Grass," by Alice Brown, is an excellent example. The background is a light green, the grass and the foliage and the lettering are black, and the water is gold. The general effect is most happy. This design is by Louis J. Rhead.

• An example of pure decoration, without particular regard to the subject matter of the book, is to be found in Messrs. Harper & Brothers' Contemporary Essayists Series. Howells's "Impressions and Experiences" is a delightful book to the eye. The title on the

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back and sides is in black ink surrounded by gold, while the leaves and geometrical border are also gold, the body of the book being wine-colored; the whole effect being that of some rich morocco, elaborately tooled.

One can but feel that commercial bookcovers have reached their high-water mark, and that they must give way, as the poster and the book-plate craze have, to the great designers and to a greater reserve of decoration, as they are now setting the pace that kills-the publisher.

N writing this caption I am irresistibly reminded of a story which a prominent American illustrator once told me, amusingly defining the state of illustration before the new era. The artist in question was employed by one of the large publishing houses, and, moved by a letter which he had received from a friend who had gone to Munich to study art, in which the student pictured the joys of the art school and the fine models which were so easily obtainable there, he determined to ask permission to use the model in his work. In this particular publishing house the art department was a lofty-ceiled room, with a row of tables upon the side nearest the windows, each table partitioned off from its neighbor, and before each an artist busily engaged in drawing upon the wooden block. The artist in question approached his chief, and, with some hesitation, asked for a model. Now, in all the years that the chief had spent at his desk, such a request had never before been made, for all the drawings were evolved from the inner consciousness of the artist, stimulated by files of the "Graphic" and the "Illustrated London News." The chief gazed up at the young artist through his spectacles in astonishment, while the latter explained his request. At length the chief replied that he did not know about it; he would ask the "House." In a short time the "House," in the person of the head of the firm, appeared, and the young artist, being called before him, explained in some trepidation the curious request he had made.

"Models? models? Who ever heard of such a thing! It cannot be, sir. Our artists are expected to do without models they

must have gone beyond all that sort of thing— they are expected to have their models in their heads, sir!" And so, for that day, the question of models was decided; but it was the entering wedge, and in six months' time the young artist who had urged the need of models in order to be able to do good and artistic work, and from whom practically the new movement in American illustration started, had received permission from the "House" to hire a studio in the up-town district and have all the models he required. One by one the other illustrators who were his companions at the little tables followed his course, and finally all the work of the artists was done away from the printing-house, and the little penned-up tables were put to other uses. From this time on the illustration of books received a new birth, and in a few years the entire method had changed, and by the invention of various new processes the work of the artist-that is to say, his individual touch-was brought forth with truth and fidelity, the wooden block was abandoned, and artists drew in whatever medium their fancy dictated. Models, too, at first scarce almost to the unknown, became little by little more plentiful, until finally to-day each artist has his address-book quite filled with the names of models as good, if not as cheap, as are to be found abroad. But it was not until about fifteen years ago that artists seriously turned their attention to drawing for illustration. Before that time there had been, say, less than ten men who had quite filled the demand of the publishers for illustration. The demand upon them was not very exhaustive. The publisher sent his MS. to one of these men and asked him

to make a picture illustrating a certain line or lines, and the illustrator was expected to furnish a picture which fitted these lines and no others; he had no latitude in the matter. If Sir Galahad in the lines of the MS. grasped the heroine by the arm, then the artist must so show him in the picture. He was not expected to exercise his own imagination; and so art was still in fetters, so to speak, and things went easily for a space. But all this time young men were going abroad, and taking to themselves the advantages of the Julian and the Collarossi schools, the Beaux Arts in Paris, and the schools of Munich and Antwerp as well. These young men now began to return to America after from three to five years spent in the best schools of Europe, and as a result art awakened, the publishers found that there were better artists to be had than the old standbys, and consequently the young men soon had all that they could do. The art of illustration changed here again; the artists were permitted to select their own subjects in the MS. for illustration. The result was that the eyes of Europe were turned towards the United States, for here the art of illustration had taken on a freshness and virility unmatched elsewhere. Illustrated magazines and periodicals sprang up like magic to fill the demand of the public, which refused to look at a publication unless it had some sort of a picture. The illustration of books, too, took on a new aspect. It was found that the public desired what is known technically as the flat book that is, large books for the table; and poems were issued at holiday time, embellished with decorations and pictures of astonishing virility and artistic quality. Artists who had hitherto produced their works in color alone began to illustrate, and vice versa. The illustrators were often exhibitors in the current exhibitions. So the art of the illustrator was raised in dignity, and occupied here in the United States the position to which it was entitled, and which it had long occupied abroad. This was a feverish period, and during it many books were produced which would not at this day satisfy either the publishers or the public; but, on the other hand, the virility was undeniable. Howard Pyle, that master of illustration, had just begun to show his individuality in the field which is now all his own. E. A. Abbey was producing those exquisite pictures from Herrick which he has never since equaled. Hamilton Gibson's tiny landscapes and flowers, en

graved on wood with great reproductive skill, were exciting comment abroad, and Europe was expressing its surprise at the high order of talent, ability, and achievement which American illustrators were showing. And it is a proof of the excellence of the work of these men, among others, that their work has held the place it then occupied, in the face of the wonderful increase in the army of illustrators which has taken place since 1880. The illustrator has a better chance to make a reputation than the painter; the former can place his work before a larger audience than the latter. The painter of pictures depends upon the Academy Exhibitions for publicity, while the illustrator of books can appeal to the thousands. Since 1890 Mr. C. D. Gibson has perfected his graceful art, and has made known the American type of girl to the world. And, like all clever men, he has his imitators; but I have been astonished in this instance by the counterfeit Gibson who has some vogue in England, one Hal Hurst by name, whose work is so close in style and character to Gibson that, lacking the signature, any one would believe it to be by Gibson. It is hard to see what satisfaction the imitator can have in this case. Another illustrator of books, whose vogue is considerable and whose art is distinctive, is A. B. Wenzell. Strongly characterized, well drawn, and graceful, his work takes us into agreeable places. Aubrey Beardsleyism, that bogy of art, has come up and gone down in the shortest possible space of time; and while the style of that momentarily prominent young man achieved a success, it was what Whistler would style the succès d'execration; but it would be wrong to deny that it had a certain effect upon the illustration of books, for, however absurd and inartistic it may have seemed to the uninitiated, there was a reason behind it: it was the outcome of an endeavor to escape from the deadly commonplace, and as such it was for the moment welcomed. It has had its effect upon contemporaneous illustration both in this country and abroad, and it has begotten here more or less faithful imitators, who have since shared its fate.

Singularly enough, the charming art of Myrbach and Rossi, both Frenchmen, and the illustrators of Daudet's books, while welcomed here and greatly admired, had no effect whatever upon the output of the illustrators. Our men seemed to have no desire to emulate the style of the Frenchmen who filled the printed page with delicate, exquisite vignettes,