New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-07-26

II altogether unrecognized. 1t is a point which
lies at the very foundation Of his volume. In
all other respects that volume is a pleasant
contribution to the rather light and discursve
literature of his subject which exists In Eng
fish. Mr. Larned has ranged over wide field;
he has taste. sympathy. enthusiasm. and pen
which. though ardent. does not always run away
with him. He does not write as an architect, Dut
as a Iayman Of artistic feeling and it is to such
reader that his sketches especially to be
commended TT ey are full Of romance Of pict-
uresqueness they are clear and Trey are con-
cise The book Is well printed. and the half
tone illustrations are numerous and beautiful
We would be glad to approve with cordiality,
II 1t were possible. the philosophical study by
Mr.. Harris in which he assumes to traverse
Three Periods OF English Architectural He
has one saving virtue. which runs through all
his pages, the virtue of belief in style or
architecture that really expresses the character
and development of the country In which IT
finds birth and hourishes. But the thought
mosaic" which he has put together is entirely
too much of mosaic. or rather 1t has been
formed without any OF the prescience and in
genuity of the skilled worker in such PROV
ince more "scrappy" book IT has not been
our fortune to read in a long time. Extract
follows extract Mr.. Harris having been quite
omnivorous in his authorities, and his train Of
thought jolts with an addition at every sta
ton that is only half coupled to its predeces-
sor. In Justice to him, 1t must be stated that
he Is aware Of his defect. and paves the way
for 1t by an admission In his preface. In JUS
tice to him also 1t must be said that. saving
for a narrow view of what Renaissance archi-
lecture meant In its time and means to-day he
takes an admirable position and defends It
with much acumen. 1t is true that England
has needed to concentrate herself upon her own
artistic resources to create style racial. so far
as any architectural style can be. and in direct
ing his argument along that line of discussion
our author gives considerable food for refiec-
ton.
He sees as many Englishmen have seen be-
fore him. that the nationalism of British archi-
lecture has suffered sal vicissitudes and he
believes. apparently, that England would have
a fine style of her own to-day had she been left
to herself at certain critical moments. There.
however, are compelled TO take issue with
him. To Englishman there always seems TO
have been something arbitrary in the entrance
of alien styles into his country. or, In his most
open-mnded vein. N Is apt 10 regard the
Italian or the Fleming as having insinuated his
way in with a sinister dsintegrating effect upon
the native product. II is plausible and
comforting view. 1t excuses the eras in which
the native could not withstand the invader
But to a detached observer II would seem
nearer the requirements of the situation
writer's like Mr. Harris TO face bravely the fact
at the core Of things which is obvious to all
impartial students-the fact that for all their
splendid cathedrals the British have never
possessed constructive genius. the genius for
architecture and we mean by that for the
architecture which has style. 1t is not enough
to build firmly as they have built. II is neces-
sary to build with style. 10 build with sure
and almost involuntary expression in the ediice
of the temperament of the builder.
Mr. Harris leaves the impression that II Eng
land is where she is now in the matter OF
distinctive school OF architecture il is because
she has been torn by successive inroads OF for
eign schools To which can only reiort
that the schools would never have had their
way with a less ducte nation. England
sturdily Independent in so many ways. bent
when her architecture was concerned. Now she
is trying to stand erect and the task is difficult
under the conditions Of modern life and the
new capacities or limitations OF modern
material Mr.. Harris is hopeful. He would be
more suggestive were the sequence Of his dis
course less irregular and less involved. As il IS
the reader who studies him diligently will ex-
tract from his pages the stimulus 81 at least one
idea the conception that architecture to be good
must be genuine from the centre outward.
The two books which close the list AT the
head Of this column have little TO say 10 the
amateur Of architecture, but they are Of sub
stantial significance to the professional man
and 10 the persons practically involved In IN"
erection of any building. Mr. Huss presents In
his Rational Building a lucid and forcible
equivalent for the mastery essay on construc-
ton which French architecture owes TO NJ
Viollet-le- Due He wrote artist always
but never with vagueness. never with anything
esoteric in his argument or style. The work trans
lated BY Mr. Huss Is scientific in execution. though
artistic in spirit and il has solid value for
American students.
The volume made by Mr. Clark from an ex-
haustive study Of legal precedents will be OF
service in pointing out To architect. owner
builder and with the Is tier. all the mechanics
taking contracts on a building, what their
rights are how to guard them and how TO keep
them clearly defined 1t Is a painstaking work
but like the translation from the French just
noticed il avoids abstruscness and is easily en-
ployed as a work of reference. In the useful
ness Of both publications we have only to cx-
press our hearty belief.