Sir Banister Fletcher's History of Architecture must be the most
popular, as it is certainly one of the most respected, of books of its kind. It has been reprinted since the eighth edition of 1928, and now it appears in a ninth edition, still larger and still more abundantly illustrated (Batsford, 42s.). A hundred pages have been added, making more than a thousand in all, and the illustrations have increased by 500 to about 4,000. Moreover, there has been a good deal of revision. The author has been at pains to include photographs and brief descriptions of recent buildings of importance in London, such as the new Masonic- headquarters and the Hospital for Sick Children. Sir Banister Fletcher gives so much and covers so wide a field that it would be unfair to criticize him for not being encyclopaedic. Perhaps in the tenth edition he will deal with the new architecture of the Continent, especially of Sweden and Holland, in all its austere simplicity. But the book as a whole is excellent and invaluable. His lists of architects and their works, brought up to date, are much to be commended, and the index is trustworthy.
* * * *
Previous page
