,,the ,,book ,,of ,,fair ,,women ,,thirty ,,two ,,plates ,,from ,,photographs ,e4 ,o4 ,,hopp with an introductory essay by ,richard ,king ,title ,page ,decoration ,new ,york ,alfred ,a4 ,knopf #aibb ,,contents ,beauty1 ,charm1 ,beautiful ,women the ,world ,over ,thirtytwo ,portraits ,,portraits #a4 ,,america--,lady ,lavery #b4 ,,america--,mrs4 ,lydig ,hoyt #c4 ,,america--,viscountess ,maidstone #d4 ,,america--,miss ,malvina ,longfellow #e4 ,,america--,miss ,marion ,davies #f4 ,,red ,,indian--,princess ,white ,deer #g4 ,,england--8,hebe0 #h4 ,,england--,lady ,diana ,duff,cooper #i4 ,,england--,miss ,gladys ,cooper #aj4 ,,england--,miss ,kathlene ,martyn #aa4 ,,scotland--,viscountess ,masserene and ,ferrard #ab4 ,,ireland--,miss ,grace ,d',arcy #ac4 ,,france--,mlle4 ,raymonde ,thuillier #ad4 ,,algiers--,madame ,revalles #ae4 ,,spain--,seora ,tortola ,valencia #af4 ,,gipsy--,miss ,fedora ,roselli #ag4 ,,italy--,signora ,comanetti #ah4 ,,portugal--,seora ,maria ,di ,castellani #ai4 ,,russia--,mlle4 ,fedorova #bj4 ,,poland--,madame ,mika ,mikun #ba4 ,,norway--,miss ,olga ,morrison #bb4 ,,sweden--,miss ,anna ,q4 ,nillson #bc4 ,,armenia--,armen ,ter ,ohanian #bd4 ,,chile--,countess ,lisburne #be4 ,,ecuador--,mrs4 ,haddon ,chambers #bf4 ,,india--,princess ,monchsa #bg4 ,,japan--,mrs4 ,tokugawa #bh4 ,,china--,mrs4 ,wellington ,koo #bi4 ,,cuba #cj4 ,,haiti #ca4 ,,hawai #cb4 ,,dutch ,,west ,,indies ,,preparer',s ,,note ,the ,introduction is a product of its time1 and the preparer does not endorse its ideas about race4 ,the book was notable in its day1 however1 for including portraits of nonwhite women4 ,,beauty1 ,,charm1 ,,beautiful ,,women ,,the ,,world ,,over ,,beauty 8,beauty is only skin deep10 cries ,ugliness1 pinning her faith on the fascination of the ,intelligence4 8,and ugliness goes to the bone10 ,beauty replies1 though she fears that that shaft of 8wit0 must have originally been spoken by a pantomime librettist4 8,handsome is as handsome does10 retorts ,ugliness1 quoting from the ,plain ,woman's volume of ,copy,book ,maxims4 ,and so this battle of words goes on4 ,but ,beauty cares nothing at all for maxims4 ,she puts on her most becoming hat1 her daintiest dress1 and goes forth careless and indifferent to anything except ,middle ,age4 ,no shaft of ,puritanical censure1 she feels1 can hurt her4 ,beauty is its own raison d'etre--its own excuse for being gloriously alive4 ,it needs no apology1 no panic balancing of its debit account by moral and intellectual compensations hurriedly placed to its credit4 ,in ,heaven1 it knows1 more people will want to call upon ,ninon de l',enclos than wish to leave cards on ,st4 ,theresa of ,spain4 ,and what is more satisfying to ,beauty than a large audience8 ,only two things really terrify her--the loss of her ,good ,looks and the loss of her ,youth4 ,that may be the reason why1 au fond1 she sometimes envies her plainer sisters almost as much as they envy her4 ,perhaps she knows that they play a waiting game1 and that at fiftyfive it might have been as well for her had she been born 8plain0 too1 since henceforward she must enter the 8plain0 woman's world as a stranger1 to live as they live1 but1 unlike them1 to be for ever tortured by the remark3 8,all the same1 she was a great beauty #8,in ,her ,day6' 0 ,it is the way her friends apologize for her false teeth4 ,in the meanwhile1 however1 she triumphs--triumphs overwhelmingly4 ,to the purely physical lure ,reason is as unreasoning as ,lunacy4 ,in spite of that ,french saying which states that 8il faut souffrir pour etre belle10 how often great suffering and great happiness go through life hand in hand1 the one utterly dependent upon the other4 ,only the commonplace 8soul0 revels in the smug security of the commonplace4 ,life at its fullest is surely a great joy1 as well as a great pain6 ,and ,beauty--how glibly we utter the word6 ,indeed1 how glibly we utter all those words1 the meaning of which is so difficult clearly to define6 8,democracy10 8,liberty10 8,freedom10 8,friendship10 8,love0--and1 let it be owned1 the 8,hereafter06--how often we use the words as a kind of final argument1 and how often1 so mesmerized has become our ,intelligence by these words1 do we accept them without question as something appertaining to finality4 ,it is the same with ,beauty4 ,to call a woman 8beautiful0 requires no corollary4 ,that is all that need be said6 ,merely to say it1 especially if the word is spoken by some one in ,high ,authority1 is sometimes sufficient to create a reputation for loveliness--as women who have been the mistresses of kings know full well4 ,the world asks so little more of a beautiful woman than her beauty4 ,which perhaps accounts--though in a book of ,beautiful ,women let it be printed in small type--for so many lovely women being intellectually dull6 ,but then1 if one is good to look upon1 one can afford to be dreary company4 ,loveliness is its own forgiveness of intellectual sins4 ,it is a 8decoration10 and we do not ask of decorations to be more than perfect in regard to colouring and symmetry of line4 ,success is1 after all1 but a reflection of ourselves in the world1 and ,beauty finds its reflection in almost every human eye and in almost every human heart4 ,its way through life is indeed strewn with roses--those lovely flowers which hide such very vindictive thorns4 ,god makes beautiful women2 a ,plain ,woman has to do the best she can for herself4 ,her only hope lies in the fact that what fascinates ,tom may leave ,dick indifferent--and who knows but that ,harry will find that she herself is more attractive than any other woman8 ,which brings me back to a definition of ,beauty1 and that1 being at heart a sluggard1 ,i had purposely wished to avoid4 8,beauty0 is to me but another name for 8,harmony40 ,it is harmonious to some ideal indigenous to the 8soul40 ,it may only be 8skin deep10 as the ,plain ,woman likes to assert for the benefit of vain schoolgirls1 but the beholding eye nevertheless endows it with 8spirituality40 ,it likes to believe this loveliness is only an outer symbol of an inner spiritual grace4 ,which fact will account in some way for different types of beautiful women appealing to different types of men--so that even an ugly woman sometimes hears herself addressed in the language ,mars probably used to ,venus4 ,we find in ,beauty something more than a realization of what we believe to be perfection2 we find in it a 8journey's end0--or perhaps ,i ought to say 8lodgment10 seeing that ,beauty is so often fleeting--in the lonely search of the 8soul0 after spiritual sustenance4 ,we give to it our adoration1 an adoration which none the less overwhelms us emotionally because1 physically speaking1 it is passionless4 ,we bow in worship before it1 without--if ,i may express myself in metaphor tinged with vulgarity--an insensate desire to ,clutch4 ,for ,beauty is also a 8message02 and1 as it appeals to something within our 8souls10 so does that 8message0 become the more eloquent4 ,moreover1 it has a thousand facets4 ,we can find it anywhere1 in almost everything that is not mean or debased1 hypocritical or dishonest4 ,nevertheless1 there are some men who can find beauty only in sex2 men who are deaf to that 8song within a song0 which in the hearts of so many is as the ,psalm of ,life4 ,the view of distant mountains2 the glowing1 dancing reflection of the sun setting out at sea2 the quiet1 verdant valleys1 whose peacefulness falls on the troubled spirit as a benediction2 a voice1 a memory1 a prayer--all these things can uplift the heart until momentarily it may live in a whole world of beauty4 ,for ,beauty must be felt within the 8soul40 ,the senses but convey an impression1 the 8soul0 translates that impression into terms of ,ecstacy4 ,for when we come face to face with ,beauty1 in whatever guise1 all that is best and purest in our ,nature stirs in response1 so that at last our 8soul0 cannot live without ,beauty4 ,robbed1 as it were1 for ever of this harmony1 which seems to reflect ,heaven1 even in lowly places1 it withers and dies4 ,the man who seeks not ,beauty can scarcely be said to live2 since without beauty ,life is but a barren wilderness1 sodden by the tears of men4 ,the ,road to ,god is paved by ,music and ,poetry1 by ,art and ,literature1 by all those manifestations of ,beauty which are unselfishness1 renunciation1 friendship1 love1 sympathy1 understanding1 humility4 ,man is ,spirit as well as ,body1 and just as the physical needs must be satisfied1 so must the ,spirit find ,beauty if it wither not nor die4 ,through ,beauty ,god speaks to men2 and inasmuch as we seek to bring ,beauty into our lives and into the lives of others1 so we come into closer communion with ,him4 ,beauty1 then1 is something which is in complete harmony with the longings of the 8soul10 and through the 8soul0 with ,god4 ,the old belief that ,beauty is the seed the ,devil sows to reap his human harvest is an exploded blasphemy4 ,surround men with ,ugliness and they will quickly qualify themseves for a place in ,hell4 ,we take from our surroundings as much1 perhaps even more1 than we give to them4 ,thus ,beauty is surely the great ally of ,virtue3 to the extent that it sometimes fails in its alliance1 so does it lack true perfection4 ,for as much as our socalled civilization is worth to us in happiness1 the gift has been a gift from the great poets1 the great writers1 the great thinkers1 the great musicians and painters--all those who have sought to bring the message of beauty to this world1 including that supreme artist ,nature herself4 ,and this is true1 no matter how much the politicians1 the commercial magnates1 kings1 princes1 and potentates may preen themselves on their human importance1 pointing to their laws1 their factories1 their palaces1 all the evidences of their temporal power4 ,their 8message0 to humanity has only been the fact of their own success1 whereas1 the potent 8message0 of ,beauty is at all times a silent one1 though more eloquent1 more uplifting1 more encouraging than all the pompous diatribes that were ever uttered4 ,in the greatest1 most inspiring moments of our lives we are always dumb4 ,no words can then express the triumphant melody which is surging in our hearts4 ,to the extent that we can explain our emotion1 so we feel it less4 ,thus in the presence of something beautiful we are at all times mute4 ,the strength of its appeal is shown in our subsequent ,,acts2 and actions1 we know1 speak far1 far louder than words4 ,beauty1 then1 is something which1 uplifting us1 strengthens the soul1 helps the spirit to rise above the deadening influence of the commonplace monotony of the ,everyday4 ,it may not necessarily be essential to our success in this world1 though to surround oneself with ,beauty is surely one of the ideals which spur us onward to the attainment of riches1 but it is surely essential to our salvation6 ,it is1 as it were1 the golden thread which runs through the plain homespun of life4 ,without it the pattern of our days would be distinctly 8drab0 on a buff ground4 ,everything that is physically fine2 everything that is noble and just1 generous and kind2 everything which gladdens our hearts and sends us on our way rejoicing2 everything which1 as it were1 lifts our faces up towards ,god in the high heavens--that surely is ,beautiful6 ,i always like to think that ,shelley in his essay on 8,love0 made ,love synonymous with ,beauty3 8,thou demandest what is ,love80 he wrote4 8,it is that powerful attraction towards all that we conceive of fear1 or hope beyond ourselves1 when we find within our own thoughts the chasm of an insufficient void1 and seek to awaken in all things that are1 a community with what we experience within ourselves4 ,if we reason1 we would be understood2 if we imagine1 we would that the airy children of our brain were born anew within another's2 if we feel1 we would that another's nerves should kindle at once and mix and melt into our own1 that lips of motionless ice should not reply to lips quivering and burning with the heart's best blood4 ,this is ,love4 ,this is the bond and sanction which connects not only man with man1 but with everything which exists40 ,to make the world more and more beautiful1 not in a narrow sense1 but in the widest and deepest sense possible1 that surely ought to be the ideal of civilization4 ,and in this ideal1 physical beauty has surely an important place allotted to it4 ,one is virtuous1 after all1 for one's own benefit2 one 8makes the best of oneself0 for the benefit of the whole world4 ,there is no virtue in being plain1 though ,i must confess it usually makes virtue a much easier achievement4 ,as a rule1 ,nature is more often a conscientious than an inspired artist1 and there is nothing mere conscientiousness requires more than a helping hand4 ,that conscientiousness has also its divinely inspired moments--moments which come to it unpremeditated and unforeseen--that also is a fad4 ,that is why ,nature1 who 8bungle0 her best points hopelessly so often1 does occasionally achieve a veritable 8masterpiece40 ,that1 too1 is why ,beautiful ,women have every reason to be proud of their loveliness and seek to preserve its colouring and its contour4 ,moreover1 their beauty also absolves them from the necessity of being remarkable in any other direction4 ,after all1 if one is beautiful1 it is not also obligatory to be useful4 ,one does not demand of ,leonardo da ,vinci's 8,mona ,lisa0 to be a screen as well as a picture1 nor appreciate an exquisite piece of ,sevres china any the less because it is also neither a candlestick nor an ash tray6 ,we demand from them nothing beyond their beauty1 and1 finding it1 we are satisfied4 ,also we count our life worth while according to the loveliness which it contains4 ,every man starts out in the hope that he will marry a pretty woman4 ,that most men's taste is not exacting1 and love proverbially blind1 is a blessing for which few lovers are sufficiently grateful4 ,in the prayers of gratitude offered up by ,humanity to ,god1 such an one should be included3 8,praise be unto ,him who makes most of us beautiful at some time to some one60 ,beauty is1 after all1 its own forgiveness of sins in the heart of those who love it4 ,only when a woman's looks are fading does her husband begin to realize that neither can she cook4 ,until then1 he is only too glad to suffer indigestion at her hands4 ,that a beautiful woman should die young is1 after all1 only to wish her the best of all possible blessings in this best of all possible worlds4 8,as rich and purposeless as is the rose1 ,thy simple doom is to be beautiful40 ,all the same1 what a pleasant destiny6 ,and yet1 perhaps1 those who are permitted to gaze upon beauty without being themselves beautiful are the most fortunate of all4 ,and that is the position of most of us1 thank ,god4 ,as it is more thrilling to watch a pageant than to take part in one1 so1 to be able to gaze undisturbed upon the ,pageant of ,beauty as it passes before our generation to take its place in the wonderful procession marching down the ages1 is a far more peaceful proceeding than to form part of that procession4 ,after all1 the most envied in a tableau vivant are not those who figure in it1 but those who have been able to secure the best position from which to view it4 ,the man who secures a 8masterpiece0 is far more gratified than the artist who created it4 ,so1 while we bow down in adoration before ,beauty1 let us also be thankful that the greatest privilege of all lies in an opportunity to regard it4 8,beauty and sadness10 ,george ,macdonald has written1 8always go together40 ,but to be able to gaze on ,beauty--that1 surely1 is the most undiluted joy in life4 ,,charm ,almost every woman believes that1 though ,nature may not have made her beautiful1 of her own accord she can achieve charm4 8,charm0 is the ,possibility which ,desire dangles before the nose of ,hope4 ,and every woman1 who is a woman endeavours to make that ,possibility a ,certainty once1 at least1 in her life4 ,to be beautiful is a great deal1 but to be charming is of greater value and infinitely less dangerous to one's peace of mind4 ,especially to know that one is irresistible to some one whom one has no particular desire to resist--that surely is everything6 ,what1 then1 is ,charm8 ,artemus ,ward described a charming woman as 8born to make hash of men's buzzoms0--which1 though comprehensive1 does not lead us very far1 and sounds perilously near being a cooking recipe4 ,oscar ,wilde said3 8,all charming people1 ,i fancy1 are spoiled4 ,it is the secret of their attraction0--which1 personally1 ,i disbelieve absolutely4 ,spoiled people manage to get their own way1 it is true1 since the majority of us are so fainthearted that we find it easier to offer ourselves in sacrifice than play our part in a scne faire4 ,but the effect of a metaphorical foot on one's neck is by no means a satisfying sensation1 though we may endure it heroically4 ,longfellow described a charming woman as 8when she passed it seemed like the ceasing of exquisite music10 and this1 though pleasing to the ear1 seems to say so much and mean as little as any modern drawing room ballad4 ,shakespeare1 perhaps1 came nearer giving us a wordpicture of ,charm when he wrote3 8,she told him stories to delight his ear2 she showed him favours to allure his eye02 but even that description does not convey to us much more than the effort of a cook to fascinate a policeman4 ,charm is something more subtle than the ability to tell a smokingroom story in a drawingroom way and exhibit the best 8points0 ,nature has given us with a fine semblance of doing so unconsciously4 ,perhaps the ,dictionary gives the best definition when it explains ,charm as being 8something possessing occult power or influence40 ,occultism seems the easiest explanation of the personal 8sway0 which some outwardly unattractive person wields over the most unlikely people1 people who1 by all reason and logic1 policy and prudence1 ought not to be thus fascinated4 ,love is easier to explain than ,charm2 or rather1 perhaps1 ,i ought to add1 than that emotion which so often passes muster for ,love1 that emotion which1 though it often ends in marriage1 or divorce1 or a sixmonths' despair1 may arise from no more solid foundation than solitude1 a moonlight night1 and the sexappeal of two people in a 8romantic0 mood4 ,but just as ,time is the supreme test of ,love1 so it is also the supreme test of ,charm4 ,a woman who is as charming at fortynine as she was1 say1 at thirty1 must necessarily possess something inherent in her nature1 not recognizable as 8beauty0 perchance1 which leads men nevertheless--and1 what is infinitely more difficult1 other women-- by a single hair4 ,charm1 indeed1 has nothing whatever to do with either beauty or youth4 ,its genius lies in being able to delude the world that it is both beautiful as well as youthful1 no matter what adverse criticism artists may indulge in1 nor how many cold1 ugly facts ,father ,time may bring forward to dispel the illusion4 ,real ,charm rises superior to both4 ,it is a quality which1 because it cannot be analysed1 cannot therefore be destroyed4 ,so it is easier to call it 8,occult10 which the ,dictionary informs us is a power 8hidden from the eye and understanding40 ,on the other hand1 perhaps1 it may be an unconscious form of mesmerism1 the mesmerist being as totally unaware of his gift as the mesmerised is of his power4 ,but if we cannot break up ,charm into its component parts1 we can1 at least1 say definitely what it is not4 ,it cannot be cultivated1 for one thing1 though life and experience may help to make it finer1 more exquisite4 ,nor is it necessarily the natural possession of either beautiful or clever people4 ,most of us have met men and women who were both mediocre in appearance and uncultivated in mind1 who nevetheless were charming in no slight degree1 in that the evidence of charm be admiration and friendship4 ,the natural gift they possessed was the power to make all those with whom they came in contact feel charming too1 and this1 after all1 may or may not be the great secret of ,charm8 ,beauty is delightful to gaze upon2 but it is1 as it were1 a selfcontained quality--we cannot share in it except as spectators4 ,but the genius of a charming man or woman is that they help to bring out all that is best in other people4 ,beauty only makes other people feel more beautiful or infinitely plainer and either is a very lonely feeling4 ,but in ,charm we seem to share2 it seems to mingle us1 not only with the charmer1 but with all the world around them4 ,beauty is like a wonderful jewel2 but ,charm1 if ,i may refer to it in metaphor1 resembles an ideal home4 ,and who would not rather pawn their jewellery than break up a happy domesticity8 ,it is perhaps this feeling which ,charm gives us of being perfectly 8at home0 that is its most precious possession4 ,so1 may be1 it is really the one word we give to that quality of the mind and heart which mingles both sympathy and understanding in equal quantities4 ,most women1 when they desire to cultivate ,charm1 read up the ,memoirs of ,ninon de l',enclos1 whereas they would be much wiser to analyze the attractive qualities of the dog6 ,animals are always charming1 because they are always natural2 and to be natural is ninety per cent of fascination4 ,the reason so many men and women are bores is because so many men and women are never content to make the best of what they are1 but are always pretending to be what they are not1 generally ending their performance by giving a dismal caricature of the ,ideal they have tried so vainly to emulate4 ,even honesty in this world of masks is charming4 ,i don't1 of course1 mean that honesty which will scrupulously repay threepenny bits1 but the honesty which will be content to be exactly what it is1 without pretence or disguise1 and with no additional trimming in the way of either gold lace or sackcloth and ashes4 ,an artificial person is never charming1 though they may sometimes achieve a charming effect4 ,an honest wrongdoer is infinitely more attractive than a ,saint who pretends that he has done no wrong4 ,the great charm of a charming person is that he can mingle the most diverse human elements1 bringing them down to the one common denominator of ,humanity1 where all that is true in ,nature forges that link which binds men together in brotherhood and humility4 ,charm pierces all disguise3 its influence is so delightful1 since it helps us to be our true selves1 reprieving us for the nonce from that effort of 8pretending0 which the world expects to find1 and is embarrassed when this expectation fails4 ,charm1 then1 is not a gift like ,beauty1 but a grateful acceptance1 unconsciously illustrating in our hearts the fact that it is more satisfying to give than to receive4 ,in this way the ,loquacious finds a good ,listener most attractive1 and the ,strong are never so happy with themselves as when administering to the needs of the ,weak4 ,two 8born talkers0 were born to hate each other2 just as one good listener finds another good listener exceedingly dull company4 ,that1 too1 is why ,reserve thinks ,vivacity a thing of infinite repose1 and the ,vivacious discover in the ,reserved a silent strength more inspiring than eloquence4 ,it is the man or woman whose gifts bring out all the best in us who we call 8charming10 since further description seems unnecessary4 ,charming people1 then1 must perforce be natural1 since artificiality raises between men a bulwark which not even ,good ,intentions can scale4 ,they must also be sympathetic1 since those who demand sympathy are rarely more than tolerated4 ,they must also possess 8,understanding10 since without ,understanding one might as well reveal oneself to a brick wall4 ,granted these things1 it will not take us very long to find them beautiful as well4 ,charm is not1 then1 an assertive quality1 unless unselfishness can resemble 8assertiveness40 ,rather is it the power to draw from others those natural qualities which otherwise lie dormant within them4 ,we all yearn to be our true selves3 the difficulty is that we receive so little encouragement from those with whom we are brought into contact4 ,thus1 as ,i wrote before1 we are all apt to find charm in those who1 as it were1 seem to possess the key to our hearts4 ,we delight to talk to them1 because with them we feel safe from that danger which besets us so often--the danger of being wilfully misunderstood1 wilfully misjudged1 our 8dreams0 and 8ideals0 wilfully distorted4 ,in their society we expand1 living and speaking as free men would live and speak in a world of real freedom4 ,leaving them to return to the world is as a 8farewell0 to liberty upon re entering prison4 ,physically they may not attract us2 though1 such is the potency of ,charm1 that those we like we very soon begin to admire4 ,which is a blessing without the least disguise1 since it enables those who have neither youth nor beauty nor wealth to recommend them to find friendship and love nevertheless4 ,charm is1 as it were1 the passion of a 8soul0--a passion in which there is nothing physical1 but rather a mental and spiritual elation overwhelming the simple 8call of the flesh40 ,thus real ,charm is ageless1 because it can triumph even over physical decay4 ,the ,charm of ,innocence2 the ,charm of ,youth2--these states do not really belong to those gifts of sympathy and understanding which are the two chief elements of ,charm4 ,youth and ,innocence leave us at last4 ,our regret over their departure is at best a purely academic sorrow4 ,in the hearts of those who find us charming we know that we can defy ,age4 ,our greater ,knowledge will but give us a clearer ,understanding1 and for these things shall we be loved4 ,charm1 in fact1 is what maturity offers men and women in exchange for their ,youth4 ,in finding it1 they escape that loneliness which is the one haunting terror of growing old4 ,we speak1 of course1 of 8charming girls0 and 8charming young men10 but what we really mean is that they are merely nice and young4 8,charming10 indeed1 is a word which we use as thoughtlessly as we use 8,love40 ,we employ it to express prettiness and elegance1 daintiness and goodnature4 ,but none of these things necessarily express 8,charm0 any more than do those couples1 who make use of the trees in ,hyde ,park to cuddle beneath them1 express ,love4 ,they are just words we employ because our ,dictionary is limited and we cannot think of any other4 ,real ,charm is something much more subtle than any of these things--more subtle1 yet more potent4 ,in fact1 no one may pride themselves on the possession of ,charm until ,time has robbed them of all those 8minor beauties40 ,indeed1 if ,i were asked to explain ,charm--and in thus being asked ,i should be faced by the difficulty of explaining the wellnigh inexplicable--,i should sum it up as a kind of superintelligence of the 8soul10 an intelligence which combines the wisdom of the ,heart with the wisdom of the ,world1 the ,wisdom of the ,serpent with some of the guileless optimism of the ,dove2 above all1 the gift of interpreting men and women to themselves1 thus bringing to their troubled 8souls0 that sense of repose which comes from an opportunity to be completely natural1 and1 in being natural1 to arise refreshed in body and spirit1 ready for further efforts to solve the problem of true ,happiness in ,life4 ,beautiful ,women the ,world ,over ,in the preceding pages ,i have tried to explain my belief that ,beauty is some quality from which we seek inspiration1 and that ,charm is that natural gift which helps us to give inspiration to others4 ,when ,beauty is combined with ,charm--a rarer combination than ,society papers would lead us to believe--you have that quality1 akin to genius1 which has made a few beautiful women stand out1 bold figures1 in the long history of the world4 ,in olden days1 when monarchs were wont to wield their sceptres rather in the manner of a bombthrower his bombs1 it was sufficient for a woman to attract the ,royal eye for her at once to gain the reputation of worldwide beauty4 ,royal mistresses were always lovely ipso facto4 ,it was lse majest to dispute the ,royal taste in feminine beauty4 ,all the same1 as one gazes nowadays upon these sirens of a past age1 one confesses to oneself that most monarchs set out on their voyages ,cythre in very rudely constructed barques4 ,instinctively1 however1 we still try to see these ladies through ,royal eyes1 praising them accordingly4 ,maybe our professed admiration for them is all part and parcel of that glamour which we weave1 even today1 around our 8lesser0 terrestrial deities4 ,a lady mayoress still shares with duchesses the genius of always smiling 8graciously40 7,until such a time1 of course1 as1 her husband being denied reelection1 we designate those signs of amiability on her part merely as varieties of the muchreviled 8grin407 ,in this the ,twentieth ,century the aesthetic taste of monarchs is no longer approved unquestioningly by all the world4 ,the power of a ,king's mistress is at present more social than aesthetic4 ,today the photographer is more potent in the creation of a woman's reputation for beauty than the most autocratic emperor4 ,photography is no longer merely the business of exact reproduction--it is an ,art1 penetrating in its psychological illustration of character4 ,as one gazes at those depressing likenesses of lovely women who lived sixty years ago1 one realizes at once the popularity of such painters as ,winterhalter4 ,he1 at any rate1 made his 8sitters0 look like halfsisters to the ,empress ,eugenie1 in a pose designed expressly for the decoration of a chocolate box4 ,today the photographer has usurped the position of all but the greatest portraitpainters4 ,and this1 for the reason that the best modern photographers must also of necessity be artists4 ,they must undergo something of the same rigorous training as painters4 ,it is no longer a question of a good camera1 a studio1 and the exhibition case of 8samples0 hung outside the front door4 ,a modern photographer must understand all the nuances of light and shade1 tone value1 colour1 pose1 proportion4 ,his studies must have the characteristics of firstclass paintings--minus1 of course1 their colour4 ,nevertheless1 this omission must be suggested through the variations of light and shade4 ,it is because ,mr4 ,hopp is also a painter that the reproductions in this book are so superb in all those details which go to make up perfection in portraiture4 ,they are not merely photographs 7as we in our ignorance often designate photography as 8mere074 ,they represent an art nearly akin to the finest portrait painting4 ,note1 for example1 the exquisite manner in which light and shade has been employed to throw into relief just those most lovely features which each face possesses individually1 even the most beautiful4 ,note especially in this regard how cleverly the artist has caught the different characteristics which belong to each individual nationality--the ,red ,indian type of beauty1 for example1 as contrasted with that of the ,english4 ,the difference is not so marked in the contour of the face1 nor in the features1 but in the eyes4 ,there you have a whole volume of comparisons4 ,those of the ,red ,indian ,beauty1 exquisite in their shape1 seem nevertheless to have1 as it were1 a shutter closed down behind them4 ,they are unfathomable4 ,the typical ,english eyes1 on the other hand1 how clear they are1 how open2 how we seem able to see right into them--deep down into the labyrinth of thought6 ,examine the ,spanish portrait1 and note how cleverly the artist has thrown into relief those most lovely characteristics of ,spanish beauty--the formation of the chin1 the eyebrows1 the fascinating manner in which the hair is arranged as a framework for the modelling of the whole face4 ,the ,gipsy beauty--how admirably it shows the wayward grace of the ,gipsy race2 its wide and open countenance1 suggestive of life led in the free air2 the characteristic eyes1 with their hint of ,asiatic origin4 ,take also the picture of a typical ,italian beauty--in this case ,neapolitan in type4 ,even in this photograph one can almost see that blueblack tint so beautiful in the hair of ,italian women4 ,note1 too1 the perfect ,roman profile1 the lovely upper lip1 the sensitive nostrils--all so suggestive of a nation in which emotion and feeling are rarely suppressed4 ,the ,russian beauty--how attractive and how typical she is6 ,note the almost square jaw1 the sensuous mouth1 the upper eyelid slightly overhanging--a characteristic which lends to ,russian women that unique fascination which belongs to the 8language of the eye40 ,indeed1 it may be said that a ,russian woman can express herself by her eyes alone1 whereas an ,english woman talks1 and yet is often misunderstood4 ,in discussing these portraits with ,mr4 ,hopp he revealed to me a somewhat unconventional belief--his belief that1 in ,america1 there is no such thing as a 8typical ,american face40 ,every type is represented over there1 and no one predominates over another4 ,american women differ from ,english women in a certain native 8chic10 approaching almost to the instinctive grace of the ,french woman2 a certain intellectual 8flair02 a 8liveliness0--if ,i may so express it--all typical of a mixed race1 still young enough to be content to imitate unconsciously the type it most admires1 and being able to do so since it possesses the inherited characteristics of so many different nationalities4 ,this book gives us a wonderful example of representative ,french beauty4 ,note the mouth--how typical it is6 ,the perfect poise of the head on the neck2 the equally beautiful throat and shoulders4 ,moreover1 this portrait is especially interesting1 since it shows us how lovely white hair can be as the framework of a still youthful face4 ,to contrast the ,chinese and ,japanese beauties is also interesting4 ,there is a gentle sweetness about the ,japanese face which is undoubtedly appealing2 but it does not compare in character with that of the ,chinese lady4 ,the contour of the ,chinese face1 though less round1 has a straighter nose1 the modelling of every feature is firmer1 infinitely less flaccid4 ,it is interesting1 too1 to compare the ,cuban beauty with that of the ,hawaiian4 ,the latter type is less classical2 there is a stronger influence of the negro in it4 ,indeed1 the ,hawaiian type of beauty may be described as being only just far enough removed from the negro to be pretty4 ,in the ,cuban woman the nose is more classically modelled2 the whole contour of the face nearly resembles that of the ,european4 ,even in ,western eyes she possesses charm4 ,one hardly knows how to admire the ,portuguese type of beauty4 ,it is undoubtedly striking--though1 if ,i may so express it1 the model chosen by ,mr4 ,hopp seems too unapproachable to make any facile appeal4 ,it is1 however1 interesting in this portrait to observe traces of the ,spanish type1 combined with an undoubtedly ,moorish influence as seen in the way the eyes are set in the face4 ,the eyes1 indeed1 are the most fascinating part of the picture4 ,regard them well1 they are uncanny2 they are almost unreal4 ,i have seen eyes like that in crudely carved wooden idols--so primitive in their modelling1 yet so extraordinarily expressive in their regard3 seeing eyes with1 as it were1 an impenetrable blind drawn close down behind them1 shutting out thought4 ,if not the most strictly beautiful1 this ,portuguese type is one of the most psychologically interesting in the whole pageant of this book of beauty4 ,and yet1 how attractive in their variety all these faces are6 ,could anything be more alluring than the lovely eyes1 the perfectly shaped mouth of the ,chilian beauty1 a beauty also strongly characteristic of the ,spanish type8 ,how lovely1 too1 is the ,greek face1 with the nose1 as it were1 a deliberate continuation of the forehead4 ,there is passion and grace in the ,indian woman1 with her lovely supple body1 the expression of melancholy in her face1 those exquisite velvet eyes the size of which seem almost completely to dwarf the other features6 ,among such a galaxy of lovely women each man may surely find one who represents to him his physical ideal4 ,the charm of these portraits is that each beautiful woman1 typical of her race1 possesses some unique beauty which belongs to her nationality alone4 ,in each face there is a charm which more than compensates us for its deviation from the characteristics we1 as ,englishmen1 most especially admire4 ,he must be prejudiced indeed in favour of one type who can deny a certain loveliness to any one of them4 ,very few there will surely be malcontent to leave this book to posterity as a portraitgallery of some of the loveliest women representative of the world of our day4 ,naturally1 there are other beautiful women in the world who are not included4 ,this is one book--not a whole library6 ,but who will dispute the right of those who do appear therein8 ,no one--surely6 ,and1 after all1 were a ,martian suddenly to descend to ,earth and demand of us representatives of the finest examples of the ,human ,race1 should we not parade before him our most beautiful women8 ,,richard ,,king #aibb ,,thirty,,two ,,portraits #a4 ,,america--,lady ,lavery #a4 ,,america--,lady ,lavery #b4 ,,america--,mrs4 ,lydig ,hoyt #b4 ,,america--,mrs4 ,lydig ,hoyt #c4 ,,america--,viscountess ,maidstone #c4 ,,america--,viscountess ,maidstone #d4 ,,america--,miss ,malvina ,longfellow #d4 ,,america--,miss ,malvina ,longfellow #e4 ,,america--,miss ,marion ,davies #e4 ,,america--,miss ,marion ,davies #f4 ,,red ,,indian--,princess ,white ,deer #f4 ,,red ,,indian--,princess ,white ,deer #g4 ,,england--8,hebe0 #g4 ,,england--8,hebe0 #h4 ,,england--,lady ,diana ,duff,cooper #h4 ,,england--,lady ,diana ,duff,cooper #i4 ,,england--,miss ,gladys ,cooper #i4 ,,england--,miss ,gladys ,cooper #aj4 ,,england--,miss ,kathlene ,martyn #aj4 ,,england--,miss ,kathlene ,martyn #aa4 ,,scotland--,viscountess ,masserene and ,ferrard #aa4 ,,scotland--,viscountess ,masserene and ,ferrard #ab4 ,,ireland--,miss ,grace ,d',arcy #ab4 ,,ireland--,miss ,grace ,d',arcy #ac4 ,,france--,mlle4 ,raymonde ,thuillier #ac4 ,,france--,mlle4 ,raymonde ,thuillier #ad4 ,,algiers--,madame ,revalles #ad4 ,,algiers--,madame ,revalles #ae4 ,,spain--,seora ,tortola ,valencia #ae4 ,,spain--,seora ,tortola ,valencia #af4 ,,gipsy--,miss ,fedora ,roselli #af4 ,,gipsy--,miss ,fedora ,roselli #ag4 ,,italy--,signora ,comanetti #ag4 ,,italy--,signora ,comanetti #ah4 ,,portugal--,seora ,maria ,di ,castellani #ah4 ,,portugal--,seora ,maria ,di ,castellani #ai4 ,,russia--,mlle4 ,fedorova #ai4 ,,russia--,mlle4 ,fedorova #bj4 ,,poland--,madame ,mika ,mikun #bj4 ,,poland--,madame ,mika ,mikun #ba4 ,,norway--,miss ,olga ,morrison #ba4 ,,norway--,miss ,olga ,morrison #bb4 ,,sweden--,miss ,anna ,q4 ,nillson #bb4 ,,sweden--,miss ,anna ,q4 ,nillson #bc4 ,,armenia--,armen ,ter ,ohanian #bc4 ,,armenia--,armen ,ter ,ohanian #bd4 ,,chile--,countess ,lisburne #bd4 ,,chile--,countess ,lisburne #be4 ,,ecuador--,mrs4 ,haddon ,chambers #be4 ,,ecuador--,mrs4 ,haddon ,chambers #bf4 ,,india--,princess ,monchsa #bf4 ,,india--,princess ,monchsa #bg4 ,,japan--,mrs4 ,tokugawa #bg4 ,,japan--,mrs4 ,tokugawa #bh4 ,,china--,mrs4 ,wellington ,koo #bh4 ,,china--,mrs4 ,wellington ,koo #bi4 ,,cuba #bi4 ,,cuba #cj4 ,,haiti #cj4 ,,haiti #ca4 ,,hawai #ca4 ,,hawai #cb4 ,,dutch ,,west ,,indies #cb4 ,,dutch ,,west ,,indies