A Word for Books 



in her gardening work and her landscape- 

 painting. 



I have named Richard Jefferies as a de- 

 lightful painter of the outdoor world. He 

 instructs us much in many ways, but I think 

 never better than when he confesses that he 

 had no botanical knowledge. Read his little 

 book called The Open Air." It proves 

 that he was one of the closest observers of 

 Nature who has ever written, yet that through- 

 out his life he prided himself upon being a 

 dilettarite. I do not know that he would 

 have liked this word, but it is the one which 

 fits his case : he sturdily refused to study 

 either science or art. Nevertheless, he was 

 not content with his own ignorance. On 

 every page he reveals that he was a born 

 artist — one who noticed every faintest shade 

 of color, effect of light, andsubtility of form, 

 and described them in words which only an 

 artist or an experienced student of art can 

 fully appreciate. On the other hand, he 

 continually shows a yearning for that exact- 

 ness in knowledge which only scientific 

 study can supply. And, as he was thus 

 born to know both art and science, and as 



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