man at the bottom of the stairs, a peremptorily instructed cheque-taker half-way, a servant in a dashing livery at the top, and an impertinent director or secretary within the bar, they insulted and turned away from their doors, on Saturday, noblemen and opulent bankers distinguished for their encouragement of the arts, and, in particular, the very obnoxious classes of persons connected with the Press and the Publishing trade. We had the good fortune to be admitted by ticket, and on Monday, being a pay-day, had a similar favour shown to us for a shilling. All we have to say of the Gallery is, that it contains a few good pictures, and many of little value; and all we shall add respecting the new councillors is, that it would be a sagacious thing in the old ones, and in every person interested in the prosperity of the Association, to take care that, though they foolishly injure themselves, they should not be allowed to injure their fellow-artists, and destroy the Institution. As a pendant, we have to report the answer given to a gentleman connected with a public journal, and repeated, at his request, by the controlling official alluded to: We were determined,' quoth he, to have the private view respectable, and therefore cut off (or restricted) the admissions to the press and the publishers.' Bravo! Bravo! The sublimity of management." Another periodical, expressly devoted to the fine arts, thus commences its critique on the exhibition of the British Artists:-" Liberality is the very essence of the arts. A narrow mind was never the concomitant of genius. We regret to find that it is not, as it certainly has been, the characteristic of this' Society.' A few younger, but not wiser spirits, have been recently associated with the committee,' and they have issued a decree so foolish, and acted upon it so rudely, as to place a huge impediment in the way of their progress. Tickets to admit ONE person were issued as invitations to critics to the private view; and the novel arrangement was so rigidly enforced, as to produce no slight degree of vexation on the part of several writers for the periodical press-ourselves among the number-who attended at the rooms, as heretofore, with some chosen companion; and who, upon being made to comprehend the mandate of the magnates, declined to inspect the pictures until the payment of a shilling had secured the privilege. It is needless to state that orders for the admission of the press are never single orders; and that, in deviating from an established rule, the committee' adopted a course surely calculated to prejudice the cause which their declared object is to support. We cannot pardon them for having so acted. They are the guardians, not of their own interests alone, but of the interests of some hundreds of artists who contribute to furnish their walls; and whom they had no right to injure by their absurd decree. The publishers were treated in the same manner as the press-the one class give them fame and the other bread; and the advantages to be derived from the assistance of both were sacrificed to the whim or arrogance of some half a dozen young persons who outvoted the grey beards of the Institution. The Society of British Artists' is not yet in a position to scorn public opinion. It is still but a ricketty child; and certainly not much more older than its looks. Some of its earlier projectors and supporters continue with it. Mr. Hofland remains its firm friend; Mr. Linton amongst its best contributors; and there are a few others who would hold rank in an exhibition of far loftier pretensions. But the The gentleman who writes the notices on the arts in THE ALDINE MAGAZINE has annually, from the commencement of this Society, been presented with a personal admission for himself and friend. These admissions, be it specially understood, are not regarded in the light of favours: there is always an abundant qui pro quo. Yet, with the above representations before him, he chose not to put himself in the way of affront. He therefore paid his shilling for admission, bought his catalogue, and took a survey of the rooms. He then addressed the attendant secretary, or keeper, and begged to know whether he were to consider himself in his accustomed position? The secretary could not inform him; he "had no power" himself; but he would present the gentleman's card to the council, state the case, and apprize him of the result. Accordingly, on the following day, the applicant received a note from the secretary, of which the subjoined is a copy :— "Suffolk Street Gallery. To the above a reply was made, thanking the secretary for his personal attention, but declining "the privilege (1) proffered by the council." Lest, after this, we might incur the suspicion of being influenced by pique, prejudice, or illiberality, we shall abstain from all critical remark on the merits of the exhibition. And be it held in remembrance, that if any particular institution happen to entertain the notion that it can do without the press, it may be assured that the press can do vastly well without that, or any other particular institution. NEW SOCIETY OF PAINTERS IN WATER COLOURS. As yet we have been able to obtain only a glance at the exhibition of the New Society of Painters in Water Colours, in its well-adapted suite of rooms, No. 53, Pall Mall. The display, though small, (embracing only 348 subjects,) is a brilliant one. This is but the fifth annual assemblage presented by the Society, yet it bids fair speedily to rival the elder establishment. Not, indeed, that there ought to be any jealousy on the score of rivalry, for so extensive is the patronage allotted to this beautiful, this almost fascinating department of the fine arts -a department in which England stands unap, proached throughout the world, that there is ample room for both. The encouragement experienced, and so well deserved, is most gratifying to contemplate. Mr. E. Corbould stands high upon the list of exhibitors. His tournament (No. 53, in the north room) at Calais, when Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, was appointed captain of that fortress, is a rich and splendid production, evincing an extraordinary feeling for the old chivalric spirit. The gallant steeds-the costly armour-the bright and glittering casques-the noble bearing of the knights-the waving pennons-the shivered lances darting through the air-bring before us, to the very life, one of those dazzling and exhilarating scenes which made the hearts of our noble ancestors dance, and the high blood run joyously through their veins. This is a picture of which Mr. Corbould may be proud. The same artist has fifteen or sixteen other pieces, chiefly from Lalla Rookh, the Corsair, &c., and others of a more purely fancy character. Amongst the latter we particularly notice his admirably satirical sketch, "The Age of Taste, 1840," in the middle room, No. 188. | the emotion of horror in the woman's face, on beholding the corpse of the murdered man, is very powerfully expressed. Brief and hurried as is our present notice, we cannot even mention the names of all the other artists whose productions are entitled to distinct remark. We hope to return to the subject with renewed interest next month. It would greatly assist the visitor, and even at times facilitate sales, if the Society's catalogue furnished the numbers of the pictures exhibited, affixed to the names of the exhibitors, as in the catalogues of the Royal Academy, British Institution, &c. PARRIS'S PICTURE OF THE CORONATION. This painting, of which "honourable mention" has been made in a preceding page (245), has been privately shewn at the artist's-at Mr. Moon's, in Threadneedle Street-and at Messrs. Colnaghi's, in Pall Mall East. It has since been sent to Oxford, for a similar purpose; and, immediately on its return to London, it will be placed in the hands of the engraver. MISCELLANEOUS SIGHTS. It may assist a casual visitor of the metropolis, if we indicate a few of the more striking exhibitions which are just now attracting notice. The Model of Waterloo, at the Egyptian Hall, in Piccadilly, continues to be the daily resort of hundreds of visitors, who enter, with the liveliest One of the pictures that we should most covet-interest, into all the details of the greatest and most the one, perhaps, that we should covet beyond all important battle of modern times. others in the exhibition-is Haghe's "Interior of the Hall of Courtray" (207) in the middle room. The time chosen is in 1646, when-the town being menaced with a siege by the forces of the United Provinces, headed by Gaston, Duke of Orleansthe magistrates, clergy, and chiefs of the company of arquebusiers, assembled to discuss the best mode to be adopted for the defence of the place. The energy-the zeal-the force and distinctiveness of character displayed by the respective individualsand the bold relief in which they stand forth-are very striking. Then, again, the architecture of the Hall, and its rich and magnificently carved chimney piece. And the powerful yet sober colouring and the broad masses of light and shade-all indicate the hand of a master. Mr. Warren is another eminently successful exhibitor. His " Happy Valley," from Johnson's Rasselas, also in the middle room (224) is so rich, so glowing, so gorgeous in effect, that it might almost be deemed a scene of enchantment. Mr. Weigall, in his "Charge of the Cavaliers" (24), and one or two other pictures of similar character -and more particularly in his "Battle of Flodden Field" (328), painted in conjunction with Mr. Warren, has strong claims on the notice of the visitor. From the unusually varied nature of his subjects, too, Mr. Weigall appears to possess extraordinary versatility of talent. Sidney Shepherd has some exceedingly clever street and other views; especially, the "Coronation Fair, in Hyde Park, June 28, 1838" (95) a "Scene from a Window in St. John's Street, during Bartholomew Fair"-and the "Ruins of the Royal Exchange, after the Fire" (170). In H. Johnston's "Brazilian Gamblers" (233) The Adelaide Gallery, and The Polytechnic Institution—the former at the northern terminus of the Lowther Arcade, in the Strand; the latter in Regent Street, North-are exhibitions of practical science, at which experiments are made, lectures delivered, &c. At the Adelaide Gallery are to be seen electrical and magnetical apparatus, an oxyhydrogen microscope, steam-gun, steam-engines, steam-boilers, and models of warming apparatus, &c., cooking stoves, lamps, furniture, house fittings, &c., models of pneumatic and hydraulic engines, models of machinery, fire-arms, carriages, ships, &c.; and naval fittings, carriages, harness, bridges, roads, piers, surgical apparatus, philosophical instruments, &c.; also, an electrical eel, a new invisible girl, &c. At the Polytechnic are a galvanic battery, an oxy-hydrogen microscope, a diving bell, Lord Dundonald's rotary steam-engine, and numerous other objects of interest. Miss Linwood's Gallery, presenting copies of many of the finest works of the ancient painters, in needle-work, is still in excellent preservation in Leicester Square. At the Cosmorama Rooms, in Regent Street, the Industrious Fleas may be seen in the daily performance of their extraordinary and varied labours. At the same establishment is a Talking Canary Bird, all alive; with several minor exhibitions. The Eccaleobion is a machine for artificial incubation. It is an oblong wooden box, about nine feet in length and three in breadth, divided into eight compartments, open to the sight, in which the eggs are deposited, being spread promiscuously upon the floor. The heat is supplied by pipes, which can easily be regulated to the required temperature of 98 degrees, when, under favourable cir, LITERARY, SCIENTIFIC, AND MISCELLANEOUS MEMORABILIA. cumstances, the principal of which is the quality of | the egg, the process of incubation goes on successfully, the chickens issuing from the egg at the usual period of twenty-one days. After ten or twelve hours they begin to feed, and are then removed into an apartment of a genial temperature, to which artificial farm-yard they give a very animated appearance. The inventor considers that this plan might be successfully introduced in an economical point of view, were an extensive establishment formed in a favourable locality, as the apparatus is susceptible of an interminable produce, and the supply both of eggs and poultry would become so plentiful as to be no longer a mere luxury of life. The Florentine Anatomical Gallery, in Margaret Street, Cavendish Square, may be said to present the startling revelations of a dissecting-room, with 285 out the forbidding grossness of decaying mortality. Two figures-the Venus and the Apollo-the beautiful personifications of female grace and manly beauty and vigour, are here analytically dissected. The exhibitor, Signor Sarti, raises the skin, and displays the muscles, the organs of motion, which being in turn removed, the various viscera are seen the heart, lungs, stomach, spleen-with the auxiliary apparatus of air-tubes (bronchiæ), arteries, veins, and nerves. All who study the physiology of digestion should here learn their anatomy; everyone who wishes to understand the wonderful mechanism by which he -lives and moves and has his being," will find in the Florentine Gallery a good steppingstone to the knowledge he seeks. LITERARY, SCIENTIFIC, & MISCELLANEOUS MEMORABILIA. ENCOURAGEMENT OF LITERATURE. A Society for the Encouragement of Literature is projected by means of prizes for the best literary productions on given subjects, including musical compositions, according to the plan. It is proposed that all competitors be members of the society, by contributing a certain annual sum, which shall entitle him or her to the following advantages-1st. The privilege of competing for all prizes. 2nd. To copies of the annual reports. 3rd. To admission to the annual meeting for the distribution of prizes. 4th. To vote for the adjudicators. 5th. To admission to the reading-room, where all works should lie for at least four months after adjudication, unless they are taken to be printed, in which case a printed copy should be laid on the table as early as possible. A smaller subscription to entitle the subscriber to all the advantages, except that of competing for prizes. SCIENTIFIC EDUCATION IN TURKEY. Seven academies are to be established in Turkey, at the cities of Constantinople, Adrianople, Salonica, Broussa, Smyrna, Bagdad, and Trebizonde, where, among other sciences, Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry, are to be especially taught. The lectures are to be delivered in French and in Turkish, and the Sultan has requested the Academy of Sciences in Paris to send him some young professors. In the academies of Constantinople, Smyrna, and Salonica, Grammar, Geography, and History are to be taught in French, after the European manner. The professors are to have a fixed salary, and a pension on retirement. THE PHOTOGENIC ART. In a recent lecture at the Royal Institution, Mr. Faraday drew attention to a new application of Mr. Talbot's discovery by Messrs. Blake, Havell, and Willmore, several specimens of which were exhibited. It consisted of an imitation of engrav ing, and was thus described. Lines were traced on a plate of glass with an opaque substance, white lead: and for the semi-tints, a semi-opaque substance. The design thus traced, was, on being submitted to action of light, in a few minutes transferred to Mr. Talbot's sensitive paper, lights for lights, and shades for shades; and in this we understood the novelty of the process to consist. When fixed, an exact copy was obtained. There was no one between the artist and the engraving, and no injury to the die. Multiplied impressions may be produced without in the least affecting the original design. Thus were new things produced from a thought, and a new application of the principle of " photogenic drawings" made well worthy of notice. REPRODUCTION OF STATUARY. A French Artist, M. Colas, has found the means of applying to sculpture a process which has much connection with M. Daguerre's invention. By this contrivance the Venus of Milo, for instance, is identically re-produced in all its dimensions, from the original size of the statue to the statuette of three feet, an inch, or even six lines; and, moreover, it may be done in marble. stone, ivory, wood, alabaster, &c. M. Colas's process employs the hardest as well as the softest substances, and his copies of statues and bas-reliefs are so complete that the imperceptible alterations of the marble worn by time are exactly re-produced. THE ALBION PRESS. It is at all times eminently gratifying to observe a right, sound, liberal, and what may be fairly termed sympathetic feeling between the employer and the employed-neither of which can prosper or even exist, without the other. In no art, manufactory, or occupation ought that feeling to be so strikingly predominant as amongst those who are connected 286 LITERARY, SCIENTIFIC, AND MISCELLANEOUS MEMORABILIA. with the Press, an engine of all-commanding power, greater than even steam itself. We say this, because they have, within their grasp, the means of superior enlightenment; and where knowledge comes she ought to be associated with every virtue. It is with great pleasure therefore we mention, that, at a supper lately given to the workmen employed at Hopkinson's Albion Press Factory, in Finsbury, on the completion of the 1000th" Improved Albion Press," a spirit of more than usual harmony, unanimity. and cordial sympathy between "master and man" prevailed; a spirit which clearly shewed that they knew their interests to be one and indissoluble. On the very spur of the moment, as it were, William Hawkins, one of the workmen, wrote and sang the following song, which was received with reiterated cheers. The haste and rapidity with which it was written form an abundant excuse for any little errors that it may betray. "WHEN a nation's right or glory calls "Its enemies spring up apace, Their malice speaks its great renown. From year to year, &c. &c. "The time my friends you see has come, "Long live our Master and his Wife, Till crowned with joy they end their days. "Let peace and concord be our chief, CURIOUS AND UNIQUE VOLUME. At the sale at Mr. Sotheby's rooms, of the miscellaneous library of the late Edmund Lodge, Esq., Clarenceux King-at-Arms, the following curious and unique volume was purchased by Mr. Bent, of the Aldine Chambers, Paternoster-row, for the sum of £13 10s :-" The Mirour of Maiestie, or the Badges of Honour conceitedly emblazoned, with emblems annexed, poetically unfolded, by H. G., remarkably fine copy, in half morocco.-London, printed by W. L., 1618.The only other impression of it which has occured for sale, or even known, was in the White Knight collection, where it sold for £18. It was resold at Perry's sale for £17 17s; and again in Heber's collection for £7 10s. The title of that copy was reprinted, and the imprint was different from the present, independent of the date being altered to 1619." LITERARY FUND. After the meeting of the committee on Wednesday, April 10, the Literary Fund Club enterfiftieth, or jubilee anniversary, on the 8th of May, tained as many of the fifty stewards for the ensuing as favoured it with their company at the Freemasons' Tavern, Mr. B. Bond Cabell in the chair, supported on the right and left by Mr. Hope and Sir Wm. Chatterton, vice presidents. The health of H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge, who has condescended to preside on that occasion, was toasted with every demonstration of grateful respect; and the whole and the numerous acceptance of invitations by entertainment, with the arrangements in progress, distinguished persons, give promise of a brilliant meeting on the appointed day. INVENTION OF LITHOGRAPHY. Fifty years ago, there lived at Munich a poor fellow, by name Aloys Senefelder, who was in so little repute as an author and artist, that printers and engravers refused to publish his works at their own charges, and so set him upon some plan to do without their aid. In the first place, Aloys invented a certain kind of ink which would resist the action of the acid that is usually employed by engravers, and with this he made his experiments upon copper-plates as long as he could afford to purchase them. He found that to write upon the plates backwards, after the manner of engravers, required much skill and many trials, and he thought that were he to practise upon any other polished surface-a smooth stone, for instance, the least costly article imaginable-he might spare the expense of the copper until he had sufficient skill to use it. One day, it is said, that Aloys was called upon to write-rather an humble composition for an author and an artist-a washing bill. He had no paper at hand, and so he wrote out the bill with some of his newly-invented ink, upon one of his Kilheim stones. Some time afterwards he thought he would try and take an impression of his washing bill-he did, and succeeded. Senefelder invented lithography.-Westminster Review. GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. A Society for promoting the study of Gothic Architecture (the most picturesque and fitting for our country and climate) has been formed at Oxford. CONVOCATION OF BOOKSELLERS. The principal booksellers in Leipsic, Berlin, Frankfort, and other great marts in Prussia, Hanover, &c. &c., have proposed to invite a convocation of their order from every country in Europe (why not America also, where the work of cheap reprinting is carried on upon so extensive a scale ?), to discuss the best means of putting a stop to the injurious and dishonest practice of piracy, which so generally prevails, and devise a system of mutual intercourse for the benefit of "the Trade," and we trust, of the producers and authors also. ODD AND RARE ETCHINGS. A curious collection of Etchings by Rembrandt, Albert Durer, Claude, Berghem, Paul Potter, and other celebrated masters, the property of the late Marechal Massena, were lately sold by auction, by order of his executors, at Paris. The prices were beyond all former sales: some of the most exquisite morceaux were secured for this country, probably to be added to the national collection in the British Museum. TO SUBSCRIBERS AND CORRESPONDENTS. In the commencing Number of the new volume of THE ALDINE MAGAZINE, we shall have the pleasure of introducing one or two novel, and, as we trust they will prove, interesting features. The able paper of L. E. R. on the Canadian subject is declined, simply because it is not our intention to allow THE ALDINE MAGAZINE to be converted into an arena for political discussion. It is our wish that it be preserved sacred to the amenities of social life. The papers of AMINA are under consideration. Our friend W. C. S., of Doncaster, ought to have received a packet of books and papers from us several weeks ago. Why have we not heard from ALPHA? To C. R's enquiry respecting Cheveley, or the Man of Honour, we answer, "No." We are not disseminators of scandal. We shall have the pleasure of attending to E. B. P., the champion of Dr. Gregory, next month. At present, it is not practicable for us to avail ourselves of the services of ATA. The only objection to " Lines written in a Bible" is, that they are of a character too exclusively religious for the pages of a general literary miscellany. WORKS IN In one volume 8vo. Memoirs of Margaret of Lancaster, Countess of Richmond and Derby; by Miss Halstead, daughter of the late distinguished Admiral Halstead. We understand, through a source upon which we can fully rely, that this is a work of extraordinary research and talent, and worthy, in every respect, of the daughter of a BOOKS JUST Lindsay's Letters on Egypt, Edom, &c., third edition, 2 vols. post 8vo. 24s. cloth. The Englishman's Greek Concordance, royal 8vo. 21. 2s. cloth. A Narrative of the Greek Mission, by Rev. S. S. Wilson, 8vo. 12s. cloth. Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, by Southey, new edition, crown 8vo. 10s. 6d. cloth. Hours of Sadness, or Instructions and Comforts for Mourners, fcp. 5s. cloth. Mrs. Hewitt's Scripture Emblems, 18mo. 3s. cloth. Wordsworth's Greek Grammar, 12mo. 3s. 6d. cloth. Parliaments and Councils of England from William I. to the Revolution in 1688, 8vo. 30s. boards. Prout's Sketches in France, Switzerland, and Italy, imp. folio. 41. 4s. half-bound. Tayler's Bee-Keeper's Manual, second edition, 12mo. 4s. cloth. Wilson on the Corn Laws, 8vo. 5s. cloth. Moseley's Illustrations of Mechanics, fcp. 8s. cloth. Meade's Manual of Apothecaries' Hall, 12mo. 10s. 6d. cloth. Curtis on Health, new edition, fcp. 3s. 6d. cloth. Jewel's Apology, translated by Rev. W. W. Ewbank, 12mo. 3s. 6d. cloth. Births, Deaths, and Marriages, by Theodore Hook, 3 vols. post 8vo. 31s. 6d. boards. Tis an Old Tale and often told, post 8vo. 10s. 6d. bds. Ritter's Ancient Philosophy, Vol. III., from the German, by the Rev. A. I. W. Morrison, 8vo. 18s. boards. Maugham's Law of Attorneys, Statues, &c. 6s. boards. Gwilt's Rudiments of Architecture, second edition, royal 8vo. 12s. cloth. The Juvenile Naturalist, by the Rev. B. H. Draper, square 6s. 6d. cloth. The Popular Songs of Ireland, edited by T. C. Croker, post 8vo. 10s. 6d. cloth. THE PRESS. brave British officer. In the progress of the work, Miss Halstead has consulted documents from every great library in England, public and private. A History of Gibraltar, Historical and Legendary; by Captain Hort, an officer of sterling merit and ability, who has been three years resident in the fortress. PUBLISHED. The Fergusons, or Woman's Love and the World's Favour, Cox's Our Great High Priest, 12mo. 5s. cloth. The Democrat of Marylebone, by I. W. Brooke, post 8vo. 6s. 6d. boards. Hack's English Stories of the Olden Times, 2 vols. 12mo. 12s. cloth. The Poor Rich Man and Rich Poor Man, new edition, royal 32mo. 2s. cloth. Jones's Scripture Directory, new edition, 5s. boards. Notes of a Wanderer in Search of Health, by W. F. Job and His Times, by Thomas Wemyss, 8vo. 9s. cloth, Scott's Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, sixth edition, 12mo. 5s. boards. Blakesley's Life of Aristotle, 8vo. 8s. 6d. cloth. Letters of Eminent Persons, selected by R. A. Willemott, 8vo. 8s. 6d. cloth. Browne on the Oxford Divines, fcp. 5s. boards. Wallace's Geometrical Theorems and Formulæ. 8vo. 6s. boards. The Shunamite, by Rev. Henry Woodward, 12mo. 6s. Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopædia, Vol. CXIII. 'History of Deerbrook, by H. Martineau, 3 vols. post 8vo. 27s. boards. The Author's Printing and Publishing Assistant, fcp. 2s. 6d. cloth. Lindsay's Coinage of Ireland, 4to. 18s. boards. |