_Two Centuries of Song_, selected by Walter Thornbury (Sampson Low, 1867), is a book almost exactly on the lines of those of the earlier sixties, which seems at first sight to be out of place amid the works of the newer school. It has nineteen full-page drawings, set in ornamental borders, which, printed in colours, decorate (? disfigure) every page of the book. The illustrations, engraved by W. J. Linton, Gavin Smith, H. Harral, are by eminent hands: H. S. Marks, T. Morten, W. Small, G. Leslie, and others. The frontispiece, _Paying Labourers, temp. Elizabeth_, by the first named, is very typical; _Phyllis_, by G. Leslie, a pretty half-mediæval, half-modern 'decorative' subject; and _Colin and Phoebe_, by W. Small, a delightful example of a broadly-treated landscape, with two figures in the distance--a really notable work. In my own copy, freely annotated with most depreciatory criticisms of text and pictures in pencil by a former owner, the illustration (p. 138) has vanished, but on its fly-leaf the late owner has written-- 'This verse its picture had, A vulgar lass and lout; The _wood-cut_ was so bad That I _would cut_ it out.' That it is signed G. W. is a coincidence more curious than pleasing to me, and I quote the quatrain chiefly to show that the term 'wood-cut' for 'wood-engraving' has been in common use unofficially, as well as officially, all through this century. Nevertheless it is a distinct gain to differentiate between the diverse methods, by refusing to regard the terms as synonymous. [Illustration: G. DU MAURIER 'STORY OF A FEATHER' p. 63 'SEND THE CULPRIT FROM THE HOUSE INSTANTLY'] [Illustration: G. DU MAURIER 'STORY OF A FEATHER' p. 14 'HE FELT THE SURPASSING IMPORTANCE OF HIS POSITION'] [Illustration: T. MORTEN 'THE QUIVER' IZAAK WALTON] Foxe's _Book of Martyrs_ (Cassell, undated), issued about this time, has a number of notable contributors; but the one-sided gruesome record of cruelties which, whether true or false, are horribly depressing, has evidently told upon the artists' nerves. The illustrators, according to its title-page, are: 'G. H. Thomas, John Gilbert, G. Du Maurier, J. D. Watson, A. B. Houghton, W. Small, A. Pasquier, R. Barnes, M. E. Edwards, T. Morten, etc.' Some of the pictures have the names of artist and engraver printed below, while others are not so distinguished. Those most worthy of mention are by A. Boyd Houghton (pp. 389, 480, 508, 572, 596, and 668), S. L. Fildes (p. 493), G. Du Maurier (p. 541), and W. Small (pp. 333, 365, 624). Among artists not mentioned in the title-page are F. J. Skill, J. Lee, J. Henley, and F. W. Lawson. The first volume of Cassell's _History of England_ appeared this year with many engravings after W. Small and others.