Architecture Books

INTRODUCTION No one can look at a map of the Iberian Peninsula without being struck by the curious way in which it is unequally divided between two independent countries. Spain occupies by far the larger part of the Peninsula, leaving to Portugal only a narrow strip on the western seaboard some one hundred miles wide and three hundred and forty long. Besides, the two countries are separated the one... more...

WOODWARD'SCOUNTRY HOMES. In presenting to the public a new work on Domestic Architecture, it is our aim to furnish practical designs and plans, adapted to the requirements of such as are about to build, or remodel and improve, their Country Homes. The rapid progress in rural improvement and domestic embellishment all over the land, during the last quarter of a century, is evident to the... more...

GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL WORDS. Abacus.—The upper portion of the capital of a column, upon which the weight to be carried rests. Aisle (Lat. ala).—The side subdivision in a church; occasionally all the subdivisions, including the nave, are called aisles. Apse.—A semicircular or polygonal termination to, or projection from, a church or other public building. Arcade.—A range of arches, supported on... more...

INTRODUCTORY. For the investigation of art in its early stages and in its widest sense—there is probably no fairer field than that afforded by aboriginal America, ancient and modern. At the period of discovery, art at a number of places on the American continent seems to have been developing surely and steadily, through the force of the innate genius of the race, and the more advanced nations were... more...

INTRODUCTORY. The lover of country life who looks upon rural objects in the true spirit, and, for the first time surveys the cultivated portions of the United States, will be struck with the incongruous appearance and style of our farm houses and their contiguous buildings; and, although, on examination, he will find many, that in their interior accommodation, and perhaps relative arrangement to each... more...

Preface "A thousand years ago, by the rim of a tiny spring, a monk who had avowed himself to the cult of Saint Saturnin, robed, cowled and sandalled, knelt down to say a prayer to his beloved patron saint. Again he came, this time followed by more of his kind, and a wooden cross was planted by the side of the "Fontaine Belle Eau," by this time become a place of pious pilgrimage. After the... more...

CHAPTER I. A WISE FATHER AND A GLAD SON-IN-LAW. mong the wedding-presents was a small white envelope containing two smaller slips of paper. On one of these, which was folded around the other, was written, "A New House, From Father." The enclosed slip was a bank-check, duly stamped and endorsed. Did any old wizard's magic-box ever hold greater promise in smaller compass! Certainly not more... more...

INTRODUCTION. 1. The Science of Architecture, followed out to its full extent, is one of the noblest of those which have reference only to the creations of human minds. It is not merely a science of the rule and compass, it does not consist only in the observation of just rule, or of fair proportion: it is, or ought to be, a science of feeling more than of rule, a ministry to the mind, more than to the... more...

CHAPTER I THE ORIGIN OF THE CHURCH PLAN IN ENGLAND § 1. Side by side with the establishment of Christianity as the religion of the Roman empire, there appeared a fully developed plan for places of Christian worship. The normal Christian church of the fourth century of our era was an aisled building with the entrance at one end, and a semi-circular projection known as the apse at the other. The body of... more...

The very general and keen interest in the revival of arts and crafts in America is a sign full of promise and pleasure to those who are working among the so-called minor arts. One reads at every turn how greatly Ruskin and Morris have influenced handicraft: how much these men and their co-workers have modified the appearance of our streets and houses, our materials, textiles, utensils, and all other... more...