66 
House & Garden 
ARCHITECTURAL PRINTS AS DECORATION 
In Addition to Their Historic Interest, Architectural Prints Have Decorative 
Qualities In Many Kinds of Rooms 
HUMPHREYS COOPER 
T HERE are two good 
reasons for collect¬ 
ing architectural 
engravings; they are beau¬ 
tiful in themselves—at least 
the best of them are—and 
they possess, if they are old, 
historical interest. What, 
for example, can be more 
interesting than a collection 
of prints showing the prin¬ 
cipal buildings of one’s own 
particular locality as they 
were in the past? To those 
who are interested in for¬ 
eign parts, or who admire 
the work of the great en¬ 
gravers of other countries, 
there is an even wider field. 
Italy, France, Holland, 
Germany—all have pro¬ 
duced admirable examples 
of this type of intensely interesting work. 
There are three main types of architec¬ 
tural drawing—the technical, geometrical 
drawing of the working architect and the 
knowledgeable amateur; the topographical 
drawing of some existing house and garden 
(generally a bird’s-eye view); the fantastic 
architectural detail or complete design of 
the draughtsman’s invention. All these, at 
The harbor and town of Newcastle 
on-Tyne as it appeared early in 
the 18th Century. The print is from 
the Nouveau Theatre de la Grande 
Bretagne, London, 1724 
(Below) This beautiful print of 
Florence, made by Zocchi in 1740, 
is remarkable for its topographical 
accuracy and its sense of atmosphere 
and composition 
their best, are worth col¬ 
lecting; it depends on the 
taste or knowledge of the 
collector which he chooses. 
Architectural drawing in 
modem times—for we know 
nothing of Greek or Roman 
practice—begins, for all 
practical purposes, with 
the Renaissance. But from 
the collector’s point of view 
this period of the early and 
high Renaissance is a bar¬ 
ren one. Architectural 
prints and drawings of the 
period are very scarce and 
valuable. Of the superb en¬ 
graving by Bramante, for 
example, there are only two 
known copies. Those who 
are not millionaires are 
advised to start collecting 
work of a considerably later date. 
During the 17th Century the finest ar¬ 
chitectural and topographical draughtsmen 
were undoubtedly the French. Three of 
these deserve especial mention—Lepautre 
(1617-1682); Daniel Marot, who was born 
in 1650 and ended his life in the service of 
William III, having been expelled from 
France at the Revocation of the Edict of 
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