cations are really beautiful, and will carry grace and cheerfulness into many a lowly room. But Mr. Prang, or his agent, sometimes falls into lamentable errors in the selection of pictures to be reproduced in chromo-lithography; of which the most notable instance is the recent publication of Morviller's wretched composition, entitled "A Winter Landscape." There is absolutely nothing in the picture to attract a second look. The composition is ordinary, the color bad, and there is no sentiment, no incident, to redeem the work from instant and utter condemnation. Mr. Prang must certainly avoid such mistakes if he wishes to keep up the reputation of his house.
As to the character of these chromos as "works of art," the less claimed for them the better. The best chromo ever printed is of less value than the slightest sketch from the hand of a true artist. No one who understands color, or has any feeling for its wonderfully subtle harmonies, can take the least pleasure in these mechanical combinations of tints. Good engravings are infinitely preferable to them; but as fine sensibility to color is rare in the mass of people, chromo-lithographs have their place in the lower departments of art, and the man who supplies the popular demand with the best specimens, will do the public a service. Mr. Prang claims rather too much, however, both for himself and for his publications. He wants to be considered a philanthropist, an apostle and preacher of art to the poor, when in fact he is merely a merchant of colored lithographs, who keeps the market supplied with his wares because it pays to do so. Let him avoid this nonsensical pretence, and give us no more works like the "Winter Landscape," and everybody will be glad to see him prosper.
S. S. C.
BOOKS OF THE MONTH.
The Lost Cause Regained. By Edward A. Pollard, author of "The Lost Cause," etc. New York: G. W. Carleton & Co.
Cape Cod and all along Shore Stories. By Charles Nordhoff. New York: Harper & Brothers.
Life and Public Services of General U. S. Grant, from his boyhood to the present time. And a Biographical Sketch of the Hon. Schuyler Colfax. By Charles A. Phelps, late Speaker of the Massachusetts House, and President of the Massachusetts Senate. Illustrated. Boston: Lee & Shepard.
Medusa, and other Tales. By Mrs. Adelaide (Kemble) Sartoris, author of "A Week in a French Country-house. Boston: Loring.
Upside-Down; or, Will and Work. By Rosa Abbott. Boston: Lee & Shepard.
The Spanish Conquest in America, and its relation to the History of Slavery and to the government of Colonies. By Arthur Helps. Vol. IV. New York: Harper & Brothers.
Notes, Critical, Explanatory, and Practical, on the Book of Psalms. By Albert Barnes, author of "Notes on the New Testament," etc. In three volumes. Vol. I. New York: Harper & Brothers.
The Cruise of the Dashaway; or, Katie Putnam's Voyage. By May Mannering. Boston: Lee & Shepard.
On Nurses and Nursing; with especial reference to the Management of Sick Women. By Dr. H. R. Storer. Boston: Lee & Shepard.
Dolly Dimple at Home. By Sophie May, author of "Little Prudy Stories." Illustrated. Boston: Lee & Shepard.
The New Testament History. With an introduction connecting the history of the Old and New Testaments. Edited by William Smith, LL.D. With Maps and Wood-cuts. New York: Harper & Brothers.
Exploration of the Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia. By Sir S. W. Baker, M. A., F. R. G. S. Illustrated. With a Supplementary Sketch relative to the captivity and release of English subjects, and the career of the late Emperor Theodore. By the Rev. W. L. Gage. Hartford: O. D. Case & Co.
Our Standard-Bearer; or, the Life of General Ulysses S. Grant. By Oliver Optic. Boston: Lee & Shepard.
Men of our Day; or Biographical Sketches of Patriots, Orators, Statesmen, Generals, Reformers, Financiers, and Merchants, now on the stage of action; including those who in military, political, business, and social life, are the prominent leaders of the time in this country. By L. P. Brockett. Published by Zeigler, McCurdy & Co.
A Manual of Mythology, in the form of question and answer. By the Rev. George Cox, M. A., late Scholar of Trinity College, Oxford. First American from the second London edition. New York: Leypoldt & Holt.
