228 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



[July, 



ON THE HISTORY OF ANTIQUITIES. 



Sir — The subject of llie antiquities of those nations which occupied 

 an early period of history, has frequently attracted the attention of men 

 of learning, who have examined with the greatest care every record 

 which could throw light on the subject of their inquiry. 



These inquiries, however, have been always entered into in detached 

 portions for the purpose of studying the history and antiquities of a 

 single nation, and for that reason though tliey have been made by 

 persons well qualified for the task, their efTort's have been to a great 

 extent fruitless, and it yet remains to collect into one focus the result 

 of tbeir separate labours, and by affording the opportunity for com- 

 parison to increase their value tenfohl. Since the principal records 

 of the periods to which I allude, consist in remains of the useful or 

 liberal arts, sucli a comparison alone can at all exhibit the influence 

 one nation has had on another in the progress of civilization, and 

 enable us to connect many hitherto detached passages in the history of 

 the arts. 



No one has, perhaps, carefully compared the remains of ancient 

 art to be found in Egypt, India, Etruria and Peru, yet we have some 

 grounds for supposing that tliere has been a connection more or less 

 close between the inhabitants of all those countries : in fact to go 

 deeply into all these histories, by a personal examination of the prin- 

 cipal remains, would be too arduous a task for any one individual. 

 Besides the nations before mentioned, an attempt of this kind would 

 embrace the history of the Chaldees, the early history of the Tartars, 

 the Scandinavian tribes, the originators of Stonehenge, and the various 

 constructions called Cyclopean, with the remains of now unknown 

 origin in America, which have lately attracted the attention of the 

 antiquaries of that continent. 



Another branch of the same subject intimately connected with the 

 former, and of which the importance is too obvious to require ex- 

 planation, is that of inscriptions; and I have great reason to think 

 that in this especially, our present ignorance arises rather from the 

 ■want of a skilful combination of acquired materials, than from a defi- 

 ciency in those materials themselves. 



On these accounts I am ready to believe that any one entering upon 

 this subject and fully carrying it out, (and its comprehensiveness would 

 be its excellence), would confer an important benefit on art and litera- 

 ture. 



I remain, &c. 



E. L. 



ON CONTRACTS. 



Sir — I shall feel particularly obliged if you will be pleased to give 

 your opinion, in your next publication, on the question given below, 

 as it will be of great service in guiding me upon the business. 

 1 remain, your most obliged, 



Cardiff, May, M. R. 



(Case.) 

 I have been employed in making designs for a Rectory House, and after- 

 wards a specification of the several works, and a very full detailed estimate 

 of every item of expense of building the same, to accompany the speci- 

 fication. Among other things contained in the specification was the 

 sinking of a well (that a well should be sunk to a sufficient depth to obtain 

 water), and in the detailed estimate was an item for sinking the well of 

 3^. 10s., as being informed by the Incumbent that the springs were very near 

 the surface (which they are in the adjoining fields), and in the specification 

 in the general condition is the following clause, that all extras, additions, or 

 deductions made to the building shall be nieas(u-ed and valued according to 

 the detailed estimate iccompanying the sjiecification. Now the site of the 

 house is an eminence on the limestone stratum, and I have sunk a well 

 to the depth of 78 feet below the surface, without any chance or sign of 

 obtaining water, at an additional expense of 20/. over the 3/. 10s. allowed in 

 the detailed estimate, (which sum I have not made a claim for). Through 

 there being no water the Incumbent will not certify that the contract is ful- 

 filled. — Please to state your opinion on the above. 



' [We are of opinion that from the wording of the specification alone, that 

 the contractor has not strictly fulfilled the conditions of his contract in the 

 eye of the law ; it is one of those foolish unlimited stipulations we see too 

 often inserted in specifications. The specification should have stated not 

 exceeding a certain depth. However, if it can be clearly proved that the In- 

 cumbent held out to the parties tendering, that water could he procured near 

 the surface, with a \new that .such parties should imagine it to be the case, 

 and put down a price accordingly ; we are then of opinion that the contractor 

 would be reheved in equity, particularly if he proved that he had sunk the 

 well to a reasonable depth, to show that he had used his best endeavours 

 to procure water — which in the present case we are of opinion the contractor 

 has done.] — Editor. 



REVIE^VS. 



^ Summer's Day at TVindsor, and a Viiit to Eton. By Edward Jesse. 

 London, 1841. Murray. 



As a guide-book or manual for the information of those who visit 

 Windsor Castle and its immediate vicinity, this may fairly be styled 

 a superior volume of the kind, it being tastefully got up, and contain- 

 ing several well-executed wood-cuts. That the subjects of the latter 

 are well chosen, and thereby enhance the interest of the book, is more 

 than we can add ; for, with the exception of the frontispiece, which 

 is a very useful situation's-plan of the castle, the print showing, in 

 elevation, two bays of the exterior of St. George's chapel, another 

 showing three ditto of the Tomb House, and one or two other cuts, 

 the rest of the illustrations illustrate nothing. Sure we are, that had 

 they not been given, no one would ever have missed such things as 

 portraits of trees, facsimiles of prisoner's hand-writings, the ladies and 

 gentlemen on horseback intended to represent Her Majesty with Mel- 

 bourne & Co., or the very queer old-fashioned set-out of George III. 

 at the Eton Montem. Of the castle itself — which it may be presumed 

 is, after all, the principal of the lions at Windsor, nothing is shown 

 beyond the Norman gateway — which conveys no idea whatever of the 

 exterior generally — and St. George's Hall, and the Guard Chamber, 

 which last is executed in a most disagreeably hard manner. Surely 

 one or two more interiors might have been introduced ; we do not say 

 that such subjects can be furnished as cheaply as representations of 

 stumps of old trees, &c. ; we would gladly give every one of the latter 

 for a single illustration of the other kind. While Mr. Jesse affects to 

 entertain the highest respect for Sir JelTry Wyatville, it is certainly 

 no very great compliment towards that architect to keep him and his 

 work as much in the background as possible — or, rather, to keep them 

 quite out of sight. As regards the Castle in its present state, the 

 letterpress is as unsatisfactory as the illustrations, there being very 

 little indeed on the subject of the building, nothing amounting to 

 opinion, while the description is excessively meagre ; we have met 

 with very much more from time to time in periodicals and newspapers. 

 But the Imndred and fifty pages must, of course, be filled with some- 

 thing, and so, indeed, they are, namely, with what has been given a 

 hundred times before in various publications — a history of the Castle, 

 interlarded with anecdotes as trivial as they are stale. In fact, the 

 whole is a mere "cram," — such a production as could have been exe- 

 cuted by any journeyman bookseller. It is one of those things which 

 are made to sell, for the same reason that other guide-books sell, and 

 that court calendars find customers. But as the title-page bears a 

 name, we naturally — and, as it now turns out, foolishly — expected to 

 meet with something above the ordinary run of such performances. 

 What Mr. Jesse may be as a naturalist we know not; but here he ex- 

 hibits himself as a bookmaker, one of those w hom Carlyle very un- 

 ceremoniously calls "respectable literary thieves and paupers." 



The Decorator and Artist's Assistant. Edited by J. Page, Author of 

 the Acanthus. 



The appearance of this periodical work is, we trust, a proof of in- 

 creasing taste for design, and viewed in such a light, it meets with 

 our best wishes. Published in weekly numbers at sixpence, and 

 monthly parts at two shillings, it contains a variety of designs for 

 architectural ornaments, furniture, jewellery, &c., and w ill no doubt be 

 extensively patronized by the artisans to whom it is addressed. We 

 wish that Mr. Page would in every instance give the authorities of 

 the designs which he inserts, by which their value would be much 

 enhanced. There is a want of boldness in the outlines, but as that is 

 attributable to the etching, we cannot object to it. 



The .icanttius. 



As a homage to the architectural profession we present to their notice >lr. 

 Page's Plate of the Acanthus, designed, drawn and engraved by hiirself. Mr. 

 Page is, we believe, a self-taught artist, and we know him to be meritorious 

 and hardworking ; we hope therefore these will be claims to the patronage 

 of the profession for which be has shown so much respect. As an object of 

 study the luxuriant plant depicted in this engraving will well repay the 

 student who lays out his half-crown upon it. It is a cheap and elegant orna- 

 ment for the portfolio. \Ve are informed that the drawing obtained a gold 

 medal at the Society of Arts. 



We have been obliged to defer our farther notice of Mr. Clegg's " Practical 

 Treatise on the Manufacture and Distribution of Coal Gas," until next month. 



