odern
requirements. I refer to the Birmingham Municipal School of Art.

[Illustration: No. XXXVII.

_Decorative Page_, by A. J. GASKIN.

(From Hans Andersen's _Fairy Tales_. London: George Allen.)

This is a good example of the appropriate decoration of a page
without any illustration in the ordinary sense of the word. The
treatment of ornament harmonises well with old-faced type letter.

The original was drawn in pen and ink, about _the same size_ as the
reproduction. The ground is excellent in colour, almost equal to a
wood engraving.

This is another example of the possibilities of process, rightly
handled, and also of effect produced _without reduction_ of the
drawing.]

Whilst using wood engraving freely, the illustrators of Birmingham
(notably Mr. Gaskin), are showing what can be done in line drawing by
the relief processes, to produce colour and ornament which harmonise
well with the letterpress of a book. This seems an important step in the
right direction, and if the work emanating from this school were less,
apparently, confined to an archaic style, to heavy outline and mediaeval
ornament (I speak from what I see, not knowing the school personally),
there are possibilities for an extended popularity for those who have
worked under its influence.[22]

The examples of decorative pages by experienced illustrators like Mr.
Walter Crane and others, will serve to remind us of what some artists
are doing. But the band of illustrators who consider design is much
smaller than it should be, and than it will be in the near future. A
study of the past, if it be only in the pages of mediaeval books, will
greatly aid the student of design. In the Appendix I have mentioned a
few fine examples of decorative pages, with and without illustrations,
which may be usefully studied at the British Museum.

[Illustration: No. XXXVIII.]

In all these pages, it will be observed, what is called "colour" in
black and white is preserved throughout; showing that a page can be
thoroughly decorative without illustrations to the text. Closely
criticised, some of the old block designs may appear crude and capable
of more skilful treatment, but the pages, as a rule, show the artistic
sense--unmistakably, mysteriously, wonderfully.

In these and similar pages, such, for instance, as _Le Mer des
Histoires_, produced in Paris by Pierre le Rouge in 1488 (also in the
British Museum), the harmony of