THE

ARCHITECTURAL MAGAZINE.

MARCH, 1834.

INTRODUCTION.

THE objects which we have in view, in undertaking an Architectural Magazine, are the same that influenced us in submitting to the world our Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture; viz., to diffuse among general readers a taste for architectural beauties and comforts, and to improve the dwellings of the great mass of society in all countries. The Architectural Magazine, however, will embrace a more extensive range of subjects than the Encyclopædia; since, in addition to the private dwellings of every class of society residing in the country, it will include also dwellings in cities and towns, and public buildings, in a word, the whole of civil architecture, building, and furnishing.

The study of the science of Architecture recommends itself to the general reader by the utility of its productions as an art, and by the pleasure afforded by the contemplation of these productions as subjects of taste. To young men engaged in the various professions and businesses connected with the art of building, this study presents a means of professional improvement, and, consequently, of advancement in the world; in it the landowner will find one of the principal means of increasing the value of his property; it will give to the retiring citizen an opportunity of forming his taste for building or choosing a cottage or villa residence; and to every individual who either occupies a house, or intends to occupy one, it will afford the means of ascertaining what is good or bad in construction and in appearance, and of choosing, repairing, altering, fitting up, and furnishing his habitation. Though all men do not build houses, yet all men in a state of civilisation live in them; and it must, therefore, be of some importance to every individual, to have his judgment in the choice of a house heightened by a knowledge of what points in its construction and arrangement will contribute most to his security, convenience, and comfort.

The subjects of Architecture admit of two grand divisions, public and private buildings: and, in all countries, the progress of the former seems to have been incomparably greater than that of the latter. Hence, though private dwelling-houses must have

existed before, or, at least, have been coeval with, public buildings, yet there can be no doubt that the architecture of the former remained stationary for ages; while that of the latter advanced with the progress of nations: and hence, in those ages when the grandest and most beautiful temples were erecting in Greece, the most sumptuous palaces in Italy, and the most magnificent cathedrals in England, there is no evidence of much improvement having been introduced into the private dwellings even of the wealthy. The reason seems to be, that, till within the last three centuries, the mode of living of all ranks of society was comparatively simple, and very much alike in all countries having similar climates. In time, however, the general introduction of manufactures and commerce led to the improvement of domestic architecture, as it did to that of other arts, by the creation of a middle class of society; by the interchange of the productions of one country for those of another; and by the improvement of the manufactures in general use in all countries. Hence improved articles of dress led to the necessity of having improved pieces of furniture to contain them; the use of seacoal led to the improvement of fireplaces; the use of knives and forks led to improved stoves and other arrangements for cookery; and these, and an infinity of other domestic ameliorations, led gradually to the better construction of houses.

But, though the art of constructing private dwellings has made great progress in Britain within the last three centuries, yet there still remains much to be done in the application of the modern discoveries of science to domestic purposes. The most skilfully contrived villas and mansions admit of the application of still higher skill; and the cottage of the farmer and country labourer, and the street house of the tradesman and mechanic, have scarcely yet had applied to them even that which has been already attained. The want of comfort, indeed, in the dwellings of the agricultural labourers and of the mechanics of Britain, is, as compared with the quality of their clothing and food, greater than is to be found in the dwellings of the working classes of any other country in Europe. To be convinced of this, we have only to compare the coarse brown bread and rough woollen and hempen cloth of the peasantry of the North of Europe, with their warm log houses; or the slight diet and clothing of the peasantry of Italy and the South of France, with the open airy shelters, which, in those fine climates, afford sufficient protection, and a degree of comfort suitable to the state of the occupant. In both these cases, the food, the clothing, and the dwelling are in some sort of harmony; but, when we compare the clothing of broadcloth, cottons, and muslins, and the wheaten bread and butcher's meat of the English mechanic or country labourer, with his dwelling, not so impervious to the weather as

that of the rudely clothed and coarsely fed Russian or Swede, and often not larger or more convenient, the inconsistency is glaring. -But we have already said so much on this subject in our Encyclopædia, that we shall not enlarge upon it here.

To those whose prosperity or fortune enables them to occupy what are considered good houses, either in town or country, some knowledge of the science and practice of Architecture would be not only a source of perpetual enjoyment, but of real use; because every accession to our knowledge gives power as well as pleasure. We do not merely allude to the preeminence which a taste for Architecture must necessarily give to every possessor of it; but also to the value of Architecture as a useful art; or, in other words, to the power of applying its principles to buildings and furniture. It may be said, indeed, that individuals so circumstanced as to be able to have handsome dwellings, can always command the services of professional men to give them advice in the choice or furnishing of a house. We allow this; and we add, that, if the general knowledge of Architecture which we advocate were of no other use than to impress the intended occupant of a house with the necessity of having it previously examined by a professional man, it would justify what we have asserted as to the benefits to be derived from architectural knowledge. The great advantage, however, which we propose to the general reader, as the result of a knowledge of the useful in Architecture (viz., of the arrangement, strength, lighting, warming, ventilating, fitting up, furnishing, &c., of houses) is, that he will know, better than he now does, what comforts and conveniences he is entitled to expect from the size and rent of any given house.

A taste for Architecture, like that for any of the fine arts, is at once a source of enjoyment, and a mark of refinement. As buildings are more frequently occurring to the view than either pictures or statues, this enjoyment can be proportionately more frequently obtained; and hence it would appear to be the more desirable for the possessor. It may farther be stated, that to understand and enjoy Architecture does not depend nearly so much on what is called a natural taste, as does the enjoyment of pictures, statuary, or music. Architecture is more an art of reason than of imagination; and there is hardly any great feature of beauty or deformity in a building, the propriety or absurdity of which could not be made obvious to the most ordinary understanding, even if the possessor of that understanding had paid very little attention previously to the subject. So much cannot be said of any of the other arts mentioned.

Whatever may be the advantage to the possessor of a taste for Architecture individually, the ornament, and, ultimately, the benefit, to the whole country, arising from such a taste becoming

general, would be great beyond calculation. What man, who could build his own house, and possessed any taste in this art, would be content to live in houses exhibiting such external elevations as those which at present continually meet the eye, both in town and country? Let a taste for Architecture spread generally, and our towns would soon present continuous elevations of architectural beauty, and our country residences become as celebrated for their Architecture, as they now are for their gardens and landscape scenery.

Ardently desiring such a result, one of the great objects which we have in view is the improvement, or rather the creation, of a taste for Architecture in that portion of society which occupies the best houses. This, we conceive, is to be attained in two ways: by inducing this class, and especially the female portion of it, to read and think on the subject of domestic architecture; and by cultivating a better taste in builders, carpenters, and others engaged in the practice of building, so as to induce them to erect, of their own accord, houses of a superior style. Fortunately for this last purpose, taste in an art is not necessarily connected with wealth it may be possessed by the journeyman carpenter, mason, bricklayer, or cabinet-maker, in as high a degree as by the architect, surveyor, or learned and wealthy amateur. In all it must first exist naturally, and in all it must be improved by cultivation. Now, the cultivation of architectural taste in a man whose business is that of a carpenter or mason, and who is, consequently, familiar with architectural details, will be much easier than the cultivation of the same taste in a man of wealth, who knows no more of the practical part of building than he does of the practical part of landscape-painting, sculpture, or any other art. The great drawback in the way of the artisan has hitherto been, the want of suitable books to put him in a proper course of self-instruction. He can doubtless have access to many books treating of the five orders of Grecian architecture, and to many others containing plans and elevations of buildings; but these works can no more teach Architecture as an art of taste, than a spelling-book can teach grammar and composition.

All men born with the ordinary condition of the human faculties are naturally endowed with taste; that is, they have a predominant feeling for some one particular class of objects or pursuits: one boy has a facility in acquiring languages, another is naturally musical; and so on. Now, those feelings which have a tendency to induce the love or the pursuit of what are called the fine arts are preeminently distinguished by the term taste. This term, however, might, with equal justice, be applied to feelings having a tendency to other pursuits; such as natural history, or to any particular kind of art, trade, or commerce. There can be no doubt that many

persons evince, in very early life, a propensity for particular trades or particular pursuits; but, though this propensity is as much entitled to be called a taste as is a propensity for music, painting, or sculpture, yet, by the conventional use of language, the term is only applied with reference to these and some other arts. According to the general acceptation of terms, therefore, those arts, the exercise of which implies creations from the imagination, are alone strictly denominated the arts of taste; while those arts are termed mechanical, the exercise of which only calls into action the reasoning powers and the physical strength. Architecture is an art which, as before stated, depends more upon reason than upon imagination; and, therefore, not being purely an art of taste, but only partially so, the imaginative faculty is less required in its professors than in the professors of painting, sculpture, or music. Let no one, therefore, who can reason, or who possesses what is called good common sense, despair of acquiring a just and correct taste in Architecture.

Architecture, as a fine art, consists chiefly in the combination of forms; and, as it is difficult to conceive any human being so deficient in intellect as not to be able to put several forms together, in the general shape of a house (for house-building to man is as natural as nest-building to birds), so it is difficult to conceive a human being whose taste in Architecture might not be greatly improved.

That improvement it is one main object of this work to effect in the minds of the mechanical artisans connected with Architecture, and more especially in the minds of CARPENTERS. The carpenter has more to do with the construction of a building than any other person employed by the architect. The word signifying architect in the Greek language may, indeed, be translated carpenter. Whether a building is to be erected of brick or stone, still it is the carpenter who forms all the patterns and guides for the bricklayer or the mason to work from. Nay, even if a cottage is to be built of mud, the first step is to procure boards adapted by the carpenter for forming moulds, by which this mud is brought into the required form; or, even if the mud is heaped up with forks, as in the cob walls of Devonshire and Wiltshire, the carpenter is required to supply what are called wooden bricks, to be built into the walls, for attaching, at a future period, the internal finishings. In the interior of a house, every thing depends on the carpenter; and most things are, indeed, done by him. The floors, and the doors and windows, are almost entirely his work; and he forms mouldings for the cornices which are put up by the plasterer. If, therefore, we could improve the taste of the rising generation of carpenters, we should have no fears of operating, through them, on all the various artisans employed in the construction of houses; and,