New-York tribune., 1896-12-07
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
A REGAL BOOK on ENGLISH ARCHl-
LECTURE.

net of scatwell and Tarbat. With Forty Bly, ria'gs; n
las Iex1 To,umss IMPERIAL octave, PIP XIII 40
AS The Macmillan Company.
LIE COErR DE PARIS: sPLENDEuKHHss rhies M Spar Par
EN1nS Hdb;Sa onaro. pp 4l2 Paris La Libraire
fimstree' III stree New-York: j. W. Bouton.
VENICE. Its History Art Industries and Modern sTn
Life, rycb by Sh%''Fs hv = j. sitwe illustrated Oc,
tavo Do. 40. Philadelphia; Henry l. 'o"'e'
The AIntrodnction by Elizabeth Robins PenneIl.
Illustrated with Drawings ,ayo OF tne pp Xxx. aG
The Macmillan Company.
CoNsTANTINOPLE by Edmondo de Am,cis: ,nncnc
Translated from the Italian rro oy vonmes oc-
iImsodre iavn pp. s6s 800 Philadelphia; Henry T.
Coates K Co
In en- far as modern architects have proh'eu ny
the buildings Of early England, they nave pion'-
cd in ecclesiastical and domestic fields alone a"
the former they have studied more thah 'he ia'-
ter American church architecture lor e~"Pe'
having been developed steadily Tor man! Sea'S
along the lines Of English cathedra's anu pa 1911
churches Such domestic motives as we ""'N
borrowed have been popular TO certain eA'e"''
we have numerous country houses VIII" i
,.ive the half-timbered style Of England ana
other buildings. not numerous, Whici! nave
illustrated anew the delightful ideas current Ill
.,o ,;r,e NJ the Renaissance. OF such arcnltect-
IRE as that which is celebrated IN oir 'a'''e'
>,aorar,ie,s monumental volumes. however, we
have NOT only made little use. but its beauties
have seemed TO lie more or less outside the 40
main of SPECIALISTS and to have received 'he"
due chiefly at the hands of the romancers' Inc
technical literature which has gathered a'ou"u
the castles of England Is not large OF "ioe''
known. The present work Will come as SUI
prise we fancy. to many readers
II &c q work which addresses itself to all per-
SONS of taste Students may not see in the mill
terry architecture of England much TO adapt upon
orr soil but every one will respond 10 'he pio"u
significance of this splendid array OF 1euua' ioi
resses Sir James Mackenzie has proceeded
with the utmost industry through 'he oou"''e'
~ England. and has taken pains to investigate
and illustrate not only the well-preserVeo eo'''oe'
like Windsor but ruins like Pevensey' IN SUSSEX
or uod,eieh and Colchester in Essex, and Fram-
bingham, in Suffolk The result is superb paho-
ramo of heroic England the England OF CREME
,o,oa s.ronsholds the England which from the
|,orouest To Henry VIII constantly ACORN
,ro i,self with such buildings as make even 'he
roh,es. NJ Renaissance manor houses seem soiiie-
how merely decorative and effeminate Ihere
,s n curious contrast between the history upon
which Sir James Mackenzie has drawn ana 'ha'
which provides the textual substance loi o"
a work as Mr. Gotchs. for example on 'he H"e
lish Renaissance. In the one case the reauei 10
carried back to period of artistic culture ~ a.,
era in which mobiles more or less pohsheu '''D
IT,, oac, other In the erection Of stately pleas
ra domes " and fashioned their estates after the
refined and courtly manner OF ltaiy. III ."
lanes MackenZe's book there Is llttie vi 'i''
There is more in the vein OF the 1oho"ihs pas
sage on the great ruin of Arundel IN ousse" :"
fortress whose origin in one form or announcer !"
..oooah,e hack 70 Alfreds time. Sir James
Mackenzie, touching upon the fortunes u ''0
r,oce in the eleventh century. describes its pas
sage into the hands of Robert de Beleme' "ho
sided with Robert Curthose, Duke Of Normandy
,s. Henry 7 The latter went at once
oa.,rst the earl leading a strong force against
his castle of Arundel in the absence OF Beieme'
who had gone to build stronghold against the
K;nc at Rridgnorth According to Roger wen
dover Henry sat down before Arundel 10 oe
s,ege II regularly. and constructed against 1t
ono NJ the usual lofty wooden towers for annoy
ing the garrison. The besieged sent 10 their
earl 10 know what they were to do, ana ne re-
turned word back that they might make the pest
terms they could with the King; whereupon 'he
castle was promptly surrendered. ana thus
passed to the Crown" The history OF Aruhoei
continues in this key. We quote the passage
simply to indicate the general drift OF sir James
Mackenzie's text. Next year the castle 1eii an
easy prey to the army of the Dauphin,' ne op-
serves of Rochester in Kent. and the records
which he gives are dotted with similarly er'ii
statements.
The volumes make melancholy reading. mere
and there one of the huge castles Will be 1ouno
restored and inhabited, as iii the case OF Ca'e's-
wall in staffordshire, but the greater number
,io'c
since fallen into decay. and the pictures which
.rowd bis nages are almost invariably of ivy
clad ruins Enough is left, however, to impress
tho reader with the nobility of English castellat-
oil architecture and to lure him far beyond the
studv Of architectural styles into the romance or
history We do not suppose tha! architects VIII
now make any more use of these OLD NODES thah
they ever did, and it is not to them particularly
as has been indicated above that Sir James
Mackenzie addresses himself. whoever Is III
terestel in the past of Great Britain VIII Vaiue
these splendid volumes. They are perfect III
manufacture the photographs plates beihs eN-
ouisitely printed. Sir James Mackenzie de-
scribes his work as one of reference, and since
his text is necessarily divided into independent
fragments each castle being treated by ITSELF ne
will probably not receive consecutive readng
very often. But few books OF reference are SO
fascinating as this one. few OF them escape 80
completely the heaviness OF pedantry While DEAL
ing with archaeological facts.
NJ Robida writes history with admirable
an,omb He has been writing 1t for long time
and many volumes testify to the rapidty and
skill with which he can traverse locality and
an epocb. working with pen and pencil stimuli
taneously and presenting his public with most
readable and delectable combination of "texte
dessins ct lithographies." His latest tome Is no
less vivacious and divertng than its predeces-
sors That he gets at the heart of Paris is per-
haps too much to say. He is essentially super
fetal writer. and his facts. II judiciously gath