Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-03-24

Looking at the pictures in Famous
Houses and Literary ShrineS Of Lon
DON" by A. st. John Adcock, published
by E. p. Dutton & Co., New York, Is
almost as good as walking through the
great city.
The SO pen-and-ink drawings by. the
authors brother, Frederick Adcock, have
charm and distinction which enable
them to admirably fill the place OF 8
host who knows his London.
All of us are children when it comes
to illustrations. The success of Tar
Fan" in picture form proves it. Then
there have been two complete novels
worked out and issued solely in THU
medium.
Pictures of houses have a peculiar
fascination for some persons, among
whom the writer here counts himself
When they are the homes of famous
persons there is an added interest.
The City of London was the birth
place Of Chaucer, Spenser, Ben Jonson
Fletcher, Middleton, Sir Thomas
Browne, DR.. Dome. Cowley, Herrick
Pope, Gray, Defoe, Bacon, Keats, Lamb
Blake, Byron, Hood, the RoSettis, SWIM
burne, Browning and Ruskin, and scores
of other literary men lived there.
Many of the houses they lived in are
still standing, and the author and Illus
traitor of the book under consideration
aimed to show us the one and tell us
something about the other.
We always have had a weakness fol-
pen-and-ink drawings. They are al
once SO neat and businesslike. yet so
replete with an atmosphere OF dreams
and recollections.
The tower of st. Saviour's Church
Southwark Cathedral, surviving since
Shakespeare's sojourn in London, rears
itself as the first of these illustrations
There is the gateway to the Middle
Temple, showing an old gentleman with
cane about to walk through, with a
glimpse of street and shops. There is
the Jerusalem chamber of Westminster
Abbey, used by the translators of the
Authorized Version. There is st. Olaves
churchyard, with the same elderly gen.
field. All of these are relics of Shake
speare's day.
The left wing of the house where
Alexander Pope wrote his Essay on
Man" still stands, and is shown by Mr.
Adcock It looks bit like one end OF
the Adams School, on r street, with
two large chimneys added.
Sir Isaac Newton's house, in st. Mar
tins street, is large three-story struc-
ture, one of a row. as most of these
houses are, with a fiat roof, and ire
mendous lantern suspended over the
door by very large bracket. The door
Is at a somewhat lower level than the
first-ffoor windows.
Sir James Thornhill's house, at rs
Deane street, where Hogarth was often
at dinner, is one of a row, the indi-
vidual houses of which are distinguished
by unusually large doorways, fianked
by heavy columns.
The inevitable iron picket fence is
before the yard. which appears all of 6
feet deep. Here we see the English love
for privacy of private property. What
else Is private property for? And yet
in the United States does not private
property often mean simply a play
ground for children?
Hogarth's own house, in Chiswick
nestles behind what appears to be a
lilac, with a tree of some sort to one
side. 1t has more of the rural look
than most of the others.
When we come to Sir Joshua Rey-
nolds' house we have a fine, broad.
three-story house with attic, such as
one may find to the north and west of
Dupont Circle. Here, too, is fence,
but with no gate.
Sir Benjamin Vests house. in New
man street, has great door, sur
mounted by two angels, lighted by a
huge globe. A yard all of 4 feet square
is duly surrounded by fence. They
loved fences in London, and we love
them for it.
Pump Court of the Temple, the pro-
genitor of all our modern apartment
buildings, shows q scraggly tree, faced
by i've fine arches. Who doesn't love