works of Albert Dürer, and now the work before us, full and detailed as any devoted to the elder artist, will do for Holbein what has already been done for Dürer. Dr. Woltman, having traced the historical revolution in Italy and Germany, and described the nature and scope of the Renaissance, especially with regard to Germany, takes us to Augsburg, which has been called "the Pompeii of the Renaissance," and explains why it was that only from the city of German Renaissance the painter of German renaissance would come forth. Here, in 1495, Hans Holbein was born; and here he made his first attempts in art. The greatest of Northern portrait painters, he appears as such in his earliest efforts. 66 Masterly in his technical skill," says our author, "he adds to the accuracy and delicacy which drawing in metallic pencil en'tails, a rare power and richness. He adheres to life with wonderful certainty, and observes character in its finest touches." As an example of

his style, we present a portrait from the sketchbook of Kunz von der Rosen, the Emperor Maximilian's friend, merry adviser, and constant companion. Dr. Woltman's criticism on the portraits in general has application here. There is nothing artificial, nothing formal; no one seems to know he is being depicted. His people disdain to cast a glance on the spectator; they know not they are observed. "The broad German face, with its military beard, is perhaps somewhat coarse; but it is, at the same time, resolute, good, and honest. Behind the great beard and contracted brows there lurks irrepressible humour." Many youthful pictures were executed in Augsburg; among these the crowning work being an altar in the Munich Pinakothek. Of the folding panels, the Martyrdom of St. Sebastian forms the subject of the central painting, and two noble youthful figures-St. Barbara and St. Elizabeth-occupy the inner sides. The heads of both are drawn from life. Ideally glorified, they yet do not renounce their portrait character. "St. Barbara, the chaste virgin, is bending her head in serious and devotional thought over the cup in her hand and the host which is over it. And as in her faith is personified, so is love in St. Elizabeth. Love and womanliness are the same, and thus we see in her the highest and purest image of womanliness; she is not, as her companion, like a bud

yet unopened, but she appears in full, rich, unfolding beauty." The two pictures we have given, and which represent the early fruits of the artist's genius, are here reproduced less with a view to illustrate the marvellous power possessed by Holbein in after years, than to give the reader an idea of the quality of the illustrations which adorn the volume. Dr. Woltman, by gradual steps, takes us through the whole career of the artist, and supplies us not only with such careful biographical facts as to make his volume the most perfect extant on the subject; but side by side with the personal narrative offers instructive and appreciative comments on the chief works of the master, nearly sixty of which illustrate his volume. He has produced a most elaborate biography, and a valuable contribution to art literature. The translation, by Mr. F. E. Bunnètt, is admirable.

Natural History of British Moths. By the Rev. F. O. Morris, Author of "A Natural History of British Butterflies," &c. In Four Vols., with nearly Four Thousand Coloured Specimens. (Henry Edward Knox.)-Intended for the study of systematic entomologists, as well as of unscientific lovers of nature, these handsome volumes contain pictorial and written descriptions of every known species of British moths, so accurately and carefully given as to afford all the information necessary to the formation of a complete collection. Each specimen has its English as well as its scientific name, the date of appearance, locality, food, both in its caterpillar and winged state, and every other peculiarity relating to its habits and modes of existence. The figures are drawn on stone from nature, and printed in colours in so perfect a style as to enable any one, however unscientific, to recognize the insect delineated at a glance; while the accompanying text is so charmingly simple and explanatory as to render its perusal easy and pleasant to the most unscientific of readers. Indeed, we do not recall any strictly scientific treatise so pleasantly penned. Every here and there the purely technical language is relieved by some poetical suggestion or personal reminiscence; as when-after describing the characteristics of the pretty little fawn-coloured Vespertaria, the author says "The name of this moth furnishes me with an argument against those who advocate the adoption of an exclusively Latin nomenclature by those persons who have never been put to the trouble of learning any other than their mother tongue. Staunch Churchman as I am, I exercise the widest tolerance towards those who are not so happy as to be within the pale of the Church. You may imagine, therefore, with what feelings I one day last year received the intelligence that a brother entomologist had recently captured and killed some two hundred Presbyterians. It was, in fact, made a matter of boast. I expressed the thought that it might yet prove not to have been the case; but my informant stood me out that the deed had been done. I could, as a magistrate for the East Riding, have issued a warrant for the immediate apprehension of this second Claverhouse; but I concluded that after all his own reflections would be a sufficient punishment, so I left him to them and went on my way without further thought of Bonnie Dundee,' or of the retributive justice which deeds like this might merit and demand." To those who patronize that scientific toy, the "Insect Vivarium," as suggested by Mr. Noel Humphreys a few years ago, and exhibited in the Zoological Gardens, no work can be more useful; while, for the successful study of the science of entomology, nothing more full and complete in its special department has hitherto appeared.

&c.; such pictures as Paul preaching at Athens, the Lord's Supper, the Delivery of the Keys to Peter, and like subjects treated pictorially by Kaphael, Da Vinci, and others of the great masters; while, by means of maps and plans, the precise situation of sacred places in Bible history is made familiar to many who would not probably derive such information from any other source. Then, again, the introduction of engravings into the text of the Bible is a direct incentive to the reading the text itself, which in

THE HOMES OF

The origin of this handsome volume, which is dedicated to Lord Lytton, is due to his lordship's "Harold." The description of the residence of the sorceress Hilda-of the change from the Roman villa to the mansion of the Anglo-Saxonso impressed the author that he at once meditated a book which should be a complete and carefully compiled history of the domestic manners and economy of our forefathers, from the earliest period at which we can obtain any knowledge of it down to recent times. Those who know Mr. Thomas Wright know him as an earnest student in historical and archæological research. He is a professed antiquary; but he is no Dryasdust. He has the art of popularizing dry subjects, and in this work he has been singularly happy. In the preface he has fully explained his object. We have

this edition is carefully annotated and provided with parallel passages. Indeed, whether we regard Cassell's Family Bible as merely a Bible with notes, as an educational volume, or as a beautiful picture-book, we are equally astonished at its completeness, its thoroughness, and its entire adaptation to the needs of its readers. A more handsome and acceptable volume, in every sense, it is hardly possible to produce: and, moreover, it is cheap-which, in these days of competition, is a great recommendation.

OTHER DAYS.*

upon, in regard to society, as the English Middle Ages; and they, therefore, hold properly the largest space in the volume. The fifteenth century forms again a distinct period in the history of society-it was, in fact, the close of our Middle Ages. At the Reformation we come to a new transition period-the transition from mediæval to modern society. In twenty-six chapters Mr. Wright treats of the progress of society, and of the various changes and modifications it underwent during these years. There is hardly a subject to be named about which he does not supply information-and information not conveyed in dry and meagre form, but full of interest. How the people lived at home; the general arrangements of a Saxon, Norman, and medieval house, the meal, the chamber and its furniture, bed and bed-room, the

Histories of England and Histories of the Middle Ages, but none of them give us a sufficient picture of the domestic manners and sentiments of our forefathers at different periods-the knowledge of which is necessary to rightly appreciate the motives from which people acted and the spirit which guided them. Mr. Wright's aim has been to bring together a sufficient number of plain facts, in a popular form, to enable the general reader to form a correct view of the Middle Ages. Instead of taking each particular division of the subject, one after the other, and tracing each separately through the whole period en braced by the volume, he divides his subject into set historical periods, in each of which all the different phases of social history for that period are included. This plan is natural. During the Anglo-Saxon period the social system was the groundwork of that we now enjoy. The Norman Conquest brought in foreign social manners totally different, but they became gradually incorporated with the Anglo-Saxon, until, towards the end of the twelfth century, they formed the English of the Middle Ages. The thirteenth and fourteenth centuries we may look

The Homes of Other Days: A History of Domestic Manners and Sentiments in England, from the Earliest Known Period to Modern Times. By Thomas Wright, Esq. (Trübner and Co.)

are

garden, out-of-door amusements, in-door amu ments; the arts, such as singing, music, and painting; cookery, travelling, education, punishments, literature, inns and taverns, baths-are some of the innumerable topics discussed. The work is rich in pictorial illustrations taken by Mr. Wright from contemporary illuminated works. Of the quaint and curious woodcuts which embellish the volume, we select two. The first represents a group of ladies hunting the stag. In all the illuminations of the period we told that ladies engaged in hunting or hawking are represented on horseback "invariably and unmistakably riding astride." This is the case in the cut given; but, as Mr. Wright observes, most of the medieval artists were so entirely ignorant of perspective, and they were so much tied to conventional modes of representing things, that when, no doubt, they intended to represent ladies riding sideways, the latter seem often as if they were riding astride. As a further illustration of domestic manners towards the latter part of the fifteenth century, we give an interior -the "Nursing Chamber." It is taken from Lydgate's "Metrical Life of St. Edmund," and represents the birth of that saint. The fittings of the bed are rich; the chimney is ornamental in character, and has three recesses for candlesticks,

Character. By Samuel Smiles, Author of "SelfHelp." (John Murray.)-Influence of Character, as exemplified in the lives of the late Prince Consort, Wellington, Knox, Sir Walter Scott, and others; Home Power, as shown in the history of such men as the Wesleys; Companionship and Example, and the force of imitation, as illustrated in the association of Johnson and Boswell; Work, Courage, Duty, Self-Control, Truthfulness, Temper, Manner, &c., as portrayed in the histories of a Washington, a Galileo, a Faraday, a Nelson, a Luther, a Palmerston, a Shakespeare, &c. ; with chapters on the solace of books, the influence of domestic life, and the discipline of experiencethese and similar topics are discussed with considerable skill, and no small amount of illustrative anecdote, by Mr. Smiles, in this, his latest, contribution to the literature of moral and intellectual progress.

Real Folk. By Mrs. A. D. J. Whitney, Author of "We Girls," &c. (Low, Marston, and Searle.) -In the United States there exists, to a much greater extent than in England, a literature of Home, in which are depicted domestic scenes and incidents of the most ordinary character, interspersed with conversations which, taken by themselves, are often pointless, and stop the action of the plot; mingled with much inconsequent

and both are of such a character as to give an uninitiated reader the clearest and most distinct view of the manners, customs, habits, and dwelling places of our ancestors from the earliest times to our own days.

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writing and no small amount of religion. after page of such talk occurs in these novelettes : "If some of them folks had a clean, decent neighbour to go and see-to drink tea with, sayand was to catch an idea of her fixings and doings, why I believe there'd be more of 'em-cleaned up, you know. They'd get some kind of an ambition and a hope. 'Taint enough for ladies-though I bless 'em in my soul for what I've seen 'em doto come down there of a Fridays, and teach and talk awhile, and then go home to Summit Street or Republic Avenue, and take up their life again where they left it off, that is just as different as heaven is from t'other place; somebody's got to come right down out of heaven, and bring the life in, and live it amongst them miserable folks, as the Lord Jesus Christ did!" There must be a public for such tales, or they would not be printed in America and reprinted here; and though they contain elements of interest quite distinct from those belonging to Family Herald and New York Ledger stories, they are certainly fairly written and entertaining. "Real Folk" is a story of this pattern, almost without a plot-or, at least, such a plot as can be epitomised; but yet abounding with natural touches of pathos and humour, such as we do not recognise in popular tales of home manufacture, which are, too commonly, either very sensational or very prosy.