New-York tribune., 1921-01-02

AZ "n4en II ~ placed. Per
haps the trouble lies deeper than in
any merely professional habit and is
20 DC traced to social conditions. Mr..
Stratton remarks that to the English
man the home stands for freedom and
intimacy within it's walls he PLAYS
his part in life's daily scenes; thev
reflect his mind and proclaim his per-
sonality and taste" The American
has, we suppose, no consciousness of
any loss Of freedom and intimacy in
his home; but instead of seeking to
develop within its walls some proclama-
tion Of his personality and taste.
he is disposed to assume a kind Of
stralt-jacket, accepting the person
atty and taste Of his architect. If the
latter chooses to envelop him, as we
have said, in a French or Italian atmos-
phere, our American runs the risk of
suoslselng as square peg in a round
hole. The solution of this problem
resides. we take it, not in the abolition
OF European motifs, not in the exclu-
sion o. European furniture and deco
ration, not in the sacrifice Of these
beautiful things TO the invention of
new style, but to the handling of i'm
ported ideas with greater freedom and
breadth.
1t is Interesting TO study Mr.. STRAIT
tons illustrations in their chronology
cal order, to come down from the in
sular traits of the first Tudor schemes
TO the classical and Itaianate designs
OF the Renaissance and finally, to that
light and pure elegance which distin-
guished the Adam brothers. Alien ele-
ments are always creeping in, but save
for the pillared and pedimented door
ways which crop out in some of the
'arger chambers, or for such 8 church
like monumental plan as is worked out
IN the great entrance hall at Castle
Howard, one is never aggressively re-
minded of foreign inference. 1t is one
of the delightful paradoxes Of the Eng
lisN interior that, while it may be
never so stately, never so sophisticated
here yet hangs about it the inextin-
<
to the humblest old thatched cottage
nesting amid the hedgerows of the
countryside.
volume to be appropriately asso-
ciated with Mr.. Stratton's is Mr.. H.
Avery Tipping's tnglish Homes
(Charles Scribner's Sons). 1t forms
part Of series, these pages carrying
the subject through the period from
1649 to l71i. The text IN this case is
more or less analytical, after the
fashion of the book we have just
discussed, but Mr.. Tipping is more
discIrsive, finging personal and his
eorica. notes into his narrative. He
also covers a wide range in his illus
trations, photographing his buildings
inside and out, reproducing decorative
details and even including accessories,
such as furniture, screens and fire.
'rons. This is, in short, a kind of
glorifed scrapbook, unified by its
dherence to a given architectural
period. The numerous stately homes
TO which it is dedicated are portrayed,
each at full length, and by his dipping
-nto Biographical lore the author dis
tinctly humanizes his theme He is
entertaining as we'll as instructive
For the builder Of an American home
The book is rich in casual suggestions
As a kind Of pendant to it we may
cite the smaller volume, on Old Eng
.ish Furniture and It's Surroundings
Charles Scribner's Sons, in which
Mr. Mac Iyer Percival pleasantly dis
courses on things in English homes
from the Restoration to the Regency
he sweeps everything into his net, not
only furniture, but every Imaginable
object, balustrades and candlesticks,
gateleg tables and wall hangings Of
linen and cotton, door frames and
knives and forks. He assemblies d
quantity Of useful information, on
which he is brief and not too dog
matte. These chapters supply the
reader as with the scattered pieces of
mosaic. They should be of assist
ance to those who, designing a period
room, seek an absolutely Aawless har-
mony.
Mr.. E. Beresford Chancellor has pro-
duced in The Eighteenth Century in
London (Charles Scribner's Sons) a
serviceable essay in reconstruction
With exemplary industry he endeavors
to show US what the city looked like in
rs period, sketching it's stree. topog-
raphy, enumerating its pleasure re-
sorts, clubs, coffee houses and taverns,
describing its roble houses and its
churches, and In one chapter saying
something about the artists who left
their stamp upon many of these things.
His pages are not wholly devoid Of an
ecdote, but 1t must be confessed that
Mr.. Chancellor does not assemble very
lively notes. He takes his subject
doggedly, phase by phase. and gives
us in the long run rather a work Of
reference than book to read Tor
pleasure. II is otherwise with his IL
lustraeions, two hundred in mum Der
well reproduced and not only from
/ photographs, but from old prints and
( nsir4ipva Thesa ofva a vivid and