New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-12-12

h.
BY Francis Miltoun. With Eighty illustrations
I9I ans and ,,, Diagrams 6g by Bla8che McManus
THE ROMANCE OF OLD NEw-ENGLAND
CHURCHES. BY Mary c. Crawford illus
trated. q1ttle PilgTmdgesJ i2rno, PIP. $79
Boston: L. G Page & Co.
RoB ~ Ezab oF II TE R0gBoM s6
PIP xviii, 400. G. P. Putnam's Sons
H1ssTrQ} 57B =, BUILDINGS AS SEEN AND De
s sG5 BI5os, BY FAMOUS WRITERs Edited
Numerous Illustrations. Svo PIP. xii. $40. Dodd
BUDAPEST d 3B.. THE CITY OF THE MAGYARs
Author Emo, PIP. xii. 292. James Pott & Co.
TRAVELS A,, N EUROPE AND AMERICA BY
mn Gla djs f. BOLTON NJ A. Illustrated. l2mo,
IL Is In spirit of reverence and enthusiasm
that Mr.. Mtouns survey of the cathedrals Of
Northern France has been made. Readers who
care for the subject will find much that is sat
isfylng in his book, not alone in the text but in
the illustrations. Miss Blanche EIcManus having
caught and held the old-time atmosphere inhe-
rent in these memorials of distant past There
is delcacy Of touch and originality Of treatment
IN her drawings. Mr. Miltoun's work though in
teresting' leaves somewhat to be desired; the
style is too frequently Iabored and strained, bur-
dened with superlatves This is the more to be
deplored. since the author Shows keenness Of
perception and critical acumen Even the not
unnatural desire to enter into the debate con-
corning the various territorial claims to the in
ception Of the glorious Gothic style Of architect
ure is restrained. He says for exanlple:
1t matters not, a mere detail, whether #
was Drought from the East in imperfect form
py the Crusaders, and only received its develon-
ment at the hand of some ingenious Northern
er, or not. Its development was certainly rapid
and sure in the great group which we know to-
France
wanted, the existing records in stone ought to
De sufhclentIy convincing to point out the fact
that mere medlaavaI Gothic architecture received
its first and most perfect development The
Primaire: the development of the style finding
its best example at Paris. The SacoEdaire:
the Prefectionnement at Rheims, and it's Apogee
at Amiens. The Tertiare practically the he
ginning Of the decadence. in st. Omen al Rouen
only a shade removed from the debasement
which followed. AS to the merits or de-
merits of the contemporary structures of other
nations, that also would be obviously of COM
parative insignificance herein except so far as a
comparison might now and again be made to
accentuate values.
Territorially the work includes the cathedrals
north Of a line drawn roughly from the mouth
of the Loire TO the Swiss lakes Each building
is treated briefly, but comprehensiveIy. from its
historic, traditional and artistic side its chro-
noiogy and dimensions being given in tabular
form in a series of appendices, going far to in
crease the value of the handbook including as
Ihey DO brief glossary of architectural terms
a list Of the larger French churches, which were
at one time cathedrals and the present ecclesi-
astlcal and civil divisions Of France The vol
uIne thus partakes of the nature of history,
guidebook and a study in architecture
In Mary c. Crawford's THE Romance of Old
New-England Churches" the churches are not
the central theme, as is the case in the study
of the French cathedrals; indeed. the places of
worship are but as pegs wherein TO hang stories
of love and adventure. and it would occasionally
seem though the author were straining
point TO make use Of them. However, one can
well afford to overlook this. for the stories are
without exception entertaining. No attempt IS
made to give romances of all the old churches of
New-England task which would necessitate
volume far bulkier than that presented, the au-