The author’s work in wrought iron is comparable in design and finish to the best work that has been produced in that material.
Some pieces of the best German work are before me as I make this statement and tho more intricate they are no better in execution and far less suitable to the material in design than the pieces illustrated in this book which I have seen in process of execution and in the finished form.
The author has moreover been a teacher of wrought metal work for many years.
This experience is reflected in the sequence of difficulty presented by the exercises and the clear, simple statement of the text.
With such clear and exact statement and with such profuse illustration it is evident that the metal worker can gather much of the author’s long experience from this book and take many a short cut to success in an accomplishment to which there can be no royal road.
But the effectiveness of an applied art is measured best by its expression of purpose within the limitations of the material used.
The artistic success of this book lies in the evident fact that the work represented appears “Hand wrought and fashioned to beauty and use.”
I predict for it increasing usefulness in setting right the practice of forging in school shops and as an inspiration to teachers, craftsmen and tradesmen.
EDWARD J. LAKE.