Another recent book called “J.F.  Millet and Rustic Art” is by Henry Naegely (published in England), and is critical rather than biographical in purport.  It is a sympathetic appreciation of Millet’s art and character, and grows out of a careful study of the painter’s works and an intimate connection with the Millet family.

Besides these books devoted exclusively to the subject, the life work of Millet is admirably sketched in brief form in the following more general works:—­

Richard Muther’s “History of Modern Painting,” Mrs. Stranahan’s “History of French Painting,” Rose G. Kingsley’s “History of French Art,” and D.C.  Thomson’s “Barbizon School.”

Of great importance to the student of Millet are the various articles contributed to the magazines by those who knew and understood the painter.  The following are of special note:  By Edward W. Wheelwright, in “The Atlantic Monthly,” September, 1876; by Wyatt Eaton, in the “Century,” May, 1889; by T.H.  Bartlett, in “Scribner’s,” May and June, 1890; by Pierre Millet, in “Century,” January, 1893, and April, 1894; and by Will Low, in “McClure’s,” May, 1896.  Julia Cartwright, in the preface to the above mentioned biography, mentions other magazine articles not so generally accessible.

III.  HISTORICAL DIRECTORY OF THE PICTURES OF THIS COLLECTION

Portrait frontispiece, a life-size crayon made by Millet in 1847 and given to his friend Charlier.  It afterwards became the property of Sensier..

1. Going to Work, one of several versions of the subject in different mediums, oil, pastel, drawing, and etching.  This picture was painted in 1851, and was at one time (1891) in a private collection in Glasgow.[1] It is to be distinguished from the picture of 1850, where the woman carries a pitcher instead of a rope.[2]

2. The Knitting Lesson, a drawing corresponding in general composition, with some changes of detail, to the small painting (17 by 14-1/2 in.) of the subject in the collection of Mrs. Martin Brimmer, in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

3. The Potato Planters, painted in 1862, and exhibited at the great exhibition at Paris of that year, also again in 1867 at the International Exhibition.  It changed hands for large sums during the painter’s lifetime, and is now in the Quincy A. Shaw collection, Boston, Mass.

4. The Woman Sewing by Lamplight, painted in 1872, and sold in 1873 for 38,500 francs, the highest price at that time ever paid for one of Millet’s works.

5. The Shepherdess, painted in 1862, and exhibited at the Salon of 1864, also again at the Exposition Universelle of 1867.  It is now in the collection of M. Chauchard.

6. The Woman Feeding Hens, a charcoal sketch, corresponding in general composition to the description of a painting bearing the same name, which was painted in 1854 for M. Letrone for 2000 francs.