A concise glossary of terms used in Grecian, Roman, Italian, and Gothic architecture (1896)
Parker, John Henry, 1806-1884 · London, Oxford, J. Parker and Co. · leaf 12
there is al- most invariably a clear line of separation to mark the abacus as a distinct division of the capital ; but as Gothic architecture advanced, with its accompanying variety of mouldings, the abacus was subject to the same capricious changes as all the other features of the successive… … abacus is, in general, merely a long flat stone without chamfer or mould- ing; but it sometimes varies, and occasionally bears some resemblance to the Norman form. The Norman abacus is flat on the top, and gene- rally square in the earlier part of the style, with a plain
Architecture
Internet Archive · Getty Research Institute · Public domain (published before 1931). Free to use for anything.