Of illustrated books recently published, the following demand more than a mere note; there would not be room else to show the character of the illustrations, which are in each case so important a feature. For the sake of his reputation as a worshipper at the shrine of Beauty it is to be regretted that Mr, Oscar Wilde has told us that he 'admires immensely' the design of the cover for his new book of fairy tales---it may reasonably be supposed that the cover of a book should in itself be attractive, even if it be ugly, for it must be admitted that there is sometimes an extraordinary attractiveness and fascination about ugliness; but ... Wilde's cover is not ugly enough to be fascinating, though it would be difficult to find a design ... similar purpose so devoid of charm.  No more need have been said about this cover had not Mr. Wilde attempted to defend it, and by description and argument, ... tried to make us like it against our better judgment. A critic wrote that a portion of the design of the left hand side of the cover reminded him of 'an Indian club with a house-painter's brush on the top of it', while a portion on the right suggested to him the idea of 'a chimney pot hat with a sponge in it'. As a matter of fact, the one is intended to be a back view of a peacock, and the other to be some sort of fountain; but they certainly are more like the objects mentioned by the critic, In the Speaker of December 5th, Mr. Wilde attempts to show that it does not matter what the details of a design suggest---peacocks, pomegranates, splashing fountains of gold water, or Indian clubs and chimney-pot hats---it is a matter of indifference, and has nothing to do with the aesthetic quality and value of the design; and this would have been true had Mr. Wilde been speaking of forms used in repetition to produce a pattern, Almost any form may be used for this purpose, and a good result obtained; but the peacock and the fountain, or the club and chimney-pot hat, are objects separate from the pattern on the cover. They are large, independent figures, standing by themselves, and are emphasized by being in gold. Under such circumstances it matters very considerably what the form may be, though, if the form be beautiful, the object it represents may be a matter of indifference; bat, clever as Mr. Wilde may be, it will puzzle him to discover a single beautiful line or form about this disputed portion of his design. The drawings by Mr. Ricketts, which embellish but hardly illustrate the stories, have a good deal of that interest which attaches to his work generally. For such small illustrations they are, perhaps, drawn in rather too coarse a line; but Mr, Ricketts evidently admires and follows the old German and Italian line drawings, and there is no doubt about their admirable simplicity. But the coarser lines of the old engravings were due to the necessary coarseness of their execution and materials, and not to choice. The work had to obey the limits of tools, and this working within imposed limits produces what we understand as 'style'. We do not care to discuss the question whether a modern artist should impose on himself limits unavoidable by the old masters, but net necessary to us. Every artist decides such matters for himself. Personally, we prefer Mr. Ricketts when he works with a finer line; but, whatever the thickness of his line, his pen-work is always interesting and never commonplace. As to the drawings by Mr. Shannon we cannot sty anything, because we cannot see anything. We can only suppose that Mr. Wilde is ashamed of them, but, having commissioned them, felt bound to use them. They are printed on separate pages, but in so faint a tone that it is simply affectation to have printed them at all. If it is purposely done to prevent the seeing of intention in the artist's work, it is perfectly successful.