The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-01-18
SOME NEW BOOKS.


II appears that, some nine years ago
In the character of an elderly ciccrone
or tourists in northern France whom
he assumed to be his "niecos," Mr.
HENRY ADAMS wrote n study called
Mont 81. Michel aud Charfrcs. This
study was privately printed and jeal
ously guarded from the profane vulgar
ity of ordinary publication until 1t en-
countcred the notice Of Mr.. Ralph
Adams Cram. Mr.. Cram. whose
own ardent zeal for mcdiwvalism
is well known and has been at
tested by his own volume on "The
Gothic Quest and by architectural
works even more familiar and adj
inrcd, brought the cryptogenetic per-
Torrance To the attention Of the Amer
lean Institute of Architects. That
body has some underlined relation. pos
sibly of an angelic" character, TO the
present publication. whereby. under the
imprint of the Houghton Mifiiin Com
pany and with an enthusiastic intro
auction 10y Mr.. Cram, the Hesperidian
treasure, in spite of the reluctance Of
tho author and secretcr. has been
brought into the light of common day.
To the reader of the present volume
II seems "A pity and n shame that Il
should have remained so long concealed.
The historical works by which the au-
thor Is best known seem to have very
little relation to the attempt at an his
torlcal evocaton of dim period which
in this volume lie has attempted. II Is
true that n circle of private acquaint-
ances, including men OF distinction in
walks far removed from the sub
jects OF his avowcd and regularly pub
lished works, has long regarded him.
even ak Noltsire regarded the prophet
Habakkuk. as an animal capable dc
tout" But even to most of these the
endowment and the equipment shown in
these pages will probably furnish mat
ter of surprise as we'll as Of gratifca-
ton. The modest guise which he as
sumes of a cicerone of young tourists
IN complete technical and historical ig-
norance OF the wonders Of medieval
architecture which he has to explain to
them gives him the opportunity to con-
vey without the air of pcdantry "A great
store OF technical and historical bnowl-
edge In the course Of AN architectural
tour OF northern France. beginning
with Mont ST. Michel and ending at
Chartres. taking in by the way "Cout-
ances, Bayeux, Caen. Roucn, Nantes
and Of course Paris. tn which the pill
grim really ought to add Llsieux and
Evreux. After "A pilgrimage of this
kind, under such guidance as that Of
Mr.. Adams. II will be the pilgrims own
fault or defect IL he has not some prac-
teal realization If what French
Gothic" means. not only as perhaps
the most remarkable architectural ef-
horescencc In the history Of the world
but as an index TO n state Of society in
regard to which dense ignorance is
compatible with an advanced knowl. dye
Of the manifestations in 1t of "architcc-
ture and the allied arts" The future
pilgrim will he i'll advised II he does not
add Mr.. Adans's volume Ia his travel
ling kit. however restricted II may be-
Though this handsome quarto is not
exactly n satchcl volume II will save
the pilgrim stowage, Tor II contains.
among other things, all the necessary
and relevant parts of Violet le Dues
ten ponderous volumes Of the Die
tionnaire" Ia say nothing of the sup
Elementary volumes Of the "Mobilcr"
Many American travellers. now that
Cherbourg has So extensively super
seeded Liverpool or Southampton as their
landfall, have derived their first intro
duct!on To French Gothic from Mont ST.
Michel, by the train from Pontorson
which takes Avrarches and Coutances
by the way. They could not have a
better introduction. The Mount has
been declared by Victor Hugo to be to
France what the Pyramids are to
Egypt. At least II is an epitome of the
evolution of French architecture
throughout the Romanesque as well as
the Gothic period, and in fact down to
date, since the frontage of the abridged
nave is "A mask of the later eighteenth
century. a piece Of Louis Quuze which
every judicious visitor must wish away,
toge ether with "A piece IF nineteenth CEN
fury sculpture, In the shape Of Fremiets
browning figure of the avensing arch
angel with his flaming sword, which no
such visitor can possibly wish away.
One infers that Mr.. Adams's own visit
is Of rather distant date. There is only
q passing allusion to Nine. Poulard
who for decade doomed almost as
large in the memories of visitors as the
Merveille, and whose recent retirement
from business must have impressed
many of them with much the same
feeling they would have experienced if
the abbey church had disappeared
This modern Frenchwoman. In be
sure. was not strictly in the line Of Mr..
Adams's subject. though she was dis
tinctly In point az a modern instance of
the prevalence and predonlnance of
the medieval Frenchwoman TO whom
he devotes the interesting chapter of
"Thc Three Queens" Another modern
instance can he seen In Chartres itself
by whoever happens To visit the town
on the weekly cornmarket day, and
sees the male put without ostentation
in his proper and subordinate place by
Frenchwomen OF whom not one is a
suffragette but every one would despise
the uncouth arts by which her British
sister endeavors to conquer the place
which the Frenchwoman commands. A
more pertinent suggestion OF the re-
moteness OF the authors experience of
the Mount Is his reliance upon VI.
Corroyer's Gothic Architecture" for the
details of the architecture. to the ex-
clusion of the more recent, more extern
sive and entirely satisfactory mono
graph of NJ. Paul Got. An attentive
perusal Of NJ. Cots volume. or recent
observation of the abbey. would have
saved him from one of the very few
slips the present volume contains. That
10 tho 81 al that tho rIniStor - hn