[Gutenberg 64013] • Letters of an Architect, From France, Italy, and Greece. Volume 1 [of 2]

Many books of travels in the south of Europe have been published; some of them written by men of talents and in-formation, who were attached to the fine arts, and to archi-tecture as one of them; and many professional works trea-ting on the architecture of Italy and Greece, of greater or less excellence, have been given to the world; but I do not know that there is any one in which the author, after examining the most celebrated edifices of ancient and modern times, endeavours to explain to what circumstances they owe their power of pleasing; and what are to be considered as defects, tending to diminish that power. The subject has been slig-htly and incidentally touched upon by more than one travel-ler, but not treated with that care and detail which it deser-ves. To the architect, it is of the greatest importance: it is no less than the knowledge of what he is to shun, and what to imitate; by what different modes of building he can produce the same effects, or how, by methods nearly similar, he can produce different effects. In short, in what manner, with means always in some degree limited, either by the nature of the material to be employed, the customs of the country, the expense, or the taste or no taste of the employer, he can produce BEAUTY.