Pablo de Segovia, the Spanish Sharper

THE SPANISH SHARPER TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL OF FRANCISCO DE QUEVEDO=VILLEGAS
ILLVSTRATED WITH ONE HVNDRED AND TEN DRAWINGS BY DANIEL VIERGE TOGETHER WITH COM- MENTS ON THEM BY JOSEPH PENNELL AND AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF QUEVEDO BY HENRY E D W A R D W A T T S
LONDON Printed by UNWIN BROTHERS at the Gresham Press for T FISHER UNWIN and Published by him at 11 Paternoster Buildings 1892

COMMENTS ON THE DRAW- INGS OF DANIEL VIERGE BY IOSEPH PENNELL AND AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF QUEVEDO BY HENRY EDWARD WATTS


TO attempt to introduce Daniel Vierge to the few artists of the world who are artists, would be, on my part, an impertinence, since his work is as well known to them as it is to myself. To attempt to introduce him to the rest of the world would be no less impertinent, since apparently most men care nothing for the illustrator, though they may, without ever troubling to know him, delight in his work. But the appearance of Pablo de Segovia , not in French or Spanish, but in English, illustrated by Vierge’s completed series of drawings, is worthy of note and, possibly, of some comment.
Vierge’s first edition of this book was published in Paris in 1882, by Bonhoure, and the drawings not only made his own name famous throughout the entire artistic world, but renewed the popularity of Quevedo. The book—and when I speak of it I refer to the illustrations and not to the letter-press—was the most brilliant, the most daring, the most original which had ever appeared. From the head-piece of the first chapter nearly to the end, almost every page contained a perfect picture which amazed all who studied it, and delighted all who could appreciate it. These exquisite little drawings displayed a knowledge of form, of action, of light and shade, of architecture, expressed with a brilliancy of handling which has never been surpassed. To make such a statement is to challenge criticism. But if there have been any more artistic drawings, or engravings of drawings, produced from the time of Dürer or Bellini, Rembrandt or of Piranesi, I have yet to find them, though I have gone in search of them through the chief Museums and Galleries of Europe. In comparison with Vierge, Dürer knows nothing of light and shade, Bellini and Vandyke and Holbein are heavy and laboured in their handling, while Piranesi and Canaletto have but an historical interest. It is true that to-day in many ways by many men Vierge is nearly approached, but he has been the inspirer and the master of them all.