" THE ARCHITECTS' JOURNAL"
WE wonder how many of our readers realize that The Architects' Journal is a paper by no means exclusively devoted to building technicalities ? In the issue of September 6th there is an article on Chinese wall-papers, delightfully illustrated and entertainingly written. We learn that as early as 1634 Charles I. granted a patent for the manufacture of wall- papers, and we are shown old examples printed on the small sheets some two foot square that were the fashion up till the nineteenth century, bearing the duty stamp of the " Paper Hangings " tax.
Surely someone should revise the engaging wall-papers of " Mr. Jackson of Battersea," who printed representations of Italian landscapes and antique sculpture. This is his own recommendation of his wares :—
" The person who cannot purchase the statues themselves may have these prints in their places, and thus effectually show his taste. 'Tis the choice and not the price which discovers
• Andrew Marvell. Tercentenary Tributes by various contributors. Edited ids by W. H. Bagguley, F.L.A., City Librarian, Hull. London : Humphrey Milford.
the true taste of the possessor and thus the Apollo Belvedere, the Medician Venus, or the Dying Gladiator may be disposed of in niches or surrounded with a mosaic work in imitation of frames, or with festoons and garlands of flowers, with great taste and elegance, or, if preferred, landscapes after the most famous masters may be introduced into the paper."
More strictly architectural is the article on some recent war memorials, by far the best of which is that at Calcutta by Mr. John Greaves—a striking vacation on the Whitehall cenotaph theme. A new and attractive feature of The Journal is the
" Pictorial Review," which, under thy wide heading " Illus- trations of Topical, Practical, or Curious Interest," contrives to give little pictures of architecture of all ages from all over the world.
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