by
FRANK JEWETT MATHER, Junr.
1912
Comprising a _Ballade_, wherein the Wrongfulness of Art Collecting is
conceded, and as well Certain Stories: _Campbell Corot_, which recounts
the career of an able and candid Picture Forger. _The del Puente
Giorgione_, which tells of an artful Great Lady and an Artless Expert.
_The Lombard Runes_, a mere interlude, but revealing a certain duplicity
in Professional Seekers for Truth. _Their Cross_, so called from an
inanimate Object of Price which wrought Woe to a well meaning New York
Couple. _The Missing St Michael_, a tale of Italianate Americans which is
full of Vanities and, though alluring to the Sophisticated, quite unfit
for the Simple Reader. _The Lustred Pots_, again a mere interlude, but of
a grim sort, as it grazes the Sixth Commandment and _The Balaklava
Coronal_, which, notwithstanding its exotic title, is mostly of our own
People, showing the Triumph of a resourceful Dealer over two Critics and
a Captain of Industry. To which seven stories are added some _Reflections
upon Art Collecting_, setting forth Excuses and Palliations for a
Practice usually regarded as Pernicious.