Product Description

Many scholars consider Henry Hobson Richardson (1838-1886) to have been America's preeminent Victorian architect. His Brookline office was in fact one of this country's first large and influential working studios, including Stanford White and Charles F. McKim among the many architects who received their first training under Richardson.

This beautifully produced and skillfully organized book documents an exhibition of drawings selected from the collection of Harvard's Houghton Library. The drawings are from Richardson's Brookline office and represent the years of his mature period when he produced almost all of his major designs, to his death. These are supplemented by photographs, many contemporary with the completed projects and showing them as they were. James F. O'Gorman, the leading Richardson historian of his generation, has written an introductory essay, "The Making of a 'Richardson Building,' 1874-1886," which shows how the transformation from casual sketch to completed building took place. O'Gorman brings to life the complex interaction of design talent, social contacts, and enduring working relationships with gifted associates that were necessary to bring Richardson's architectural ideas to fruition.

Originally published in 1974 by David Godine and Harvard College Library, O'Gorman's catalogue has come to be accepted as a primary source of insight and information on the design process, Richardson's genius, and the social and historical context of his professional life.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7505731 in Books
• Published on: 1979-01-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 220 pages

Review
"The catalogue and its essay do an exceptional job of calling forth the great spirit and illuminating the human and physical context in which Richardson and his office worked."
—Donlyn Lyndon, Journal of the Society for Architectural Historians

"The variety of types of drawings provides some insight into the many steps involved in the actual process of design, and indeed, James F. O'Gorman, writing in the excellent catalogue of the show, describes the design process of the Richardson office in detail."
—Paul Goldberger, The New York Times