New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-01-05
ARCHITECTURE.
soME-NEw BIOGRAPHICAL AND HlsToR1-
CAL LITERATURE.

Cummings. Illustrated. Octave PIP ~'' Wv
JOHN wELLBoRN ROOT; A sTV Wo1ro of With Min
LIFE AND WORK BY Harriet her,s MoP r " Nile
E,en ass f Fscsimss 81 Designs by Mr. Root
nctavo 'I DID. xii, @l Houghton, Mfiin CO.
HST D2ST OF GERA AREnIHEScTHSNhps AMxrEIk
Beng a Comparative View OF the h Raoister
syss from Enrf F. F sTGS ~
Octave pp. XIV. siS Charles scribners sons
EuRoPEAN ARcHIrEcTuRE: A MiST0 Ok ac.
s srUp pp ky ky IS ES'' The Macmillan COMPANY
4 TEx TEX, &c OF THE HISTORY OF ,, ARcHll'
6EcTURI .r 5y A. A. 2 hon AZ an% Green Co.
r,,T STORY OF ARCHITECTURE: An O Ilra
The LINE OF THE STYLES u ALL co 1Ss,Ta'ss
6 by Vna PIP. XVI "G 3Ss b. Appleton Co.
ANIMAL SYMBOLISM IN BcGLES!ASWyiitSbNi a
A AsdrTapSy and seyeniyegh Illustrations
6c1ave %. xii, s75. Henry Holt & Co..
nh. ufe Of Charles Bulfnch was lacking IN
waterfall for a picturesque biography, and those
roqes which his granddaughter mas recently
a.s,cated TO his memory are colorless IN 80 ia'
ga tho personality Of the man Is concerheo
But II is nevertheless good to nave d "'e"'o.'
NJ the distinguished Bostonian. who le1t hooie
mark upon the architecture OF his nat've 'o""
and to whose labors at Washington IN the 'o"'
pletion Of the Capitol we owe a "orK'"s ou' "a
the rlans originated by the genius OF La'lo'e
In other buildings. chiefly in New-Engiano nu'-
Anch showed that he possessed IN a cohsoef'
BILE degree that antiseptic against the ra'aee'
Of time In any art. the instinct Tor STYLE nc
was born in 1868. and though he made pr'ei
trim to Europe In his early manhood ne gre"
I'D among purely American influences lie was
impregnated by the measured spirit OF the last
century We find him developing into seoa'e
ond userul citizen. serving for twenty years as
~
his work he preserved the same attitude OF con-
servatism which marked his private me- ne
was not q great architect, but he was assureoiE
. yood ono He never had any systematic
training in his profession. and in adopting as
b,s own the semi-classical style OF the Coioniai
ner,od the wonder is that he did not DRIFT INTO
stercotyped WAYS Of design. 1t was here, now
ever that he showed the genuineness OK HIS
gifts He had an Unborn sense or proporuoh'
he was simple, discreet as matter Oh 'e'i
perament; and his buildings are rcmarKaoe ioi
a distinction which lifts them above the oroi-
nary works Of his time. Though he had no I'M
tiatiye no creative power. he managed 10 manure
the familiar lines Of our earlier architecture
with so much tact that he seems always on 'he
brink Of doing something positively new MS
masterpiece. the Boston State House. Is one vi
those buildings which, IN spite OF imperiec''ohs.
recognized
a nations architecture Bulfnch was an In
dispensable element in American architecture
at O time when useful men were few. lie
struck the monumental note. and by his gooo
taste did much to postpone for many years
the evil growth of such so-called art as mas
since disfgured our public buildings The bet
Ter architects of the present day. reviving and
creating noble ideals. look back TO Bulfnch as
o. PREDECESSOR of whom they are proud. Among
those architects and among many lay readers
the present biography will be given high vaiue
as O record.
serviceable In the same way is the volume in
which Miss Monroe has sympatheticaiiy cele-
brated the brief life Of John Wellborn Root. lie
has been known too little. as a man. 10 the
American public. Dying in the fuli MUSE Oh MS
ambitious plans for the architectural scneme OF
the great Fair at Chicago. his powers were rear
ICED by his colleagues and but imperfectly recog-
nized by the world in general. Miss Monroe por-
trays him now at full length, man OF imaeh-
alive and peculiarly sensitive temperament, put
eager to work out his problems with full sense
of all the relations they bore to the conditions
about him. An artist knows In his art TO ma
tionality, yet to say that Mr. Root was type
NJ what the American architect should be is only
ou,rements of his time and place There were
decorative impulses. tastes. enthusiasms. IN MS
nature. and now and then he put them into last
ing form but a survey Of his work discovers
very few indulgences in either decoration or
moro picturesoueness. What he tried for was
the fulfilment of modern needs and the express
sion of modern ideas. Thus we find his gigantic
business structures in Chicago severely impress
awe. digniled buildings which make the abnor-
NAL seem normal. and render beautiful the piIlng
I'D of innumerabe stories The secret OF MS
success in this direction was the secret OF MS
admirable work at the Fair-he developed MS
design from the inside and left II perfectly
balanced construction The virtue or the HOOK
ery in Chicago. or the Mills Building IN san
Francisco is that the designer frankly accepted
commercial conditions and through Judiciously
simple treatment Of lines and masses brought
forth imposing qualities where only fantasticai-
~ seemed TO Turk No one has surpassed him in
the refined and reasonable arrangement OF those
hundreds of windows which. with piers and little
fragments of wall between. we call the modern
Office building. He knew all that was required
On such an edjfce from the foundation stones
and the heating apparatus to the lighting OF the
rooms and the creation of a profitable revenue.
In consequence he made 1t homogeneous-made
II work OF art. Miss Monroe has written
gracefully Of her subject. showing the genial
personality Of Mr.. Root in vivid outlines at the
same time that she reveals the thoroughly artis-
tic bent Of his character. word OF commenda-
ton should be added for the illustrations They
have been made by Mr. Charles F. w. Mielatz.
an etcher who treats architectural themes With
q rare combination Of art and veracity.
There would seem to be rather uncommon
activity just in the preparation OF archi-
tectural manuals. We have received no less
than four, all OF which aim at instructing the
reader in the fundamentals Of the art. For the
first Of these books upon our list. the History
OF Architecture" by the Messrs. Fletcher. we
have but qualified praise The plan lie a good
one. The execution Of It is lamentably poor. 1t
una an admirable idea 10 block out the etYles OF