Yale Autumn 1979 [antikvár]

The Victorian Country House Revised and enlarged edition Mark Girouard The great wealth of nineteenth-century Britain led to an astonishing boom in the building of country houses, which, although generally characterized by enormous size and complexity, nevertheless exhibited a remarkable variety of design. Mark Girouard, author of Life in the English Country House, here again displays his vast knowledge and critical insight in a wide-ranging approach to this fascinating subject. He deals not only with the houses themselves but alsó with the architects involved, the social and economic conditions that made such massive structures possible, the cumbersome domestic organization that dictated their design, and the ingenious technological developments in plumbing, heating, and construction that enhanced the comfort of country living. Girouard begins with a perceptive, analytic essay in which he describes the social climate of the Victorian era and its influence on the architecture. From this perspective, he goes on to present an in-depth look at thirty individual houses representative of the period. Here are the great establishments of the aristocracy, gothic and mediaevalist follies, the grandiose fantasies of the industrial rich, and the ruins of houses too eccenti ic to survive-all buildings that in different ways epitomize the prosperity, individuality, and General Interest self-assurance of the age. Girouard rounds out his study with a catalogue of all the most important houses as well as biographical notes on all of the major architects. Originally published eight years ago, this book was enthusiastically reviewed and soon became established as a classic study of Victorian architecture. For this new edition, redesigned as a companion volume to Life in the English Country House, Girouard has substantially revised the text and written two new chapters. All the originál illustrations, which include many contemporary photographs and drawings, plus thirty-two new colorplates, are now integrated within the body of the text. Writing with his distinctive biend of scholarship, fluency, and wit, Mark Girouard has achieved a lucid and engrossing mixture of architectural and social history, of interest and importance not only to serious scholars but to anyone who is curious about the attitudes and way of life of a past generation. Mark Girouard, a well-known histórián of English architecture, is the author of Sweetness and Light: The 'Queen Anne' Movement, i86o-i9oo and Life in the English Country House. September 480 pp. 462 black-and-white illus. plus 33 colour plates 19.6 x 25.6 cms. ISBN 0 300 02390 1 L14.95 Looking down on Tyntesfield, Somerset.