The American Architect and Building News, Vol. 27, No. 733, January 11, 1890 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 97 pages of information about The American Architect and Building News, Vol. 27, No. 733, January 11, 1890.

The American Architect and Building News, Vol. 27, No. 733, January 11, 1890 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 97 pages of information about The American Architect and Building News, Vol. 27, No. 733, January 11, 1890.
Munich, Florence, Rome, Naples and Athens.  In addition to these, there is a complete collection of the British Museum electrotypes of Greek coins, handsomely mounted, and the nucleus of a collection of photographs, about 600, including the best plates of Braun, Naya, Brogi and other celebrated photographers.  Most of the statues are mounted on revolving pedestals; two hundred and fifty of the photographs are exhibited in individual frames, the backs of which are movable, that the exhibition may be varied as often as desired; and, owing to the lack of wall-space, draperies have been hung extensively throughout the hall, the material of which is heavy raw silk.  We mention these facts only to show that economy was not a consideration in the execution of the Museum, and believe that our readers will be the more surprised to learn that its gross cost to Mr. Slater—­excluding, of course, the building itself—­was exactly $27,112.97.  Is there any city or college in the Union in which this sum could not be raised for a similar purpose?

The cost of the building we do not give, because it would be useful as showing how much, rather than how little, could be put into such an edifice.  It contains, besides the museum proper, the floor-space of which amounts to about 10,000 square feet, a lecture-hall with a seating-capacity of about 1,200, a library and four large class-rooms, which, if the intentions of the founder are fully carried out, will be used for practical instruction in the fine arts.  Desirable as all these rooms are in a building of the kind, the only one which seems to us absolutely necessary is the lecture-hall.  To open a gallery like this to the public, and then leave people to float about in it aimlessly, without a notion of its meaning or its purposes, is to do but half the work.  Either regular courses of instruction or occasional lectures upon topics connected with the theory or history of art are necessary in order to make the Museum anything more than a collection of curiosities to the uninitiated, and such lectures are given during the winter at the Slater Museum.

Of the amount just quoted, the principal item was naturally for casts.  The cost of these, including packing and transportation, but not setting-up in the Museum, was $13,968.68, making an average of a trifle less than $62 for each number in the catalogue.  We ought to say here, however, that an average is a dangerous guide in a matter of this kind, owing to the enormous difference in the size and price of casts, as well as in the distance from which they come.  Obviously, too, the cost of packing and importing a few casts would be proportionately much greater than in a large order.

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The American Architect and Building News, Vol. 27, No. 733, January 11, 1890 from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.