New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-12-15
Literary Nes0S and Criticism.
n Good Book for Collectors of Old
English Furniture.


=. ,aeh new volume IN '~The Connoisseur's
-shrsrrr~ appears we are the more impressed
-s<, Mr.. Cyril Davenports Judgment In editing
ssrses. He secures good writers, they do
,1.,r work veil. and the volumes finally are
md out with first rate Illustrations and the
- of press work and binding. Mr.. Frederick
9 Robinson's English Furniture GO. P. Put
-..r.s sonsl Is like it's predecessors, kept up to
n,rh standard The author makes the best of
rsther difficult subject: he Is interesting In
Is Of the fact that be has necessarily to give
large part Of his space TO matters rather dry
"a, for the collector. The great merit Of his
soos lies In its careful analysis of the evolution
= English furniture. Naturally that evolution
,nos be traced with the minute steps TO be
S,,,ousd when q thing OF complete unity is to be
s,.sected II is impossible TO turn the develop
sns OF furniture anywhere into closely knit
.s.ueuce. For one thing, the Municipalities OF
,ss makers begin to carry themselves to the
'front.' only In comparatively modern times. But
!, Is a Ways possible TO eIucidate the growth OF
.tv,es. to show the correspondence between So
,ssl epochs and the elements OF taste embodied
manufactured article, and In this part OF
-. work Mr.. Robinson gives many suggestive
notes.
Hs shows how slow the English were to in
art the things needed for comfort In their
t,1es Toward the middle OF the thirteenth
century the royal treasurer was commanded TO
esve the great chamber OF the King at Vest
minister painted with good green color in inita-
.,or of q curtain, and also the little
wardrobe OF the King to have painted with
vresn color in the fashion OF curtain" This
-sn,esentation of curtain only "the pre-
eprEnr OF The actual and movable tapestry hang
ing" Even the royal family had to wait a long
line before fits draughty halls were made more
hsbitabIe by proper wall coverings. Mr.. Robin
son thinks that tapestry was probably In general
rse In England in the early part Of the hrteenth
century. but apparently only a few wealthy mobiles
used it before. Not until toward the close Of the
following century did chairs come into common
$50 .rTbs head of the house alone accom-
,,,aa+ed with a chair, and for the rest q bench
-rss considered good enough" 1t took long
s,r,e too for the chairs to lose the weighty,
rrnbrous character which marked them at the
outset Tt was late in the eighteenth century
rnsu the furniture designers began to cultlvate
minute decoration and grace of outline
The durable lines along which old English
.,-1,t,,re vas built and its value as property
s,a brought out with special point in Mr.. Robin
.o,,s pages on bedsteads. They were as mas
ssye as monuments, being put together with pos
five tirnbers and made. in short to outlast gen
e-ations Mr.. Robinson cites from Evelyn the
s4o-y Of the Lord Treasurer Clifford. VINO III
5eT3 tried to hang himself from the bed-tester
psonle who read In bed in those days made the
construction of the bed contribute to their COM
sort when awake a small shelf was set at the
h.s5. a convenience to which Chaucer thus
EIludes:
ro- A.r1 was lever have at his beddes heed
T1ventv BOXES clothed IN blak and reed
This sounds luxurious, but Mr.. Robinson duly
reminds US that the old English sleeper was not
without his midnight woes Evelyn describes
,bs gorgeousness of certain italian bedstead
pesteen'd worth 1000 crowns but he adds that
,7o- the most part the bedsteads in Italy are OF
.s-red iron giIded since 1t is impossible to keep
ne wooden ones from the chinlices." Mr.. Rob-
srso, deunursIv remarks that ''by chimiceS he
-n.ans certain parasites with which even IN
England we are not unacquainted- To make
IN. huge bedsteads, which still survive, seem
ingiy indestructible. in English manor houses
cost money and they were made TO serve at
least one purpose, one might well make a
well built old carriage last for years Mr. Rob
snzon has found mention in the 'Verney
Memoirs" Of a great black bed which Sir Ralph
yerney offers to a Mrs Eure, when her husband
dies IN the middle Of the seventeenth century,
sas the only consolation within his means"
ssThis great black bed" we are told, with its
Impressive amplitude Of gloom, travels about the
family whenever a death occurs, till the very
mention of It gives one feeling Of suffocaton
TIE author speaks of one curious development
IN old furniture for which the absence Of banks
and forms OF investment Is to be held respon-
kIble With nothing to do with his hoard of cash
but to preserve it as well as he might in his own
house the Englishman OF an ancient day hit
apen the idea of devising secret places in his
furniture. Thus the modern collector Is pro-
saded with something odd to show his friends,
and incidentally. may add, the modern
novelist is aided. whenever he has q will or
sone other document TO conceal from everyone
IN his story, until the hero has the wit to touch
2 secret spring in q cabinet left by one Of the
Aerone's ancestors. It is by dint of paying at
tention to all these little odds and ends Of his
subject, many of them possessing a certain
human interest, that Mr. Robinson succeeds in
making handbook for the collector readable
Bcrk for the laynan as well. His narrative is
comprehensive but not too copious, and his
many beautiful Illustrations conveniently
grouped together at the back OF the book
The delightful book Of memories which re-
viewed not long ago, Mrs. Brookaeld and Her
Circle" has provoked an interesting correspond
sacs IA The London Times" There has been
some debate in that journal to whether the
Education Department showed proper appre-
cation Of the difference between the reports
written by Mr. Brookfeld when he was edu-
cstional inspector and those submitted by fell
loE officials Of his who lacked his gift Of humOr.
mnnRYkV AMY