IX 



GEORGIAN HOUSES 



REFERENCE was made in the last chapter to the influence 

 of architectural books in stimulating the interest of wealthy 

 amateurs in the matter of building. The eighteenth century 

 saw a considerable increase in the number published, and of 

 these two of the earliest and most important were Lord Burling- 

 ton's, or rather Kent's, " Designs of Inigo Jones," and Colin 

 Campbell's " Vitruvius Britannicus." Kent put his name to the 

 former, and no doubt rightly, as being the collector and editor 

 of the materials comprised in the two volumes ; but Lord 

 Burlington was the "only begetter" as well as the paymaster of 

 the venture. The first volume is devoted almost entirely to one 

 of the designs for the palace at Whitehall, which have already 

 been dealt with in Chapter IV. The second volume consists of 

 designs for houses of all sizes, nominally by Inigo Jones, but 

 actually by Webb. Plans, elevations, and some sections are 

 given, but there is an air of unreality about them, and, as a 

 matter of fact, very few of them were actually built. They are 

 mostly exercises in design in which the convenience of the plan 

 is a secondary consideration. The Thorpe collection is very 

 different in this respect. There most of the plans have the 

 rooms named, a genuine effort being made to get a workable 

 design, with all its parts suitably related one to the other. In 

 Kent's book none of the rooms are named ; there appears to be 

 no effort to achieve a workable result. The space enclosed 

 within the outside walls is divided into rooms, and the rooms 

 are carefully proportioned ; but so far as the designer is con- 

 cerned any room might be put to any purpose at the fancy of 

 the occupant. The relation of the dining-room to the kitchen, 

 for instance, is held of no account ; aspect and prospect are 

 alike neglected. Sanitary provision there is none. Bath-rooms, 

 of course, were unknown : indeed, from the few allusions to such 



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