Notes from the Editor

NOTES FROM THE EDITOR Volume 4 of Arris builds on the strong foundation put in place by Professors Marian Moffett and Lawrence Wodehouse at the University of Tennessee, who initiated the journal and published its first three volumes. Arris will continue to offer a mix of European and American articles and will publish articles concerned with both history and theory. This volume offers a rich variety of informative articles. The article by Delos Hughes assembles evidence that attributes the Charlotte County (Virginia) Courthouse for the first time toThomasJefferson. LeslieHummCormier's article (initiated under Moffett and Wodehouse) offers new information about Gropius's English emigre period and interprets his designs of that period in the light of his preoccupation with typeforms. Vicki Ingham's article, "Design by the Book," focuses on women's influence on design. The article offers an intriguing view of the mid19th -century negotiations between a husband and wife who were planning their family residence, and offers documentary evidence of the influence of pattern books on the resultant design. Randall Ott's article analyzes sensual and rational aspects in Mies's architecture by examining Mies's use of the figure, the grid, and the veneered screen. BookreviewsbyMarkReinbergerandRobertGamble acquaint members with several noteworthy books and exhibitsonorbySouthernarchitects. Bookreviewsprovide an opportunityboth to make scholarsaware of thecontent and quality of new titles and to influence the direction of scholarshipby making clearthe strengthsand weaknesses of current historiography within a given area of study. Michael Fazio and I plan to publish both reviews of individual works and review essays such as those in this 7 volume. The more probing, analytical, and judgmental these pieces are, the better they will serve the readers. The piece by Christina Hough Wilson on Jefferson's draftingtechniquesuccintlyclarifiesapointinJeffersonian scholarship. We would like to encourage submission of more short pieces of this nature by historians who have made significant discoveries and would like to put them before their colleagues in a briefform. I would also like to makeArrisa forumfor ongoingdialoguebetweenmembers about the articles presented here. If you would like to communicate your thoughts about an article to its author, send them to me in a "Letter to the Editor." The journal's format has been changed to bring it more in line with the format of JSAH. The articles were edited and typeset using Interleaf and Aldus Pagemaker software. All images were scanned electronically for initial placement in the articles, using SpeedScan and Photoshop software. The most intricatelydetailed images werestrippedindirect!ybytheMississippiStateUniversity Printing Service, but the other images were scanned and electronically placed within the articles. The completed filesweredownloadeddirectlyintotheprinter'scomputers to produce the final project. I would like to express my deepest appreciation to Carl Zitta of the Thomas E. Tramel Computing Center at Mississippi State University, without whose knowledge, guidance, and creativity this electronic process would never have come to fruition. I also would like to thank the Mississippi State University School of Architecture for its generous financial and in-kind support of the journal and the many contributing editors for their criticism. Rachel McCann Editor ...