In the Classified List of Articles in the Index Volume the student of insurance will find on page 893 a list of articles in the field of economics and social science, many of which will bear more or less directly on the subject. Among these articles and sub-articles are:

CHAPTER XV
FOR ARCHITECTS

Although architecture is more and more coming to be recognized as one of the fine arts, it is at the same time so largely practical and utilitarian that its theory and methods may to a great extent be gathered from systematic reading. In the article Fine Arts in the Britannica, by Sir Sidney Colvin, it is well said that “The original or rudimentary type of the architect, considered not as a mere builder but as an artist, is the savage, who, when his tribe had taken to live in tents or huts instead of caves, first arranged the skins and timbers of his tent or hut in one way because it pleased his eye, rather than in some other way which was as good for shelter.” Whether the architect wishes to learn how the eye may be pleased, to study critically the history of architecture, or, like the less imaginative savage who failed of being the first inspired architect, to consider comfort and shelter rather than beauty and charm, he will find much to help him in the Britannica. If his interest is chiefly practical, he should consult the chapter For Builders in this Guide.

The architect should read first—and he will constantly be referring to it afterwards—the article Architecture (Vol. 2, p. 369), equivalent in length to 235 pages of this Guide and illustrated by 140 figures, about one-third of which are photogravures. The article is historical in the main and a brief outline of it is as follows:—

The part of the article dealing with Modern Architecture is by H. H. Statham author of a well-known book on the subject. Earlier sections are by R. Phené Spiers, late master of the Royal Academy’s Architectural School, with sections on the Romanesque and Gothic in France by W. R. Lethaby, principal of the Central (London County) School of Arts and Crafts.

Before continuing his more systematic historical readings the student may well read the article House (Vol. 13, p. 810), illustrated with 12 figures (3 plates), including four particularly fine examples of “half timbered buildings,” and one English house, the Jew’s House at Lincoln, dating from the 12th century. An interesting article on Mural Decoration (Vol. 19, p. 16) is by a remarkably distinguished trio: William Morris, poet, craftsman and painter, John Henry Middleton, late Slade professor of fine art, Cambridge, and Walter Crane, the well-known illustrator and decorator. This is illustrated with 16 figures in black and white and with a reproduction in colours of a wall-painting from a Roman villa of the early Empire. The article deals with: reliefs in marble and stone; marble veneer; glazed bricks or tiles; hard stucco; sgraffito; stamped leather; painted cloth; printed hangings and wall-papers; and painting.

If the student of architecture would know about the buildings of prehistoric times, in which there was little architecture in the sense of a fine art, he should read the articles Archaeology, (Vol. 2, p. 344), Lake Dwellings (Vol. 16, p. 91), Stonehenge (Vol. 25, p. 961) and Stone Monuments, Primitive (Vol. 25, p. 962),—the last two of particular interest to the building engineer because it is so puzzling a problem how these great blocks could have been brought such distances and set in place without modern appliances.

Early Oriental Architecture