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Retrofpedi of Domejtic Literature— Poetry. 



Serlio, and Defgodctz, are continually 

 rriiened to, and fome millakcs of tlie 

 two lattfr are corrected. In many parts 

 •f his work, but particularly in his ob- 

 fervations on the ampliitiieatre of A'ef- 

 p:ifian, Mr. Tappen reprobates a prac- 

 tice among modern architects, uhich has 

 fceen but too frequently exemplified in 

 the buildint^s of this country : the break- 

 ing and dififion of entablatures into 

 finall parts, where no purpofe is to be 

 anfvvcrcd. Students, it iliould fecm, 

 have vrrv often copied the antique, with- 

 out' at all referiing to the views which 

 niuft have evidently inHuenccd the an- 

 cient architett when framing his defign. 

 They have feem entablatures broken in 

 triumphal arches, and have introduced 

 fuel) into temples and ordinary build- 

 ings. To give a full idea of ail our au- 

 thor's obfervations here would be ini- 

 pofnblc. His criticifms on the relics of 

 ancient Rome are valuable ; but his ob- 

 fervations on the architectural compofi- 

 tion of the more modern ftruclurcs are 

 particularly good. We cannot but ex- 

 prefs a with, that every protelVional tra- 

 veller would make as active an ule of 

 his difccrnment. 



In Uiis clafs alfo, rather than with the 

 Topography, we mention Mr. Hritiox's 

 " JUJiorkiil Account of Corjimm Ilonfe 

 in Wiltjhirc." It is prefaced by an etfay 

 on the progrefs and prefei>t fiate of the 

 fine arts, with a brief account of the dif- 

 ferent fchf)ols, and a review of the pro- 

 greffive and prefont (late oi'the arts in Eng- 

 l;u)(]. The cataloiiue of the pictures at 

 Corfliam Houfc contains no lefs than 213 

 articles, princ'pally by the old Italian 

 madors; with a few portraits illuftrative of 

 Engliili lliftory. It is fuUowed by biogra- 

 phical fketches of the painters vvhofe 

 works conflitute the collection ; and at 

 the clofc we have the hiftory of the 

 manfion in a comprelfcd form. It ap- 

 pears to have been built toward the dole 

 of the reien of Queen Elizabeth, about 

 1582, by William Ilallday, Efq., an al- 

 dcruiaii and flierill" <jf London, whofe 

 daughter and coheirefs was married to 

 Sir Fdv\ard Ilnngerford ; and in 1747 it 

 ■was purchafed by Paul jMethuen, Efq., 

 the futljer of the prcfti't potTelVor. This 

 geiitleiuan made coniiderable alterations 

 and additions to the houfe, and employ- 

 ed Mr. J.auncelot Brown, both as his 

 architect and landfcape-gardener. The 

 more modern additions, in the lighter 

 Gothic tafie, have been made from the 

 de^ns of John Nafli, I lc|. ; and the 

 improvements of the plealurc-grouiids 



by Mr. Repton. From the title of this 

 work, we certainly expelled to have 

 f(miid a larger portion of tlie volume de- 

 voted to the inuTiediate hiftory of tlie 

 manfion. There are many readers to 

 whom the biographical notices may be 

 tbund particularly ufeful. 



Another, and a very elegant publics- 

 tion, which we fl;all noi'cc in this claf>, 

 is comprized in the " F[j''n/s on the A>m- 

 iomtj of Expieffion in I'ldnting," by Mr. 

 C HARtEs Belt^; a work which fupplies 

 the painter vvitli a proper application «( 

 anatomical learning to the pnrpofes <a' 

 his profenion. Witli our brother criti's 

 we confidcr it but as a prelude to a 

 more extenfive and fyftematic production. 

 The fubjec't, in thefe efi'ays, is very far 

 from having been exhauilcd. 



" Bath : illiijiruted b>i a Scries of 

 Views, from the Diituings of .1oi;x 

 Claude Naiik?," is one of the moll 

 i'uperb publications of the piclurefque 

 kind that has of late appeared. 'I'he 

 drawings feem to have been very faith- 

 fully made ; and are futficiently numer- 

 ous to give a complete idea, even to 

 foreigners, of the beauty of Bath and it5 

 environs. 



POETRY. 



Firft, in the clafs of Poetry, we place 



Mr. SiJis's edition of the " Poetical 

 Works of William Julius Mickle ;" with 

 a Life of the Poet prefixed, chiefly com- 

 pofed from his private correfpondence, 

 and from the iufomiation received from 

 hinifelf during an unreferved intimacy of 

 more than fixteen years. Mr. Mickle, 

 it fcems, was bora iu the parfonage at 

 Lang!!.)hn, in the county of Dumtries, 

 Sept. 29, 173-1. His firll publications, 

 "Knowledge, an Ode," and " a Night- 

 Piece," appeared about 17G1, v\itliOut 

 his name. Previous to the production 

 of thcfe, however, he had embarked his 

 fortunes in a brewery; wliere, finding 

 the excurfions of the mind more pleafur- 

 able than the calls of bufinefs, his affairs 

 became deranged, and his creditors cla- 

 morous. Under accumulated ditiiculties 

 he left Edinburgh for London, where he 

 v^.is noticed by lord Lyttelton, whofe 

 patronage, except in the correction and 

 recommendation of a few pieces of po- 

 etry, ended in profcllions. Having re- 

 linquirtied an engagement to go as mer- 

 chant's clerk to Carolina, he was fuA> 

 denly appointed corrector of the Cla- 

 rendon prcfs at Oxford, where he had 

 refided fome time before ; a fituation 

 much more congenial to his tafte and 

 talents than intrcantile purfuits. The 

 tranflation 



