Much of Mr. Macomber's text was written originally for The San Francisco Chronicle, to which acknowledgment is made for its permission to reprint his papers. The popularity of these articles, which have been running since February, has testified to their usefulness. In many cases they have been preserved and passed from hand to hand. They have also won the endorsement of liberal use in other publications. It is proper to say, however, that similarity of language sometimes indicates a common following of the artists' own explanations of their work, made public by the Exposition management.
Mr. Macomber has revised and amplified his chapters hitherto published, and has added others briefly outlining the history of the Exposition, and dealing with the fine-arts, industrial, and livestock exhibits, the foreign and state buildings, music, sports, aviation, and the amusement section. Apart from the smaller guides, the book is thus the first to attempt any comprehensive description of the Exposition. Without indiscriminate praise, or sacrificing independent judgment, the author's purpose has been to interpret and explain the many things about which the visitors on the ground and readers at home may naturally wish to know, rather than to point out minor defects.
For the general exhibit palaces, anything more than a brief outline of their contents would fill several books. But the chapter entitled "The Palace of Fine Arts and its Exhibit, with the Awards," supplies such an account of the plan of the galleries and of the important works therein as will furnish a clear and helpful guide to this great collection. The awards of the Fine Arts juries, just announced, have been incorporated in the account, while a full list of the grand prizes, medals of honor and gold medals also follows the chapter. With the artists thus named are noted the rooms where the works of each may be found. The Appendix offers a practical aid to the study of the "Exposition Art" in the list there given of the mural paintings and sculptures which form the notable decorations of palaces and gardens. With these are cross-references to the pages in the text where they are described.
In selecting the photographs here reproduced, the aim has been not so much to show exhibits as to illustrate the plan, architecture and decorative art of the Exposition, and to indicate the advance which it scores over its predecessors. The pictures, with their full "underlines," will aid those who have not yet visited the Exposition to apprehend its spirit and much of its unprecedented beauty. Cross-references from text to illustrations increase their helpfulness. But even these abundant illustration can do little more than suggest how far the artistic achievement is the finest yet seen in America. No book can adequately represent this World's Fair. Its spell is the charm of color and the grandeur of noble proportion, harmonizing great architectural units; its lesson is the compelling value, demonstrated on a vast scale, of exquisite taste. It must be seen to be understood.
John H. Williams.
San Francisco, July 15, 1915.
Contents
I. Motive and Planning of the Exposition
II. Ground Plan and Landscape Gardening
III. The South Gardens
IV. "The Walled City": Its Great Palaces and their Architecture,
Color and Material
V. The Tower of Jewels
VI. The Court of the Universe
VII. The Court of the Ages
VIII. The Court of the Seasons
IX. Courts of Flowers and Palms
X. The Fountains
XI. The Palace of Machinery
XII. The Palace of Fine Arts and its Exhibit, with the Awards
XIII. The Exposition Illuminated
XIV. Music at the Exposition
XV. Inside the Exhibit Palaces
XVI. The Foreign Pavilions
XVII. The State Buildings
XVIII. The Live-Stock Exhibit
XIX. Sports and Games; Automobile Races; Aviation
XX. The Joy Zone
Appendix: Lists of Sculptures, Mural Paintings, and Artists. Roster of the Exposition. Index.
Illustrations