The Theory and Practice of Perspective

The Theory and Practice of Perspective is by G. A. Storey, A.R.A., teacher of perspective at the Royal Academy. The contents list entries on arches, arcades and bridges, on a vaulted ceiling, on stairs and steps, and on winding stairs in a cylindrical shaft. The contents also list The Perspective of Cast Shadows and The Two Kinds of Shadows.

The text says that perhaps another drawback to this method is that it is not self-evident, as in the former one, and being rather difficult to explain, the student is apt to take it on trust, and not to trouble about the reasons for its construction. The text mentions the centrolinead, a clever mechanical contrivance that architects use for getting over the difficulty of the far-off vanishing point. A section headed Reflection says that reflections in still water can best be illustrated by placing some simple object, such as a cube, on a looking-glass laid horizontally on a table, and that the reflection is the counterpart of the object reversed, having the same vanishing points as the object itself.