scarcely in our power to gauge. Imagination. reels at the idea of such a record of the past coming to us through the ages. Yet this will be the commonplace of future generations.

The University of California.

The prospectus of an enterprise which the promoters seek to make one of the most notable in the history of architecture is to hand from San Francisco, sent by the Trustees* of the Phebe Hearst Architectural Plan of the University of California. The document invites the co-operation of architects and artists of every land and clime in the preparation of a plan for the new buildings of the University, to form "an ideal home of education." Funds for securing the plan have been provided by a philanthropic and publicspirited lady, Mrs. Phebe A. Hearst, widow of a United States Senator. As far as space permits, extracts from the prospectus are here given :

The purpose is to secure a plan to which all the buildings that may be needed by the University in its future growth shall conform. All the buildings that have been constructed up to the present time are to be ignored, and the grounds are to be treated as a blank space, to be filled with a single beautiful and harmonious picture, as a painter fills in his canvas.

The site.... comprises 245 acres of land, rising at first in a gentle and then in a bolder slope from a height of about two hundred feet above the sea level to one of over nine hundred feet. It has a superb outlook over the Bay and City of San Francisco, over the neighbouring plains and mountains, and the ocean. It is the desire of those who have charge of this enterprise to treat the grounds and buildings together, landscape gardening and architecture forming one composition, which will never need to be structurally changed in all the future history of the University. It is thought that the advantages of the site, whose bold slope will enable the entire mass of buildings to be taken in at a single coup d'œil, will permit the production of an effect unique in the world.

It is seldom in any age that an artist has had a chance to express his thought so freely, on so large a scale, and with such entire exemption from the influence of discordant surroundings. Here there will be at least twenty-eight buildings, all mutually related and, at the same time, entirely cut off from anything that could mar the effect of the picture. In fact, it is a city that is to be created-a City of Learning - in which there is to be no sordid or inharmonious feature. There are to be no definite limitations of cost, materials, or style. All is to be left to the unfettered discretion of the designer. He is asked to record his conception of an ideal home for a University, assuming time and resources to be unlimited. He is to plan for centuries to come. There will doubtless be developments of science in the future that will impose new duties on the University, and require alterations in the detailed arrangement of its buildings, but it is believed to be possible to secure a comprehensive plan so in harmony with the universal principles of architectural art

*The Trustees consist of the Governor of the State, Mr. James H. Budd, representing the State; Mr. J. B. Reinstein, representing the Board of Regents of the University; and Professor W. Carey Jones, representing the University.

↑ The University at present has 2,300 students, but in the new buildings provision must be made for 5,000.

that there will be no more necessity of remodelling its broad outlines a thousand years hence, than there would be of remodelling the Parthenon, had it come down to us complete and uninjured.

In the great works of antiquity the designer came first, and it was the business of the financier to find the money to carry out his plans. In the new building scheme of the University of California it is the intention to restore the artist and the art idea to their old pre-eminence. The architect will simply design, others must provide the cost. About five million dollars have already been pledged for a beginning, and such a general desire to contribute has been manifested that it is thought that all the funds required will be forthcoming as fast as the work can be carried on.

....

While the method of obtaining the architectural plan has not been decided on in detail, it is thought that it will be done by an international concours, open to all the architects of the world, with an international jury of five members, who will have full charge of the concours and of the award of all the prizes. This concours, while partaking in some degree of the nature of the usual competition, will possess all the main features of an actual co-operation of the best architectural and artistic talent available for the purpose, as will be seen from the programme which has been prepared with that idea as a controlling one.

There will be two competitions, and ample prizes will be provided. Maps, casts, and photographs of the ground will be placed at various accessible points in Europe and America, for the convenience of architects desiring to enter the concours; and the programme thereof, prepared by Professor Guadet, of the School of Fine Arts of France, is now under consideration by the Trustees.

Copies of this programme, when issued, may be obtained by architects from the various architectural societies in America and Europe, or upon application to the Board of Trustees, at their office, 217 Sansome Street, San Fran. cisco, California.

Additions to the Library.

Mr. H. L. Florence has supplemented his handsome gift of the first volume of Mr. Sachs' work on Modern Opera Houses and Theatres by the second. Mr. Sachs seems to be quite equal to his vast undertaking. The quality and interest of the earlier volume are sustained in the present work; indeed, the success of his scheme has enabled Mr. Sachs to extend its scope considerably. An illustration of the recently erected Her Majesty's Theatre is given as a frontispiece, and the Opera Houses of Paris and Vienna are amongst the most important theatres dealt with; while space is devoted to eight English theatres. The modernity of Mr. Sachs' work may be estimated by the fact that it contains examples of no theatres built earlier than 1869; the aim of the author being that he should carry on and complete the work begun by Contant. The volume contains one hundred plates and ninety-five illustrations in the text. [London: B. T. Batsford.]— Library Construction, Architecture, Fittings, and Furniture, by Mr. F. J. Burgoyne, which forms the second volume of the Library Series, meets a want that has been felt for some time, and meets it well. Its author is a librarian of extensive experience, and his statements have the authority of one who is familiar with the inner working of libraries and their requirements. There

are one hundred and forty-one illustrations, including many plans, and the matter is brought admirably down to date, a plan of one building, at least, being given which is still in course of erection. Mr. Arthur S. Flower, a couple of years or so ago, in a review of Practical Building Construction, by Mr. J. P. Allen, predicted that a second edition would soon be called for, a prediction which has now been fulfilled. In his second

edition the author has taken advantage of the opportunity of revising his text and of inserting a few additional illustrations. This work, which is designed for the use of students preparing for the Royal Institute and other examinations, has been presented by the publishers [London: Crosby Lockwood & Son].

It will be of interest to those who principally use the Loan Library to know that Millar's Plastering and Freeman's Sketches of Travel in Normandy and Maine may now be obtained, and that copies of Parker's Introduction to the Study of

Gothic Architecture have been transferred from the Reference Department. The numerous books which formed part of the White Bequest, and which were placed in the Loan Collection, are now also available for borrowers.

HER MAJESTY the Queen has been graciously pleased to bestow the Royal Jubilee Medal upon Professor Aitchison, A.R.A., the President of the Royal Institute.

AN erroneous statement of the death of Señor Belmás [Hon. Corr. Memb.], of Madrid, occurs in the new KALENDAR (p. 129). Señor Belmás himself writes that he is alive, "in good health, and that the Institute can still dispose of the services of its Hon. Corr. Member since 1882."

NOTES, QUERIES, AND REPLIES.

A Relic of Sir Christopher Wren. From J. D. CRACE [H.A.]—

A few months ago I expressed my intention to the Literature Committee to give to the Institute an interesting letter of Sir Christopher Wren's. At the time I could not put my hand on it; but I have recently found it, and now have the pleasure to keep my promise.

The letter is interesting because it refers to his two greatest works, St. Paul's and Greenwich Hospital. It is not sufficiently known that the latter work was undertaken by Wren without emolument. The letter is unfortunately not dated; but there is, I think, fair evidence that it was written in the autumn of 1700 or 1701-Wren's design was submitted in 1698-and the Hall was roofed in, and the dome finished by August 1703.

I am not quite sure whether the "Mr. Vanbruck" to whom the letter is addressed was the famous architect of Blenheim. He was appointed surveyor to Greenwich Hospital in George I.'s

I desire you to excuse me to the Comissioners to day. His Grace of Canterbury hath appointed a Comission at Paules this morning the same Hour; from weh I cannot be excused. The best

businesse wherin the Comission of the Fabric of Greenwich can imploy their time, is to consult of mony; this at present is the only necessary thing; I hope to a covering, if otherwise it is better to if this can be speedily had, the works will proceed cover up the walls before frost & snow: & if against Spring mony be got into the Treasurers hands before hande, wee shall make the better bargains & finish sooner then wee can by running in Debt Your affectionate freind & servant CHR. WREN.

Fryday morne.

The Ownership of Drawings. From F. WARREN [4.]

In his interesting review of Messrs. Macassey & Strahan's book on The Law relating to Architects, &c., in the JOURNAL, No. 19, Professor Kerr states that the authors approve the law as laid down by the Courts that "the drawings belong to the Employer." The question, however, has arisen: When do the drawings (and what drawings) become the property of the employer? At what period can he claim them? Surely until a contract is completed drawings are the architect's tools. Presumably the claim is limited to contract signed drawings; or can the employer claim all details supplied to the builder as the work proceeds? Can he claim them (a) the moment the contract is signed, or (b) when it is completed, or (c) at any intermediate point or period? Again, granted that the employer cannot demand the drawings until the completion of the contract, is he legally entitled to demand copies of drawings while the works are in progress, or is an architect legally justified in declining to give them?

Professor KERR [F], to whom an advance proof of the above was submitted, writes :-These are questions for a lawyer; and he would very likely decline to give us anything like conclusive answers; but amongst ourselves, a practical man of experience would probably advise an enquirer to act on the following assumptions: (1) that all drawings of a practical character prepared in consideration of payment, or a promise to pay, are

the property of the payor, even from the very commencement of their preparation; (2) that to call them "tools," or the like, only implies that in this kind of business, as in so many others, the tools are supplied by the master, who can at any time claim possession of them, even foolishly, subject perhaps to the law of lien, and of course to the law of responsibility; but (3) that any superfluous. drawings are not the property of the ordinary payor, except in so far as he may possibly raise a question of copyright. After all, however, it is the good fortune of architects that such questions do not arise in the ordinary course of their business.

Useful reference may be made to an essay on this subject by the late John W. Papworth, published in the JOURNAL, Vol. I., 3rd ser., p. 187.

REVIEWS. LX.
(165)

CHESTER CATHEDRAL.

The Cathedral Church of Chester: a Description of the Fabric and a brief History of the Episcopal See. By Charles Hiatt. 80. Lond. 1897. Price 1s. 6d. [George Bell & Sons, York Street, Covent Garden, W.C.]

Of all the tasks which an architect may undertake, perhaps none can be at once so interesting,

the architect not only thorough knowledge of the history of the edifice and of its architecture, together with high constructive skill and artistic judgment and appreciation, but also imagination, while it very strictly proscribes the play of taste or fancy beyond certain narrow limits; and when the task is completed the architectural glory reverts to the ancient architects, while the modern renovator has all the blame, of which there is generally more than enough from many critics.

The vanity and human nature of the restoring architect make him chafe at these hard conditions, which his fondness for fame disables him too often from faithfully fulfilling. He forgets that, as a restorer, the true gauge of his success is the degree of his self-repression. So when the visitor to a church or cathedral follows the track of the restorer he finds the personality of the latter frequently obtruded upon him, while that of the original architects is thrown into the background. To some extent this is due to historical perspective, and the restoring architect is no more to blame than is the small but near eminence in the landscape which blocks the view of the higher alps. But, after making due allowance for natural perspective, there still remains in the track of the church and cathedral restorer a deplorable excess of self-assertion, not to say self-advertisement; and

Mr. Hiatt casts no reflections upon Sir Gilbert, but contents himself by stating that he "of course treated the church to his usual policy of 'thorough""; and this statement many readers will endorse, together with any subacid flavour which attaches to it by the author's intention or not.

If Dean Howson, the zealous and scholarly mainspring of the restoration movement, had desired a new cathedral for Chester, he probably could not have appealed to a fitter architect than Scott. But it is, to say the least, possible that, instead of Scott, a less popular but not less archæologically learned nor less reliable architect could. have been appointed, who, with greater reverence for the Perpendicular Gothic than Scott possessed, and with more leisure if not more humility, would have restored Chester Cathedral more successfully.

Mr. Hiatt writes admiringly of the lady-chapel as a specimen of Sir Gilbert's Early English Gothic, and every one must admit that, considered by itself apart, it is indeed a beautiful building. But in

window of the choir by awkwardly hipping the lady-chapel roof, but he dwarfed the effect of the central tower by increasing the height of the ladychapel as well as by the huge pinnacles on the east gable of the choir. And the turrets which he added to the central tower itself rather aid than diminish the dwarfing of the effect of the tower. It is true the addition of the proposed grand spire to the central tower would greatly reduce the force of these reflections on Sir Gilbert's work; but in the meantime they certainly hold good, and centuries may elapse before the spire is added.

Any one comparing the present cathedral restored, as shown by the photograph frontispiece of Mr. Hiatt's book, with the cathedral as it was before the restoration, as shown by the reproductions of old drawings which our anthor supplies, must perceive that the unrestored building in its simple bareness was much more dignified, though less ornate in its effect, than the cathedral as it now stands. And the central tower in particular is seen by this comparison to have suffered greatly in loss of that impressive preponderance over the

lower masses of the structure which it formerly possessed.

The best friends of Chester Cathedral, and of Sir Gilbert Scott, must ardently desire that the great spire may be added to the central tower at no distant date, and that the western towers may be simultaneously built; so that the reproach of this cathedral, as an architectural composition, may be soon and permanently removed.

Mr. Hiatt does not explain how Sir Gilbert Scott, and Dean Howson, who supported his plans, justified the adoption of the present style and height of the lady-chapel. But he appears to

THE CHOIR SCREEN AND ORGAN. (From a photograph by Carl Norman & Co.)

(By permission of the Publishers.)

think an apology is due to his readers for the very singular extinguisher-like roof which these restorers added to the apsidal east end of the south aisle of the choir, and, as the author himself very wisely refrains from justifying this strange feature, he leaves Sir Gilbert to offer his own explanation, which is quoted in the book at some length. This explanation will not seem quite adequate to every one. To some it may appear rather an excuse than a justification for what they may be pardoned for ignorantly (?) regarding as a species of architectural sensationalism.

It must, however, be allowed that Sir Gilbert Scott was, as a rule, singularly free from that vice of outré-ism which seemed-thanks to a few

celebrated extremists amongst his contemporary church architects-in danger of "catching on " just about the time when the Chester Cathedral restoration was being commenced. At or about that same time many of our English Gothicists were beginning to feel English Gothic tasting a little stale (though it had been reborn only a generation before), and were showing a strong penchant for the Gothic of Normandy; and it is noteworthy that in justification of his extinguisherroof Scott quotes similar ones in Northern France.

There never was a time, since Edward the Confessor, when some one architectural fashion or other was not "all the rage" in this country. But in the procession of variations of architectural fashion during the Middle Ages there was a grandly massive deliberateness, a solemn slowness of sequence, a continuous development of gigantic progress in artistic construction, strongly contrasting with the peripatetic freakishness, the feeble fickleness, and the remarkable lack of steady persistence in the tendencies of architectural fashion during the long splendour of Queen Victoria's reign. While Sir Charles Barry and others yielded more or less to this modern spirit of trifling with architectural styles, now coquetting with Italian and now flirting with Gothic, Sir Gilbert Scott maintained a splendidly steadfast course as a Gothicist pure and simple; and from his great eminence, and equally great consistency, he came to be regarded as the champion and leader of the reborn English Gothic School. Then came his surrender to "the powers that be" in Parliament Street, when, to please the Minister of State, he substituted his Classic for his Gothic façade of the Foreign and Colonial Offices, thus weakly becoming guilty of what his Gothic confrères have ever since regarded as "the great betrayal." He seems by this time to have had so vast an extent of work that he was compelled to trust very largely to his staff, who were less proof against the flippant influences of rapidly veering fashions than he himself was; and in this way things were sometimes done in his name which were really foreign to his own tastes. But this explanation would not account for all the "thorough" features of his "restoration" (or may we not rather say his remodelling?) of Chester Cathedral.

Be that as it may, our author has contented himself with giving a true and painstaking account of what was actually done at Chester by this great church architect; and though he does not condemn Scott, he does not by any means flatter him as to his work there as a restorer.

While the treatment of the exterior of Chester Cathedral by the restorers is open to the general criticism that what has been gained of ornateness has been lost of sublimity, no such opinion can fairly be held of the restoration of the interior; for though, as Mr. Hiatt justly remarks, the interior of the