34 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND AHCMITECTS JOURNAL. 



[January, 



(he s1o|)p of (he h\Tgc truss lirackcts suppditing the horizontal heaiiis 

 <jf the ceiling. The style is holh well imaginecl and veil kept up, ami 

 the wliolc is exceedingly jileasiiig, ronsistent, and liarnioniuus, tlio\igh 

 (ibnoxious to olijeclion tVom (hose who would indiscrimiuatelv ])rciscribe 

 every thing tliat is nut supported by actual precedent, aidiough indul- 

 gent enough touartls all wliicli is so authorized, no matter how bad it 

 may be in itself, (iranting the merit to be equal, or nearly so, in 

 other respects, we should say that a design which brings forward 

 Kome novelty is (lie belter suited for publication ; p.irficularly in 

 works of «hirh (he object either is or ought to be to bring forward 

 fresh ideas, and such mii/hxn of )>lan or decoraliun as may be turned 

 to account, by being adopted as a liint, without being cither copied or 

 even so treated as to lead at once to the source of it. This has not 

 always been so well attended to as it ought to have been, else we 

 shoulil not meet with so ni.niy piiblislied designs as we now do, which 

 aflford no other instruction than what might just as well be obtained 

 from almost anything else of the same kind. Such, we apprehend, 

 will be found to be the case with the subject following the one we have 

 just been speaking of; which consists of the jilan and perspective 

 view of a villa erected near Lubeck, for Dr. Buekholtz ; but which we 

 are by no means disposed to receive as earnest of what the author 

 would be capable of producing, if at liberty to abandon himself freely 

 to the impulses of his own taste. Most certainly will not bear com- 

 parison with that of an Knglish house of the same size ; the arrange- 

 ment is uniloubfedly sinijjle enough, but too simple fin' either conve- 

 nience or eli'ect, and would, therefore, have, perhaps, been all the bet- 

 ter, had some positive difficulty occurred, which it would have been 

 necessary to combat. 



There is no doubt tliat such difficulty has mainly led to much of the 

 beauty and variety.of plan observable in Dr. Abendroth's house at 

 Hand)urg, built by the a\ithor between thi^ years l83'-!-(i, and which 

 liere forms (lie principal subject of his volume, being ilhistrated not 

 only by four plans, and elevation, and a section, Imt by two perspective 

 views, (one of the staircase, the other of a semicircular apartment), 

 lint also by several plates of details. The facade of this mansion or 

 jiaUizzo is in what may be called a Grecianized Italian style, much of 

 the detail being evidently of the former character, though the com- 

 ])osition and its general features stamp it as decidedly belonging to 

 the latter. Although it is asliilar, or columnless, it is greatly more de- 

 corated tlian almost any sjiecimens of (be class we have in London — 

 much more so, in fac(,than two which are likely to be quoted as among 

 the very few that can be named at all, viz., Sutlierland House, and that 

 of the Duke ui Wellingtim ; since both of them are in an exceedingly 

 cold and bald style of architecture, and with a remarkable poverty of 

 feeling about them ; and extreme nieagerness and Hatnessof detail. It 

 is, however, in the interior of this mansion that the architect has 

 cheiHy manifested his talent, by much happy invention, contrivance, 

 and taste ; and a careful study of the plans will show that there is 

 a great deal of effect whicli is not very apparent upon a cursory in- 

 sjiecticm of them. So far from conqilaining that this single subject 

 occupies too many of the jilates, we conid have wisheil one or two 

 more had been deviated to it, either as additional sections, or exterior 

 views, one of which ought, of course, to describe the small oblong 

 hexagonal cabinet, with a semicircular alcove occupying the side 

 facing the ccn(re window; which unusual form — so pleasing in itself, 

 and (browing so nundi variety into the suites of rooms, lias been occa- 

 sioned enlirely by (he awkwardness of the site, and tlie disagreeably 

 sharp angle, (be (wo fronts would else make at that corner of the 

 building. The slair-casi- is exceedingly tasteful, and exhibits what 

 we take to be iiltogether a novelty — having never before met widi, 

 nor lieard of, any similar instance, namely, an internal pediment over 

 the colonnade, produced by the ceiling being composed of (wo in- 

 cliiK'd planes, each half of which, where lliey unite at their ridge, is 

 glazed lo serve the |Mirpose of a sky-light. 



"The great saloon is adorned with casts of Thorwaldsen's frieze of 

 the- triumphal en(ry of Alexander into liabylon, the more valiiabh^ 

 because the greater part of the casts were taken from tlie clay models 

 <d' the master. 



" Tlie colossal busts of (he divinities in the niches of the stair-case, 

 are tlie work of Seigel. The images of the planets and lixeil s(ars of 

 the painted glass ceiling are from the designs of Edwin Specker. 

 The corner cabinet of tlie principal story is decorated willi arabes- 

 ques, after designs by the same master, painted in encaustic, by 

 JJlilde. Uiihtippily, it was too diHieiilt to represent such sportiv'e 

 fancies in their forms and colours in these outline plates." 



Alter making some of the remarks we have done, it would be pre- 

 posterous in us now to say tliat the volume ccmsists entirely of the 

 author's best specimens; (linugli it contains mncli (hat is of great in- 

 terest, we are persuaded (hat M. d(? Clieteaimcuf could render it 

 more valuable ; and we hope that eitiier uuotlier edition, or anothe 



collection, will alVord him the opporlunity of prolitiug bv our criti- 

 cism ; and if our praise has been somewhat qualified, wliere we have 

 bestowed it has been sincere — and had there been less striking merit 

 in some of the designs, we miglit, possibly, have thought better of 

 others among them, than we now do. 



Euclid' g Elements of Plane Geomelry, nilh Explanatory Appcndir, and 

 Siipplemailarij Propositions. By W. D. Cuolet, A. B. London : 

 Whitfaker and Co., 1S40. 



Mr. Cooley, in producing this work, seems almost to wish to con- 

 tradict his own motto, that " there is no royal road to geometry," for 

 following in the steps of Playfair, he has considerably diminished both 

 the volume of the work, as well as the labour of the student. He has 

 carefully gone over the elements, and greatly reduced the amplica- 

 tions and reiterations, which made former editions prolix, and he h;is, 

 wherever it was possible, substituted the ordinary arithmetical ami 

 algebraical signs. As he himself says, without in the slightest degree 

 injuring tlie work he has reduced to r2(» duodecimo pages tlie Six 

 Books of the Elements. 



Prefixed to the Elements are some remarks on the study of mathe- 

 matics, as valuable for the elegance of their style, as for the correct- 

 ness of their reasoning. The importance of departing from the ordi- 

 nary school rate of teaching cannot be too strongly enforced. 



At the end of the work are some notes and exercises on the several 

 books, in which Mr. (,'ooley gives his reasons for inserting a few fan- 

 ciful definitions of Playfair. To Playfair we are much indebted, but 

 it must not be forgotten that he was often led away by his turn 

 of mind into mere \'erbiage, making distinctions without a dif- 

 ference. 



Outline of the Method of a Conducting Trigonmetrical Survey, by Lieu- 

 tenant FrOiME, Royal Engineer, F.R.A.S., and A.LC.E. London : 

 Weale, 18 iU. 



This is the production of one of (he Professors in the Military Col- 

 lege at Chatham, and supplies a great desideratum in professional 

 literature. Lieutenant Frome is both, practically and theoretrieally 

 qualified for this task, and has, therefore, produced a work valuable 

 fur its own original merits, and for its careful collation of the best au- 

 thorities. It shows very strongly the mischief of a government system 

 that a man of such experience and capabilities should be only a Lieu- 

 tenant, waiting like his less talented and less employed brethren for 

 the Procrustean reward of a rise by seniority. 



The w'ork is well arranged, and of a high character going into the 

 practical details of the sulijeet much more deeply than its modest title 

 would induce the reader to believe. From a work of this nature it is 

 difficult to make any selection, but we intend at some future period to 

 extract two or tin-ee supplementary ])ortions. We must leive it, 

 therefore, to our readers to take our word for the valuable character of 

 Lieutenant Frome's work. 



Ornamental Gaits, Lodges, Pallisading and Rails of the Royal Parks, 

 S)-c. Part 1, containing 25 Plates, Edited and Published by John 

 Weale. 



The designs are iirinci|)ally the Park Lodges and Entrance G;ites of 

 Ucgent's Park and Hyde Park — the elaboratuly enriched gates to the 

 royal entrance of the New Palace, and the gates and railing to the 

 entrance of (he Sultan's Palace, at Constantinople. There are also 

 plans of St. James's Park, Kensington Gardens, and Regent's Park. 

 The whole are very delicately and beautifully engraved in outline. 



The Guide to Railway Masonry, by Peter Nicholson. 



This work is a complete treatise on the Oblique Arch, and contains 

 numerous engravings, illustrating the subject. The autliin' has de- 

 voted considerable pains in giving every detail by which a working 

 mason may be able to set out any part of the stone work of a bridge 

 with faciiity. 



The Comic Latin Gramar has been sent to us, a work most admira- 

 bly illustrated. Whether the design be jest or earnest we do not 

 know, but it is likly to be an equal favourite with the elder as well a? 

 the juvenile part of the tonimuiiity. 



