The secretaries of a number of the architectural clubs have very kindly responded to our request for notices and reports of their meetings and proceedings, and we are pleased to be able to give short reports of such occurrences as are of general interest. There are some clubs, however, from whom we have not yet heard, and we would suggest that it will be a help to all concerned if the secretaries of all the architectural clubs will furnish us with short accounts of their regular meetings and of any other occasions of importance. We shall be pleased also to publish any correspondence which will in any way further the interests of these organizations. We shall be glad to have The Brochure Series considered as the organ of communication between the various clubs, and will place our services at their command.
Books.
Examples of Colonial Architecture in Charleston, S. C., and Savannah, Ga. Compiled, photographed, and published by Edward A. Crane and E. E. Soderholtz, Boston Architectural Club, Boston. 50 plates, 11 x 14. $12.50.
How much the revival of the classic influence of the early colonial and the immediately succeeding period is going to prevail in the establishment of a distinctive American style of architecture it is now difficult or indeed impossible to determine; but at all events the reaction from the Queen Anne vagaries of ten years ago to the more severe mass and chaste detail of the recent so-called colonial houses is a step in the right direction, and we have much to be thankful for in the improvement which this tendency has wrought in our recent domestic architecture. Beautiful and admirable as some of the recent examples of this work are, very few show the subtle appreciation of design to be found in many of the older buildings which until the last year or two have been looked upon as merely the outgrown and cast-off work of an age much less refined than our own.
With the very general adoption of this style there has been an increased interest in the few remaining fine old examples which are scattered over the Eastern and Middle States, and the best of these are now familiar to architects.
Few, however, know anything of the development of this style in the Southern States, and the work now before us will be a revelation to those who have not visited the neighborhood of Charleston and Savannah.
A large proportion of the plates is devoted to Charleston, which owes its wealth and in fact the greater part of its existence to the prosperous planters of former days, who made the city a winter resort.
The most notable house illustrated in the work is the William Bull Pringle house, built by Miles Brewton in 1760. It has long been famous as one of the finest houses in the country. Josiah Quincy, who was entertained by its first owner, speaks in enthusiastic terms of its beauty and the charm of its surroundings. Fourteen plates are devoted to illustrating its various features. The two-story portico with a Doric order below and Ionic above, relieved against the brick front laid in Flemish bond, the simple but well-designed iron fence, flanked on either side by a wall with massive brick posts covered with plaster, and all overgrown with a tangle of foliage, make up a fascinating picture. The view of the side gateway and a group of darky boys is wonderfully picturesque, besides being very suggestive as an architectural fragment.
The detail is delicate and refined, but as a rule lacks the force and vitality of the Northern work of the same period. The interior detail shows a marked French influence, especially in the ceilings, mantels, and stairway. The drawing-room, of which a double plate is given, is probably without doubt the finest colonial room in the country, and is certainly a fine piece of design all through.