The Inns of Court and Chancery. By W. J. Loftie,
F.S.A., with Illustrations by Herbert Railton. (Seeley and Co.)—This is a beautiful book. The illustrations are in • great part by Mr. Railton, but a few have been added by Mr. Pearce, and one or two old engravings have been reproduced with advantage. There is not wanting a certain affectation in Mr. Railton's work, but it is a pleasant affectation ; a kind of ideal quaintness seems to be characteristic of his style. It suits architectural subjects, when not treated professionally, very well. What he gives us actually exists, but when we see it in Mr. Railton's drawings we get a new idea, it may be a better idea, of what we have seen before. Pro- bably this is inevitable when an artist is dealing with Early English or Decorated architecture, but a plainer style is very well suited, as may be seen in Mr. Pearce's drawing of a corner in Old Square, Lincoln's Inn, on p. 60, for later periods. The conditions of illustration are obviously difficult. Part of an old building has to be detached from its surroundings, .and the effect is necessarily not quite the same as that which we see in our everyday walks. Take, for example, p. 65, where we have- the gateway of Lincoln's Inn which leads into the Fields with the end of the Hall at one side. It is very pretty, but certainly idealised Mr. Railton is well known as an illustrator, and we venture to point out the dangers of his methods, more with an eye to his imitators than himself. In their hands the effort to produce a picture will perhaps loud to positive incorrectness, and an over- luxuriousness of ornament which will not be very pleasing. Necessarily, the letterpress in such a book is in a secondary Position. It has been carefully compiled by Mr. Loftie, who notes that Goldsmith is curiously solitary among great men in having died in the Temple. In dealing with the suppression of the Tem- plars, we ought to read "the Council of Vienne (1312) " instead of Vienna ; Mr. Round gives references which throw doubt on the De Mandeville effigy in the church. A singular point in the history of ecclesiastical architecture is illustrated by the Chapel at Lincoln's Inn, which marks the transitory Laudian Gothic revival. It was certainly designed by Inigo Jones, though some doubt may be expressed about St. Albans, Wood Street. Mr. Lof tie has collected interesting notes of the inhabitants and office- bearers of the Inns, and has shown skill in suggesting a great deal, while the space at his disposal was small. On p.65, Herring's elevation to the See of Bangor should be dated June 18th, 1737, instead of 1738.
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