C 572 ] 

 FINE ARTS' EXHIBITIONS. 



[Nov. 



We feel that an apology, or rather a 

 reason, is due to our readers for our seem- 

 ing neglect, in having so long suffered two 

 illustrative works of, art, each of them of 

 great merit and public interest, to continue 

 in the course of publication for several 

 months, without having been hitherto no- 

 ficed in our pages. The excuse we have to 

 offer is, that unless we had suffered tlie 

 works in question to accumulate to a certain 

 extent, the very brief space which we could 

 have afforded tliem would have been wholly 

 inadequate to the kind of notice and exami- 

 nation which they claim at our hands. The 

 works to which we allude are Mr. Frank 

 Howard's " Spirit of the Plaj/s of Shak- 

 speare," and the " National Portrait Gal. 

 levy of Illustrious Personages of the li)lh 

 Century." The first-named of these works, 

 as first in date, no less than in value and 

 interest, claims the precedence. 



We are not able to state whether Jlr. 

 Frank Howard's elegant work in illustration 

 of Sliakspeare's Plays was undertaken pre- 

 viously to the appearance of Retsch's admi- 

 rable set of outlines on the same subject, 

 the first number of which (on Hamlet) was 

 criticized at length, in the body of our work, 

 some time ago. But whether it was or not, 

 is of little import ; since the next best thing 

 to originating and putting intopractice abold 

 idea, is tliat of adopting such an idea, and 

 following it up to a successful result. In 

 the case of an extensive and important work, 

 like that before us, it is indispensable to a 

 fair judgment of it, that we take into consi- 

 deration the object of its author ; and it is 

 always better, if possible, in criticising such 

 a work, to peniiit the author to explain his own 

 views. ^Ve are able to do so in this instance, 

 with a very trifling tax upon our space. 

 Mr. Howard, in his brief preface, says, 

 " The dramatist, who is limited in the time 

 for representation on the stage, exhibits in 

 his scenes those occurrences only which he 

 considers most important, and best adapted 

 for theatrical effect ; but if painters, by 

 making the story of a play complete in a 

 series of designs, arranged as the events are 

 supposed to have taken place, and by flUing 

 up what the nature of the drama compels 

 the poet to leave undefined, shews the au- 

 thor's ideas in a new light, he does not 

 take what is common to both, for that is no 

 more than repeating the poet ; but he 

 throws all the advantages of his own art into 

 the scale, displays an additional originality, 

 and enhances the interest of the work. 

 ]My object will be to give the spirit of the 

 plays, ratiier tlian a servile imitation of in- 

 dividual passages ; and, if possible, to ren- 

 der the plates complete in themselves, that 

 they may interest equally as an illustration 

 of the poet's ideas, and as an intelligible 

 series of amusing designs." We cannot 

 compliment l\Ir. Howard on his authorship ; 

 but neither shall we criticise him on it : be- 



cause it is as an artist, not an author, that he 

 comes before, us. His views and objects 

 may be gathered from these two passages, 

 which is all that we need from them. And 

 it must be confessed that those views and 

 objects include a design of great boldness 

 and hazard. To feel, much less to illustrate, 

 so as to render clear and intelligible to the 

 feelings of others, the spirit of the whole of 

 Shaksjieare's plays, is what was never yet 

 given to mortal man duly to accomplish ; 

 and, in fact, it is not awarding a very ex- 

 travagant degree of praise to Mr. Howard, 

 to say that, of all who have hitherto illus- 

 trated that spirit, he, in the fourteen num- 

 bers of his work which are now before us 

 (containing near three hundred plates), has 

 done more towards accomplishing the de- 

 sign in question than any one of his prede- 

 cessors. We have said that Mr. Howard's 

 is a bold design. We will add, that the 

 way to succeed in such a design is to plunge 

 boldly into it at outset : and this is what the 

 artist has done in the present instance. 

 The " spirit'''' of Shakspeare's plays, means, 

 in other words, the '^poetry'''' of them ; and, 

 among them all, there is none which includes 

 so much poetry as " the Tempest ;" and 

 with the Tempest Mr. Howard has com- 

 menced his work. Periiaps the fairest, as 

 well as the most successful method of con- 

 veying to our readers a specific notion of the 

 work we are commending to their notice, 

 will be to examine any one number of it in 

 detail : we shall therefore do so, and choose 

 the very first — which is, as we have said, 

 devoted exclusively to the Tempest, and 

 which comprises twenty plates ; the whole 

 of the plates throughout the work being 

 strictly in outline -a style of engraving 

 which we need not describe further than by 

 its name, as it has been made familiar to 

 the world by Retsch's illustrations of va. 

 rious German works, and latterly of Shak- 

 speare himself 



We may, however, premise an opinion, 

 that this comparatively new style of engrav- 

 ing is singularly well adapted to the purpose 

 of illustrating works of poetry, on several 

 accounts ; but chiefly because of the rapidity 

 of execution and consequent copiousness 

 which it admits of, and the purity of effect 

 which it produces — the first of these quali- 

 ties admitting of an artist accomplishing 

 that in a year which, in the ordinary style 

 of first-rate engraving, would cost him a life ; 

 and the second enabhng him to confine him- 

 self to those mere hints and intimations 

 whic'o are all that any artist should dare to 

 offer in illustration of the unspeakable 

 beauties and wonders of the works here 

 chosen for a subject. 



It will have been understood, through 

 Mr. Howard's own announcement of his 

 purpose, that he does not confine himself to 

 the actions, or even to the time of the play 

 he is illustrating ; but brings in whatever he 



