ince deceased.

The editor of this sketch is indebted to the courtesy of the
Exc^{mo}. Sr. D. Benigno Quiroga Ballesteros and to his lately
deceased wife, Dona Julia, the muse of at least some of Becquer's
_Rimas_, for an opportunity to examine a couple of albums containing
some of the poet's verse and a most interesting collection of pencil
sketches, which but confirm his admiration for Becquer's artistic
talent. Here is a list of the sketches:

_First Album:_

Lucia di Lamermoor--Eleven sketches, including frontispiece.

A dream, or rather a nightmare, in which a man is pictured in a
restless sleep, with a small devil perched upon his knees, who
causes to fly as a kite above the sleeper's head a woman in graceful
floating garments.

A fat and jolly horned devil in the confessional box, with a
confessor of the fair sex kneeling at one side, while at the extreme
right two small acolytes point out to each other a suspicious
looking tail that protrudes from beneath her skirts, thus stamping
her as Satan's own.

A belfry window with a swinging bell, and bestriding the bell a
skeleton tightly clutching the upper part of it--ringing the
_animas_ perhaps.

Gustavo himself seated smoking, leaning back in his chair, and in
the smoke that rises a series of women, some with wings.

A nun in horror at discovering, as she turns down the covers of her
bed, a merry devil.

A woman's coffin uncovered by the sexton, while a lover standing by
exclaims, "iiCascaras!! icomo ha cambiadd!"

A scene at the _Teatro Real_ with Senor Espin y Guillen in a small
group behind the scenes, and a prima donna singing. Actors standing
apart in the wings.

A visit to the cemetery. A skeleton thrusting out his head from his
burial niche, and a young man presenting his card. "DIFUNTO: No
recibo. VISITANTE: Pues hai (_sic_) queda la targeta (_sic_)."

A fine sketch of "Eleonora," a stately form in rich
fifteenth-century garb.

A number of sketches of women, knights, monks, devils, soldiers,
skeletons, etc.

_Second Album: Les morts pow rire, Bizarreries dediees a
Mademoiselle Julie, par G. A. Becker (sic)_.

Fantastic frontispiece of skulls, bones, and leafy fronds, and two
young lovers seated, sketching.

Skeletons playing battledore and shuttlecock with skulls.

A tall slim skeleton and a round short one.

Skeletons at a ball.

A skeleton