THE MEMOIRS OF ANN, LADY FANSHAWE. Written by Lady Fanshawe. With Extracts from the Correspondence of Sir Richard Fanshawe. Edited by H. C. Fanshawe. With 38 Full-page Illustrations, including four in Photogravure and one in Colour. Demy 8vo. 16s. net.
∵ This Edition has been printed direct from the original manuscript in the possession of the Fanshawe Family, and Mr. H. C. Fanshawe contributes numerous notes which form a running commentary on the text. Many famous pictures are reproduced, including paintings by Velazquez and Van Dyck.
THE LIFE OF JOAN OF ARC.
By Anatole France.
A Translation by Winifred Stephens.
With 8 Illustrations.
Demy 8vo, 9 × 5¾ inches, 2 vols.
Price 25s. net.
∵ Joan of Arc, by her friends accounted a saint, by her enemies a witch, stands out the one supreme figure of the French 15th century; that period of storm and stress, that time of birth-giving from which proceeded the glories of the Renaissance. Bitter controversy raged round the Maid in her life-time. Round her story to-day literary polemic waxes high; and her life by Anatole France is the most eagerly discussed book of the century. That it presents a life-like picture of the time critics of all parties agree. Its author has well equipped himself with the best erudition of the last thirty years. To the fruits of these researches he has added profound philosophy and true historical insight, and thus into consummate literary art he has painted a more vivid picture of the French 15th century than has ever yet been presented in any literature. The Maid herself Monsieur France regards not as a skilful general or a wily politician as some writers have endeavoured to make out, but as above all things a saint. It was by her purity and innate goodness that she triumphed. “It was not Joan who drove the English out of France . . . And yet the young saint played the noblest part in the salvation of her country. Hers was the part of sacrifice. She set the example of high courage and gave to heroism a new and attractive form.
THE DAUGHTER OF LOUIS XVI.
Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte of France, Duchesse D’Angoulême.
By G. Lenotre.
With 13 Full-page Illustrations.
Demy 8vo.
Price 10s. 6d. net.
∵ M. G. Lenotre is perhaps the most widely read of a group of modern French writers who have succeeded in treating history from a point of view at once scientific, dramatic and popular. He has made the Revolution his particular field of research, and deals not only with the most prominent figures of that period, but with many minor characters whose life-stories are quite as thrilling as anything in fiction. The localities in which these dramas were enacted are vividly brought before us in his works, for no one has reconstructed 18th century Paris with more picturesque and accurate detail. “The Daughter of Louis XVI.” is quite equal in interest and literary merit to any of the volumes which have preceded it, not excepting the famous Drama of Varennes. As usual, M. Lenotre draws his material largely from contemporary documents, and among the most remarkable memoirs reproduced in this book are “The Story of my Visit to the Temple” by Harmand de la Meuse, and the artless, but profoundly touching narrative of the unhappy orphaned Princess: “A manuscript written by Marie Thérèse Charlotte of France upon the captivity of the Princes and Princesses, her relatives, imprisoned in the Temple.” The illustrations are a feature of the volume and include the so-called “telescope” portrait of the Princess, sketched from life by an anonymous artist, stationed at a window opposite her prison in the tower of the Temple.
HUBERT AND JOHN VAN EYCK: Their Life and Work. By W. H. James Weale. With 41 Photogravure and 95 Black and White Reproductions. Royal 4to. £5 5s. net.
Sir Martin Conway’s Note.
Nearly half a century has passed since Mr. W. H. James Weale, then resident at Bruges, began that long series of patient investigations into the history of Netherlandish art which was destined to earn so rich a harvest. When he began work Memlinc was still called Hemling, and was fabled to have arrived at Bruges as a wounded soldier. The van Eycks were little more than legendary heroes. Roger Van der Weyden was little more than a name. Most of the other great Netherlandish artists were either wholly forgotten or named only in connection with paintings with which they had nothing to do. Mr. Weale discovered Gerard David, and disentangled his principal works from Memlinc’s, with which they were then confused. During a series of years he published in the “Beffroi,” a magazine issued by himself, the many important records from ancient archives which threw a flood of light upon the whole origin and development of the early Netherlandish school. By universal admission he is hailed all over Europe as the father of this study. It is due to him in great measure that the masterpieces of that school, which by neglect were in danger of perishing fifty years ago, are now recognised as among the most priceless treasures of the Museums of Europe and the United States. Fullness and accuracy are the characteristics of all Mr. Weale’s work.
VINCENZO FOPPA OF BRESCIA, Founder of the Lombard School, His Life and Work. By Constance Jocelyn Ffoulkes and Monsignor Rodolfo Majocchi, D.D., Rector of the Collegio Borromeo, Pavia. Based on research in the Archives of Milan, Pavia, Brescia, and Genoa, and on the study of all his known works. With over 100 Illustrations, many in Photogravure, and 100 Documents. Royal 4to. £3. 11s. 6d. net.