Current Literature
WESTMINSTER ABBEY By A. L. N. Russell Westminster Abbey is a good place in which to pick up a little history, a little gossip, a little sentiment and a little architectural knowledge, and these are just the ingredients which Mr. Russell's book (Chatto and Windus, 6s.) offers to the reader, agreeably mixed in sensible proportions. The book is not a mere description of the Abbey and a history of its building; It contains also an account of its foundation and of the early buildings which have since disappeared ; it gives a picture of monastic life in the Middle Ages and of the great ceremonies which have taken place in the Church; it gives brief biographies of the principal people buried there and describes, in particular detail, the celebrated wax effigies. In his judgement of the architecture and works of art to be seen at Westminster Mr. Russell is restrained, though his dislike of the Classical in comparison with the Gothic will not always allow itself to be repressed. Two chapters in the middle of the book are devoted to a short history of the Gothic style of architecture and an analysis of its principles of construction, both being related as closely as possible with examples at the Abbey. By this means the visitor equipped with this book will be able to carry away with him a sound general knowledge of Gothic architecture, made more vivid by being learnt partly from the printed page and partly from the actual stone and wood of the building.
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