By J.G. CHAPMAN, N.A. New
York: J.S. Redfield. 4to. pp. 304.
Drawing-books, in general, deserve to be put into the same category with
the numerous languages "without a master" which have deluded so many
impatient aspirants to knowledge by royal (and cheap) roads. A drawing-
book, at its very best, is only a partial and lame substitute for a
teacher, giving instruction empirically; so that, be it ever so correct in
principle, it must lack adaptation to the momentary and most pressing
wants of the pupil and to his particular frame of mind; it is too
Procrustean to be of any ultimate use to anybody, except in comparatively
unimportant matters. It is well enough for those who need only amusement
in their drawing, and whose highest idea of Art is copying prints and
pictures; but for those who want assistance from Art in order to the
better understanding of Nature, no man, be he ever so wise, can, by the
drawing-book plan, do much to smooth the way of study.
All that another mind could do for us by way of teaching Art would be to
save us time,--first, by its experience, in anticipating our failures;
second, by its trained accuracy, to correct our errors of expression more
promptly than our afterthought would do it,--and to systematize our
perceptions for us by showing us the relative and comparative importance
of truths in Nature.
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