In addition to its absorbing historic interest this book has the claim of recording the impressions of a vivacious and observant lady who describes what she has seen in modern Tuscany from San Galgano to Sorano.
Those who like books which conjure up beautiful historic places and fascinating romances of real life will be sure to enjoy this handsome volume. Among the stories related by the author is the harrowing one of Nello Pannocchieschi told by Dante, the scene of which is the ill-famed Maremma, mentioned in a proverb as a district where "You grow rich in a year, but die in six months."
The Romantic Roussillon: In the French Pyrenees. By ISABEL SAVORY. With Illustrations by M. Landseer MacKenzie. Super Royal 8vo.
25s. 0d. NET Inland Postage 6d.
This book is written for a double purpose: to reveal to lovers of sculpture the beauties of certain Romanesque work hitherto hidden in remote corners of the Pyrenees, and to suggest to travellers the attractions of a little country formerly known as the Roussillon, which now forms part of the Pyrénées Orientales.
Well off the beaten track, though within easy reach of London, it should appeal to lovers of fine scenery and to students of Romanesque and mediæval architecture.
Miss Isabel Savory, author of "The Tail of the Peacock" and "A Sportswoman in India," has explored every inch of it. Each chapter is a witness to the writer's research in the Library at Perpignan, coupled with a graphic description of the country from an artistic point of view, and lively portraits of the Catalam as he exists to-day.
Miss Muriel Landseer MacKenzie, sculptor and great-niece of Sir Edwin Landseer, gives a series of pencil drawings of which the collotype process makes faithful reproductions. Apart from their own merit, they represent subjects of which apparently no records exist, details of Byzantine and Romanesque architecture discovered in neglected abbeys, old churches, and ruins in the hills.
At the end of the book there is a map and a few practical notes for travellers which indicate that prices are moderate, and that there are good roads for motorists, though the country is pre-eminently adapted for those who like the informality of the knapsack and the mountain path.
In the Wilds of South America: Six Years of Exploration in Colombia, Venezuela, British Guiana, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil. By LEO E. MILLER, of the American Museum of Natural History. First Lieutenant in the United States Aviation Corps. With 48 Full-page Illustrations and with maps. Demy 8vo, cloth.