The subscribers to the Wren Society, which exists to publish
the documents and drawings that may throw light on the career of the great English architect, are to be con- gratulated on their fourth volume (Hampton Court Palace, 1689-1702). In this superb quarto, printed at the Oxford Press, Mr. Arthur T. Bolton, of the Sir John Soane Museum, and Mr. H. Duncan Hendry deal with Wren's work at Hampton Court under William III. and Mary, and show how Wren's first magnificent plans had to be cut down after the Queen's death. They give some sixty pages of the detailed accounts, incidentally referring to the qUarrel between Wren and Talman the controller, which came to a head when part of the new building fell down. More im- portant and interesting are forty-six sheets of plans and drawings preserved at the Soane Museum and at All Souls' College. The subscription to the Wren Society is only a guinea, and members certainly get their money's worth.
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