THE ARTS.
English Interiors in Smaller Houses, 1660-1830. By M. Jourdain. (Botsford. 24s. Gd.)
Mr. Jourdain has collected a number of excellent photo- graphs and drawings, showing interior details—mostly in wood and plaster—typical of the best English domestic architecture from the Restoration to the end of the Regency. The author invites our especial attention to his examples "in view of the present desire for simplicity and economy," but happy is the architect who can to-day persuade a client that his hall should be pillared and vaulted, his drawing-room panelled and his dining-room ceiling painted. For, in spite of his title, Mr. Jourdain does not scruple to poach from such great mansions as Raynham and Belton, whilst the majority of his illustrations show that discreet richness for which our Later Renaissance houses are justly famed. The last paragraph of the preface is melancholy " It may be pointed out that the number of historic houses decreases every year. Quite a large proportion of the examples illustrated ... are no longer extant, having been swept away during the present century." We arc learning the bitter truth that the War is bringing ruin and destruction to many of the country houses of England as surely as it did to the châteaux on the Somme. Some day, perhaps, we shall be a world at peace and prosperous enough to build handsomely again. Meanwhile, architects as well as laymen will find this book most pleasantly suggestive. The brief notes are chiefly addressed to the latter.
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