NEW COUNTRY FOR A HUNT.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."1 SIR,—My attention has been called to the suggestive article which appeared under the above heading in your issue of October 26th. As one well acquainted with the Architectural Museum in Tufton Street, Westminster, may I beg leave for a little space in your valuable journal to reassure your readers as to the condition of its contents? I cannot agree with the author of the article that these are neglected by the Archi- tectural Association, their present custodian. The Museum was taken over from the late Museum authorities by the Architectural Association about eight years ago, and since then the Association has spent many hundreds of pounds, out. of its own funds, in improvements to the Museum itself and in rehanging the casts. Apart from annual subscriptions from the Royal Institute of British Architects and a few. interested architects, the Museum has no income of its own, so that the burden of its upkeep falls upon the Architectural Association, and I need hardly say that subscriptions from the public, to whom the museum is thrown open gratuitously, would be welcomed, as owing to the shape of the hall and the number of articles in the Museum it is difficult and expensive to keep them thoroughly well cleaned, but the objects themselves are in good preservation. If a catalogue was not forthcoming on the occasion when the author of the article visited the Museum it was because the Architectural Association, having a very great deal to do with its funds, has not money to spare to meet the cost. The collection of casts is, as the article bears witness, a valuable and remarkable one, and it is worth record- ing that it was formed during the height of the Gothic Revival, chiefly through the enthusiasm of men like Mr. Ruskin and the late Mr. A. Beresford Hope. At present it is of interest chiefly to the students of the Architectural Asso- ciation, and it is used by them in its schools, which are in the same building. The author of the article suggests that this. interesting museum is hidden away and lost to the general public. As it is in the heart of the City of Westminster I cannot think it is in the least inaccessible. Whether or no. some of the objects of the collection would be better placed in one of our great Museums than in their present home is a matter of opinion, but I can conceive that they might receive a larger measure of attention if they formed part of the national collection of casts of ancient works of interest in this
President, Architectural Association.,
18 Tufton Street, Westminster, S. W.
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