they display great beauty and finished taste; that their profuse decoration says every thing for the liberality of their publishers; that their skilful execution reflects the highest credit on the artists; and that, although we give this opinion with a reserve concerning the standard of our criticism, there are some among the examples before us, which, taking that standard at a high quotation, may claim emphatic eulogy.

As, however, we happen to be somewhat in the sententious and admonitory mood, we shall, while we are in the vein, drop a hint or two respecting the management of these concerns. It has been said; that there are three subjects on which every man is willing to think himself more knowing than his neighbour,Religion, Politics, and the art of mending a dull fire. We take leave to suggest the addition of a fourth,-critical skill in the Fine Arts. To those who have given the leisure hours of a life to its study and partial practice, nothing can be more nauseous than the pretensions which they are perpetually hearing, or seeing put forth, in connexion with that comprehensive and most difficult subject. Happy would it be, were this inspiration, as in physic, limited to the seventh sons of seventh sons, but it is almost universally afflictive; an influenza, always raging, though periodically exacerbated; an epidemic, for which we despair of finding any other specific than increasing knowledge; of which increase, by the way, we see as yet no sign. It seems never to have occurred to these worthy people, that it may be expedient to know something about the thing criticized. They have a new reading of the non cuivis contingit, and reject the negative-it is but to visit Somerset House or the Pall-Mall exhibitions, and to shine forth a critic all compact.' With these gifted persons, however, so long as they spare us their instructions, we have no right to interfere: their prepossession, if an erroneous one, is perfectly innocent, while to themselves it is indescribably pleasant. But when this ignorance begins to meddle with practical matters, and mars excellent plans by perpetuating blunders, it becomes important to inquire, in what way error and its effects may be exposed and checked. We are unwilling to be more specific in our references, since we have no wish to injure property; and we expressly disclaim all reference to the Annuals', when we say of more than one series, now in course of publication, that we are utterly unable to frame even a distant guess at the principle on which the decorations are conducted, and that, were they in our hands, our very first care would be to take out the plates, and consign the far greater portion to expurgatorial flame. One great source of error in this respect, lies in the impossibility, to an unpractised eye, of distinguishing between the effect of colour and that of chiaro-oscuro. We dare say that many of the

most worthless of the works we have in view, looked gay and sparkling enough in the coloured drawing, miserably as they now shew in black and white. The monarch's purple and the quaker's drab are not more at variance, than the florid painting and the sober print; and unless this distinction be kept in sight, the result is left to multiplied chances of failure. Form, effect, combination, are to be studied in every subject consigned to the graver; and when the unskilled eye is solicited by the glare of colour, it is in great danger of overlooking the facts of the case, and giving a verdict on the pleadings. That the graver can express colour, we are well aware; but we are now speaking of a sort of colouring neither expressible nor worth expressing. We must, however, desist from this desultory comment, and proceed to business.

The Landscape Annual has, in the present year, become, 'like Cerberus, three gentlemen at once.' There have been changes and rivalries; and thus the 'Landscape' has given birth to the Picturesque' and the 'Continental.' We shall begin with the second of the three. Mr. Heath is an active and skilful man of business; and amid what we take it for granted have been the misunderstandings that have transferred his superintendence from the Landscape' to the 'Picturesque Annual', he has made a capital hit by staking his interest on the striking and popular exhibitions of Clarkson Stanfield. A long and singularly successful practice of scene-painting on scientific principles, has given Mr. S. an admirable aptitude in selection and expression; and he has exercised his skill most effectively in the bold and vigorously rendered subjects now before us. We will not stop to cavil, as we might do, at some of his combinations of object and effect, as seeming to savour a little of the stage, but pass at once to notice the points which have struck us most forcibly in the present series. We cannot, of course, pass regularly through the whole twenty-six subjects, but we shall make it our object to give a satisfactory view of their general character.

The illustrations commence with the Simplon route; and the view of the Gallery of Gondo, though less comprehensive than Mr. Brockedon's, is a bold specimen of rock and waterfall, expressively rendered by J. Smith, a name not very familiar to us, but which we shall be happy to meet with again. The Lago Maggiore with the Isola Bella, furnishes a beautifully managed view: it is preceded by a rich scene of Domo d' Ossola, with its Alpine screen. A stormy sky, with castle, rock, waves, boats, and bustle, sets off the castle and village of Anghiera. Novelty is given to a repetition of Milan Cathedral, by the introduction of a picturesque foreground, made up of less dignified objects. Even from Venice, notwithstanding the

exhausting processes of ancient and modern artists, Mr. Stanfield has contrived to elicit novelty: the Lagune in a storm, with domes and towers in strong opposition of light and shade, is admirable: the view of Murano, with the groupe of fishingboats and vessels in the foreground, is not less so; and the fisherman's dwelling at Mazzorbo, carries us back to the systems and selections of an older school.

The Tyrol furnishes the artist with some of his most congenial subjects. Rock and castle frown from their majestic situations. Roveredo, Tronsberg, Klumm, and Landeck, are noble specimens of the old baronial fortalice, identified with the scarped precipices on which it stands, commanding and menacing the valley below, and bidding defiance to every foe but famine. The views in Switzerland are not inferior. A scene near Feldkirch is excellently treated; and the continuation of houses, bridge, and brook, in Schaffhausen, is not inferior to Prout, and only not so good as Bonington.

We perceive that we have said nothing of the engravers; and it must suffice to say, that the list of names includes most of our effective artists, and that they have done justice to the painter and to their own fame. There is one thing, however, about the management of the engravings, that strikes us as objectionable. The greater part of the impressions that we have seen, are strangely overcharged with colour: they may give an appearance of force, by this process, but they lose in other and more important respects.

Much as we admire Mr. Stanfield's work, and much as it deserves to be admired, we must say that, in some respects, we have been more gratified by Mr. Harding's Landscape Annual.' His subjects are most skilfully selected, and he has treated them with great interest and feeling. The details are excellently managed; and there is altogether, an expressiveness, a marked character, about the scenery and its circumstances, that at once identifies the country and locality. The frontispiece, a complicated, yet distinct interior of Milan Cathedral, makes one envy the correctness of eye and dexterity of hand, that could realize so difficult a subject. It was a bold attempt, to give the Ponte della Trinita, at Florence, after the magic view from Turner, in Hakewill's Italy; but it is a beautiful drawing. The view of Pelago, near the same illustrious city, is a rich collection of interesting details: the same criticism will apply to the Temple of Clitumnus. The Castle of Nepi is exhibited with a force and felicity that we have rarely seen surpassed, the management of light and shade gives powerful effect to the fir combination of tower and rock, while the light foliage enriche without weakening, the bold character of the scene. Lake of Nemi is beautiful; but there seems to us a lie want

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of depth about the engraving. Gensano affords a noble subject, while the Ghigi palace at Aricia gains much of its beauty from the skilful adaptation of common materials. Naples from the sea, is a delicious scene: the agitated transparency of the water, the graceful management of the shipping, and the wildness of the breezy sky, are happily blended with the light outline of the distance, and the dark shadow athwart the castle in the centre. The view of Puzzuoli is admirably managed; the sunlit objects in the distance, the deep shadows of the middle scenery, and the skilful treatment of the broken foreground, make an exqusite picture. Another representation of the same place, with part of the Mole of Caligula introduced, is remarkable for the excellent management of the water. To Baiæ are given two rich views, one with a full foreground, the other glancing in the rays of sunset. Castel-a-mare has a beautiful groupe of trees: Persano and Vico are noble scenes of rock and water. Sarrento furnishes two grand pictures; one a deep ravine with precipitous paths, and slender bridge; the other its bay and rocky verge. A splendid view of Cetara, in the bay of Salerno, is the last, and perhaps the most striking in the volume: a lofty tower of Norman or Saracenic structure, rises amid rock and tree, while mountains, buildings, shipping, and broken water, are happily arranged in the other parts of the scene. Other subjects of various interest, but all meritorious, we must pass by.

Prout is the artist of the Continental,' and his name is a 'tower of strength.' The Cathedral Tower of Antwerp is the first of a succession of architectural subjects, skilfully selected, and most ably treated. The Hotel de Ville at Brussels; a canal-view of Ghent, with boats, bridge, and baskets; a streetscene in Nuremburg; are all excellent. The view in Metz, of old houses with ancient galleries of carved work, looking out on a back-water, and the gables, tower, and pinnacles of the cathedral rising above them, is in his best and most striking manner. The Black Gate of Treves, is a good subject well treated, and the view of Dresden, with its long bridge and rich ecclesiastical architecture, is an admirable specimen of the Artist's skill in choice and execution. Of Como and Padua, we must speak in terms of general approbation; but the bridge of Prague claims especial notice for its singular piquancy. The fantasies of modern edification are mingled with the towers, buttresses, and grenadier roofs of the old German Architecture; statues and living figures crowd the bridge; yet, so skilful is the management, that not the slightest confusion is discernible. The street view of Rouen Cathedral is one of Prout's happiest ts; and the Church of St. Pierre, at Caen, from a landingn the bank of a stream, is a fine melange of whimsical

place

but rich architectural detail with the homelier circumstances of domestic structure.

A wide and varied scene still lies before us; but we have already dipped so deeply into our resources that we must be content with a hasty glance, though there are features in the view which might well demand an ampler description. First, then, may congratulate the Literary Souvenir on a series of plates, all well chosen for popularity, though not all equally to our own taste. The Deveria Family, by the artist of that name, has all the marks of a rich and spirited painting; and Chalon's Allegra, though the lady is an affected minx, has at least the excuse of exquisite beauty and admirable execution. We need only say of the Tower of London, that it is by Turner and Miller. Vespers' is neither good nor bad. Lawrence and Northcote have each a characteristic subject. The Tarantella, by Montvoisin, is lively; but the ladies are sadly deficient in Sveltezza. One of Stothard's beautiful subjects from Boccacio, does credit to the taste that placed it here. The Arrest, by Alfred Johannot, and Going to Mass,' by an artist of the same surname, with the distinctive prefix Tony, are interesting plates. Howard's 'Numa and Egeria,' exhibits two well designed figures in a singularly beautiful bit of cavern scenery. The view of Aberwessel on the Rhine, by Roberts and Goodall, is an exquisite piece of painting and engraving. It is, however, hardly fair to mention the name of one engraver only, when all have done well:-Rolls, Portbury, Engleheart, Ensom, Sangster, have proved that Mr. Alaric Watts has exercised both skill and liberality in his selection of engravers.

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The Amulet, too, boasts a series of interesting plates. Not fewer than four of Sir Thomas Lawrence's portraits grace the catalogue; Lady Blessinton's, exquisitely graved by Watt, is among them. The Greek Girl,' admirably translated by Charles Fox, is the best of Mr. Pickersgill's orientals. Stanfield has contributed a Venetian view, with the Bucentaur. The 'Rising of the Nile,' by Roberts, does the artist the highest credit: it is in Martin's way, but without a trace of servile imitation; it is spirited without exaggeration.' Mr. Hayter has put the engraver to the extra trouble of informing purchasers, that the artist is Member of the Academies of Rome, Florence, Bologna, Parma, and Venice:' his 'Death of the Firstborn' is a splendid subject. Corrinne, by the Baron Gerard, is a portly dame, by no means particularly handsome, in an attitude by no means particularly graceful. Haydon's 'Eucles' is too well known to require criticism: it has faults, certainly, but it has also high qualities. Moonlight,' a pretty vignette by Boxall, closes the list.

The Winter's Wreath displays a fair proportion of merito