January, 1909 AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
de Brissac. An article on “Persian Gardens” is 
most noteworthy. It is surprising to see views 
of fountains and pools of water in the gar- 
dens of the wealthy in this arid country. 
America is by no means neglected. Among 
the notable articles appear “Colonial Homes 
of Natchez” and “The Gardens and Grounds 
of Mt. Vernon.” 
SoclETY IN THE Country House. By T. 
H. S. Escott. Philadelphia: George W. 
Jacobs & Co. Pp. 512. Price, $4.00 
net. 
A book on country houses that contains 
but a single illustration, and that not of a 
house at all, is somewhat of a novelty in 
these days of picture book making. But 
while Mr. Escott’s fascinating volume would 
have taken on an added interest with pictures 
of at least some of the more notable houses 
touched on, it loses nothing in interest in its 
present shape. It is not, of course, a book 
on houses, but, as its title sufficiently states, 
a book on the social life that centers in them. 
Very interesting indeed are the sketches he 
draws of this life, both old and present, and 
momentous are the figures that move across 
his pages. His book abounds with anecdotes, 
and is not only agreeable to read, but profit- 
able as well. 
America has not yet reached a point at 
which such a book could be produced concern- 
ing our own country life. That is much too 
new, and, in a sense, much too inconsequential, 
for the country life to have national social 
prestige. This it has long since had in Eng- 
land, and it is this aspect of the subject that 
Mr. Escott is concerned with. ‘The story 
is an interesting one, and begins as far back 
as the fourteenth century. The author 
briefly sketches the conditions under which 
the country house system. became possible. 
He then passes to the most typical and inter- 
esting instances of its complete organization 
in Tudor times, showing how it then dis- 
charged many of the functions fulfilled to- 
day by the newspaper, the circulating library, 
or by more exclusive methods of information, 
and how, at the same time, it began to oc- 
cupy a recognized place in the organization 
of party politics. “Then he shows how, from 
the seventeenth century down to the present 
hour, in all the great movements of English 
life, the opportunities of the country house 
have proved the necessary and eventful sup- 
plements to the agencies of parliament and 
platform. No attempt is made to treat the 
subject chronologically, except in a very gen- 
eral way, and it is an interesting fact that the 
author himself has visited almost all the 
houses he describes or refers to. 
It must be obvious, therefore, as is quite 
well known, that the English country house 
is a national institution of which we have no 
counterpart in America. Its life is, there- 
fore, not only peculiarly British, but pecu- 
liarly national. A book dealing with so broad 
a subject could not fail to have great inter- 
est, and Mr. Escott’s skill as a writer, the 
many famous men and women with whom he 
has come personally in contact, and his vast 
fund of reminiscence have combined to ren- 
der this book one of exceptional interest and 
value. The book is not well paragraphed, 
and a few of the references to persons and 
events may not always be clear to the Ameri- 
can reader, but it is a pleasant book to read, 
and a valuable one to possess. 
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