Chronicles Of A City Church PDF Download

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1859 edition. Excerpt: ...by the celebrated Grinling Gibbons, and an organ built by Father Smith. This organ was removed at the rebuilding of the Church in 1818. It is now in the Abbey Church of St. Alban's, and is mentioned among Smith's works, in Bimbault and Hopkins's book on "The Organ, its History," &c. Smith received from time to time sums of 10/. each, for cleaning and repairing the organ; and the MS. parish book contains the following memorandum, "Mr. Bernard Smith, organist, dwelleth in Suffolk Street over against the cock." Bernard Schmidt, or Smith, was called Father Smith, to distinguish him from his nephews, Gerard, and Bernard Smith, who came with him to England from Germany. On a panel on the north side of the organ-gallery was an inscription, recording Dame Dionys Williamson's noble benefaction. Hatton, in his New View of London, ed. 1708, speaks of "a pretty organ here!" The following passage from his book will serve to show the kind of taste prevalent in interiors of Churches of that date: "As a farther ornament, here is a neat organ-gallery of the Corinthian order, adorned with bolection-work, and enrich'd with carv'd cherubims. It is very well pewed, and wainscotted 9 foot high." Gibbons, much of whose beautiful work may be seen over the stalls and on the organ-gallery of St. Paul's Cathedral, and in some of the City Churches, as well as at Windsor, Chatsworth, and Petworth House, Sussex, died in 1721. He carved in oak, walnut, lime-tree, &c. "There is no instance," says Horace Walpole, in his own happy mode of description, "of a man before Gibbons, who gave to wood the loose and airy lightness of flowers, and chained together the various productions of the elements, with a free...