learn a great deal of geography and history, e.g., which Colonies Tbelong to the various Powers. Mr. Melville adds that they will be trained to be observant of the minutiee that matter, and will broaden their outlook as they survey their stamps " from China to Peru."

The book begins with a dictionary of philatelic terms, and at its close will be found another of philatelic bibliography and an excellent index. The first part deals with the history of stamps and stamp collecting. Then comes advice to collectors, while chapters vii., viii., and ix. deal with the romance of the pastime, and chapter x. reveals the treasures of some of the royal and municipal collections.

The illustrations are well produced and inter- esting, and we cordially commend the book at this season to the notice of all parents who have children interested in stamps. We remark that Mr. Melville promises, in conjunction with Mr. C. Nissen, a further volume on the subject of ' British Essays and Proofs,' and to this we shall look forward.

MR. HENRY FROWDE AND MESSRS. CHAPMAN & HALL send us copies of Pickwick Papers and Nicholas Nickleby with coloured plates. The colour may please some readers, but it is added to plates which are already dark with etched lines, and is of the character of a slight wash, which we cannot consider effective. The fields white with snow add something to the picture of Mr. Pick- wick sliding, but in most cases we should prefer to
 * see the well-known illustrations by Phiz as they

left his hand. The reader can easily judge of the effect of the new departure by inspecting the Maclise portrait of Dickens, which is the frontis- piece to ' Nicholas Nickleby.' The type of the edition is very readable, and the red binding is suitably cheerful.

IN The Burlington Magazine for December we miss the editorial which deals faithfully with some current topic of importance to art-lovers. The frontispiece shows a Virgin and Child in which the one is more like a sister to the other than a mother. This picture and others are discussed by Mr. Herbert Cook in a highly interesting article^ on ' Leonardo da Vinci' and some Copies'.' The theft of the ' Monna Lisa ' has, caution at the Louvre which makes one uncertain of being admitted to any of the rooms on any day. ' II Rosso (Fiorentino) by Himself (?) ' introduces an artist of the great time of Italian painting, about whose work Sir Claude Phillips writes a fascinating article. Mr. H. N. Veitch begins a study with illustrations of ' English Domestic Spoons,' which promises to be very
 * Art in France ' tells us, produced a state of

illuminating. He deals inter alia with the Latin cochlear, a spoon for eating snails, and the question of " Apostle " spoons, with a quotation from ' Henry VIII.' Mr. Roger Fry continues his expert account of the ' Exhibition of Old Masters at the Graf ton Galleries ' ; and there is a notice of ' Gift-Books ' of the illustrated sort which is worth attention at this season.

IN The National Review the political writing is as pungent as ever. Mr. E. Cape! Cure seeks to check the " petulant campaign " of recent protest against Italy's behaviour in Tripoli. Mr. Paul England in ' A Plea for English Song ' discourses sensibly concerning the low standard of English translation which opera singers have had to tolerate, excepting from his condemnation the versions of H. F. Chorley. Most of the worst renderings are due to the " verbum verbo " fallacy which Horace exposed ; and the free paraphrase is, as Mr. England points out, much more likely to produce good results. Mr. Edgar Syers has a pleasant article on ' The Little River,' i.e., the Thames above Oxford. Mr. A. Maurice Low in ' American Affairs ' shows that President Taft has divided his party, and is in a bad way. ' Barbarous Boyhood,' by Mr. Bertram Smith, is penetrating in its insight into the strange ways of the young human animal; and a " Post-Impres- sionist Scribbler " proffers some severe criticism of ' Pictorial Art in South London,' i.e., certain wall-paintings in a classroom of the Borough Polytechnic representing ' The Amusements of London.'

MR. HENRY SNOWDEN WARD. W T e are sorry to notice the death, reported from New York on Saturday last, of Mr. Henry Snowden Ward, a contributor to our columns. He was an expert Dickensian and photographer, and with his wife produced an excellent and fully illustrated volume on ' The Real Dickens Land.' He also published a book on ' Shakespeare's Town and Times.'

EDITORIAL communications should be addressed to "The Editor of 'Notes and Queries'" Adver- tisements and Business Letters to "The Pub^ lishers " at the Office, Brea/n's Buildings, Chancery Lane, E.G.

CORRESPONDENTS who send letters to be for- warded to other contributors should put on the top left-hand corner of their envelopes the number of the page of 'N. & Q.' to which their letters refer, so that the contributor may be readily identified. Otherwise much time has to be spent in tracing the querist.

A. C., M. H. D., M. L. F., and J. R. L. H.

Forwarded.

A. P., Toronto ("Colonial Arms "). Thanks for reply, but anticipated at p. 436 by a home correspondent.

E. L. H. TEW (" Camden Society's Publica- tions "). Mr. H. E. Maiden, the Secretary of the Royal Historical Society, 7, South Square, Gray's Inn, W.C., will probably be able to supply bhe information you seek.