9. Arthur removes his armor at the request of the Lady of Rossillon. 10. The young king crowns Arthur as best of all the knights. 11. Arthur captures the duke's enchanted warhorse; Hector slays Pierre le Cornu; the countess and Alice view the battle from the walls of the city. [NOTE: Apparently 11 and 12 are in reverse order and the artist has confused the subjects.] 12. Hector, Gouvernor, Sir Othes and Sir Lyonet join Arthur, who had assailed single-handed the Duke of Orgoule and his army; they defeat the Duke before the walls of the city. 13. Arthur, having killed many knights in his attack upon the castle of Porte Noire, slays two lions as a giant approaches. (See illustration.) 14. Arthur, single-handed, slays a horrible monster. 15. Gouvernor, Brisebar and others are led away prisoners, as Arthur, without aid, defends himself against many knights and slays Sir Firmont. 16. Florence, in the presence of her father, the King Emendus, and of the King of Orqueney, receives from Christeline, the head of the monster sent by Arthur; in her chamber Florence receives Arthur's message that he is ready to serve as her knight at all times. 17. Arthur slays a terrible lion. 18. Arthur slays a "great giantess." 19. Arthur slays a "horrible giant." 20. Arthur slays many knights before he beats down the image of Mahomet which was causing a great wind, and before he quenches the fire which by its smoke was causing great darkness. 21. Arthur takes up the quarrel of Lady Margaret against Sir Isembarte, the duke's nephew, and revenges the death of her father. (See illustration.) 22. Gouvernor offers his horse to the porter for permission to enter the castle and see the countess; in the tournament the Earl of the Ile Perdue is unhorsed by Gouvernor as the countess and ladies view the tournament from the castle walls. 23. Proserpine, Queen of the Fairies, tempts Arthur in order to prove his love for Florence. 24. In his attack upon the Castle of Hurtbyse, Arthur crosses the ditch in an enchanted boat. 25. A robber strikes a damosel while she and Arthur are at supper; Arthur in armor attacks the 30 thieves who had besieged her aunt's castle. 26. Florence sees Arthur for the first time as he defeats Sir Rowland in a joust. 27. Arthur jousts with and defeats a great knight who had offended Florence. 28. The enchanted image, in the presence of Florence places the chaplet upon the head of Arthur; Duke Philip slays the Duke of Bygor for assulting Gouvernor; a battle ensues. 29. Arthur defeats the army of the Emperor sent to capture Florence, who was besieged in the castle Porte Noire. 30. Proserpine, Queen of the Fairies, under the guise of Florence, deceives the emperor and King Emendus, causing great enmity and a great battle between them. 31. King Emendus betroths his daughter, Florence, to Arthur. 32. As Arthur and his companions approach the castle Tour Blanche, they defeat a party of Saracens. 33. Aided by the subtle art of Stephen, Arthur and his companions, disguised as Saracens, defeat the army of the Sultan. 34. The Emperor's army is ambushed and destroyed within the gates of castle Tour Blanche. 35. Stephen, by his subtle art, aids in the defeat of the army of the Emperor. 36. The wedding of Florence and Arthur. (See illustration.) 37. The tournament to celebrate the wedding. WILMER R. LEECH. THE NEW YORK PARKS EXHIBITION CENTRAL PARK IN RETROSPECT - THE PARK SYSTEM TO-DAY* IN PART II DESCRIPTION OF THE EXHIBITION N this exhibition, the arrangement of the prints, photographs, maps, reports, etc., and the way in which the story of park development is told, were determined to a large extent by the illustrative material available for display. The development of the parks of the City of New York, as it is presented here in graphic form, can best be understood if the visitor will study the cases and frames in numerical order, beginning at the right as one enters the room. At the head of the room, opposite the entrance and dominating the whole exhibition, is the original drawing of the "Winning Competitive Design for Central Park - 'Greensward Plan' made by Olmsted and Vaux." This drawing was lent by the Department of Parks, Borough of Manhattan. On the northeast wall are hung photographs of Prospect Park, and other interesting items, also lent by the Department of Parks, Borough of Manhattan. It should be pointed out that in the exhibition of "American Historical Prints and Early Views of American Cities, etc.," on view in the third floor corridor of the Central Library Building, are many pictures (particularly numbers 35, 48, 67, 102, 118, 150, 188, 208, 212, 216, 221, 224, 230, 237, 238, and 241) that are of interest in connection with the subject of New York City parks. The following description of the exhibition, by cases and frames, does not attempt completeness; it aims merely to show the general arrangement of material and to emphasize some of the more important items: Cases 1 and 2: THE BATTERY. These two cases are devoted to the Battery, which with Bowling Green may be considered the earliest parks or open spaces in the City. In Case 1, is shown: Andrews' "Iconography of the Battery and Castle Garden"; the plan showing the proposed enlargement of the Battery, which accompanies the "Report of the Special Committee of the Board of Assistant Aldermen," dated October 9, 1848; two views from the Eno Collection (numbers 219 and 389), one showing the Castle Garden from the Battery in 1848, before its enlargement, and the other, taken from Valentine's Manual for 1869, showing Castle Garden surrounded on three sides by new soil. Case 2, in addition to a number of photographs of Battery Park and Castle * An introductory note by Theodora Kimball Hubbard appeared in the issue of the Bulletin for April, 1928. In this introduction, Mrs. Hubbard discussed briefly the history of Central Park as a novel and successful municipal enterprise with a far-reaching influence on landscape architecture and on the development of American park systems. Garden, contains a lithograph dated 1850, by N. Currier, showing the Battery by moonlight; Battery ery Place, a lithograph by Louis H. Ruyl; an etching by C. F. W. Mielatz; and a plan of New York City dated 1808. Case 3: THE BEGINNINGS OF A PARK FOR NEW YORK. This case takes up the story of Central Park. First is shown a photostat copy of William Cullen Bryant's editorial, "A New Public Park," which appeared in the Evening Post for July 3, 1844; together with a portrait of Bryant, the editor of The Post at that time; also Allan Nevins' "History of the Evening Post" open at the page recounting the circumstances under which the editorial was written. Two volumes of The Horticulturist edited by Andrew Jackson Downing, pay tribute to Downing's part in the movement for a new park. Also there are shown the Laws of New York for 1851, open at the act of the Legislature providing for a park at Jones' Wood; a map (from Valentine's Manual for 1853) showing the section north of 57th Street, before the site for the future park had been determined; and an interesting map accompanying the report of the Special Committee on Public Parks of the Board of Aldermen (document 83, dated January 2, 1852) in which the relative advantages of Jones' Park and Central Park are discussed. Case 4: The Illustrated News for June 11, 1853, containing an editorial, "Are we to have a Park?" The issue for June 25 of that year, reproducing the map from the report of the Board of Aldermen shown in the preceding case. A map from Valentine's Manual for 1852, showing the sites of the proposed park, accompanies the Act of Legislature of 1853, taking the site of the present Central Park, south of 106th Street. Another item of interest in this case is a section of a real estate map (about 1856) showing a part of what is now Central Park. The names of the property owners are penciled on some of the lots. Two copies of the first annual report on the improvement of the Central Park are opened at views taken from points on the site of the new park. The report dated January 1, 1857, was made by Egbert L. Viele, engineer-in-chief to the Commissioners. Case 5: The first item in Case 5 is a topographical survey of the lands included in Central Park and a plan for its development, prepared by Viele during the period from 1853-1856. The plan was published in the first report of the Commissioners. It was superseded by the Olmsted and Vaux "Greensward" plan of 1858. Other items in this case are documents connected with the organization of the first Board of Commissioners of the Park; portraits of Viele, Andrew Haswell Green (Treasurer of the Board of Commissioners and long identified with the Park), and Frederick Law Olmsted (appointed superintendent of the Park, September 11, 1857); Harper's Weekly for November 28, 1857, containing an article on the Park, together with Viele's Plan, and a number of amusing sketches of scenes in the Park. The last item in the case is the report of the Committee of the Park Commissioners, on advertising for competitive designs for laying out the Park. Case 6-The winning design by Olmsted and Vaux: A photostat copy of the Evening Post for April 29, 1858 announcing the award of the first prize to Calvert Vaux and Frank Olmstead [sic] for the "Greensward" plan. The description of the plan is printed in full in the newspaper, but only a part of the first page of the paper (photostat copy) is shown here. Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper for May 15, 1858, with a reproduction of the prize plan; a catalogue of the plans for the improvement of the Central Park, with which are bound copies of the 35 plans submitted (the "Greensward" plan is number 33); the 1868 reprint of the "Greensward" plan; three views in Central Park taken from Valentine's Manual for 1859; the act of Legislature extending the park to 110th Street; two maps of the Park from the annual report of the Commissioners for 1859 and 1862. Frame 1: This frame, opposite Cases 5 and 6, contains two (numbers 4 and 7) of the twelve sketches by Vaux which accompanied the "Greensward" plan. These have been lent by the Department of Parks, Borough of Manhattan. Case 7- Central Park during the Sixties: Four views in the Park taken from early reports of the Commissioners; two copies of Hunt's designs for the gateways, 1866, opening at the Plaza Entrance at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street, and at the Columbus Circle Entrance at 8th Avenue and 59th Street (compare these sketches with photographs of the same entrances shown in Case 13); Richards' "Guide to Central Park," 1866; a volume of photographs by W. H. Guild, Jr., with description and historical sketch by Fred B. Perkins, New York, 1864. Frames 2 and 3: These frames display a series of 12 lithographs showing the Park in 1862 (from the Eno Collection). Frame 4: Two lithographs in colors from the drawings by John Bachmann, showing the Park in 1865. One shows the Park in the summer; the other is a winter view showing skating and sleighing by moonlight. Case 8: This case is devoted to later books and reports about Central Park. One of the important items is Olmsted's work, "The Spoils of the Park," published in 1882; Cook's "Description of the New York Central Park, 1869"; "General View of the Central Park, New York," from Harper's Weekly for June 16, 1860; Peet's "Trees and Shrubs of Central Park"; Maynadier's "Report on Soil, etc., in Central Park," made in 1911; Merkel's recent report to Commissioner Herrick, with resolutions for the rehabilitation and restriction of the Park; Edward Hagaman Hall's "History of the Park," 1911; the little volume on the Park published by the Central Park Association in 1926; the second volume of Olmsted papers, which is devoted to a history of Central Park; and the "Memories of Samuel Parsons," for many years landscape architect of the Department of Parks. Case 9-Attacks on Central Park: Landscape Architecture for October, 1910, open at an article by Robert Wheelwright, entitled, "The Attacks on Central Park"; four volumes of Garden and Forest, edited by C. S. Sargent, opened at various editorials from 1889 to 1895, protesting against invasions or defacements of Central Park. In the center of the case is a print of Central Park entrance at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street in 1886. Cases 10 and 11 - Central Park 1862: A series of photographs of Central Park, taken by Victor Prevost and "published by special permission of the Commissioners." All but one of the 31 photographs in the portfolio are shown. Frame 5: A print in colors (Currier and Ives) from the Eno Collection, showing skating in Central Park in 1862. The first skating was permitted in the Park as early as December, 1858. Skating was then little practiced in the United States, and the opening of the lakes in Central Park to skaters gave a great impetus to this sport throughout the country. Frame 6: An interesting color print depicting winter sport in Central Park about 1872, and a Currier and Ives print showing driving in Central Park in 1862. Case 12: Seven aerial views of Central Park, lent by the Fairchild Aerial Surveys, Inc. Frame 7: A series of beautiful photographs of scenes in Central Park taken by Mr. Edward Heim. They show clearly that Central Park still provides a retreat from the noises of the city, as the designers of the Park had intended. Case 13-Central Park: Three volumes of Munsey's Magazine, containing illustrated articles about the Park, the earliest dated October, 1891, and the latest, February, 1900; photographs of the southern entrances to Central Park (compare the present entrances with the proposed gateways designed by Hunt, which are shown in Case 7). In the center of this case is a pencil sketch by W. B. Van Ingen, made from one of Prevost's photographs (No. 3) which is shown in Case 10. The remainder of the case is filled with items relating to McGowan's Pass. Case 14- Central Park as seen by the Artist: Two etchings by Henry B. Shope, and four etchings by J. André Smith. Case 15: A selection of photographs of Central Park in the Nineties. Case 16- Prospect Park, Brooklyn: Viele's plan for the improvement of Prospect Park, taken from the first annual report of the Park Commissioners, January 28, 1861, later superseded by that prepared by Olmsted and Vaux. The Olmsted and Vaux plan, together with a description, was dated January 24, 1866, and first published in the Sixth Annual Report of the Park Commissioners. Several early views in Prospect Park, one from Appleton's Journal for June 4, 1870, are shown in this case, together with aerial views of the park and of the Grand Army Plaza at the principal entrance. Frame 8: The chief items of interest shown in this frame are views in Prospect Park, taken from some of the early reports. Case 17: Additional documents relating to Prospect Park; photographs, etc. Case 18: Eight photographs lent by the Department of Parks, Borough of Brooklyn, showing opportunities for recreation in Prospect Park. |