The Story of the House of Cassell
which enabled him to discover budding genius. Besides securing R. L. Stevenson as a contributor,[1] he sponsored his cousin, whose first efforts in art criticism appeared in the Magazine of Art. If Henley's antagonisms in art were not conducive to large circulation, nobody can doubt that he put his best work into every number. There is no need here to recall the tragedy of this "godlike being" hampered from youth by suffering and physical deformity, in spite of which he left so rich a legacy, not only in his own work but in that of others which saw the light largely through his generous encouragement.
Henley's successor as editor of the magazine in 1886 was Mr. Sidney C. Galpin, a son of Mr. T. D. Galpin, but in the course of a few months he was obliged by serious illness to give up the task. Then came Mr. M. H. Spielmann, who, with Mr. Arthur Fish for his assistant, controlled the destinies of the magazine for seventeen years, until, in fact, it was discontinued. Spielmann's editorship was not less distinguished, though more catholic, than Henley's. He prevailed upon many of the leading artists of the day to give public expression to their views on the art tendencies of the time. In this way Millais, G. F. Watts, J. W. North, J. T. Hodgson, Val Prinsep, Herkomer, Benjamin-Constant, and many other painters of note contributed articles of great value to students and art lovers. John Ruskin also was a contributor. Mr. Spielmann tells the story of Ruskin's essay on "The Black Arts":
- ↑ It may be of interest to record that the contributions of R. L. S. to the Magazine of Art, made during the years 1883-6, were as follows:—"Byways of Book Illustration: Two Japanese Romances," vi. 8; "A Modern Cosmopolis," vi. 272; "A Note on Realism," vii. 24; "Good Night," vii. 198; "Shadow March," ibid.; "In Port," ibid.; "A Penny Plain and Twopence Coloured," vii. 227; "Fontainebleau: Village Communities of Painters," vii. 265, 340; "The Land of Counterpane," vii. 367; "The Wind," ibid.; "The Cow," ibid.; "Foreign Lands," vii. 459; "Good and Bad Children," ibid.; "A Visit from the Sea," viii. 21; "It is the Season," viii. 53; "A Song of the Road," ix. 94; "To a Gardener," ix. 320.
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