French Cathedrals. By Jean Bony. Photo- graphs by Martin Hurlimann.
(Thames and Hudson. 3 ss.) A HUNDRED AND NINETY-SIX pages of archi- tectural and sculptural photographs, as good as such photographs can be, devoted to the high Gothic of the Ile de France and of Normandy, with an introduction/ and notes pointing out essentials of style and develop- ment—this book is as great a pleasure to one who knows the cathedrals as to one who does not. For there is Chartres humped on its hill as one approaches it over the plain, and the statue of Joseph with the offering from the main porch of Rheims, and the tall nave of Bourges. The illustrations are admirably selected, and composed without that freak- ishness which invaded architectural photo- graphy shortly before the war. Here is the cream of Gothic as the visitor sees it, but with a precision his memory cannot attain. This is a' book which will remind old travellers of what they have seen, and give future travellers a foretaste of experience&
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