2 AUGUST 1930, Page 25

Houdon's fine statue of Washington should he well known now

that a replica stands outside the National Gallery. The Jefferson papers relating to it in the Library of Congress have now been edited for the Institut Francais of Washington by Professor Chinard, under the title of Houdon in America (Baltimore : Johns Hopkins Press, 3 dollars 50, and II. Mil- ford). The State of Virginia in 1784 ordered the statue. Jefferson in Paris persuaded Houdon to go to America in 1785, where lie saw Washington and took a east of his face. The statue, delayed by the Revolution, was sent to Richmond, Virginia, in 1790. Houdon executed busts of other great Americans like Jefferson and Franklin, as well as of Lafayette and Conderut, which arc also illustrated in this interesting book.

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