The only complaint I have about this little book is its size. It is very small, but the art is exquisite and the explanations in the back give depth to the stories and the images. It is a treasure. ( )

This is a small book which is sold at the Tate Museum. This book is for those who want a souvenir to give as a gift or for adding to your book collection. Waterhouse editions are hard to find. This tiny miniature is not for the huge fan but for someone to have their interest sparked or to introduce them to the world of Waterhouse prints. This IS NOT a complete collection of his work. The people to whom I have given it, love it. ( )

Being a miniature edition collecting details from Waterhouse's paintings. It is a pretty little book, but it contains no commentary aside from a glossary of the characters represented herein and the reproductions are not really able to do justice to Waterhouse's preoccupations, so its existence is mostly as a gift book or for miniature book collectors. ( )

I have long enjoyed the art of John William Waterhouse, a Neo-Classic painter who is often classified as a Pre-Raphaelite because of his style and the themes he chose. A prolific artist he produced over 200 paintings that depicted mostly beautiful, idealized women from classical mythology, historical and literary sources such as the classic English poets Keats and Tennyson.

I ordered this book, sight unseen, because I wanted a source that I could enjoy at my leisure in my own home that included most of Waterhouse's better known works. At the time, there was little available in the catalogs and nothing in the stacks at the local book shops, so I decided to take pot luck and order this book, not realizing it was so small.

This art book measures only 4 x 4 3/4" and that is its chief downfall though its composition is also a problem. It is a small white paperback book with a colored dust jacket depicting a detail from Waterhouse's famous 1896 painting, Hylas and the Nymphs. It contains one brief page, six or seven sentences, of biographical material on Waterhouse.

It is composed mainly of colored plates of 36 of Waterhouse's better known works and several more plates showing small details from those works. There are literary excerpts next to a few of the plates but there does not appear to be any rhyme or reason for the selection of the plates that are so honored.

The printing is clear enough and the inks used in the printing are as true and faithful to the originals as can be expected.

I think this is a poorly conceived book in that it offers a subject that must be appreciated visually in a format that is not conducive to visual appreciation since it is just too small to see clearly. Many of the prints are also displayed as a double page spread which places the large crease of the binding squarely down the middle of the artwork. There is very little to be found here that will aid in the appreciation of J.W. Waterhouse's art, neither commentary on the paintings nor suitable presentation of the works themselves.

The paintings are often cropped so they are not useful as a detail study or as a true look at the intended finished piece. They are a sampler of sorts and one that is ultimately unsatisfactory.

The works are not organized in any fashion but seem to appear quite randomly. They are not grouped by subject, date, method or detail.

Apart from the literary excerpts there is no other text until the very back of the book where there is found the one really good aspect of this book. It contains a section called Classic and Literary Sources that gives a few pages of information about the various characters from literature and mythology that are the subjects of the paintings. It provides a few details about the stories from which these characters originate. I found this enormously helpful in appreciating the works of Waterhouse, although unfortunately, I needed to take this helpful information and apply it to better presented plates in other sources. I do wish that more art books would include this type of helpful text.

The List of Plates, also at the back of the book, thankfully provides the dimensions of the originals as well as the medium and their current locations. Many of these wonderful paintings are scattered throughout England at various museums and galleries and the List of Plates is helpful in ascertaining where to begin one's search.

I urge you to look elsewhere if you want a book that will provide you with a clear window into Waterhouse's romantic world, one where you can easily see the splendid details that his work characteristically contains. However, if you are still curious, here is a list of the paintings that are cataloged in this book.

Circe Invidiosa
Danaides
Miranda - The Tempest
Ophelia
The Lady of Shalott
Hylas and the Nymphs
Penelope and the Suitors
La Belle Dame Sans Merci
The Rose Bower
The Awakening of Adonis
Psyche Entering Cupid's Garden
Ariadne
The Sorceress
The Siren
Ulysses and the Sirens
St. Cecilia
The Magic Circle
Circe Offering the Cup to Ulysses
Echo and Narcissus
Nymphs Finding the Head of Orpheus
Flora and the Zephyrs
Mariamne Leaving the Judgement Seat of Herod
Thisbe
Pandora
Psyche Opening the Golden Box
Hylas with a Nymph
Mariana in the South
Fair Rosamund
Jason and Medea
The Lady Clare
The Enchanted Garden
The Shrine
The Mermaid
Tristram and Isolde
A Tale from the Decameron
Listening to My Sweet Pipings

I must hasten to remind you that only a precious few of these listed plates contain the entire painting. Almost all of them are cropped or show only the smallest of details such as a head study.

By all means, I recommend that you investigate and enjoy John William Waterhouse, but avoid this silly little book. ( )