Evening star., 1932-02-13
THE LIBRARY TABLE
By the Booklorer

| Two valuable and interesting books
on Colonial architecture. one text and
| illustrations. the other entirely plates
are Interiors Of Virginia Houses OF
| Colonial Times" and Colonial 1nte-
riorS," both by Edith Tunis Sale. In
| her preface to the former volume the
author expresses her appreciation TO
the owners of Virginias old Colonisl
houses who have generously opened
wide their historic doors In order that
generations of the future might see and
| love the interiors revered by them.
The most thorough research has gone
into the making Of these books. Both
text and illustrations have been gath
cred from personal visits to these
ancient dwellings where precious family
papers and rare records were graciously
placed at the disposal Of the author
Though much has been written of
Virginia'S historic buildings. Of her
romantic old gardens. this Is the first
time the interiors of her true Colonial
! houses have been seriously considered.
! though 1t is in the interiors that one
sees clearly what the daily life Of the
ColonistS was. Both the founders
and their master-workmen were con-
servetive artificers and they have left
| plicated." The Virginia houses discussed
in the former volume are classified geo.
graphically and listed under the high
ways by which they are reached.
| The highways are George Washington
| Highway. Pocahontas Trail. Gold Star
| Highway, Pamunkey Trail, Kings
Highway, Tidewater Trail, Jefferson
! Davis Highway, James River Road, Jeffer-
son Highway. Among the finest Of the
| houses whose interiors are described
are: Carter's Grove. the George Wythe
House and the Peachy House in the
Williamsburg section; York Hall, the
Shield House and RoSegill in the
| Yorktown section: Mount Airy. Sabine
| hammock section; Kenmore and Gay
Mont in the Fredericksburg section
| Gunston Hall and Mount Vernon In
the Washington section: Brandon and
! Claremont in the James River section.
and Monticello in the Charlottesville
section.
! The second of the volumes by Edith
| Tunis Sale. Colonial Interiors" has
| a classification of its plates according
to interior architectural features. The
divisions are halls, stair halls stair
ways and balustrades, interiors, in
terror drawing rooms, dining rooms,
music rooms. bed rooms, kitchens,
chimney breasts, mantels. mantels and
doorways, doorways, windows and de-
| tails. The Colonial Railways reproduced
in these pictures have so much charm
! that one can easily understand why
they were often center of family ac-
tivities. The large square hall at Bran
don. with it's wide center arch flanked
! by two smaller ones, one of which spans
! the staircase, has both StatelineSS and
hcmelikeneSs. The two long windows
at the rear give abundant light and,
except for draughts, which the early
residents of BranCon perhaps did not
feel as keenly as do dwellers in over
heated apartm ents today the great hall
is an adequate reception room. At
Rosegill 'the long river hall presents
the uncommon spectacle OF stairway
rising from each end" both Of walnut
in natural color and of the same design.
Guests could easily run up to their
| rooms at whichever side of the house
they might be located At Stratford
the rather bare hall shows the tastes
of its owners, for 1t is furnished with
built-in bookcases in recesSes between
Corinthian pilasters Of walnut. Clare
mont Manor has unusually be" utiful
paneled library dining room with
arched recesses and music room.
X
/ The bed rooms Of the large Colonial
houses, though usually not as spacious
/ rooms as those for family use, are
6ignified and uncrowded. They often
| have sloping ceilings and dormer WIN
dowS. A fireplace in bed room was
| a luxury. almost a necessity for COM
| fort, in those days before central heat
! ing The bed room fireplaces are usually
very simple in design, square openings
with plain mantels or no mantel at all
| Occasionally, as at Claremont. a bed
| room mantel shows beading and simpl7
| decorative designs. The preservation
or restoration of the Colonial furnish
! ings-the tester beds, bedside tables
; rush chairs hooked rugs, chests
! drawers-helps to give to these b.
rooms the real atmosphere of their da".
. The kitchens OF Colonial houses weT,
roomy affairs, capable of staging gen.
erous meals, in the days before diet,
became fashionable. Where they have
something like their original condition
they tempt a visitor to linger today,
with their huge, deep fireplaces, hung
full of kettles their artistic hand
wrought andirons, wooden tables and
chairs, often much Scared, and roughly
matched stone floors. Interesting old
| kitchens are to be found at Old Lynn
haven, Princess Anne County Rose
gill, Middlesex County; Brandon, Prince
George County, and Tuckahoe, Gooch-
land County. The kitchen at Old
| Eynnhaven has a wooden floor of wide
boards. a deep bricked fireplace, and
tall windows. 1t dates from 1884 and
was restored in 1926.
X x
In Knut Hamsun's August" sequel
to "Vagabonds" the irresponsible, but
likable, vagabond August continues
his not always creditable adventures
After vagabonding about many coun-
tries, he returns to his native Norwe-
| gian home. Polden. In the 20 years
of his absence, there have been many
changes and new audience has grown
up to listen to his badly inflated tales.
Polden is an isolated fishing village
above the Arctic Circle and it's only
normal eXcitementS are the fortunes
of the fishermen and the vital statis-
tics of the community, so the arrival
of storytelling adventurer who
knows their life and tastes is a bless
| ing from the blue. August is not con-
tent. however, merely to amuse his
fellow townSmen; he tries to reform
them. He sees, in the light of his
travels. that Polden is still a village
| of the middle ages and thinks that it
should be brought into line with the
advances of the twentieth century. He
first secures a post office, then bank
and a herring factory. He starts a
real estate boom by cutting up farm
land TO make building sites. The diff
ficulty with it all is that the boom
does not come as advertised by AL
gust. The Poldeners do not write let
! ters. so there is no mail for the post
office. The bank fails, because it loans
its money on worthless security. The
factory does not run. because there is
no power for it. Building lots, of
course, do not sell, because there is
not enough population to buy them.
With the farms cut up. fewer potatoes
are planted and less grain, so when a
poor herring season comes, famine
4