[288] BOOK REVIEWS Each book, not surprisingly, differs markedly one from the other in approach and content; yet, each results in its own way in giving a broadly conceived as well as well-balanced and illuminating synthesis of American cultural history in the period 1790 to i860. Patrons and Patriotism surveys the way in which art patrons and cultural nationalists defined art and justified its promotion through patronage by the federal government, municipal athenaeums and art academies, art unions, and private collectors. While the book is rambling and discursive to a degree, Mrs. Miller tells an amazingly thorough story. She includes apologias for the support of art and aesthetics by Emerson, Ruskin, and Norton; the failure of the federal government to develop a consistent policy of patronage in the building and decoration of the Capitol; the formation of community art academies and galleries; the emergence of major private collectors of American art, such as Luman Reed of New York and Robert Gihnor of Baltimore; the interest and pride in art in the trans-Appalachian West; and the influence of rising nationalism on art. In a smoothly constructed final chapter, she argues that patronage of native, contemporary art was strongest in the North and West where "national unity was regarded as a desirable and beneficial condition" and weakest in the South where "nationalism was rejected for sectionalism!' Mrs. Miller's book is vivid and richly detailed on the personal side; in it she has succeeded in weaving together a tremendous number of facts in a smooth, even texture. Harris' detailed and absorbing analysis in The Artist in American Society represents an exciting and significant step toward a better understanding of the development of art as a profession in America during the period between the Federal Constitution and the Civil War. He discusses the legitimization of artistic energies in America; the roles and achievements of the artists themselves; moral evaluations and the rhetoric of art discussions; professional self-consciousness and public conceptions of the artist's role; alienation and identification; beautification campaigns; the influence of European travel on American patronage; and young artists' communities. Portraits, incisive to the point of brilliance, of leading artists and cultural leaders are drawn and fully sustained by voluminous footnotes. It is impossible in a short review to do full justice to the many merits of this book: the stylistic grace and wit, the profound scholarship, the many originalities of interpretation on specific points, the clarity and balance of the narrative. We all regret that some monographs are unnecessary scribblings on the margins of history. This brace of books, in contrast, is really important and represents a considerable achievement indeed. And important books, like great paintings, are rare. wendell d. garrett, Antiques Magazine