Author: William F. Gray

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2016-11-10

Total Pages: 64

ISBN-13: 9781334236938

Excerpt from Philadelphia's Architecture Carpenters' Hall, in 1726, is the next important project. Its function as a carpenters' guild hall is very frankly expressed in the strong, vigorous cornices and other wood work. It is probable that the sodality of the carpenters in the colonial period is largely responsible for the excellence of workmanship of the wood detail of the brick and stone houses. One of the aims of the Carpenters' Company being stated in their articles of incorporation to be to obtain instruction in the science of architecture. It is significant that when in I729 a then great public work was to be undertaken in the Town Church. As the rebuilt Christ Church was often called, it was an amateur who was called upon to furnish the design, though the structure as we see it now shows in its vigorous and effective composition no trace of amateurish weakness. It is doubtful if Doctor Kearsley planned the church after the method of a practicing architect. In all probability the general scheme was laid out by him, with considerable help from the craftsmen in the execution. The form and details being largely derived from then recent parish churches of London. As the church was some years in building - the eastern end being erected in l73l and the steeple not completed till l753 - there was abundant opportunity to obtain from England drawings of details and information of all sorts, as well as certain materials such as glass and chandeliers, etc. 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.