The recarches of antiquarians and architects, towards the end of
the last and in the beginning of the present century, have accu- mulated a vast amount of information on the subject of Gothic Architecture, that only required a vigorous and comprehensive mind to digest and arrange in a cyclopmilic form, rejecting fanciful theories and speculations, and presenting only facts and examples. This arduous and useful labour has been undertaken by Mr. JOHN BRITTON, whose name is inseparably connseted with the cathedral and other architectural antiquities of England; and who, by his extensive practical knowledge and indefatis;able in- dustry, would seem to be eminently fitted for the task. But, as the proverb has it, " the proof of the pudding is in the eating and Mr. BRITTON'S DiCiirmary if the Architecture and Archecolo2-y of the Middle Ayes falls short of our expectations. It foal's, in- deed, a bulky' and handsome volume of the largest ectavo size, illustrated with plates of numerous examples, beautifully en- graved : and contains an immense quantity of information not belbre brought together. But its utility is marred by absurdi
and lessened by deficiencies. Fur example, we find such sur- plusage as " Knife, a cutting instrument with a sharp edge whilst under the heads " Normen," " Lombard," " Roman," and "Moorish " Architecture, the intelligeece is so superficial as to amount almost to none at all ; and " Byzantine Architecture" le left unnoticed.
Of Miseish Architecture, Mr.13iterroN has no more to say than that " It is a peculiar manner of desien in building, which the inhabi:aets ef Morocco, in common with most o' her Mohamm den nations, employed in mosques and other public edifices, and which appears to have previously prevailed in Persia and Constantinople. Its chief features were pointed, depressed, scolloped, horse-shoe, and egee arches, lolly elongated cupolas, and a profusion of ela- borate tracery and eculptured detail. In Spain it prevailed whilst that country was under the Moorish dominion ; and many inte- resting examples of it remaiu in the Alhambra, at Granada." And then he refers to Munrev's work. This gossiping way of dis- missing a style of architecture so nearly resembling the Githic, phich it is the main object of the Dictionary to illustrate, is, to say the least, unsatisfactory. The description of Norman, the basis of the pointed style, and intimately connected with the Gothic, is even less explicit. The articles "Effigy " and " Monument" are almost blank ; though the sculpturesque and architectural charac-
ter of the nunannental remains is material to a complete view of the subject. The notices of eminent architects and founders of edifices are also meagre: those of INI GO JONES and WREN, the two greatest architects that ever lived in England, are particularly disappointing.
Even in the engraved examples we have sonic omissions to com- plain of: the gable, that peculiar feature of English domestic archi- tecture, is not found in the Plates; and the cupola, which most of all requires delineation to make its beauty evident, is overlooked : nay, more, the dome of the Invalides at Paris, the perfection of symmetry and elegance, is not even mentioned in the text ; while those of St. Genevieve (the Pantheon)—an ill-proportioned and in- elegant structure, and the Colosseum in the Regent's Park—a mere dump as regards form, are instanced among the "best mo- dern examples." The illustrations of Norman and Gothic archi- tecture are very various, and appear judiciously selected, so as to
indicate the leading characteristics by remarkable specimens,— though the assortment of windows is rather too limited. The plates, forty in number, are crowded with subjects, exquisitely engraved by LE KEUX.
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