BOOKSELLER.
1. The book-trade has arisen from small beginnings to its present magnitude and importance. Before the invention of typography, it was carried on by the aid of transcribers; and the booksellers of Greece, Rome, and Alexandria, during the flourishing state of their literature, kept a large number of manuscript copyists in constant employ. Among the Romans, the transcribers or copyists were chiefly slaves, who were very valuable to their owners, on account of their capacity for this employment.
2. In the middle ages, when learning was chiefly confined to the precincts of monastic institutions, the monks employed much of their time in copying the ancient classics and other works; and this labor was often imposed upon them as a penance for the commissionof sin. From this cause, and from an ignorance of the true meaning of the author, much of their copying was inaccurately performed, so that great pains have been since required in the correction of the manuscripts of those times.
3. This mode of multiplying copies of books was exceedingly slow, and, withal, so very expensive, that learning was confined almost exclusively to people of rank, and the lower orders were only rescued from total ignorance by the reflected light of their superiors. For a long time, during the reign of comparative barbarism in Europe, books were so scarce, that a present of a single copy to a religious house was thought to be so valuable a gift, that it entitled the donor to the prayers of the community, which were considered efficacious in procuring for him eternal salvation.
4. After the establishment of the universities of Paris and Bologna, there were dealers in books, calledstationarii, who loaned single manuscripts at high prices; and, in the former place, no person, after the year 1432, could deal in books in any way, without permission from the university, by which officers were appointed to examine the manuscripts, and fix the price for which they might be sold or hired out.
5. For a long time after the invention of printing, the printers sold their own publications; and, in doing this, especially at some distance from their establishments, they were aided by those who had formerly been employed as copyists. Some of these travelling agents, at length, became stationary, and procured the publication of works on their own account.
6. The first bookseller who purchased manuscripts from the authors, and caused them to be printed without owning a press himself, was John Otto, of Nuremburg. He commenced this mode of doing business, in 1516. In 1545, there were, for the first time, two such booksellers in Leipsic. The great mart for thesale of their books was Frankfort on the Maine, where were held three extensive fairs every year. Leipsic, however, soon became, and still continues, the centre of the German book-trade.
7. The first Leipsic catalogue of books appeared as early as the year 1600; but the fairs at that place did not become important, as regards the book-trade, until 1667, when it was attended by nineteen foreign booksellers. The booksellers of Germany, as well as some from distant countries, meet at the semi-annual fairs held in that city, to dispose of books, and to settle their accounts with each other. Every German publisher has also an agent there, who receives his publications, and sends them, according as they are ordered, to any part of Germany.
8. In no other part of the world, has such a connexion of booksellers been formed, although almost every kingdom of Europe has some city or cities in which this branch of trade is chiefly concentrated; as London, in England; Edinburgh, in Scotland; and Amsterdam, Utrecht, Leyden, and Haerlem, in the Netherlands. In Spain and Portugal, the price of every book is regulated by the government.
9. A very convenient method of effecting the sale and exchange of books among booksellers, has been adopted in the United States; and this is by auction. A sale of this kind is held in Boston once, and in New-York and Philadelphia twice, every year; and none are invited to attend it but thetrade; hence such sales are denominatedtrade-sales.
10. The sale is usually conducted by an auctioneer who has been selected by a committee of the trade in the city in which it is to be held. In order to obtain a sufficient amount of stock for the purpose, the agent issues proposals, in which he informs publishers and others concerned in this branch of business, of his intention, and solicits invoices of books, to be sold atthe time specified. A catalogue of all the books thus sent for sale, is distributed among the booksellers.
11. The booksellers having assembled, the books which may have been accumulated from different parts of the Union, are offered in convenient lots, andstruck offto the highest bidder. Each purchaser holds in his hand the printed catalogue, on the broad margin of which he marks, if he sees fit, the prices at which the books have been sold; and the record thus kept affords a tolerable means of determining their value, for a considerable time afterwards.
12. A sale of this kind occupies from four to six days; and, at the close of it, a settlement takes place, in which the parties are governed by the terms previously published. The payments are made in cash, or by notes at four or six months, according to the amount which the purchaser may have bought out of one invoice. The conductors of the sale are allowed about five per cent. commission for their services.
13. A vast number of books is also sold, every year, at auction, to miscellaneous collections of people, not only in the cities and considerable towns, but likewise in the villages throughout the country. By many booksellers, this method of sale is thought to be injurious to the trade, since it has reduced the prices of books, and interfered with the regular method of doing business. These disadvantages, however, have been far overbalanced by the increased number of readers which has been thus created.
14. The circulation of books is likewise promoted by means of travelling agents, who either sell them at once, or obtain subscriptions for them with the view to their future delivery. These methods have been employed more or less from the very commencement of the printing business; and they have probably contributed more to the general extension of knowledge than the sale of books by stationary booksellers. Infact, they are among the most prominent causes of the vast trade in books, which is now carried on, especially in the United States.
15. Nevertheless, publishers, who do not employ agents to vend their books, generally consider them interlopers upon their business; and the people themselves, who owe a great share of their intellectual cultivation to this useful class of men, are generally averse to afford them the necessary patronage, because they require a small advance on the city prices to pay travelling expenses.
16. A considerable amount of books is also sold by merchants who reside at some distance from the cities and large towns. They, however, seldom venture to purchase those which have not been well known and approved in their neighborhood; and, in a majority of cases, regard them as mere subjects of merchandise, without taking into consideration the effects most likely to be produced by these silent, but powerful agents, when circulated among their customers.
17. Some booksellers in Europe confine their trade chiefly to particular departments; such as law, theology, and medicine. Others deal in toy-books, and books of education, or in rare and scarce books. This is the case, to a limited extent, in the United States, although our booksellers commonly keep an assortment of miscellaneous publications, as well as various articles in the stationary line; such as paper, quills, inkstands, and blank work.
The ARCHITECT.
1. Architecture, in the general sense of the word, is the art of planning and erecting buildings of all kinds, whether of a public or private nature; and it embraces within its operations a variety of employments, at the head of which must be placed the Architect. Architecture is of several kinds, such ascivil,naval,military, andaquatic; but it is the first only that we propose to notice in the present article.
2. The construction of buildings as means of shelter from the weather, appears to have been among the earliest inventions; and, from the skill exhibited in the construction of the ark, we have reason to believe that architecture had been brought to considerable perfection before the deluge. This opinion is also supported by the fact stated in holy writ, that thedescendants of Noah, not more than one hundred years after the great catastrophe just mentioned, attempted to build a city and a lofty tower with bricks burned in the fire. This project could never have been thought of, had they not been influenced by the knowledge of former centuries.
3. The confusion of the language of the people caused their dispersion into different parts of the earth; and, in their several locations, they adopted that method of constructing their dwellings, which the climate required, and the materials at hand admitted; but, whatever the primitive structure may have been, it was continued, in its general features, from age to age, by the more refined and opulent inhabitants; hence the different styles of building, which have been continued, with various modifications, to the present day.
4. The essential elementary parts of a building are those which contribute to its support, inclosure, and covering; and of these the most important are the foundation, the column, the wall, the lintel, the arch, the vault, the dome, and the roof. Ornamental and refined architecture is one of the fine arts; nevertheless, every part of an edifice must appear to have utility for its object, and show the purpose for which it has been designed.
5. Thefoundationis usually a stone wall, on which the superstructure of the building rests. The most solid basis on which it is placed is rock, or gravel which has never been disturbed; next to these are clay and sand. In loose or muddy situations, it is always unsafe to build, unless a solid basis can be artificially produced. This is often done by means of timber placed in a horizontal position, or by driving wooden piles perpendicularly into the earth; on a foundation of the latter description, the greater part of the city of Amsterdam has been built.
6. Thecolumn, orpillar, is the simplest member of a building, although it is not essential to all. It is not employed for the purpose of inclosure, but as a support to some part of the superstructure, and the principal force which it has to resist is that of perpendicular pressure. The column is more frequently employed in public than in private buildings.
7. Thewallmay be considered the lateral continuation of the column, answering the purposes both of support and inclosure. It is constructed of various materials, but chiefly of brick, stone, and marble, with a suitable proportion of mortar or cement. Walls are also made of wood, by first erecting a frame of timber and then covering it with boards; but these are more perishable materials, which require to be defended from the decomposing influence of the atmosphere, by paint or some other substance.
8. Thelintelis a beam extending in a right line from one column or wall to another over a vacant space. Theflooris a lateral continuation or connexion of beams, by means of a covering of planks. The strength of the lintel, and, in fact, every other elementary part of a building used as a support, can be mathematically determined by the skilful architect.
9. Thearchanswers the same purpose as the lintel, although it far exceeds it in strength. It is composed of several pieces of a wedge-like form, and the joints formed by the contact of flat surfaces point to a common centre. While the workmen are constructing the arch, the materials are supported by acentringof the shape of its internal surface. The upper stone of an arch is called thekey-stone. The supports of an arch are calledabutments; and a continuation of arches, anarcade.
10. Thevaultis the lateral continuation of an arch, and bears the same relation to it that a wall bears to a column. The construction of a simplevault is the same with that of an arch, and it distributes its pressure equally along the walls or abutments. A complex or groined vault is made by the intersection of two of the common kind. The groined vault is much used in Gothic architecture.
11. Thedome, orcupola, is a hemispherical or convex covering to a building or a part of it. When built of stone it is a very strong kind of structure, even more so than the arch, since the tendency of the parts to fall is counteracted by those above and below, as well as by those on each side. During the erection of the cupola, no centring is required, as in the case of the arch.
12. Theroofis the most common and cheap covering to buildings. It is sometimes flat, but most commonly oblique, in shape. A roof consisting of two oblique sides meeting at the top, is denominated apentroof; that with four oblique sides, ahippedroof; and that with two sides, having each two inclinations of different obliquities, acurbormansardroof. In modern times, roofs are constructed of wood, or of wood covered with some incombustible material, such as tiles, slate, and sheets of lead, tin, or copper. The elementary parts of buildings, as just described, are more or less applicable in almost every kind of architecture.
13. The architecture of different countries has been characterized by peculiarities of form and construction, which, among ancient nations, were so distinct, that their edifices may be identified at the present day even in a state of ruin; and, although nearly all the buildings of antiquity are in a dilapidated state, many of them have been restored, in drawings and models, by the aid of the fragments which remain.
14. The different styles of building which have been recognised by the architect of modern times, are, the Egyptian, the Chinese, the Grecian, the Roman,the Greco-Gothic, the Saracenic, and the Gothic. In all these, the pillar, with its accompaniments, makes a distinguished figure. The following picture has therefore been introduced by way of explanation. The columns are of the Corinthian order of architecture.
15.The Egyptian style.—The first inhabitants of Egypt lived in mounds, caverns, and houses of mud; and, from these primitive structures, the Egyptians, at a later period, derived their style of architecture. The walls of their buildings were very thick, and sloping on the outside; the roof was flat, and composed of blocks of stone, extending from one wall or pillar to another; and the columns were short andlarge, being sometimes ten or twelve feet in diameter. Pyramids of prodigious magnitude, and obelisks composed of a single stone, sometimes often exceeding seventy feet in height, are structures peculiarly Egyptian. The architecture of the Hindoos seems to have been derived from primitive structures of a similar character.
An Egyptian Temple.An Egyptian Temple.
16.The Chinese style.—The ancient Tartars, and other wandering tribes of Asia, appear to have lived in tents; and the Chinese buildings, even at the present day, bear a strong resemblance to these original habitations, since their roofs are concave on the upper side, as if made of canvas instead of wood.Their porticoes resemble the awnings spread out on our shop-windows in the summer. The Chinese build chiefly of wood, although they sometimes use brick and stone.
A Chinese Pagoda.A Chinese Pagoda.
17.The Grecian style.—This style of building had its origin in the wooden hut or cabin, the frame of which primarily consisted of perpendicular posts, transverse beams, and rafters. This structure was at length imitated in stone, and by degrees it was so modified and decorated in certain parts, as to give rise to the several distinctions called orders of architecture. The Greeks, in perfecting their system of architecture, were probably aided by Egyptian examples, although they finally surpassed all other nations in this important art.
18.Orders of architecture.—By the architectural orders are understood certain modes of proportioning and decorating the column and entablature. They were in use during the best days of Greece and Rome, for a period of six or seven centuries. The Greeks had three orders, called theDoric, theIonic, and theCorinthian. These were adopted and modified by the Romans, who also added two others, called theTuscanand theComposite.
19.Doric order.—The Doric is the oldest and most massive order of the Greeks. The column, in the examples at Athens, is about six of its diameters in height; in those of an earlier date, it is but four or five. The temple here adduced to illustrate this order was built by Cimon, son of Miltiades, about theyear 450 before Christ. It is said to be in a state of better preservation than any other of the ancient Greek edifices at Athens. It will be seen that the shafts arefluted, that is, cut in semicircular channels, in a longitudinal direction. The United States' Bank, at Philadelphia, is a noble specimen of this order.
The Temple of Theseus.The Temple of Theseus.
20.Ionic order.—This order is lighter than the Doric, its column being eight or nine diameters in height. Its shaft has twenty-four or more flutings, separated from each other by square edges; and its capital consists, in part, of two double scrolls, calledvolutes, usually occupying opposite sides. These volutes are supposed to have been copied from ringlets of hair, or from the horns of the god Jupiter Ammon. The following example of this order consists of three temples, each of which was dedicated to a different individual, viz., Erectheus, Minerva Polias, and the nymph Pandrosus.
The Erectheum at Athens.The Erectheum at Athens.
21.Corinthian order.—The Corinthian is the lightest and most decorated of all the Grecian orders. Its column is usually ten diameters in height, and its shaft is fluted like that of the Ionic. Its capital is shaped like an inverted bell, and was covered on the outside with two rows of the leaves of the plant acanthus, above which are eight pairs of small volutes. It is said that this beautiful capital was suggested to the sculptor Callimachus by the growth of an acanthus about a basket, which had been accidentally left in a garden.
22. The Greeks sometimes departed so far from the strict use of their orders, as to employ the statues of slaves, heroes, and gods, in the place of columns. A specimen of this practice is exhibited in the cut illustrative of the Ionic order. It belongs to the temple dedicated to Pandrosus.
23. The most remarkable buildings of the Greeks were their temples. The body of these edifices consisted of a walled cell, usually surrounded by one or more rows of pillars. Sometimes they had a colonnade at one end only, and sometimes at both ends. Their form was generally oblong, and as the cells were intended as places of resort for the priests rather than for assemblies of the people, they were but imperfectly lighted. Windows were seldom employed; and light was admitted at the door at one end, or through an opening in the roof.
24. Grecian architecture is supposed to have been at its greatest perfection in the days of Pericles and Phidias, when sculpture is admitted to have attained its highest excellence. It was distinguished, in general, by simplicity of structure, fewness of parts, absence of arches, and lowness of pediments and roofs.
25.Roman style.—The Romans adopted the three Grecian orders, with some modifications; and also added two others, called the Tuscan and Composite. The former of these they borrowed from the nation whose name it bears, and the latter they formed by uniting the embellishments of the Doric and the Corinthian. The favorite order in Rome and its colonies was the Corinthian. Examples of single pillars of these orders may be seen at the end of this article.
26. The temples of the Romans generally bore a strong resemblance to those of the Greeks, although they often differed from the specimens of that nation in several particulars. The stylobate of the latter was usually a succession of platforms, which likewiseserved the purposes of steps, by which the building was approached on all sides. Among the Romans, it was usually an elevated structure, like a continued pedestal, on three sides, and accessible in front by means of steps. The dome was also very commonly employed rather than the pent roof. The following is an example of a temple at Rome.
Temple of Antonius and Faustina.Temple of Antonius and Faustina.
27.Greco-Gothic style.—After the dismemberment of the Roman empire, the practice of erecting new buildings from the fragments of old ones became prevalent. This gave rise to an irregular style of building, which continued in use during the dark ages. It consisted of Greek and Roman details combined under new forms, and piled up into structures wholly unlike the original buildings from which the materials had been taken. Hence the appellationsGreco-GothicandRomanesquehave been applied to it. The effect of this style of building was very imposing, especially when columns and arches were piled upon each other to a great height.
28.Saracenic style.—This appellation has been given to the style of building practised by the Moorsand Saracens in Spain, Egypt, and Turkey. It is distinguished, among other things, by an elliptical form of the arch. A similar peculiarity exists in the domes of the Oriental mosques, which are sometimes large segments of a sphere, appearing as if inflated; and at other times, they are concavo-convex on the outside. Several of these domes are commonly placed upon one building. Theminaretis a tall slender tower, peculiar to Turkish architecture.
29.Gothic style.—The Goths, who overran a great part of the Western empire, were not the inventors of the style of architecture which bears their name. The term was first applied with the view to stigmatize the edifices of the middle ages, in the construction of which, the purity of the antique models had not been regarded. The term was at first very extensive in its application; but it is now confined chiefly to the style of building which was introduced into various parts of Europe six or eight centuries ago, and which was used in the construction of cathedrals, churches, abbeys, and similar edifices.
Gothic Cathedral at York.Gothic Cathedral at York.
30. The Gothic style is peculiarly and strongly marked. Its principles seem to have originated in the imitation of groves and bowers, under which the Druid priests had been accustomed to perform their sacred rites. Its characteristics are, pointed arches,pinnacles and spires, large buttresses, clustered pillars, vaulted roofs, and a general predominance of the perpendicular over the horizontal.
31. The ecclesiastical edifices of this style of building are commonly in form of a cross, having a tower, lantern, or spire, erected at the point of intersection. The part of the cross situated towards the west is called thenave; the eastern part, thechoir; and the transverse portion, thetransept. A glance at the following diagram will enable the reader to understand the form of the ground-work more fully.
32. Any high building erected above a roof is called asteeple, which is also distinguished by different appellations, according to its form: if it is square topped, it is atower; if long and acute, aspire; or if short and light, alantern. Towers of great height in proportion to their diameter are denominatedturrets. The walls of Gothic churches are supported on the outside by lateral projections, calledbuttresses, which extend from the bottom to the top, at the corners and between the windows. On the top of these are slender pyramidal structures or spires, calledpinnacles. The summit or upper edge of a wall, if straight, is called aparapet; if indented, abattlement.
33. Gothic pillars or columns are usually clustered, appearing as if a number were bound together. They are confined chiefly to the inside of buildings, and are generally employed in sustaining the vaults which support the roof. The parts which are thrownout of a perpendicular to assist in forming these vaults, have received the appellation ofpendentives. The Gothic style of building is more imposing than the Grecian; but architects of the present day find it difficult to accomplish what was achieved by the builders of the middle ages.
34. In the erection of edifices at the present day, the Grecian and Gothic styles are chiefly employed, to the exclusion of the others, especially in Europe and America. Modern dwelling-houses have necessarily a style of their own, so far as relates to stories, windows, and chimneys; and no more of the styles of former ages can be applied to them, than what relates to the unessential and decorative parts.
Doric. Ionic. Corinthian. Composite. Tuscan. PILLARS AND ENTABLATURES OF THE FIVE ORDERS.PILLARS AND ENTABLATURES OF THE FIVE ORDERS.
CARPENTER.
1. It is the business of the carpenter to cut out and frame large pieces of timber, and then to join them together, or fit them to brick or stone walls, to constitute them the outlines or skeleton of buildings or parts of buildings.
2. The joiner executes the more minute parts of the wood-work of edifices, comprehending, among other things, the floors, window-frames, sashes, doors, mantels, &c. Carpentry and joinery, however, are so nearly allied to each other, that they are commonly practised by the same individuals; and, in this article, they will be treated together.
3. Carpentry and joinery, as well as all other trades connected with building, are subservient to the architect, when an individual of this particular professionhas been employed; but it most commonly happens, that the master-carpenter acts in this capacity. This is especially the case in the erection of common dwellings, and, in fact, of other edifices where nothing very splendid is to be attempted. It is to be regretted, however, that the professional architect has not been oftener employed; for, had this been the case, a purer taste in building would have generally prevailed.
4. Contracts for the erection of buildings are often made with the carpenter, as master-builder or architect. In such cases, it is his business to employ persons capable of executing every kind of work required on the proposed edifice, from the bricklayer and stone-mason to the painter and glazier. It not unfrequently happens, however, that the person himself, who proposes to erect a building, chooses to employ the workmen in the different branches.
5. The constituent parts of buildings having been explained in the article on architecture, it is unnecessary to enter here into minute details on this point; nor would a particular description of the various operations of the carpenter and joiner be useful to the general reader, since, in every place, means are at hand by which a general view of this business may be obtained by actual inspection.
6. The carpenter and joiner are guided, in the performance of their work, by well-defined rules, drawn chiefly from the science of Geometry, and which they have learned from imitation and practice, as well as, in many cases, from the valuable works which have been published on these branches of the art of building.
7. The principal tools with which they operate are the axe, the adze, the saw, the auger, the gauge, the square, the compasses, the hammer, the mallet, the crow, the rule, the level, the maul, and the plane; and of many of these there are several kinds.
8. The timbers most employed in building in the United States are chiefly pine, oak, beech, black walnut, cypress, larch, white cedar, and hemlock; but of these pine is in the greatest use. Oak and beech are much used in constructing frames, in which great strength is required. Of the pine, there are several species, of which the white and yellow are the most valuable; the former of these grows in the greatest abundance in the Northern, and the latter, in the Southern states.
9. Vast quantities of timber are annually cut into boards in saw-mills, and floated down the rivers from the interior, during the time of high water in the spring and fall, and sometimes at other seasons of the year. The boards, or, as they are frequently denominated, planks, are placed in the water, one tier above another, and fastened together with wooden pins. Several of suchraftsare connected by means of withes to form one; and, at each end of this, are placed one or two huge oars, with which it may be guided down the stream. Upon these rafts, shingles and laths are also brought to market.
10. Logs and scantling to be employed in the frames of buildings are also conveyed down the rivers in the same manner. The business connected with the production of shingles, laths, boards or planks, and staves, is called lumbering; and it is carried on, more or less extensively, in the regions near the sources of all the large rivers in the United States, and in the British possessions in North America.
11. The trade in lumber has also given rise to another class of men, called lumber merchants; these purchase the lumber from the original proprietors, who bring it down the rivers, and, in their turn, sell it to builders and others. The lumbering business employs a large capital, and a numerous class of our citizens.
STONE-MASON.
1. The art of Masonry includes the sawing and cutting of stones into the various shapes required in the multiplied purposes of building, and in placing them in a proper manner in the walls and other parts of edifices. It is divided into two branches, one of which consists in bringing the stones to the desired form and polish, and the other, in laying them in mortar or cement.
2. The rocks most used in building in the United States, are marble, granite, greenstone, scienite, soap-stone, limestone, gypsum, and slate. These are found in a great many localities, not only on this continent, but on the other side of the Atlantic. Of these stones, there are many varieties, which are frequently designated by their sensible qualities, or by the name ofthe place or country whence they are obtained; asvariegated,Italian,Egyptian, orStockbridge marble, andQuincy stone.
3.The Stone-cutter.—Stone-cutters procure their materials from thequarry-men, whose business it is toget outthe stones from the quarries, in which they lie in beds, consisting either of strata piled upon each other, or of solid masses. Stones of any desirable dimensions are detached from the great mass of rock, by first drilling holes at suitable points, and then driving into them wedges with a sledge. These blocks are usually removed from the quarries, and placed on vehicles of transportation, by means of huge cranes, with which is connected suitable machinery.
4. The blocks of stone, received in their rough state by the stone-cutter, are divided, if required, into pieces of smaller size, by means of a toothless saw, aided by the attrition of sand and water. The other rough sides of the blocks are reduced to the proper form by means of steelpointsandchiselsdriven with a mallet. A kind of hammer with a point or chisel-like edge, is also used to effect the same object, especially in the softer kinds of stone.
5. For some purposes, the stones are required to be polished. This is especially the case with those employed in the ornamental parts of buildings. In the execution of this part of the work, the surface is rubbed successively with sand, freestone, pumice-stone, Scotch stone, crocus, and putty. When the face is a plane, the sand is applied by means of another stone, which is moved backwards and forwards upon it. In this way, two surfaces are affected at the same time.
6. In polishing irregular surfaces, the different kinds of stone are used in masses of convenient size; and the part applied to the surface to be polished is first brought to a form corresponding to it.The putty is an oxyde of tin, in form of powder. Crocus is the peroxyde of iron. The building-stone capable of receiving the highest polish is marble; and it is on this material that the stone-cutter, and the architectural carver or sculptor, exert their utmost skill; but some of the other stones which have been mentioned, possess the same quality to a considerable extent.
7. Carving architectural ornaments, such as pillars with their capitals, is a refined branch of this business; or it may rather be considered, of itself, a branch of sculpture. In the execution of this kind of work, the operator is guided by patterns, formed from the well-defined rules of the science of building. Very few stone-cutters attempt the execution of work so very difficult.
8. From the manufacture of mantel-pieces and monuments for the dead, the stone-cutter derives a great proportion of his profits. This will be manifest even to the superficial observer who may visit a few of the many stone-cutters' yards, to be found in any of our large cities. In some of these, blocks of marble are cut into slabs by the aid of steam-power.
9. In districts of country, also, where valuable stone is abundant, water is extensively employed for the same purpose. This is especially the case in Berkshire county, Massachusetts, where marble of a good quality is abundant. A great proportion of the marble slabs used by the stone-cutter are obtained from such mills. Some other operations of this business are also sometimes performed by the aid of machinery.
1. In Philadelphia, and in many other cities not only in this country, but also in Europe, the stone-cuttersset their own work; and this practice has led tothe habit of applying the term stone-mason to both stone-cutters and those who lay stone in mortar and cement. In New-York, however, as well as in some of the cities farther east, these two employments are kept more distinct. The stone-cutters in Philadelphia are sometimes denominated marble-masons.
2. But, in every city, there are persons called stone-masons, whose business consists exclusively in constructing the walls and some other parts of buildings with stone; and their operations are considerably enlarged in those places where there are no marble-masons. In many cases, the bricklayer is also so far a stone-mason, as to lay the foundation-walls of the buildings which he may erect. This is especially the case in the country, where the divisions of labor are not so minute as in cities. It may be well here to remark, also, that the bricklayers, in some places, perform the services of the marble-mason.
3. The marble-mason, in joining together several pieces in a monument, employs a kind of cement composed of about six parts of lime, one of pure sand, a little plaster, and as much water as may be necessary to form it to the proper consistency. No more of this cement is used than is required to hold the blocks or parts together, as one great object of the artist is to hide the joints as much as possible. The substance thus interposed, becomes as hard as the marble itself.
4. The cement employed in laying marble in common or large edifices, is somewhat different from that just described, as it consists of about three fourths of lime and one of sand. The latter substance is obtained, in an unmixed state, on the bays in every part of the world; hence it has received the appellation ofbay sand.
5. When it cannot be conveniently had in a pure state, particles of the same kind can be separated insufficient quantities from their admixture with other substances. This is effected by sifting the compound through a sieve, into a small stream of water, which carries off the lighter particles that are unfit for use, whilst the sand, by its superior specific gravity, sinks to the bottom. The part which may be too coarse, remains in the sieve. This, however, except the rubbish, can be used in the coarser kinds of masonry.
6. The mortar, used in laying bricks and common stone, has a greater proportion of sand, which is generally of an inferior quality. Besides, the materials are incorporated with less care. Lime for the purposes of building is procured chiefly by calcining limestone in a kiln, with wood, coal, or some other combustible substance. It is also obtained by burning chalk, marble, and marine shells. Water poured upon newly-burnt orquicklime, causes it to swell, and fall to pieces into a fine powder. In this state it is said to beslacked.
7. Masonry is often required in situations under water, especially in the construction of bridges and locks of canals. Common mortar resists the action of the water very well, when it has become perfectly dry; yet, if it is immersed before it has had time to harden, it dissolves, and crumbles away.
8. The ancient Romans, who practised building in the water to a great extent, discovered a material, which, when incorporated with lime, either with or without sand, possessed the property of hardening in a few minutes even under water. This was a kind of earth found at Puteoli, to which was given the name ofpulvis puteolanus, and which is the same now calledpuzzolana.
9. A substance denominatedtarras,terras, ortras, found near Andernach, in the vicinity of the Rhine, possesses the same quality with puzzolana. It is this material which has been principally employed by theDutch, whose aquatic structures are superior to those of any other nation in Europe. Various other substances, such as baked clay and calcined greenstone, reduced to powder, afford a tolerable material for water-cements. Several quarries of water lime, which is similar in appearance to common limestone, has been lately discovered in the United States, which, being finely pulverized and mixed with sand, makes very good water-cement.
10. In buildings constructed with marble and other costly stones, the walls are not composed of these materials in their entire thickness; but, for the sake of cheapness, they are formed on the inside with bricks, commonly of a poor quality, so that in reality they can be considered only brick walls faced with stone. These two kinds of materials have no other connexion than what is produced by the mortar which may have been interposed, and the occasional use of clamps of iron. Such walls are said to be liable to become convex outwardly from the difference in the shrinking of the cement employed in laying the two walls.
11. The principal tools employed in cutting and laying stone are the saw, various kinds of steel points, chisels and hammers, the mallet, the square, the compasses, the level, the plumb-rule, the trowel, and the hod, to which may be added, the spade and the hoe. The last three instruments, however, are handled almost exclusively by laborers.
12. Besides these, contrivances are required to raise heavy materials to the various positions which they are to occupy. These consist, for the most part, of one or two shafts, commonly the mast of an old vessel, to which are attached tackle extending in various directions, and also those by which the blocks are to be raised. The rope belonging to the hoisting tackle is pulled by a machine worked with a crank.
13. Masonry is one of the primitive arts, and was carried to great perfection in ancient times. The pyramids of Egypt are supposed to have stood about three thousand years, and they will probably remain for centuries to come, monuments as well of the folly as of the power and industry of man. The temples and other magnificent structures of Greece and Rome, exhibit wonderful skill in masonry, and leave but little, if anything new, to be achieved in modern times.
1. Brick is a sort of artificial stone, made principally of argillaceous earths formed in moulds, dried in the sun, and burned with fire.
2. The earliest historical notice of bricks is found in the book of Genesis, where it is stated that the posterity of Noah undertook to build a city and a lofty tower of this material. Whether the bricks were really exposed to the action of fire, as the passage referred to seems to imply, or only dried in the sun, is an unsettled point. But Herodotus, who visited the spot many centuries afterwards, states that the bricks in the tower of Babylon were baked in furnaces.
3. It is evident, however, that the earliest bricks were commonly hardened in the sun; and, to give them the requisite degree of tenacity, chopped straw was mixed with the clay. The manufacture of such bricks was one of the tasks imposed upon the Israelites, during their servitude with the Egyptians.
4. The extreme dryness and heat of the climate in some of the eastern countries, rendered the application of fire dispensable; and there are structures of unburnt bricks still remaining, which were built two or three thousand years ago. Bricks both sun-dried and burned, were used by the Greeks and the Romans.
5. The walls of Babylon, some of the ancient structures of Egypt and Persia, the walls of Athens, therotunda of the Pantheon, the temple of Peace, and the Thermæ, or baths, at Rome, were all built of brick. The most common bricks among the Romans were seventeen inches long and eleven broad; a size, certainly, far preferable, as regards appearance, to those of modern manufacture.
6. In the United States, a great proportion of the edifices, particularly in the cities and towns, are constructed of bricks, which are usually manufactured in the vicinity of the place where they are to be used. The common clay, of which they are made, consists of a mixture of argillaceous earth and sand, with a little oxyde of iron, which causes them to turn red in burning. The material for bricks is dug up, and thrown into a large heap, late in the fall or in the winter, and exposed to the influence of the frost until spring.
7. The operation of making bricks is conducted very systematically; and, although every part of the work seems to be very simple, it requires considerable dexterity to perform it properly and to the best advantage. The workmen, in the yards about Philadelphia, are divided intogangsconsisting of three men and a boy. The first is called thetemperer, who tempers the material with water and mixes it with a spade; the second is called thewheeler, who conveys it on a barrow to a table, where it is formed in moulds by themoulder, whence it is carried to thefloorby the boy, who is denominated theoff-bearer.
8. The bricks are suffered to remain on the floor a day or two, or until they have become dry enough to be handled with safety. They are then removed and piled into ahack, under cover, in such a manner that the air may circulate freely between them. It is the business of the whole gang to remove the bricks from the floor, and also to place them in the kiln to be burned. In both cases, each one has his due proportion of labor to perform.
9. The day's work of a gang, when the weather is favorable, is to make and pile in the hack a tale of bricks, which consists of 2332, or an even 2000. The former number is called along tale, and the latter, ashort tale. Considerable skill and much care are required in burning the bricks in a proper manner; too much fire would cause them to vitrify, and too little would leave them soft, and unfit for atmospheric exposure.
10. In many places, the clay is mixed or prepared for the moulder by driving round upon it a yoke of oxen, or by means of a simple machine, consisting of a beam, into which has been driven a great number of spokes. One end of this beam is confined in a central position, while the other is moved round in a sweep by animal power.
11. Machines have also been invented by the aid of which the clay may be both mixed and moulded; but these have been very little used. A machine, however, is often employed in pressing bricks which have been formed in the usual manner. The pressing is done after the bricks have become partially dry. Such bricks are employed in facing the walls of the better kinds of structures.
12.Tiles.—Tiles are plates used for covering roofs. They resemble bricks in their composition and mode of manufacture, and are shaped in such a manner that when placed upon a building, the edge of one tile receives that next to it, so that water cannot percolate between them. Tiles, both of burnt clay and marble, were used by the ancients; and the former continue to be employed in various parts of Europe. Flat tiles are used for floors in many countries, and especially in Italy.
1. The particular business of the bricklayer is to lay bricks in mortar or some other cement, so as to form one solid body; but he frequently constructs the foundations of buildings in rough stones, and, in some cities, he sets hewn stone in the superstructure. In the country, plastering is likewise connected with this business.
2. Bricklaying consists in placing one brick upon another in mortar, chiefly in the construction of walls, chimneys, and ovens. In connecting these materials, especially in walls, two methods are employed, one of which is called theEnglish bond, and the other, theFlemish bond. In the former method, the bricks are most commonly of one quality, and are laid crosswise and lengthwise in alternate rows. The bricks which are laid across the wall are calledheaders, and those which are laid in the other direction are calledstretchers. The brick-work of the Romans was of this kind, and so are the partition-walls of many modern brick edifices.
3. The bricks employed in the walls constructed according to the Flemish method, are of two, and frequently of three, qualities. Those placed in the front, or on the external surface, are manufactured with greater care, and, in some cases, are formed in a larger mould. A wall put up on this principle may be said to consist of two thin walls composed of stretchers, with occasional headers, to unite them together. The space between them, when the wall is thick, is filled in with the inferior bricks.
4. The inclosing walls of all brick edifices are erected on this plan, although they are thought to be more insecure than those constructed on the old English method. The reasons alleged for the preference, are its superior beauty, and a considerable savingin the most expensive kind of bricks. Greater security might be attained by the use of larger bricks, say sixteen inches in length, and wide and thick in proportion. Besides, an edifice constructed of well-made bricks of this size would be but little inferior in appearance to marble itself.
5. Most of the instruments used by the bricklayer are also employed by the stone-mason; and they have, therefore, been already mentioned. The particular method of laying bricks, in their various applications, can be learned by actual inspection in almost every village, city, or neighborhood, in our country, a more particular description of the bricklayer's operations is hence unnecessary.
6. Before closing this subject, however, it may be well to state that the chimney appears to be an invention comparatively modern, since the first certain notice we have of it is found in an inscription at Venice, in which it is stated that, in 1347, a great many chimneys were thrown down by an earthquake. It is conjectured that this valuable improvement originated in Italy, inasmuch as it was here that chimney-sweeping was first followed as a business.
7. Before the introduction of the chimney, it was customary to make the fire in a hole or pit in the centre or some other part of the floor, under an opening formed in the roof, which, in unfavorable weather, could be closed by a moveable covering. Among the Romans, the hearth or fire-place was located in theatriumor hall, and around it thelares, or household gods, were placed. To avoid being infested with smoke, they burned dry wood soaked in the lees of oil. In warming other apartments of the house, they used portable furnaces, in which were placed embers and burning coals.
8. It is said by Seneca, who flourished about the middle of the first century of the Christian era, thatin his time, a particular kind of pipes was invented, and affixed to the walls of buildings, through which heat from a subterranean furnace was made to circulate. By this means, the rooms were heated more equally. In the southern parts of Italy and Spain, there are still very few chimneys. The same may be said of many other countries, where the climate is pleasant or very warm.
9. Hollinshead, who wrote during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, thus describes the rudeness of the preceding generation in the arts of life: "There were very few chimneys even in capital towns: the fire was laid to the wall, and the smoke issued out at the roof, or door, or window. The houses were wattled, and plastered over with clay; and all the furniture and utensils were of wood. The people slept on straw pallets, with a log of wood for a pillow."
1. In modern practice, plastering occurs in many departments of architecture. It is more particularly applied to the ceilings and interior walls of buildings, and also in rough-casting on their exterior.
2. In plastering the interior parts of buildings, three coatings of mortar are commonly applied in succession. The mortar for thefirst coatis composed of about twelve parts of sand, six of lime, and three of hair, with a sufficient quantity of water to bring it to the proper consistence; that for thesecond coatcontains a less proportion of lime and hair; and that for thethird coatis composed exclusively of lime and water.
3. The mortar is applied directly to the solid wall, or to thin strips of wood calledlaths, which have been fastened with small nails to the joists, and other parts of the frame of the building. The tools with which the plasterer applies the mortar aretrowelsof differentsizes and shapes, and thehawk. The latter instrument is a board about a foot square, with a short handle projecting at right angles from the bottom.
4. In all well-finished rooms, cornices are run at the junction of the wall and ceiling. The materials of these cornices are lime, water, and plaster. The lime and water are first incorporated, and the plaster is added with an additional quantity of water, as it may be needed for immediate application. The composition is applied in a semifluid state, but the plaster causes itto set, or to become solid immediately. In the mean time, the workman applies to it, in a progressive manner, the edge of a solid piece of wood, in which an exact profile of the proposed cornice has been cut.
5. Ornaments of irregular shape are cast in moulds of wax or plaster of Paris, and these are formed on models of the proposed figures in clay. Such ornaments were formerly the productions of manual operations performed by ingenious men calledornamental plasterers. The casts are all made of the purest plaster; and, after having been polished, they are fastened to the proper place with the same substance saturated with water.
6. The branch of this business calledrough-casting, consists in applying mortar to the exterior walls of houses. The mode in which the work is performed varies but little from that adopted in plastering the walls of apartments. It, however, requires only two coats of the cement; and, when these have been applied, the surface is marked off in imitation of masonry. It is likewise sometimes colored, that it may resemble marble or some other stone.
7. The cement is commonly made ofsharp sandand lime; but sometimes a kind of argillaceous stone, calcined in kilns and afterwards reduced to powder by mechanical means, makes a part of the composition.The qualities of this material were first discovered by a Mr. Parker, who obtained letters patent for this application of it, in England, in 1796; hence it has been calledParker's cement.
1. Slate stone is valuable for the property of splitting in one direction, so as to afford fragments of a sufficient size and thinness to answer several purposes, but especially for covering houses and for writing slates. The best slates are those which are even and compact, and which absorb the least water.
2. The slates used in the United States, are obtained either from our own quarries, of which there are several, or from those of Wales, in the county of Caernarvonshire. The stone is quarried in masses, which are afterwards split into pieces of suitable thinness. These are trimmed to an oblong figure by means of a knife and a steel edge, which act upon the slate much in the manner of a large pair of shears.
3. As it is impossible to dress all the slates to the same size without much waste of material, those engaged in their manufacture have introduced several sizes, the smallest of which are made of the fragments of the larger kinds. These are designated by names known to the trade, and to those practically conversant with the art of building.
4. The slates, when brought to market, especially those from Wales, require additional dressing to fit them for use. The manner of applying them to roofs differs but little from that employed in putting on shingles, as they are lapped over each other in the same way, and confined to their place by means of nails of a similar kind. The nails, however, have a broader head, and are somewhat larger, varying in size to suit the dimensions of the slate. The holes in the slate for the nails are made with a steel point attachedto the slater's hammer, or to his knife, technically called asaix.
5. Slates are preferable to shingles on account of their durability, and, in a majority of situations, for their fire-proof quality. They, however, are objectionable on account of their weight and expensiveness, and are therefore beginning to be superseded in this country by sheets of zinc, and by those of iron coated with tin. Copper and lead are also used for roofs, but the metals just mentioned are beginning to exclude them altogether.
6. A serious objection to metal roofs has been their liability to crack, caused by the contraction and expansion of the material, in consequence of variations in the temperature of the weather; but a particular method of putting the sheets together has been lately devised, which appears to obviate the difficulty. Tiles are not used in this country, although in Europe they are very common.