keat, and Israel
Gollancz. These designs by Miss McManus were printed direct from the wood
blocks in very limited editions, on genuine vellum, on Japanese vellum,
and a small issue on a real sixteenth-century hand-made paper. The
various editions were immediately taken up in London on publication;
hence it is unlikely that copies will be generally seen in America.

[Illustration: DELFT

BLANCHE McMANUS MANSFIELD]

"We learn, however, that the original wood blocks will be shown at the
St. Louis Exposition, in the section to be devoted to the work of
American artists resident abroad. We suggest that all lovers of
latter-day bookmaking 'make a note of it,' recalling meanwhile that it
was this successful American designer who produced also the decorative
wood-cut borders and initials which were used in 'The Coronation
Prayer-Book of King Edward VII.,' issued from the celebrated Oxford
University Press. There were forty initials or headings, embodying the
coronation regalia, including the crown, sceptre, rose, thistle,
shamrock, etc. The magnificent cover for the book was also designed by
this artist.

"Among the American artists who have made a distinctive place in art
circles, not only in America but on 'the other side,' is Mrs. M. F.
Mansfield, formerly Blanche McManus of Woodville, Mississippi.

"In London she is widely known as a skilful, able, and versatile artist,
and her remarkable success there is an illustration of 'the American
invasion.' Little has been written in America, especially in the South,
of what this talented Southern woman has accomplished. She has never
sought personal advertisement; on the contrary, she has shrunk from any
kind of publicity--even that which would have accrued from a proper
valuation of her work.

"She is one of those artists whose talent is equalled only by her
modesty, who, enamoured of her art and aiming at a patient, painstaking
realization of her ideal, has been content to work on in silence. In the
estimation of art connoisseurs, Blanche McManus is an artist of
unquestionable talent and varied composition, who has already done much
striking work. Her execution in the various branches has attracted
international attention.

"She paints well in water-colors and in oil, and her etching is
considered excellent. Her drawing is stamped good, and every year she has
showed rapid improvement in design. She is a highly cultivated woman,
with a close and accurate observation. A si