Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1922-08-04
OF
new LIBRARY
(Contlnued from - Parel

doorway but not Gas in railroad
station) to a crowded hurrylng pub
iic for whom a single door would
seem inadequate; dignihed but not
with the cold severity proper to a
governmental building. as in your
City and County Building at the
foot OF the square.
Symbolism Is carried all through
the ornamental detail. over the
door is the Official corporate seal and
its Latin motto: Per Mannus Lam
pus Traditur'-'From hand 10 hand
is passed the torch OF learning
Each side the seal is the gen
orally accepted symbol OF n library
an open book. with festoons OF
peach branches emblematic OF
Delaware. on the r-jambs are
carved coDventionalized grape vines
a Traditional representation OF the
fruition OF learning. The grapes and
grape-leaves appear again In the
large curved 'swags' or festoons
high on the blank wall. Above each
appears the symbolic book: written
in one is Inter Folia Fructus
fruit between the leaves An ailus-
ion to the knowledge 10 be found be-
tween the leaves OF books; on the
other is 'Litera Scripta Manet'-
What Is written lasts. while what Is
spoken perishes;' what Is In the
library Is preserved through the
years. but the ablest speeches from
the building across-the- way are
quickly gone. OF course. my trans
lations are very free. but I have
been unable TO express with fewer
English words the full meaning OF
the terse and precise old Latin.
The titles above the windows al
Jude 10 the classes Of books TO be
found within; the owls soon to be
set at the second story windows rep
resent Wisdom. according to tradi-
ton.
The polychromatlc terra-cotta
frieze was not. as you inferred. first
suggested by that Of the Babylonie
Library at Nippur. though the par
allel Is interesting. Il WIS chosen
for It's possibilities OF mellow rich
ness. to further differentlate the
library from the austerity
OF the governmental building. Its
sphynxes with their books are not
the sphynxes Of Egypt with a body
OF a lion and head OF a Pharoah rep
resenting the power Of a dehed
ruler, but the sphynxes of Greek
and Roman tradition representing
Learning. knowledge. Erudition. as
for instance the sphynx Of the Greek
city Of Thebes with her riddle, ask
ing all passers-by to tell her what
walked In the morning on four legs.
at noon on two legs and in the even
ing on three legs, to. fail TO answer
which was death. and whom Oedipus
answered and was acclaimed by the !
Thebans as Tyrant Of their ,
city.
Between the figures are symbols
of great human ideas and mysteries.
the Swastika originating far be-
yond the beginning Of history and
common 10 most OF the primitive
races OF the world. its meaning not
always the me. but always bene-
fcient TO human beings; the two
curved shapes within the circle rep
resenting Life as formed by the male |
and female elements; the Cross. I
that has Influenced the world for
two thousand years; the Star that
stands for liberty OF thought and
action.
The general architecture OF the
building is not Greek as has been
suggested. but il more closely fol-
lows the style OF the Imperial Ro-
mans. Much OF their work was done
by Greek artisans and architects.
however. so there is a resemblance.
Romans used both arch and Intel.
,sch as the particular case demand
ID. We have used Intel colstruc-
ion as II seemed more in harmony
With modern methods and permitted
windows OF more efficient light value.
rhe columns. entablature, cornices.
he entrance doorway are purely
Roman in form and detail. There is
/ similar frieze OF stone IN the tenn
lie OF Antoninus and Faustina in the
Roman Forum; a somewhat similar
doorway at Palmyra in Asia Minor:
imilar great carved festoons on
Roman temples and on tombs in the I
Appian Way
Neither Greeks nor Romans hes
tated to use color-decoration freely.
THE interior follows a Greek or ,
Roman palace-arrangement with {
central top-lighted Atrium and sur
ounding rooms opening widely into
L Pompein houses are OF this type. :
Who fnforior. will he onar f-o,,, - |