Professor Sumichrast's First Lecture.

Last night, in the Lecture Room of the Fogg Museum, Professor F. c. de Sumichrast gave the first of a series of four lectures on "Versailles."

The lecturer began by describing the royal residences in Paris at the opening of the reign of Louis XIV, dwelling more particularly on the Louvre, then in a state of transition, and wholly insufficient for the needs of the king and his ever-growing court. He pointed out that the palace of Versailles, as it exists at the present day, is the outcome of successive transformations and additions, the first royal residence on the site having been the hunting-lodge erected by Louis XIII. This was added to by his son, who used it for a similar purpose, and who had the architect, Le Vau, add largely to the accommodations and change it into a residence worthy of the sovereign of a rich and powerful nation. Later Mansart set to work in his turn, and increased the size and splendor of Versailles around which, in the meantime, the king had caused a city to rise. The superb gardens and park, with their wealth of statuary, first in stone and lead, then in bronze and marble, and their waterworks, which formed the admiration of Europe, were laid out by Le Notre, the most skilful landscape gardener of the time. An interesting point brought out was the comparative size of the palace and grounds. For this purpose the lecturer exhibited two slides, the one showing the city of Cambridge with the area occupied by Versailles in its entirety marked upon it, and the other the map of the University grounds and vicinity, with the area of the palace and gardens alone.

On Monday, at the same hour and place, Professor de Sumichrast will take up the origin and history of the French court at Versailles, paying particular attention to the King and his household.