Normandy Picturesque Part 13

[63] We are becoming so accustomed to the deliberate misuse of words, that when a person (in London) informs us that he is going 'to dine at the pallis,' we understand him at once to mean that he if going to spend the day at the great gla.s.s bazaar at Sydenham.

[64] The fares by Diligence are not inserted because they are liable to variation; but the traveller may safely calculate them, at not more than 2d. a mile for the best places, All _railway fares_ stated are _first cla.s.s_.

_Books by the same Author.

'ARTISTS AND ARABS.'

'TRAVELLING IN SPAIN.'

'THE PYRENEES.'_

_Published by Sampson Low and Co.,

Crown Buildings, Fleet Street, London._

ARTISTS AND ARABS;

OR,

Sketching in Suns.h.i.+ne.

"Let us sit down here quietly for one day and paint a camel's head, not flinching from the work, but mastering the wonderful texture and s.h.a.gginess of his thick coat or mane, its ma.s.sive beauty, and its infinite gradations of colour.

"Such a sitter no portrait painter ever had in England. Feed him up first, get a boy to keep the flies from him, and he will remain almost immoveable through the day. He will put on a sad expression in the morning which will not change; he will give no trouble whatever, he will but sit still and croak."--Chap. IV., '_Our Models_.'

WITH NUMEROUS ILl.u.s.tRATIONS.

Opinions of the Press on "Artists and Arabs."

_'"Artists and Arabs" is a fanciful name for a clever book, of which the figures are Oriental, and the sceneries Algerian. It is full of air and light, and its style is laden, so to speak, with a sense of unutterable freedom and enjoyment; a book which would remind us, not of the article on Algeria in a gazetteer, but of Turner's picture of a sunrise on the African coast.'_--Athenaeum.

_'The lesson which Mr. Blackburn sets himself to impress upon his readers, is certainly in accordance with common sense. The first need of the painter is an educated eye, and to obtain this he must consent to undergo systematic training. He is in the position of a man who is learning a language merely from his books, with nothing to recall its accents in the daily life around him. If he will listen to Mr. Blackburn he may get rid of all these uncongenial surroundings.'_--Sat.u.r.day Review.

_'This it a particularly pretty boor, containing many exquisite ill.u.s.trations and vignettes. Mr. Blackburn's style is occasionally essentially poetical, while his descriptions of mountain and valley, of sea and sky, of suns.h.i.+ne and storm, are vivid and picturesque.'_--Examiner.

_'Mr. Blackburn is an artist in words, and can paint a picture in a paragraph. He delights in the beauty of form and colour, in the perfume of flowers, in the freedom of the desert, in the brilliant glow and delicious warmth of a southern atmosphere.'_--Spectator.

_'This is a genuine book, full of character and trustworthiness. The woodcuts, with which it is liberally embellished, are excellent, and bear upon them the stamp of truth to the scenes and incidents they are intended to represent. Mr. Blackburn's views of art are singularly unsophisticated and manly.'_--Leader.

_'Interesting as are Mr. Blackburn's ascriptions of Algiers, we almost prefer those of the country beyond it. His sketches of the little Arab village, called the Bouzareah, and of the storm that overtook him there, are in the best style of descriptive writing.'_--London Review.

_'Mr. Blackburn is an artist and a lover of nature, and he pretends to nothing more in these gay and pleasing pages.'_--Daily News.

_'Since the days of Eothen, we have not met with so lively, racy, gossiping, and intellectual a book as this.'_--News of the World.

_'The reader feels, that in perusing the pages of "Artists and Arabs,"

he has had a glimpse of suns.h.i.+ne more intense than any ever seen in cloudy England.'_--The Queen.

_'The narrative is told with a commendable simplicity and absence of self display, or self boasting; and the ill.u.s.trations are worthy the fame of a reputable British artist.'_--Press.

_'The sparkling picturesqueness of the style of this book is combined with sound sense, and strong argument, when the author pleads the claims and the beauties of realism in art; and though addressed to artists, the volume is one of that most attractive which hat been set before the general reader of late.'_--Contemporary Review.

_&c. &c. &c._

Second Edition, Crown 8vo., Six s.h.i.+llings.

TRAVELLING IN SPAIN

In the Present Day.

WITH NUMEROUS ILl.u.s.tRATION'S

By THE LATE John Phillip, R.A., E. LUNDGREN, WALTER SEVERN, AND THE AUTHOR.

ALSO, A NEW MAP OF SPAIN, AND AN APPENDIX OF ROUTES.

Opinions of the Press on "Travelling in Spain."

_'This pleasant volume, dedicated to the Right Hon. E. Horsman, M.P., by his late private secretary, admirably fulfils its author's design, which was "to record simply and easily, the observations of ordinary English travelers visiting the princ.i.p.al cities of Spain." The travellers whose adventures are here recorded were, however, something more than ordinary observers. Some artists being of the party, have given graceful evidence of their observations in some spiritedly sketches of Spanish scenes and Spanish life. There are no less than nineteen of these ill.u.s.trations, some by John Phillip, R.A.; and the ornaments at the beginning and close of each chapter are fac-similes of embroideries brought from Granada.

The whole volume, in its getting up and appearance, is most attractive; and the descriptions of Spanish men and women are singularly interesting._

_'At the end there is an_ APPENDIX OF ROUTES, &c., _which will be invaluable to all intending travellers in Spain.'_--Sun.

_'Mr. Blackburn's charming volume is on a different principle from that of Irving and Cayley. He does not aspire to present Spain as it affected him,--but Spain as it is. His travelling party consisted of two ladies and two gentlemen--an arrangement fatal to romance. To go out on a serenading adventure in wicked Madrid is quite impossible for Mr.

Horsman's ex-private secretary, having in charge two English gentlemen.

So Mr. Blackburn wisely did not go in for adventures, but preferred to describe in straightforward fas.h.i.+on what he saw, so as to guide others who may feel disposed for Spanish travel--and he describes capitally. He saw a couple of bull-fights, one at Madrid and one at Seville, and brings them before his readers in a very vigorous style. He has admirably succeeded in sketching the special character in each of the cities that he visited. The book is ill.u.s.trated by several well-known hands.'_--Press.

_'A delightful book is Mr. Blackburn's volume upon "Travelling in Spain." Its artistic appearance is a credit to the publishers as well as to the author. The pictures are of the best, and so is the text, which gives a very clear and practical account of Spanish travel, that is unaffectedly lively, and full of shrewd and accurate notes upon Spanish character.'_--Examiner.

_'Mr. Blackburn sketches the aspect of the streets with considerable humour, and with a correctness which will be admitted by all who have basked in the suns.h.i.+ne of the Puerta del Sol.'_--Pall Mall Gazette.

_'The writer has genuine humour, and a light and graceful style, which carries the reader through the notes with increasing relish.'_--Public Opinion.