St. Étienne du Mont, Paris

H. W. Brewer

c. 1880

Signed with initials lower left

Source: Stevenson’s House Architecture, I, 66

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“The irregularity which we find in many old Gothic buildings was not part of their original design. The Strassburgers at first intended that their cathedral should have two western towers, but, when they determined to have a higher spire than any other city, they felt that the symmetry became absurd and abandoned the building of the second spire. A similar feeling probably influenced the builders at Cologne, and when its two western towers are finished, I believe the result will show that in finishing only one tower the Gothic builder was right.” [continued below]

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