International studio (22.1904)

BOOK REVIEWS

ARCHITECTURAL PERSPECTIVE FOR BEGINNERS :
Containing 11 plates of practical examples con-
sidered with reference to the student in an
architect's office. By F. A. WRIGHT, Architect,
gth edition. Large 4to. Illustrations full-page.
New York: William T. Comstock, 23 Warren
Street. 1904. $3.00 net.
The scope of this book can best be described
by quoting from the author's preface : " In pre-
paring the following pages on perspective I have
mainly kept in mind that large class of draughts-
men who are obliged to be self-taught. Since the
time when I myself was struggling to obtain from
the best books to be had a practical knowledge of
perspective, I have been more and more convinced
that all the books were either inadequate or too
complex, if considered solely with reference to the
actual needs of an architect's office. I hope that
this book may be of special assistance to draughts-
men who have had little time to get perspective,
and that the start they may obtain through its aid
may lead them to study and learn more. The
method of this book is the one I have followed
with my office pupils, and the rapidity and ease
with which they acquired the facility to draw in
perspective makes me think that others can as
easily be taught in the same way through a book."
The fact that the book has run through five edi-
tions is sufficient guarantee of its excellence, even
were it not from the pen of one of such standing as
Mr. F. A. Wright. The book will be found invalu-
able by aspiring architects.
ABOUT BooK-MAKiNG: An Address before The
Rowfant Club in Cleveland. By GEORGE
FRENCH. i6mo. Pages x + 46. Printed in
two colors. Cleveland: The Imperial Press,
1904.
The Rowfant Club has stood for all that is best
in book-making, and it can be taken for granted
that whoever is appointed to address them on
the subject of book-making must be an authority
on bibliography — even were such a one himself
unknown. Mr. George French is, however, a
well-known bibliophile, and his little book will be
welcome to many. There is a general tendency
to make books not mere commercial products, but
rather works of art, — as was the custom when

book-making began. In our efforts it is true that
we don't always follow classic models ; generally
to our hindrance, — but not always. As Mr.
French truly remarks: " Comparisons between
our best books and the best books of all time
are not quite profitable and are not quite fair to
our own time." Mr. French continues: "It is
the purpose of these few small pages to rather
arouse the better knowledge of the makers of
books than to attempt to teach. The simple
principles noted are firmly in the minds of the
better printers, and are by them put into practice
with some degree of fidelity." Then follow a few
words not altogether complimentary to publishers
in general, but perhaps not undeserving of some
publishers in particular. Mr. French divides his
book under the following headings : The Book in
Art; What is the Remedy ; The Optical Quality ;
Type and Motive ; Typographic Harmony; The
Ideal View.
THE PARSIFAL OF RiCHARD WAGNER. Translated
from the French of MAURICE KuFFERATH by
LouiSE M. HENERMANN. Introduction by H.
E. K.REHBIEL. Pages 300. Illustrations. New
York : Henry Holt & Co. $1.30 net.
With the great interest in Parsifal that is at
present being felt by wide circles, this book will
come as a welcome source of reliable information
on the libretto of the drama, as well as on the
constructive organization of the music. As Mr.
Krehbiel points out in his Introduction, Wagner
designed this play as a ritualistic consecration of
the stage. Wagner was a sincere believer in the
idea that the theatre might be made to occupy the
place in the modern world that it did in the classic.
If it was not to supplant the church, it was at least
to take its place beside it and teach directly, as
well as by allegory. The volume is particularly
useful for those who wish to thoroughly compre-
hend the musical construction, owing to the pub-
lisher having inserted in the text the musical
notation of the various motifs upon which it is
built. The illustrations are half-tone reproductions
from photographs of the scenes from Parsifal, as
presented* at the Metropolitan Opera House, New
York. The volume distinctly succeeds in its aim
to be a standard work on its subject, which it treats
exhaustively.

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