54

History of Ancient and Modern Wines. [USEFUL ARTS AND

of sculls, copied from Lawrence, are generally well executed. We must also except the kola, and plates of butterflies, which are completely out of drawing: these we should certainly recommend to be cancelled, or, at least, retouched.

By the advertisement at the end of the work, we find that it is to be continued Quarterly; that it will be "so compressed, as not to be unreasonable in bulk or expense;" therefore, we shall suspend any further judgment on the work till we have seen a Second Part, when we shall be able to guess at its bulk; but its present appearance puts us very much in mind of the commentaries of the elder author in the work of the ancients, whose notes were ten times the size of the original work, and so it must be, to come any way near to the advertisement of the editor.

The Genera of recent Fossil Shells, for the Use of Students in Conchology and Geology. By G. B. Sowerby, F.L.S. With Oriental Figures, by J.D. L. Sowerby, F.L.S.-8vo. 5s. per Number. Sherwood and Co. THIS work, which is published in monthly numbers, consisting of six plates each, and their corresponding letter-press, descriptive of the character of the genus, with notices of the state in which they occur, is conducted in a manner highly creditable both to the author and the artist. We have only to regret the want of references to the authorities from whence the remarks are taken, which greatly add to the reputation and authority of a work, and that want of similarity in relative value between the genera, which must always be the case in a periodical work, if it is not all written before the publication of the first number. Thus, the genera Physa and Lymnea, and Ostrea, Gryphæa, and Podopus, &c. are united into single genera, but with good divisions; whereas, the genera Oliva, Ancillaria, and Eburna, are kept distinct. Hoping that the author will, in the future, obviate these errors, and correct those that have passed at its conclusion, we cannot too strongly recommend his work to our readers.

USEFUL ARTS AND MANUFACTURES.

The History of Ancient and Modern Wines.-4to. pp. 408. £2. 2s. Baldwin and Co.

THIS interesting work is from the pen of Dr. Alexander Henderson, who, although he has, from modesty, omitted his name in the title page, has subscribed it to the preface.

A work on this subject has long been considered as a desideratum in literature. The only authors of any consideration who have preceded Dr. Henderson in this path, are Bacci, in 1596, who, as might be supposed, is diffuse on ancient and Italian wines, but gives very little information respecting the modern wines of other countries; and the Count Dandolo, whose works contain very valuable hints for the improvement of the wines of Italy.

The present author has taken a wider range, and divided his history into two distinct portions; in the first of which he treats of the

MANUFACTURES.
s.]

History of Ancient and Modern Wines.

55

ancient wines, and in the other, of the modern. These two parts, are preceded by an introduction on the principles of fermentation, and the constituents of wine in general.

The history of ancient wines, although very curious, is, however, of less consideration than the history of the modern: accordingly, Dr. Henderson has devoted to the former only about one-third of his work; in which he treats, in eight chapters, of the vineyards of the ancients; the management of their vintage; their wine vessels and cellars; the principal Greek, Roman, and Asiatic wines; the mode used by the ancients in diluting and cooling their wines; and the use made of wines at the feasts of the Greeks and Romans. On all these subjects, Dr. H. presents his readers with a well-digested epitome of the information contained in the writings of Dioscorides, Galen, Columella, Varro, and that indefatigable collector, Pliny the younger.

It is in the second part, or history of modern wines, that the industry and researches of Dr. Henderson appear to most advantage. Here, after some preliminary observations, he considers, seriatim, the wines of France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, and Hungary; those of Italy, Sicily, Greece, and the Grecian Islands; those of Madeira, and of the Canary Islands; as also the wines of the Cape of Good Hope, and of Persia.

With so copious a theme before him, the only danger to an author of Dr. Henderson's abilities was, that he might be tempted to bestow too great attention on some favourite points, and to neglect others; but this is not the case; for in each of the several chapters, it presents the same fulness of information, and the same critical attention to the evidence, in those cases in which the author, from the want of personal experience, was obliged to rely upon the assertions of others. If the chapter devoted to the wines of France is by much the longest, it is because, from the propinquity of that kingdom, French wines are the most various, and best known to us.

Although the French themselves have given the palm to Champagne, Dr. Henderson considers Burgundy as the most perfect wine, as "in richness of flavour, and perfume, and all the more delicate qualities of the juice of the grape, it undoubtedly ranks as the first in the world; and it was not without reason, that the Dukes of Burgundy, in ancient times, were designated as the Princes des bons vins." Un fortunately, on account of their palates being dulled by the common use of the coarsest produce of Portugal, few Englishmen are capable of forming a judgment of the respective value of wines. Mr. Henderson justly animadverts on the debauched palates of the English, who deride the ancients for adding to their wines sea-water, or resinous substances; substances which, certainly, did not alter the flavour of the wine so much as a great quantity of coarse brandy, which regularly, since the year 1715, has been added to the red wine of Oporto; to which, in consequence of the treaty of Methuen, we are, in a manner, compelled to drink; and which, through the interference of the Portuguese Company of the Alto Douro, we are not only obliged to purchase at an increased price above its very low natural value, but are denied the advantage of procuring it in its most perfect state.

The whole of this work will be highly interesting to the consumers

56

Boaden's Portraits.

[FINE ARTS. of the finer wines; but the chapter on the wines used in England, will be read with pleasure by the antiquarian, however sober in his habits, however averse to the exhilarating cup of Bacchus. The author shows, in a convincing manner, that although, in ancient as well as modern times, the wine was partially cultivated in particular spots, yet the vineyards were always few in number. In Domesday-book, mention is made of them only thirty-eight times; and most of these, which were planted after the Conquest, were cultivated by wealthy societies, or by individuals, more for amusement, or rarity, than profit.

t

Dr. Henderson finishes this chapter with the following obser

vation :

"From the preceding details, it is manifest that the taste of the English in wine has varied considerably during the two last centuries. For five or six hundred years, the light growths of France and of the banks of the Rhine were imported in largest quantity, while the rich sweet wines of the Mediterranean and the islands of the Archipelago were held in highest estimation. Then came the dry white wines of Spain, which, for a time, were preferred to all others, on account of their strength and durability. At the close of the seventeenth, and beginning of the eighteenth, the red growths of the Bordelais were in most frequent demand: but the wars in which the country was then involved, put a stop to their importation, and led to the substitution of the rough vintages of Portugal. From the long continued use of these strong dry wines, which are made doubly strong for the English market, the relish for sweet wines, which was once so prevalent, has gradually declined; and several kinds, such as Canary, Mountain, &c., which, as several of my readers may be old enough to remember, were drunk very generally by way of morning whet,' are now scarcely ever met with. Since the peace of 1814, the renewal of our intercourse with the continent has tended to revive the taste for light wines, and to lessen materially the consumption of the growths of Portugal and Spain.'

The author's account of the modes, keeping, and mellowing of wines, and of the dietetic and medicinal qualities of wine, are followed by an appendix, mostly of a commercial nature, and relative to the extent of the French vineyards, and the produce of Portugal and Cape wines; the prices of several wines; the old and present wine measures; and the discussion of some other miscellaneous topics,

The beautiful vignettes and initial letters, all designed from antique designs, relative to Bacchus, and the Bacchanalia, or other Bacchanalian emblems, must not be forgotten. They constitute highly decorative illustrations, and render the work worthy of the library of the gentleman, without running into that excess of splendour, which would limit the circulation of the work to the sphere of the inordinately wealthy.

FINE ARTS.

An Enquiry into the Authenticity of the various Pictures and Prints, which, from the Decease of the Poet to our own Times, have been offered to the Public as Portraits of Shakspeare; containing a careful Examination of the Evidence in which they claim to be received; by which the pretended Portraits have been rejected, the genuine confirmed and established: illustrated by accurate and finished Engravings by the ablest Artists, from such Originals as were of indisputable Authority. By James Boaden, Esq.-8vo. pp. 206. 15s. Triphook.

It is very remarkable, that whilst we are exhibiting portraits of Scipio, Cicero, or Cæsar, the faithfulness of which no man doubts, we should be unable to produce indisputable portraits of many of the most

FINE ARTS.]

Moller on Gothic Architecture.

57

remarkable characters in our own country, who lived only two or three centuries ago. This is, in an eminent degree, the fact, with respect to two as celebrated persons as ever appeared in this island,-Mary Queen of Scots, and the immortal poet, Shakspeare. Of the first of these, the beauty was so remarkable, that we might have expected that distinguished artists would have aspired to its delineation-to give on canvass a durability to the charms which interested every beholder: but the fact is, that there are a great number of portraits all differing from each other, not only with hair of different colour, (a circumstance that may be accounted for on the supposition of her wearing false hair), but varying also in form and feature, to a very remarkable degree, while some of them ill accord with the grace and loveliness ascribed to her figure and aspect. There is an equal, or still greater, uncertainty respecting the portraits of Shakspeare; and our author, now exhibits to us the most remarkable; and discusses their several claims to authenticity. To the imperfect state of the arts in the time of Shakspeare, we are, no doubt, chiefly to attribute the cause of this deficiency; and the imperishable bust of the artists's chisel was wanting, to verify the portrait, or supply to future times the absence of the living form. The variations of the beard, either on the upper or under lip, or a beard more or less bushy, would, perhaps, be of little consequence; but the features and character of the countenance in the different portraits, vary in the extreme. It appears that there are five or six different portraits of Shakspeare; but Mr. Boaden inclines to prefer the Chandos picture now at Stowe, though he gives preference to that which is prefixed to the original folio edition of all Shakspeare's plays, published after his death in 1623; to which the name of the engraver, Martin Droeshout, is annexed. As a work of art, it is confessedly very poor; nevertheless, it is nearest to the time of the poet himself, and at least resembles the idea which we are apt to form of Shakspeare. It may boast a verification more direct than any other; since it was approved by Ben Jonson, and by Shakspeare's friends and partners at the Globe Theatre. Nevertheless, their evidence is somewhat vague, and the question is by no means set at rest by the testimony of their approbation; therefore, though we ourselves have always received this portrait as genuine, rather than remain in a state of indecision on the subject, we cannot venture to anathematize those who worship another semblance. The tout en semble of this work will, we think, afford much pleasure to curious collectors of portraits, who will readily pardon the author's merciless wish to put a stop, by penal statute, to their labours, in illustrating Biographical Dictionaries, and Topographical History.

An Essay on the Origin and Progress of Gothic Architecture, traced in, and deduced from, the Ancient Edifices of Germany; with References to those of England, &c., from the Eighth to the Sixteenth Centuries. By Dr. George Moller, First Architect to the Grand Duke of Hesse, &c. Translated from the German. - 8vo. Priestley and Weale.

THE original work, from which the present translation is made, was published in numbers, at Darmstadt, between the years 1819 and 1822.

Crit. Gaz, Vol. 1. No. 1.

I

58

Moller on Gothic Architecture.

[FINE ARTS, The subjects which the doctor takes up are,-first, a dissertation on the age of the buildings, of the middle age, their different styles of architecture, and their merits. In this portion of his work, Dr. Moller, endeavours to fix the age of many important buildings in Germany, the doing of which he considers "the first indispensable requisite in the history of architecture, since it is the only way of obtaining a correct view of its progress.' The doctor, we conceive, is more of an antiquary than a builder.

With regard to the names of the several styles of architecturę which appeared in Europe, after the decay of Roman architecture, and which continued till the sixteenth century, when they were superseded by those of the modern Græco-Gothic art, and were all, for a long time, comprised under the head of Gothic Architecture, the doctor is clear and convincing. A new and efficient nomenclature of this most interesting branch of architecture is much wanted. It was aimed at by Mr. Elmes, in his lectures at the late Surry Institution ; but it was too brief a sketch, and too little matured for much attention. "This epithet (the Gothic) was afterwards applied to the pointed-arch style, which predominated in the thirteenth century. At present, it is well known, that the appellation of Gothic architecture is not a suitable one: but as those of Byzantine, Saxon, and German architecture, by which it has been attempted to supersede it, are neither generally received, nor sufficiently distinct, I shall content myself with designating the different styles of architecture by the century and the country in which they flourished."

This manner of classifying the Gothic (if we may so call it, to distínguish it from the classic) style of architecture, is too diffuse and uncertain. The inventors of the classic styles gave rise to the orders, and the nomenclature, by those whose congregated knowledge formed the code of architectural laws, collected under the name of Vitruvius, followed the invention. So should the nomenclature of the Gothic styles; and the more simple it is, the more useful will it be.

A modern architect defines this style to be "pure, grand, impressive, and characteristic." The elements of it are spires, pinnacles, lofty pointed windows, and elevation, as opposed to the horizontal line of the Greeks. It disdains the trammels and systems of the schools; nevertheless, it has its own laws, its genera and species, although they have not yet been arranged in a grammatical form. It would be a task worthy of the greatest talents, to form a grammatical nomenclature, and a code of laws, of this erratic and splendid style of architecture.

The second portion of the doctor's work consists of a consideration of the Romano-Grecian style of architecture, from the introduction of Christianity, as the religion of the State in the Roman empire, to the eighth century, and of its influence upon the architecture of the rest of Europe. In forming his notions of this style of architecture, he considers the forms of the earlier buildings of the period which he assigned.

Dr. Moller's next section treats of the styles of building in Germany, which prevailed from the eighth to the fifteenth century. The doctor is here at home; learned, curious, and interesting.