VOL. XXXII No. 4 AUGUST 1988 lfflf.ITAS RRmiTAS UEDUSIBS ~ NEWSLETTER THE SOCIETY OF ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIANS SAH NOTICES the !990 Annual Meeting in Boston, completed their degrees and are doing March 28 to April !st. advanced research. Subject areas in­ 1989 Annual Meeting-Montreal, Can­ The proposal must consist of a full clude History of Gardens and Land­ ada (April 12-16). Elisabeth MacDou­ and detailed description (no more than scape Architecture, Garden Ornament gall, Harvard University, and Slobodan 200 words) of the proposed theme of the and Sculpture, Literature and Gardens, Curcic, Princeton University, will be session. Chronological and / or geo­ and History of Botanical Illustration general co-chairs of the meeting. Phyllis graphical limits must be specified. The and Horticulture. Application for fel­ Lambert, Canadian Centre for Archi­ proposal should name topics you would lowships are due on or before 15 No­ tecture, will serve as local chairman. consider suitable for the session and vember 1988. For further information, Headquarters for the meeting will be include a list of scholars who might wish write to the Assistant Director, Dum­ the Meridien Hotel. REMINDER: DEAD­ to submit papers. Also, please enclose a barton Oaks, 1703 32nd Street, N.W. LINE FOR ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS curriculum vitae. Washington, D.C. 20007, USA. FOR THE MONTREAL MEETING IS AU­ Since 1990 is the 50th anniversary of The Committee on Scholarly Com­ GUST 31. the founding of the Society, sessions munication with the People's Republic The Rosann Berry Annual Meeting Fel­ appropriate for this occasion will be of China (CSCPRC) announces its lowship. A warded each year by the welcome. 1989-90 National Program of Scholarly SAH to enable a student engaged in Send the proposal on a separate sheet Exchanges with China. The Visiting advanced graduate study to attend the of paper with a cover letter that includes Scholar Exchange Program supports annual meeting of the Society. For the your preferred mailing address and a one-to-three month visits for American recipient, the Society will waive all fees home/evening hours telephone and Chinese scholars in all disciplines and charges connected with the meeting number to Elisabeth Blair MacDougall, between September 1989 and August itself, and, in addition, will provide Society of Architectural Historians, 1990. For Americans in social sciences reimbursement for travel, lodging and 1232 Pine Street, Philadelphia, PA and humanities, the program supports meals directly related to the meeting, 19107. scholars outside the China studies field up to a combined total of$500.00. To be to initiate and conduct research. For eligible, an applicant must have been a 1988 Domestic Tour, Portland, Oregon Americans in natural sciences and en­ member of SAH for at least one year and the Willamette Valley (September gineering, the program supports schol­ prior to the meeting, be currently en­ 7-11). Earl Layman, Neskowin, Oregon ars to initiate and conduct research. gaged in advanced graduate study will be the leader of this tour. An­ Priority will be given to projects in (normally beyond the Master's level) nouncements were mailed to the mem­ disciplines to which research in China that involves some aspect of the history bership and the tour has been filled . A can make a unique contribution and to of architecture or of one of the fields waiting list will be maintained. those which are of mutual benefit to closely allied to it, and apply for the American and Chinese scientists. The Fellowship by using the application 1989 Foreign Tour, The English Mid­ program also supports the nomination form that may be secured from the lands (June 29th to July 20th, 1989). of Chinese scholars in all disciplines by Executive Director, Society of Archi­ Carol Krinsky will be the tour leader for American scholars. Priority will be tectural Historians, 1232 Pine Street, this trip, which will visit major architec­ given to Chinese who have not visited Philadelphia, PA 19107-5944. Deadline tural sites in the vicinities of Liverpool, the U.S. recently and to those whose for receipt of completed applications is Manchester, Leeds, Lincoln, Boston, visits will contribute to future academic January 15 , 1989. Leicester, Stamford, and Peterborough. exchanges. For both American and The tour will conclude in London, 1990 Annual Meeting, Boston, Massa­ Chinese components, women, minori­ passing through Ely and Cambridge on chusetts (March 28-April 1). Elisabeth ties, scholars beginning their careers, MacDougall, Harvard University, will the way. Tour announcements will and scholars based at or visiting pro­ be general chair of the meeting. Keith reach the membership before the end of vincial institutions in China, are espe­ Morgan, Boston University, will serve the year. cially encouraged. The deadline for ap­ plication to the Visiting Scholar as local chairman. Headquarters for the FELLOWSHIPS meeting will be the Park Plaza Hotel. Exchange Program is November 15, The Studies in Landscape Architec­ 1988. For application information on CALL FOR PAPERS FOR ture Program at Dumbarton Oaks in all the above programs write the Com­ Washington, D.C. offers research fel­ mittee on Scholarly Communication BOSTON MEETING lowships for st udents working on dis­ with the People's Republic of China, DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS sertations or other final projects for National Academy of Sciences, 2101 NOVEMBER 1, 1988 their degrees. In addition, fellowships Constitution Avenue, Washington, Proposals are invited for sessions at are available for scholars who have D.C. 20418. This is an introductory piece about The stone on which the city of Mon­ Nearby stands John Ostell and Maurice Montreal, site of the Society's annual treal stands is the same from which its Perrault's late classical Court House meeting in 1989. (Ed.) early buildings are built. In Paleozoic (1850-56, with later additions above the times two types of limestone were laid roof line) which now houses the Mon­ HISTORICAL AND PHYSICAL down by inundations of the Champlain treal Urban Community Offices. Other QUALITIES OF MONTREAL seas: the Chazy and the Trenton. Both court buildings rose nearby, notably Phyllis Lambert are excellent building materials and Ernest Cormier's monumental Beaux­ Montreal is the third largest French have been quarried for local building Arts style building (1923-26) now speaking city in the world. It is a river purposes from the seventeenth century named for him; it has become the locus island strategically located as a gate to through the Second World War. These of the Provincial government's cultural the west, the port deepest into the North greystone buildings form a network activities and archives. In the immedi­ American continent, yet the inland port across the Island of Montreal. The unity ate vicinity stands the 1971 municipal closest to Europe. Though its location and structural clarity which they give to Court House, a curtain wall building was known due to the fur trade, it was the city is remarkable. the vast size of which becomes apparent founded in 1642 on a religious vision to There are four major greystone only when one descends the steep slope convert the Huron and Iroquois. Reli­ periods which roughly parallel the to the street below. gion and commerce have always been growth of the old walled city along the The central section of Vieux-Mon­ the forces of the city and are richly concession lines away from the river. treal has always been the most impor­ represented in its architecture. Roughly coursed stone and projecting tant. The sector is possessed of two The architecture is a construct of the gable walls characterize the buildings of squares on a north and south axis and seventeenth century French mind. the French Regime still being built in major religious and commercial build­ Three powerful aspects of the mentality 1815. The simple ashlar cut stone of the ings. of its founders still mark the city today; English colonial period lasted from the Place d' Armes symbolizes the old seigneurial governance, a rational geo­ 1830s to 1855. In the third period-from city. Here the great parish church, metric order imposed on the land to 1855 to 1875- buildings became more Notre-Dame, and the Bank of Montreal structure settlement and a carefully ornate; the stone was carved and rusti­ confront each other across the square, prescribed manner of building. cated with power tools. What may be boldly asserting the dialectic of religion Through rights granted to the Sulpi­ called the neighbourhood building and commerce. The Sulpician Semi­ cian Order by Louis XIV of France­ period at the end of the 19th century nary (1658) next to Notre-Dame is the under an ancient system of feudal can be identified by the rock-faced oldest building on the square. Notre­ prerogatives, the Gentlemen of the coursing of hammer split stones. The Dame (1824-29) was built by James Seminary of Saint-Sulpice became the twentieth century city incorporated its O'Donnell, an Irish Protestant from seigneurs as well as the priests of the surrounding villages, microcosms of New York. The twin spired church re­ Island of Montreal in 1663. As land­ this four stage pattern, and second and placed an earlier one and was a major lords of the island, the Sulpicians had third buildings replaced earlier ones in undertaking. It has held 10,000 wor­ the obligation to settle the land, which the central city. shippers and was the first building in they organized through land grants en­ Le Vieux-Montreal, is deeply marked the city to be built entirely of ashlar tailing feudal obligations of fealty and by the traces of the three religious masonry. This feat was organized by the payment of property rights as a form of orders whose members first settled the Scottish mason John Redpath who taxation.