So if Mr. Anning Bell represents the 'Arts and Crafts' movement in the
variety of decorative arts he has practised, and in the architectural
sense underlying all his art, his work does not agree with the form in
which the influence of William Morris on decorative illustration has
chiefly shown itself. That form, of course, is Gothic, as the ideal of
Kelmscott was Gothic. The work of the 'Century Guild' artists as
decorative illustrators is chiefly in the pages of 'The Hobby Horse.'
Mr. Selwyn Image and Mr. Herbert Horne can hardly be included among
book illustrators, so in this connection one may not stop to consider
the decorative strength of their ideal in art. The Birmingham school
represents Gothic ideals with determination and rigidity. Morris
addressed the students of the school and prefaced the edition of 'Good
King Wenceslas,' decorated and engraved and printed by Mr. A. J. Gaskin
'at the press of the Guild of Handicraft in the City of Birmingham,'
with cordial words of appreciation for the pictures. These
illustrations are among the best Mr. Gaskin has done. The commission
for twelve full-page drawings to 'The Shepheardes Calendar' (Kelmscott
Press, 1896) marks Morris's pleasure in Mr. Gaskin's work--especially
in the illustrations to Andersen's 'Stories and Fairy Tales.' If not
quite in tune with Spenser's Elizabethan idyllism, these drawings are
distinctive of the definite convictions of the artist.
[Illustration: FROM MR. GASKIN'S 'HANS ANDERSEN.'