Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-06-13
NEW PUBLICATIONS
MODERN CIvIo ART, or TIE CITY Made Beauti.
full By Charles Aulford Robinson, author Of
s'The Improvement Of Towns and Cities" New
York: @. p, Putnams Sons. Washington:
Woodward 4 Iothnon

York: q. P. Putnams Sons. Washington:
Woodward D Lothrop.
The movement toward the Improvement
Of American cities il one Of the most
wholesome signs OF the times. It indicates
that the nation. having founded itself Arm
ly In q political and Industrial sense. Is
caring increasingly for the social factors
in the equation. tho Intellectual and the
beautiful. The enormous growth Of cities
has created many problems, some OF
which have been solved. others remaining
for successful attack. Those citizens who
have studied the city question closely rec
osnize that while the process Of political
and moral regeneration Is going on there
is hard work to be done along esthedc
lines. Some aver that this labor Is OF
value in assisting in the other and
greater task. BY making and keeping the
city beautiful the people are certainly
brought to realize the brighter, better side
of life. They appreciate more keenly the
graver duties of citizenship. They take
more pride in the preservation OF a hign
standard in the care of physical things
and are thereby brought to a keener un-
Outstanding Of the need of keeping as high
a standard politically.
In this work great aid has been given
by men of means who have Joined leagues
for civic Improvement, giving time and
and the teaching of important practical
lessons in city-making and city-keeping
1t bespeaks progress in this propag anda
that the book presses are now producing
volumes addressed specifically to this topic,
works which may be regarded as con-
tributng to the stabilizing of the mood for
civic betterment Mr.. Robinson has al
ready discussed certain phases of the mu-
nicipal problem in his Improvement of
Towns and Cities In the present vol
ume he addresses himself to the ques-
ton of art, the higher stage of the
undertaking, which is inspired by the
thought that art should not be relegated
solely to within doors, but should be spread
before the people in the form of parks.
landscape effects, structures and even the
minute details of municipal equipment
in his introduction the author says:
There is promise in the sky of new
day. The darkness rolls away and the
buildings that had been shadows stand
forth distinctly in the gray air. The tall
facadeS glow as the sun rises; their Win
dows shine topaz; their pennants of
steam, Juggling f1utteringly from high CHM
neys, are changed to silvery plumes. What
ever was dingy, coarse or ugly is either
transformed hidden in shadow. The
Streets bathed in the fresh morning light,
fairly sparkle, their pavements from upper
windows. appearing smooth and clean.
There seems to be a new city for the work
of the new day. There is more than even
the transformation that Nero boosted he
had made in Rome, for night closed here
on a city of brick, stone and steel; but the
morning finds it better than gold. Sleep had
come to weary brains and hearts, and had
closed eyes tired of dreariness and monot-
ony; the day finds faculties alert and Wig
orous and eyes are opening upon beauty.
AS when the heavens rolled away and 81.
John beheld the new Jerusalem a vision
of a new London new Washington, Chi
cago or New York breaks with the morn
ing's sunshine upon the degradation, dis
comfort and baSeneSS of modern city life.
how hor drao ood
hope Within these is the impulse to civic
art.
"Cities grow in splendor There are new
standards of beauty and dignity for towns.
The science of modern cty-making is being
formally laid down as its principles are dis
covered and it's rules enunciated. For the
true ideal that spurs to useful endeavor is
that alone which is based on study and
facts. AS the dawn transforms none but
real cities, so can this new day come
only when the town of familiar experience
has commenced to become what 1t should
be and might be. In one place this may
be soon, in another late; in one place there
is already long progress toward it, in an
other there are only the warnings and
painful beginnings. But everywhere a de-
sire to some extent is present, efforts are
put forth to attain to the noble and beau
tiful in city-making, and there is proud
remembrance of such urban glory as the
past can claim"
1t is gratifying to read in this work the
In this matter of city management Mr..
Robinson points to unmiStakable signs
of a great awakening and then proceeds to
explain in definite if enthusiastic terms
what civic art is and to enumerate the OPP
portunities and the duties of city makers.
The city's focal points, he says, are the
water approach, the land approach and the
administrative center. Each should be
given it's appropriate treatment. Then in
the business district there are manifold
considerations regarding the street plan,
the architecture, the furnishings and finally
the esthetic treatment leading to fountains
and sculpture. In the residential sections
municipal art finds expression in street plot
ting among the homes, in the development
of great avenues and minor residential
streets, and finally, but in one sense most
important, among the tenements of the
poor, where lies the greatest need for such
regenerative processes. Treating the city
at large the author indicates the laws gov
erning comprehensive planning, the treat
ment of open spaces, parkWayS, and tempo
rary and occasional decoration.
The work is an inspiration, written from
the viewpoint of one who firmly believes
that not only is it the duty of man today to
care thus in artistic detail for the essentials
of city life, but that there is an increasing
disposition to do so. The book print is ex-
ceptfonally large and attractive, the
volume itself standing as an exponent of
the higher ideals with which the molders of
modern thought would establish.
OLD CHINA BOOh: Including StaffOrdShire,
Wedgwood. Lustre and other English Pottery
and Porcelain. By n. Hudson Moore. New
York: Frederick A. Stokes Company. Wash
ington: Brentanos.
Many of the old factories and potteries in
England have ceased to operate; therefore
their wares are most interesting and valua-
BILE. 1.-THE Old China Book describes these
choice porcelans accurately, gives the
marks in carefully worded descriptions,
shows by means of many Illustrations the
variations and aims to assist the would-be
collector in choosing his specimens. The
choicest pieces of the Staffordshire wares
are shown in fine specimens taken from the
best collections, and details of interest aside
from the manufacture of the pottery render
the book entertaining to those not necessar-
fly collectors. Many people are not aware
that single pieces of "Old Blue have
brought as high price as $47O. This book
gives an account of the "Old Blue" ware
with the value of nearly 1000 pieces.
HOW PARIS ABUSES ITSELF By F. Berkeley
Smith, author of 1.-The Real Latin Quarter"
Illustrated by the author and other artists. New
York: Funk Wagnalls Company.
This is a rather delicate topic, and in the
main Mr.. Smith has handled it delicately.
But he tells much that might perhaps be
left to the Imagination. for the amusements
IT,