This monthly periodical, as we know it of late years, suggests a magazine devoted to fiction and light literature, with a frontispiece by some well-known artist, and small engravings in the text mostly from photographs, or belonging to the diagram and the record rather than to fine art. I am not speaking of the present shilling series, but of the long array of volumes from 1868 until a few years ago. Nor does this opinion belittle the admirable illustrations by Walter Crane, M. Ellen Edwards, and other artists who supplied its monthly frontispiece. But the first four half-yearly volumes were planned on quite different lines, and these deserve the attention of all interested in the subject of this book, to a degree hardly below that of the better-known magazines; better known, that is to say, as storehouses of fine illustrations. As these volumes seem to be somewhat scarce, a brief _résumé_ of their contents will not be out of place. In the year 1866 we have William Small at his best in twelve illustrations to Charles Reade's dramatic novel, _Griffith Gaunt_. Whether because the ink has sunk into the paper and given a rich tone to the prints, or because of their intrinsic merit, it is not quite easy to say, but the fact remains that these drawings have peculiar richness, and deserve to be placed among the best works of a great artist not yet fully recognised. One design by F. Sandys to Christina Rossetti's poem, _If_, is especially noticeable, the model biting a strand of hair embodies the same idea as that of _Proud Maisie_, one of the best-known works of this master. A. Boyd Houghton has a typical Eastern figure-subject, _The Vision of Sheik Hamil_; Edward Hughes one, _Hermione_; Paul Gray, a singularly good drawing to a poem _The Lead-Melting_, by Robert Buchanan. Another to a poem by George Macdonald, _The Sighing of the Shell_, is unsigned, whether by Morten or Paul Gray I cannot say, but it is worthy of either artist; J. Lawson has one to _The Earl of Quarterdeck_, M. Ellen Edwards one to _Cuckoo_ and one to _Cape Ushant_, a ballad by William Allingham; a group, with Napoleon as the central figure, is by G. J. Pinwell, and J. Mahoney contributes three: _Autumn Tourists, Bell from the North_, a girl singing by a Trafalgar Square fountain, and _The Love of Years_. The next year, 1867, is illustrated more sparsely. _Robert Falconer_, by George Macdonald, has one unsigned drawing, and nine by William Small; these, with _A Knight-Errant_ by Boyd Houghton, make up the eleven it contains. In the next year Walter Crane illustrates the serial, _Anne Hereford_, by Mrs. Henry Wood, and also a poem, _Margaret_, by his sister. [Illustration: A. BOYD HOUGHTON 'THE ARGOSY' 1866, VOL. I. p. 500 THE VISION OF SHEIK HAMIL] [Illustration: G. J. PINWELL 'THE QUIVER' 1867 THE SAILOR'S VALENTINE] THE QUIVER