INSTITUTENEWS conservation work. Overall its value is inhibited by a lack of clarity as to whether it is an essential first text book or a practical field manual. Alan Taylor DEFINITELYNOT RECOMMENDED Georgian House Style - An Architectural & Interior Design Source Book. Ingrid Cranfield. David & Charles 1997. 192pp. Fully illustrated. 255 X 225 mm Hardback. ISBN O 7153 0553 0. £22.99. The dust jacket describes the contents as "containing a wealth of practical information and advice . which will enable anyone who wishes to create or preserve Georgian interiors to do so with complete confidence and success". Less than half the book is devoted to such interiors, as chapters also describe the plan and facacle of Georgian houses and garden design. The reader might expect help in "recreating the style and atmosphere of the period in the present-clay home" to combine, at least in part, something of the approach taken in Alan Johnson's How to Restore and Improve your Victorian House with the National Trust's book on Good Housekeeping or the seminal Care&Conseruation of Georgian Houses by Davies, Heath, Hodges et al. A rambling Introduction deals as much with Baroque antecedents as with Georgian architects and their designs. There is too much concentration on grand and pretentious architecture and far too little on the ubiquitous Georgian terrnce which a reader might be more likely to own and without once clearly explaining the principles of classical proportion or the meaning of architectural terms. The text has no mention of James Paine or John Carr of York, no Smirke, no Wilkins and noJosia Wedgwood. Soane is reduced to three lines having "built some modest villas, especially in East Anglia". In creating a source book, the author might have served the reader better by explaining, for example, that at the beginning of the 18th century the I NATIONAL MONUMENTS RECORD 58 Is it listed? Find out fast Call the Listed Buildings Information Service: 0171 208 8221 A free information service - just part of the range of material available from the National Monuments Record: http:/ /www.rchme.gov.uk repertoire of mouldings and embellishments available to designers was derived from Roman and Renaissance precedents and sources; that it was not until after 1750, following the publication of such books as the Antiquities of Athens (1762) by Stuart and Revert and the Ruins of Balbec (1757) by Robert Wood, that the spectrum widened to take in Greek and late Roman decorative details and variations. Until this rich vein was tapped the repertoire was decidedly limited with Baroque or Palladian emphasis being given by the scaling, selection and combination of stock details. Hae.I the primary, secondary and compound mouldings then available been illustrated- ratherthan those clearly taken from a current manufacturer's catalogue - the reader could have appreciated how much Georgian embellishment was derived from combinations of such simple detailing. Where it is possible to repair or recreate Georgian style, this book will not tell the reader anything useful about stucco or Coacle; nothing about the forms of 18th century panelling and nothing useful about authentic paint colour. It will not give any help on the sensitive installation of 20th centu1y services such as central heating or plumbing and its few illustrations of 'Georgian' kitchens are highly spurious. No mention is made of the clangers of architectural salvage and there is no reference to the legislation on BOOKREVIEWS listed buildings nor when and where professional architectural or historical advice on building conservation should be taken. None of these shortcomings is counteracted by an effective bibliography. The photographs seem based mainly on London, 13ath and Brighton, but there is no mention of Edinburgh or Dublin, two of the most important Georgian cities. Few of the illustration sources are given and those that are come from manufacturers such as Haddonstone. Some photographs (such as those on pages 116 and 117) show distinctly Edwardian interiors while others (the smaller ones on 118 and 122) are a complete nonsense and could have come from Homes and Gardens. There is also a scattering of American references and illustrations, as are over half of the (inevitable) 'Stockists' listed at the enc.I, but the information acids little to the book. The Bibliography fails to cover many of the more obvious general references such as, for example Care & Repair . .. , London the Art of Georgian Building or those on particular architects or for more specific aspects such as Megan Aldrich's book on The Craces, or David Jaques on Georgian Gardens. This book cannot be recommended to anyone except, perhaps, the owner of a post-war, bow-fronted 'Regency' semi - where the material in this book can do no serious harm. Julian K Trevor ILLUSTRATIONS I THISISSUE Fron! cover: Irish thatching. Photo: John Letts p4: damage leading to a successful prosecution. Photo: Bob Kindred pp6-8: thatching in Ireland. Photos: John Letts pp9 and 10: roof of The Old Hall, South Burlingham. Photos and drawing: Brian Morton pp12 and 7 3: thatch in East Hertfordshire. Photos: Mike Harris ppl8-25: aspects of stone conse1vation in Scotland. Photos: Ingval Maxwell p26. house at Chittering, Cambs. Photo: John Preston pp29 and 30: training at Fort Brockhurst. Photos: p29 left and p30 Chris Wood, p29 right English Heritage p37: masonry and metalwork repairs at British Waterways training workshops. Photos: Nigel Crowe pp32 and 33. training in analysis and recording. Photos: Robert Hook pp36 and 37: historic stone paving in Linlithgow Photos: Stuart Eyclmann pp47-49: garden statuary. Photos: Judith Roberts p49: funerary monument from Leicester. Photo: Judith Roberts Context 56 December 1997
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