A Descriptive And Historical Account Of Various Palaces And Public Buildings English And Foreign

Excerpt from A Descriptive and Historical Account of Various Palaces, and Public Buildings, English and Foreign It appears that few circumstances of discussion can be more interesting than an analysis of eminent buildings; especially, if the examiner, at the same time, direct his attention to the history and fortunes of those persons who are connected with each structure that comes under consideration. The temper, the genius, the pursuits of an historical era stand delineated in the features of remarkable edifices. And yet it is believed that no work, either English or foreign, professing to treat of great public buildings, or of superb private mansions, goes beyond a mere cursory account of their prominent and obvious characteristics. Impressed with these convictions, the present writer had long intended to attempt a work on a similar principle with that now submitted to the public, when he was enabled to profit by a fortunate opportunity in regard to the furtherance of his design. The plates contained in the present volume were executed for a work which it was judged expedient by the proprietors to lay aside in so early a stage, that the engravings may be said, with a very small license of expression, to have been consigned to oblivion. The author hopes that he shall not be deemed too partial when he ventures to assert that they deserved a more favorable destiny. As it was the great object and ambition of the writer to render his work a desirable appendage to the library of the man of rank, while it might prove a subject of interest to the general reader, he has avoided abstruse and laborious dissertations on architecture as an art; confining his remarks to such points as involved matters of general taste, or were united with some peculiarity of national manners. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.