Orestes arrives at the grave of his father, accompanied by his cousin Pylades, the son of the king of Phocis, where he has grown up in exile; he places two locks of his hair on the tomb. Orestes and Pylades hide as Electra, Orestes' sister, arrives at the grave accompanied by a chorus of elderly slave women (the libation bearers of the title) to pour libations on Agamemnon's grave; they have been sent by Clytemnestra in an effort to ward off harm. Just as the ritual ends, Electra spots a lock of hair on the tomb which she recognizes as similar to her own; subsequently she sees two sets of footprints, one of which has proportions similar to hers. At this point Orestes and Pylades emerge from their hiding place and Orestes gradually convinces her of his identity.

A group of women, led by the wise and redoubtable Praxagora, has decided that the women of Athens must convince the men to give them control of the city, as they are convinced they can do a better job. Disguised as men, the women sneak into the assembly and command the majority of votes needed to carry their series of revolutionary proposals, even convincing some of the men to vote for it on the grounds that it is the only thing they have not tried.

Anthony Van Dyck: Annotated Artworks

Environmental Degradation and Dryland Agro-Technologies in Northwest China” is a documentation of past and present research, training and extension experiences on: environmental degradation; conservation farming systems; water and nutrient management options; soil and water management technologies and training; soil erosion control; dryland agriculture and soil erosion; soil fertility and crop production; drought and soil water use, demonstration of ecologically sustainable agriculture; and dissemination of farming system technologies in the arid and semi-arid lands of Northwest China. These concerns are expounded on both from the national (China) and Regional (Loess Plateau) perspectives. The information provided herein was obtained through a review of all relevant literature and firsthand consultations/discussions undertaken by the author with professors and local research scientists, technicians and farmers in Northwest China. The facts and figures presented are based on their experiences of many years. This publication does provide valuable scientific information on the status of environmental degradation and dryland agro-technologies within Northwest China that are either traditional or newly developed through scientific research at various relevant Institutions such as NWAU, NWISWC and Regional Academies of Agricultural Sciences such as SAAS, GAAS, NAAF and QAAF. There are lessons to be learnt and plausible remedial conservation measures to be adopted elsewhere from these experiences in Northwest China.

THE story of Cleopatra is a story of crime. It is a narrative of the course and the consequences of unlawful love. In her strange and romantic history we see this passion portrayed with the most complete and graphic fidelity in all its influences and effects; its uncontrollable impulses, its intoxicating joys, its reckless and mad career, and the dreadful remorse and ultimate despair and ruin in which it always and inevitably ends.??Cleopatra was by birth an Egyptian; by ancestry and descent she was a Greek. Thus, while Alexandria and the delta of the Nile formed the scene of the most im-portant events and incidents of her history, it was the blood of Macedon which flowed in her veins. Her character and action are marked by the genius, the courage, the originality, and the impulsiveness pertaining to the stock from which she sprung. The events of her history, on the other hand, and the peculiar character of her adventures, her sufferings, and her sins, were determined by the circumstances with which she was surrounded, and the influences which were brought to bear upon her in the soft and voluptuous clime where the scenes of her early life were laid..??Egypt has always been considered as physically the most remarkable country on the globe. It is a long and narrow valley of verdure and fruitfulness, completely insulated from the rest of the habitable world. It is more completely insulated, in fact, than any literal island could be, inasmuch as deserts are more impassable than seas. The very existence of Egypt is a most extraordinary phenomenon. If we could but soar with the wings of an eagle into the air, and look down upon the scene, so as to observe the operation of that grand and yet simple process by which this long and wonderful valley, teeming so profusely with animal and vegetable life, has been formed, and is annually revivified and renewed, in the midst of surrounding wastes of silence, desolation, and death, we should gaze upon it with never-ceasing admiration and pleasure. We have not the wings of the eagle, but the generalizations of science furnish us with a sort of substitute for them. The long series of patient, careful, and sagacious observations, which have been continued now for two thousand years, bring us results, by means of which, through our powers of mental conception, we may take a comprehensive survey of the whole scene, analo-gous, in some respects, to that which direct and actual vision would afford us, if we could look down upon it from the eagle's point of view. It is, however, so-mewhat humiliating to our pride of intellect to reflect that long-continued philosophical investigations and learned scientific research are, in such a case as this, after all, in some sense, only a sort of substitute for wings. A human mind connected with a pair of eagle's wings would have solved the mystery of Egypt in a week; whereas science, philosophy, and research, confined to the surface of the ground, have been occupied for twenty centuries in accomplishing the undertaking.

anakkale Sava üzerine zellikle son yllarda yazlan kitaplarda doru ve dürüst yaklamlara da, cehaletin, aymazln, tarihe ihanetin ve yalann bin bir türlüsüne de rastlamak mümkün… ylesine aknlk yaratacak rnekler var ki... Kimisi, deniz savalar (18 Mart) ile Gelibolu’daki kara savalarn (25 Nisan) kronolojik olarak ayrt edebilecek bilgiden bile yoksun! ünkü gerei ideolojiye kurban etmeyi kafaya koymular bir kere… Tek ama, her ne pahasna olursa olsun anakkale’den Mustafa Kemal’in adn silip atmak… Mustafa Kemal’in ad gemesin, Mustafa Kemal o baardan pay almasn yeter! Varsn verdikleri tarihler de, saylar da, ordularn muharebe düzenleri de yalan-yanl olsun, ne kar! Meydan bo zannedilmesin... te polemik konular, yalanlar, iftiralar ve tarihi gerekler... --- YAZAR ZGEM----- Tayfun AVUOLU (1964 / …) Uluda niversitesi Eitim Fakültesi Alman Dili Anabilim Dal (1985) mezunu. renciyken 1983 yl balarnda Türk Haberler Ajans (THA) Bursa Bürosu’nda muhabirlie balad. Bursa’daki yerel gazeteler Hkimiyet, Olay, Bursa hkimiyet ve Kent gazetelerinde muhabir, istihbarat efi, haber müdürü, yaz ileri müdürü olarak alt. Bursa hkimiyet ve Bursa Haber gazetelerinde genel yayn ynetmenlii grevinde bulundu. Halen Bursa yerel basnndaki almalarn sürdürüyor. ada Gazeteciler Dernei (GD) Bursa ubesi’nde iki dnem (1997-2001) bakanlk yapan Tayfun avuolu, Bursa Gazeteciler Cemiyeti’nde (BGC) bir dnem (2009-2012) ynetim kurulu üyeliinde de bulundu. Basn meslek rgütlerinden ok sayda dül de alan, sürekli basn kart sahibi Tayfun avuolu, ngilizce retmeni Nesrin avuolu ile evli olup, Altu ve Alper’in babasdr. lk kitab “anakkale 1915, ftiralar, Yalanlar, Polemikler”, 2014’ün ubatnda Kasta Yaynevi (stanbul) tarafndan yaynland.

Dintre toate scrierile Svetlanei Aleksievici, Ultimii martori este cea mai sf??ietoare. C?ci ce poate fi mai cumplit dec?t copil?ria ?n timp de r?zboi, mai tragic dec?t inocen?a supus? violen?ei ?i anihil?rii? Personajele acestei c?r?i, b?ie?i ?i fete, aveau, ?n perioada celui de al Doilea R?zboi Mondial – conflictul poate cel mai inuman din istorie –, ?ntre trei ?i doisprezece ani, dar r?nile c?p?tate atunci le s?ngereaz? p?n? ?n ziua de azi. ?i totu?i, ?n pofida suferin?elor descrise, textul dob?nde?te o extraordinar? for?? evocatoare pentru c? reu?e?te s? reconstituie poezia inerent? v?rstei copil?riei. Tulbur?tor prin ?nc?rc?tura sa de adev?r ?i r?v??itor suflete?te, Ultimii martori ne schimb? perspectiva asupra istoriei, a r?zboiului, a copil?riei ?i a vie?ii.

Boris Johnson exploreaz?, ?n paginile acestui volum, din ce anume este constituit ?factorul Churchill“ – acea inteligen?? unic? a unuia dintre cei mai importan?i lideri ai secolului XX. Demont?nd miturile ?i prejudec??ile care au d?inuit al?turi de realitate, Johnson realizeaz? – cu inteligen?a ?i pasiunea caracteristice – portretul unui om al contradic?iilor, al curajului contagios, ?nzestrat cu o elocin?? uimitoare ?i cu o putere inegalabil? de a croi strategii. Curajos pe c?mpul de lupt?, Churchill a trebuit s? primeasc? ordin de la rege pentru a sta departe de focul b?t?liei ?n Ziua Z; a fost de acord cu bombardamentele strategice la scar? extins?, cu toate c? ura distrugerile produse de r?zboi ?i ?i dispre?uia pe politicienii care nu ?i tr?iser? ororile. A fost un jurnalist apreciat, un mare orator ?i a c??tigat Premiul Nobel pentru Literatur?. A fost faimos pentru capacitatea de a combina serile de dineuri oficiale cu nop?ile ?n care lua decizii cruciale pentru soarta r?zboiului. Viziunea sa progresist? asupra lumii l-a f?cut un pionier ?n dezvoltarea sistemului public de s?n?tate, de educa?ie ?i de asisten?? social?, de?i a r?mas un adept incorigibil al incorectitudinii politice. Factorul Churchill nu este o carte doar pe gustul pasiona?ilor de istorie. Este o lectur? esen?ial? pentru to?i cei care doresc s? afle din ce material anume e f?cut un mare lider.

It was a winter night, and the ground around Paris was covered with snow, although the flakes had ceased to fall since some hours.?Spite of the cold and the darkness, a young man, wrapped in a mantle so voluminous as to hide a babe in his arms, strode over the white fields out of the town of Villers Cotterets, in the woods, eighteen leagues from the capital, which he had reached by the stage-coach, towards a hamlet called Haramont. His assured step seemed to indicate that he had previously gone this road.?Soon above him streaked the leafless boughs upon the grey sky. The sharp air, the odor of the oaks, the icicles and beads on the tips of branches, all appealed to the poetry in the wanderer.??Through the clumps he looked for the village spire and the blue smoke of the chimneys, filtering from the cottages through the natural trellis of the limbs.?It was dawn when he crossed a brook, bordered with yellow cress and frozen vines, and at the first hovel asked for the laborer's boy to take him to Madeline Pi-tou's home.??Mute and attentive, not so dull as most of their kind, the children sprang up and staring at the stranger, led him by the hand to a rather large and good-looking cottage, on the bank of the rivulet running by most of the dwellings.?A plank served as a bridge.?"There," said one of the guides nodding his head to-wards it.?Gilbert gave them a coin, which made their eyes open still more widely, and crossed the board to the door which he pushed open, while the children, taking one another's hand, started with all their might at the handsome gentleman in a brown cloth coat, buckled shoes and large cloak, who wanted to find Madeline Pitou.?Apart from them, Gilbert, for such was the young man's name, simply so for he had no other, saw no liv-ing things: Haramont was the deserted village he was seeking.??As soon as the door was open, his sight was struck by a scene full of charm, for almost anybody, and par-ticularly for a young philosopher like our roamer.?A robust peasant woman was suckling a baby, while another child, a sturdy boy of four or five, was saying a prayer in a loud voice.?In the chimney corner, near a window or rather a hole in the wall in which was stuck a pane of glass, an-other woman, going on for thirty-five or six, was spin-ning, with a stool under her feet, and a fat poodle on an end of this stool.?Catching sight of the visitor the dog barked in a civil and hospitable manner just to show that he had not been caught napping. The praying boy turned, cutting the devotional phrase in two, and both females uttered an exclamation between joy and surprise.?"I greet you, good mother Madeline," said Gilbert with a smile.

Volumul lui Leo Butnaru este tot o ncercare de sintez, de a a duce n faa cititorilor texte prea puin sau chiar deloc cunoscute i cred c, doar aa, n dialogul intercultural, se poate nelege i originalitatea avangardei romneti i ce se ntmpl cu ei dup restaurarea comunismului. La Leo Butnaru avem din nou de aface cu o perioad post 1917 i cu transformri.“ – Carmen Muat

Despre Europa s-a vorbit mult, ?n special din perspectiva social? ?i economic?, ?ns? tema nu a fost dezb?tut?, a?a cum s-ar fi cuvenit, de pe pozi?ia culturii. Cartea Mituri ?i legende ale antichit??ii propune studii eseistice referitoare la baza culturii europene. Eseurile ne invit? s? g?ndim ?mpreun? Europa din perspectiva singurului factor care une?te – cultura.

Foto?raf makinesi, insan o?lunun en ?nemli icatlar?ndan biridir. Bir foto?raf, ‘’an’’ denilen k?sac?k bir zaman?n tan???d?r. Ancak onda bir tarihi yakalamak da mümkündür. Bu bak?mdan foto?raf? sadece g?rsel bir obje olarak g?rmemek gerekir. Bakmas?n? bilenler i?in foto?raf; tarih, sosyoloji, psikoloji, kültürel yap?, sosyal de?i?im… konular?n ?nemli ip u?lar? i?erir. Foto?raf; g?rüp g?sterme, ger?e?i g?rünür k?lma, ger?e?i kavratmad?r. Her foto?raf?n bir dili vard?r. O dili anlayabilenler, nice güzellikleri ke?federler. Foto?rafta sadece g?rüneni de?il, g?sterilmek isteneni de bilmek ve alg?lamak gerekir. Her foto?raf bir ‘’an’’? yakalasa da onun i?inde sakl? bir hik?ye bulunur. Foto?raf, g?rselli?iyle beraber; topluma, zamana, mekana ve bireylere ili?kin bilgi ve belgelerle doludur. Foto?raf bireylerin ve toplumun aynas?d?r. Bu albüm-kitapta siz kendinizi bulacaks?n?z. Mahalleniz, k?yünüz, hat?ralar?n?z, akraba ve dostlar?n?z burada, sizin kar??n?zda olacakt?r. Sizleri ‘’Ge?mi?ten Gelece?e Emirda? ‘’ gezintisine ??kar?yoruz. Bu albüm-kitap Emirda?’?n tarihi süre? i?inde ge?ti?i a?amalar? da yans?tarak, gelece?imize ???k tutacakt?r. Emirda?’?n sosyal de?i?imini kitapta g?rmek mümkündür Foto?raflar grupla?t?r?larak okuyucuya kolayl?k sa?lanm??t?r. Genel, askerlik, ?ar??-pazar, bayramlar, spor, e?itim, tar?m-hayvanc?l?k, otobüs?ülük, aile, k?yler, ?ehreler, g??, yayla, bina-yap?lar, milli mücadele ve yat?rlara ait foto?raflar bir araya toplanm??t?r. “Ge?mi?ten Gelece?e Emirda?”?n olu?mas?nda eme?i ge?en, katk? sa?layan tüm Emirda?’l?lara te?ekkür ederim.. ? Ak?n A?CA Emirda? Kaymakam?

With grime music and Guyanese folk stories, Joseph Barnes-Phillip's semi-autobiographical story is a comic, tragic and honest portrayal of becoming a man. The story follows Rayleigh as he negotiates the tensions of growing up and taking responsibility – to his pregnant girlfriend, to his sick mother, to his church, to the multi-cultural community he grew up in and somewhere in the mix to himself. When the euphoric highs of teenage life in south London collide with his mum's terminal illness, all Rayleigh wants to do it watch anime in his pants and eat indomie. Love, life and masculinity meet head-on as Rayleigh tries to find his feet, torn between the new girl in his life and being there for his mum, while trying not to make the same mistakes as his dad.

Insights into Education presents the educational philosophy of J. Krishnamurti in an easy to use, topic-based format. It is a practical handbook that comes alive when used as an introduction to group investigation and dialogue. What it offers to teachers everywhere is an inroad into the many matters of concern with which they are faced on a daily basis. That we cannot continue as we have been doing, with rote-learning, fact-finding, and a modicum of analysis as the building blocks of education, is obvious to anyone who is at all concerned with teaching and learning in a world with accelerating technological advancement, alienation, and despair. It is these very issues that are tackled here, sometimes implicitly but always at depth. What Krishnamurti proposes, and here discloses, is a different approach to learning altogether, one that distinguishes itself radically from what we normally understand by that term: the accumulation of knowledge, with its application and testing. By narrowing down our understanding to the pragmatic and the measurable, we forfeit the opportunity to probe deeply and to awaken intelligence in our students and in ourselves. What is meant by intelligence in this context is not the capacity to memorize and measure, but that subtler ability to see the whole which comes alive in a human being when he/she sees the limits of the measurable. To awaken this intelligence is the goal of education.

Thomas Paine Complete Works World's Best Collection This is the world’s best Thomas Paine collection, including the most complete set of Paine’s works available plus many free bonus materials. Thomas Paine Thomas Paine is known as one of the Fathers of the American Revolution. His landmark work, ‘Common Sense’, is known as the major inspiration for the ‘Declaration of Independence’, and his ‘Crisis’ pamphlet series was a favorite of George Washington to read out loud to inspire his troops at Valley Forge. Paine’s work is passionate, radical, yet accessible; covering his strong beliefs in Independence, Personal Liberty, Politics, Religion and Government. Hugely successful and inspiring strong polarization in their times, they are still must-reads today, still highly debated and revered The ‘Must-Have’ Complete Collection In this irresistible collection you get a full set of his amazing work, with All of his amazing works, All writings and All his letters, including hard to come by rarities. Plus a Bonus biography of Paine’s unbelievably intriguing life Works Included: Common Sense The famous work that inspired the American colonists with a demand and call for freedom from British rule. Also notable, that when adjusted for the population size of 1776, ‘Common Sense’ has the largest sales and circulation of any book in American history. The American Crisis A series of pamphlets published from 1776 to 1783 written to motivate the Troops during the revolution, to spur them to victory. The language is powerful and emotional, and reflects Paine’s liberal philosophies. The first lines are the famous: “These are times that try men’s souls.” The Rights Of Man (Part I and Part Ii) A radical set of books that argues that political revolution is required when a government does not safeguard its people. The Age Of Reason (Part I and Part Ii) A deistic work, about institutionalized religion, and Paine’s strong views concerning it. Letters and Miscellaneous Writings A Full Set of Paine’s must-read letters and assorted short works from Paine, Including his famous ‘Letter To George Washington’ and his last work ‘Agragian Justice’ Your Free Bonuses Thomas Paine, Biography – A fascinating biography, detailing Paine’s unbelievable, often sad, and often controversial life, written specially for this collection. Works presented as far as possible in original publication date order - So you can follow Paine’s growth as a writer and philosopher Get This Collection Right Now This is the best Thomas Paine collection you can get, so get it now and start enjoying and being intrigued by his world like never before!

In this boisterous but sensitive drama, playwright J. Ajlouny looks beyond public image to find the heart of this young woman thrust wildly into fame as a sex symbol. Presented as a play-in-the-making within a play, Marilyn, Norma Jean and Me weaves biography with humor to explore the movie star’s widely speculated plan to leave Hollywood for Broadway. The author imagines her innocence and vulnerability, her friendliness and loyalty, even as the public image threatens to steal her humanity. This play is a must-see or -read for fans of film and stage, not just because it is so good, but for its powerful way of finding the real Norma Jean in the legend known as Marilyn Monroe.

The Publishing Architect's Blueprint: Self-Publishing Fundamentals is a no-nonsense roadmap to publishing success for the author and small publisher alike. Both fiction and nonfiction authors will utilize this book as their publishing guide for print, e-book and audio titles. It maps the most direct route to publishing success in the most cost-effective manner, providing the indie publisher with the skills and approach of a traditional publisher and marketing strategy of a bestseller.

When his cartoons began to reach America toward the end of 1916 this country was neutral. It is with peculiar satisfaction, therefore, that I base this brief foreword upon press extracts published prior to America’s participation in the war. If it were possible to discover today an individual who was entirely ignorant as to the causes and conduct of the war, he would, after an inspection of a hundred or more of these cartoons, probably utter his conviction somewhat as follows: ?“I do not believe that these drawings have the slightest relation to the truth; I do not believe that it is possible for such things to happen in the twenti-eth century.” ??He would be quite justified, in his ignorance of what has happened in Europe, in expressing such an opinion, just as any of us, with the possible exception of the disciples of Bernhardi himself, would have been justified in expressing a similar view in July, 1914.??What is the view of all informed people today? “To Raemaekers the war is not a topic, or a subject for charity. It is a vivid heartrending reality,” says the New York “Evening Post,” “and you come away from the rooms where his cartoons now hang so aware of what war is that mental neutrality is for you a horror. If you have slackened in your determination to find out, these cartoons are a slap in the face. ??Raemaekers drives home a universal point that concerns not merely Germans, but every country where royal decrees have supreme power. Shall one man ever be given the power to seek his ends, using the people as his pawns? We cannot look at the cartoons and remain in ignorance of exactly what is the basis of truth on which they are built.”?The “Philadelphia American” likens Raemaekers to a sensitized plate upon which the spirit which brought on the war has imprinted itself forever, and adds: ?“What he gives out on that subject is as pitilessly true as a photograph. They look down upon us in their naked truth, those pictures which are to be, before the judgment-seat of history, the last indictment of the German nation. Of all impressions, there is one which will hold you in its inexorable grip: it is that Louis Raemaekers has told you the truth.”

IN preparing a first book of American history, it is necessary to keep in mind the two purposed such a work is required to serve. There are children whose school life is brief; these must get all the instruction they are to receive in their country's history from a book of the grade of this.To another class of pupils the first book of American history is a preparation for the intelligent study of a textbook more advanced. It is a manifest waste of time and energy to require these to learn in a lower class the facts that must be re-studied in a higher grade. Moreover, primary histories which follow the order of larger books are likely to prove dry and unsatisfactory condensations. But a beginner's book ought before all things else to be interesting. A fact received with the attention raised to its highest power remains fixed in the memory; that which is learned listlessly is lost easily, and a lifelong aversion to history is often the main result produced by the use of an unsuitable textbook at the outset.The main peculiarity of the present book is that it aims to teach children the history of the country by making them acquainted with some of the most illustrious actors in it. A child is interested, above all, in persons. Biography is for him the natural door into history. The order of events in a nation's life is somewhat above the reach of younger pupils, but the course of human life and the personal achievements of an individual are intelligible and delightful. In teaching younger pupils by means of biography, which is the very alphabet of history, we are following a sound principle often forgotten, that primary education should be pursued along the line of the least resistance. Moreover, nothing is more important to the young American than an acquaintance with the careers of the great men of his country.

Pour bien comprendre la portée de l'intervention et de l'influence de l'?uvre de Delacroix dans l'école fran?aise, il est nécessaire de se rappeler la situation exacte de la peinture au moment où il parut.??La Révolution avait brutalement traité les ma?tres du XVIIIème siècle finissant. ?prise d'un sévère idéal gréco-romain, dont déjà Vien avait donné des exemples et que David allait porter à son apogée, la génération jacobine avait considéré les peintres légers et délicieux du règne de Louis XVI comme les bénéficiaires de la corruption luxueuse des nobles et des fermiers généraux, et elle les avait rejetés dans le même mouvement d'injuste fureur. Fragonard mourait oublié, chassé de son logis des galeries du Louvre. Hubert Robert échappait gr?ce à une erreur à l'échafaud. Greuze mourait dans la misère noire. On ne parlait plus de Chardin. Un Latour se vendait quelques francs. ??L'?Embarquement pour Cythère?, peint par Watteau pour son entrée à l'Académie, y était criblé de boulettes de papier m?ché par les élèves de David, neveu de Boucher dont ils parlaient en de tels termes, qu'il était obligé, par pudeur, d'excuser à leurs yeux son oncle. Les gravures de Cochin, de Lépicié, de Choffard, de Lavreince, des Saint-Aubin, de Debucourt, de Gravelot, d'Eisen, allaient s'ensevelir dans les soupentes de quelques brocanteurs, et on attendrait quatrevingts ans avant de les rechercher pour les couvrir d'or. Un siècle s'effondrait. Son go?t exquis, sa morale profondément naturelle et humaine, son libéralisme sceptique, tout lui était imputé à vice et à crime. On rêvait d'un art moralisateur, que Greuze avait préparé aux applaudissements de Diderot par ses scènes familiales et son ingénuité bourgeoise, mêlée de libertinage hypocrite. ??On voulait un art héro?que, sévère, propre à élever les consciences. David apparut l'homme d'une telle ?uvre, et créa d'un seul effort la réaction d'une esthétique néo-romaine, d'une peinture con?ue d'après la statuaire antique, et toute consacrée à des expressions de sentiments cornéliens. La discipline de cette école fut plus dure encore que celle imposée, centvingtcinq années auparavant, par Louis XIV, Le Brun et l'école de Rome. Plus de recherches de la nature, plus de gr?ce, plus de vérité, plus de coloris, mais simplement un art allégorique, pompeux, aride, éloigné de la vie et tout entier construit sur des théories, un art aussi opposé que possible au tempérament fran?ais.

It is fair to characterise the three suites of original water-colour drawings, as executed by our artist, as unique examples of the great George Cruikshank's special individual proficiency as an exponent of this branch of technical dexterity. More-over, it may be regarded as a fortunate circumstance that the three works, here reproduced with amazing fidelity in facsimile, represent happily the very chefs d'oeuvre of his wonderful productions; in their respective categories, preserving the best examples of his remarkable genius as an imaginative creator of vivid pictures, alike stirring and animated, and representing at one glance his vast dramatic powers, his mastery of the humorous side of life, and the intensity he was consistently able to infuse into terrible and tragic scenes. It is noteworthy that the inimitable artist George Cruikshank but rarely pro-duced finished water-colour drawings; the bulk of his prolific and familiarly rec-ognised designs for book illustrations were mostly dainty pencil sketches, occa-sionally finished in pen and ink. It is a problem difficult to solve satisfactorily whether, beyond the three memorable instances of the works here reproduced in facsimile, there are in existence any other complete suites of original illustrations by George Cruikshank—that is to say, fully executed by his master hand as finished water-colour drawings. Tinted sketches may be found in the prized possessions of Cruikshank collectors, and spirited studies for many of his favourite and most successful subjects have been cleverly touched in with watercolours; for instance, such as certain of his original drawings as designed for the illustrations of Harri-son Ainsworth's Tower of London, and the clever historical and picturesque series of Windsor Castle designs; these are, however, to be regarded as exceptional cases, for the bulk of these most successful and popular designs were carefully executed in pencil, or occasionally outlined with the pen, and highly finished with washes of warm sepia. It is worthy of recollection that Cruikshank was a most dexterous artist in this monochrome branch, his earlier artistic experiences having been al-most exclusively in the walk of aqua-tinted etchings; all his early book illustrations, his caricatures, and satirical plates—social or political—were uniformly etched by his hand in the most spirited fashion, after his ready sketches and rough studies, and when the outline etching was bitten in, Cruikshank elaborately worked out his colour suggestions, for light and shade, with a brush over the first-etched outline, in tones of sepia or Indian ink, for the guidance of the professional 'aquatinters'—the school of artists to whose trained skill was entrusted the task of completing these plates to produce the effect of highly finished washed drawings in mono-chrome. By this, his youthful practice, George Cruikshank had acquired remarka-ble dexterity, his original pen-and-ink designs, and the outline etchings, after his earlier book illustrations, being worked up in monochrome to the dainty finish of delicate miniatures, in which art both his father Isaac and his brother Isaac Robert were first-class proficients, as he himself has recorded with pride in describing the special gifts and qualifications which distinguished the Cruikshank family. ? ABOUT THE AUTHOR; George Cruikshank (1792 – 1878) was a British caricaturist and book illustrator, praised as the "modern Hogarth" during his life. His book illustrations for his friend Charles Dickens, and many other authors, reached an international audience. Cruikshank was born in London. His father, Isaac Cruikshank, was one of the leading caricaturists of the late 1790s and Cruikshank started his career as his father's apprentice and assistant. His older brother, Isaac Robert, also followed in the family business as a caricaturist and illustrator. Cruikshank's early work was caricature; but in 1823, at the age of 31, he started to focus on book illustration. He illustrated the first, 1823 English translation (by Edgar Taylor and David Jardine) of Grimms' Fairy Tales, published in two volumes as German Popular Stories. On 16 October 1827, he married Mary Ann Walker (1807–1849). Two years after her death, on 7 March 1851, he married Eliza Widdison. The two lived at 263 Hampstead Road, North London.Upon his death, it was discovered that Cruikshank had fathered 11 illegitimate children with a mistress named Adelaide Attree, his former servant, who lived close to where he lived with his wife. Adelaide was ostensibly married and had taken the married surname 'Archibold'.