Autobiography of Andrew Dickson White — Volume 2White, Andrew Dickson
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Autobiography of Andrew Dickson White — Volume 2
White, Andrew Dickson
Cornell University; Diplomats -- United States -- Biography; White, Andrew Dickson, 1832-1918
This prompt yet wise intervention, actuated by a public spirit
not only strong but intelligent, is seen, in various other parts
of the empire, in the preservation and restoration of its
architectural glories. When he announced to me at Potsdam his
intention to present specimens representative of German
architecture and sculpture to the Germanic Museum at Harvard, he
showed, in enumerating and discussing the restorations at
Marienburg and Naumburg, the bas-reliefs at Halberstadt, the
masks and statues of Andreas Schluter at Berlin, and the
Renaissance and rococo work at Lubeck and Danzig, a knowledge and
appreciation worthy of a trained architect and archaeologist.
As to his feeling for literature, his addresses on various
occasions show amply that he has read to good purpose, not only
in the best authors of his own, but of other countries. While
there is not the slightest tinge of pedantry in his speeches or
talk, there crop out in them evidences of a curious breadth and
universality in his reading. His line of reading for amusement
was touched when, at the close of an hour of serious official
business, an illustration of mine from Rudyard Kipling led him to
recall many of that author's most striking situations, into which
he entered with great zest; and at various other times he cited
sayings of Mark Twain which he seemed especially to enjoy. Here
it may be mentioned that one may note the same breadth in his
love for art; for not only does he rejoice in the higher
achievements of architecture, sculpture, and painting, but he
takes pleasure in lighter work, and an American may note that he
is greatly interested in the popular illustrations of Gibson.
I once asked some of the leading people nearest him how he found
time to observe so wide a range, and received answer that it was
as much a marvel to them as to me; he himself once told me that
he found much time for reading during his hunting excursions.
Nor does he make excursions into various fields of knowledge by
books alone. Any noteworthy discovery or gain in any leading
field of thought or effort attracts his attention at once, and
must be presented to him by some one who ranks among its foremost
exponents.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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