REVIEWS OF PRINTS AND ILLUSTRATED WORKS. 35f 



the same. The flexures are very beautifully drawn, and the engraving is highly 

 creditable to the talent of Mr. Davenport : probably a tithe more of local touch 

 would have been acceptable ; at present there is scarcely that discrimination of 

 surface which is essential to veracity of effect. Turning over a few leaves we come 

 in sight of a striking interior of " Milan Cathedral ;" Prout has furnished the 

 drawing, and Carter (J.) has succeeded in giving a very delicate but impressive 

 transcript of the scene. " The Love-szdt" from a drawing by H. Richter, and 

 engraved by Goodyear, is the next claimant of attention, and we confess that 

 gallantry requires we should be charmed wiih a fair maiden in hat and feathers, 

 jewels and lace, with dark eyes and tresses, and a smile of well-pleased meditation 

 on her lips ; still we carp and cavil and try, in vain, to force a glance of greeting. 

 The idea is elegant, and many will exclaim " how lovely !" when they throw their 

 eye upon the plate, but we are diflficult critics, and admit that we object to the fancy 

 which surrounds a modern belle in fashionable costume, with a bevy of fluttering 

 Cupids all eagerly pointing to the well-sealed and neatly-folded epistle which she 

 holds, tranquilly, between her fore-finger and thumb : the allegorical portion is 

 at variance with the ad-vivum moiety, and we prefer the unity of Harlowe's 

 " Proposal" divested of its Loves. Less of the milliner's imagination in the maiden's 

 attire, and we would have bowed more devotedly at the shrine of the belle. Again, 

 we object to the artist's conception of loveliness ; in the instance before us it is too 

 doll-like — too much founded on the idea of pretliness formed by the young ladies 

 who keep albums with ardent enthusiasm : the flowing tresses, the large black eyes, 

 the straight nose, the small rose-bud mouth just severed with a simper to shew the 

 pearls within, the satin hat and snowy plume, the unveiled neck, the deep fall of 

 blonde, the jewelled stomacher, the gigot sleeve and bracelet, are the absolute 

 materials sought for with ecstacy by the particular class of fair students to which we 

 allude, and to such we recommend the " Love-suit." Mr. Richter is an able artist 

 in his particular sphere, viz. that of ordinary nature ; a village school — an incident 

 in a barber's shop, or a cobbler's stall — some little episode in familiar humble lifQ 

 are the points in which he excels, but when he attempts to rise above this level, his 

 genius refuses to aid him, and his pencil presents little more than a failure. 



" Now or never ;" the next plate, is cleverly engraved by E. Bacon, from a drawing 

 by John Wright : the subject is an interview between a young lover and his 

 mistress ; the youth, a courtly page, is downcast and diffident •, one hand sustains 

 his plumed cap upon his knee, the other is raised to his chin in an attitude of gentle 

 perturbation ; he seems to lack words for his lady's ear, and to muse confusedly upon 

 the soft speeches with which he should besiege it. The maiden, fair-browed and 

 fair-haired, has an air of arch pleasantry upon her features, and sits apparently 

 amused at the timidity of her young and gallant wooer. The design is pleasing, but 

 the figures are manifestly too tall for the little chamber in which they are seated ; 

 were the gay cavalier to rise, he would, like the Phidian Jupiter, inevitably strike the 

 roof with his head. 



" Eulio7ie ;" the portrait of a girl, after Sir Thomas Lawrence, engraved by J, 

 Agar ; a wild and singular countenance in which we vainly look for the overwhelm- 

 ing beauty promised in the very graceful sonnet by Dr. Mackenzie. The engraving 

 is tine, but the play of line in the face is scarcely as felicitous as it might have been : 

 Bartoiozzi's exquisite management would be well worthy of Mr. Agar's attention. 

 The form of the left hand is pecuharly unfortunate. 



" 7'he village tomb-cutter" is an interesting scene : a white-haired old man, 

 spectacled, is busily and apathetically chiselling an inscription upon a grave-stone ; 

 a woman in mourning is seated behind him weeping, and a rustic girl with a nurse- 

 child in her arms is attentively looking on. The design is by A. Chisholme, and is 

 engraved with much delicacy by S. Davenport. 



" The Try sting-hour ;" a lady full dressed in white satin, with pearls in her hair 

 and round her throat, is seated in a tastefully furnished apartment, her sister is 

 kneeling at her side, and both are looking with pleased surprise through the open 

 casement, — and why, fair reader? why? — the lover, the long expected lover, 

 approaches — " the truant comes at last." The plate is a pretty moryeaux for 

 the young ladies and gentlemen who devour the Annuals, and love sentiment : but 

 it is not, precisely, to our taste. Had the fair heroine been somewhat more of a 



