BOYS'S LONDON AS IT IS.
THE object of this volume of lithographic sketches is to present the broad and characteristic features of " London as it is "; showing some of the great leading thoroughfares as they appear to the eye of the pas- senger, when " the full tide of human existence " pours along them. The streets of London, strange to say, have never been portrayed : prints " plenty as blackberries," of all sorts and sizes, good, bad, and indifferent, give geometrical elevations of public buildings ; but, be- sides being taken from points whence they are not commonly seen, these isolated views do not convey to strangers a correct and lively idea of the long lines of houses forming the perspectives of streets, where buildings great and small, old and new, handsome and ugly, are jumbled together, and the scene is alive with the bustle of traffic. Mr. Boys, who has a sharp eye for picturesque points in common realities, and delineates with precision and facility passing peeps of street-archi- tecture, has here shown the Metropolis in a true and popular point of view, introducing the local accessories that go to make up the moving picture ; and the fidelity and spirit of his sketches will be apparent to every one at all familiar with its present aspect. In five-and-twenty views, it is obvious that only a small portion of London could be shown ; but the artist has chosen the most attractive and frequented of the main routes from the Tower to Hyde Park Corner, embracing some of the most striking points of the City and the West end, seen both from the rattling road and the " silent highway," as Mr. KNIGHT, in his London, designates the Thames.
The frontispiece, a bold and effective view of the rich Norman door- way of the Temple Church, is on a larger scale than the rest of the plates, which are more comprehensive. The Mansionhouse is the starting-point ; the view from which, looking down Cheapside, the pavement crowded with passengers, the road-way choked with omni- buses and carts, and the elegant spire of Bow Church terminating the vista, is a good specimen of the general character of the street-views. The artist's progress is somewhat devious : after viewing the Tower as before the fire, and the Customhouse, he arrives per saltum at Green- wich; where we get the distant prospect of London from the Observa- tory Hill : thence he glides up the river, unaccountably missing " the Poor with its forest of masts, to Westminster ; the distant view of which from Waterloo Bridge is the most expansive, elegant, and lively of the three river-scenes. Landing at Westminster, be proceeds to the Abbey—of which he takes the most imposing but the least interesting view, the towers of the West front ; and thence by Whitehall into St. James's Park—of which he gives us the two pleasing views that are terminated respectively by Buckingham Palace and the Horse Guards. The Club-houses in Pall Mall make a fine piece of architectural per- spective; the view of Hyde Park Corner is full of life and daylight ; and the gay throng of promenaders, equestrians, and equipages, in the ring of Hyde Park, is an animated scene. Piccadilly, Regent Street, and Charing Cross, are likewise well peopled, and pictorially effective. The Strand, with its two churches, Temple Bar, and St. Dunstan's, Fleet Street, lead us on to Ludgate Hill, with the façade of St. Paul's half- seen between the narrow ascent : this is the most solid and forcible drawing in the volume, and the most characteristic view ; the murky atmosphere is of genuine London smoke, and the masses of light and shade are well arranged. The interior of Guildhall and the exterior of the Bank complete the circuit of the volume.
The sketches are drawn on stone, with the crayon and stump, and printed in brown ink with raised lights, so as to resemble. the tints of sepia drawings heightened with white ; and their effect is warm and agreeable to the eye. Their execution is unequal, but the majority are excellent ; and there is considerable variety in the effects, which, whether bright or gloomy, are full of atmosphere. The principal fault, and it is a great defect, is the French character of most of the figures : the costumes and air of the people are Parisian ; and though there are London characters and vehicles introduced, they appear as if sketched by a French artist. The descriptive notices, historical and antiquarian, of the places represented, written by Mr. C. 01.xrcn, and printed with a French trans- lation, will be useful, especially to foreigners.
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