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PATER'S IMAGINARY PORTRAITS' This attractive volume with its Watteau cover is little more than a belated, tasteful gesture toward the master. The collection itself includes only what would be expected: "The Child in the House," "An English Poet," "Emerald Uthwart," (fA Prince of Court Painters," USebastian Van Storck," IIDuke Carl of Rosenmold," "Denys L'Auxerrois/' "Apollo in Picardy," and in the appendix, "Oiaphaneite." Missing, for Mr. Brzenk had limitations to cope with, are passages that could have been inserted most usefully in the appendix, the passage on the Mona Lisa, or the especially beautiful "portraits" of Cornelius and Cecilia. Indeed the static quality of the portraits that Mr. Brzenk comments on, is borne out well in the description of Cecilia; Marius sees her as statuary en tableau against the evening mists. The selected bibliography contains some important items on Pater, notably Mr. lain Fletcher's booklet for the British Council and Mr. Graham Hough's chapter in The Last Romantics. But some caution in the use of Wright's Life and Shadwell's bibliography might have been offered as a bonus. For instance, Shadwell does not mention that "Aesthetic Poetry" was published as part of a review under the title of "Poems by William Morris" in the Westminster Review of October, 1868, but states its first appearance as 1889. Of the introduction itself with the new facts that Mr. Lawrence Gower Evans's thesis has made available, it can only be wished that Mr. Bnenk had allowed some mention of the common factor underlying the portraits. Mr. Brzenk's explanations carry us only so far. He states that the historical portraiture in The Renaissance led naturally to Man'us and hnaginary Portraits (although this neglects the fact that "Oiaphaneite" preceded both the historical and imaginary portraits) ; that "Emerald Uthwart" and "Apollo in Picardy" were intended for a second series of Imaginary Portraits; and that 'The Child in the House" and "An English Poet" could have been prototypes of the projected English counterpart of Manus and Gaston. Also, bv way of explaining the actual nature of the portraits, Mr. Bnenk says that Pater had an uempiricist concept of the formation of character"; that the portraits are like paintings, and, quoting Mr, Fletcher's comment, that his characters are "fixed" '1ike works of art," But is this saying enough? Does this account for the peculiarities of tlDiaphaneite" or, even more perplexing- for "Oiaphaneire" is often explained as a compliment to Shadwell-does this account for "Emerald Uthwart"? Mr. Brzenk has said that "Emerald" was not part of the projected nnal portion of the trilogy, and that it was not an appropriate vehicle for the study of the aesthetic and intellectual personality, such as the "English Poet" was intended to be. Clearly "Emerald" has no purpose similar to uApolIo," HDenys:' or If intent and action, predictable from and of a piece with its physical appearance and constitution (which plays a large part in Pater's views of choice and action). If a personality has this textural consistency, it is beautiful, and the texture is, to use the subtle metaphor that occurred in Pater's earliest portrait, transparent . What is Pater's fondness for the formula, such as ex forti dulceda, which Mr. Brzenk touches on, but an extension of this perception that homogeneity of intent, action, constitution and physiognomy, is beautiful? This is clearly why Pater so frequently sacrificed to his formula an inconsistent side of the character he was dealing with. This also accounts for Pater's feeling for texture, his remarkable capacity for texture in language, possible (and the parallel is obvious) through his persistent search for the mot juste, the word that is the thing. Had Mr. Brzenk touched on the conclusions his findings were peinting toward, his introduction would have been genuinely exciting. As it is, it is superncial and makes this collection little more than the convenience of having these pertraits together at last. (CATHERINE A. Cox) ...

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