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Published works - General |
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Since the study of churches became widespread in the early C19, much has been written about architecture generally and about specific aspects. The main bibliography lists books used for this work, though there are bound to be omissions, even among works of the first rank.
Particularly useful are those on particular aspects or specific architects. Among those on a single period, the Taylors’ study of Anglo-Saxon architecture (1965-78) stands out. Like Pevsner they conditioned the thinking of a generation on the subject; indeed, they largely revived interest in it. Some of their ideas have since been challenged, but it is still the best general study, particularly of parish churches as the authors necessarily concentrate on these, whereas studies of later periods like Bond on Gothic architecture (1907), dated but still useful, devote most attention to greater churches, cathedrals and abbeys.
Many studies of individual aspects are also dated, like Bond on fonts (1908) and Cautley on Royal Arms (1934), but there is nothing newer. More recently, interest in stained glass has revived; the most notable work is that by Richard Marks on mediaeval glass (1993). Since about 1970, C19 glass has been taken seriously and, as with church architecture, plenty has been written, including pioneering studies like Martin Harrison’s (1980).
Much new information has since been unearthed and there have been studies of individual artists, such as Margaret Stavridi on Kempe (1988) and S A Shepherd on Pugin's glass (2009), so the promised revised edition of Harrison is keenly awaited.
The two main reference works on British architects are the Biographical Dictionaries by John Harvey for mediaeval architects (1954, revised 1984) and Howard Colvin, for the period from 1600 to 1840 (1954, most recently revised 2008). Harvey has few confirmed references to Sussex churches and Colvin few before the late C18. The Directory of British Architects 1834-1914 (revised edition 2001), published under the auspices of the BAL and largely confined to architects who were members of the RIBA or are covered in material in the library, follows chronologically.
Less full than Colvin, its entries list further sources of information for the architects covered, so it is a valuable starting point. Colvin before the first edition of his Dictionary appeared, collaborated with Rupert Gunnis, whose Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 was published in 1953 (with light revisions in 1968). This has been superseded recently by a new work by Ingrid Roscoe and others, A Biographical Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain 1660-1851 (2009), which though based in part on Gunnis's in part unpublished material, has over three times as many pages in considerably smaller print and is in effect a new work. By co-incidence, Maurice Grant published a similar work in the same year as Gunnis; as its title, A Dictionary of British Sculptors from the XIIIth to the XXth Century, shows its spread was wider, but it is far slighter, though not without useful information.
The revival of interest in C19 architecture has been marked by studies of major architects, including Butterfield (Paul Thompson, 1971), Shaw (Andrew Saint, 1976, since revised), Pearson (Anthony Quiney, 1979) G G Scott (David Cole, 1980) and Burges (J M Crook, 1981). Significant gaps remain (most notably Bodley and a general study of Street), though Jill Allibone on Salvin (1988) and studies on Caröe (by Jennifer Freeman), Reginald Blomfield (by R A Fellows), Woodyer (by John Elliott and John Pritchard), Temple Moore - with Leslie Moore (by Geoffrey Brandwood) and G G Scott Junior (by Gavin Stamp) have appeared more recently. The newest so far is the study of William White (2010) by Gill Hunter.
Some of these works are inevitably less significant in terms of Sussex because their subjects produced little work there, but the flow of further works is continuing and revised editions of earlier works or, in a few cases, replacements, are starting to appear. Where there is no recent work, the researcher must rely on earlier studies and memoirs, like that on Street by his son (1888). This contains some strange errors, not least with regard to Sussex, but the appearance in 2003 of an annotated edition of Sir T G Jackson’s Recollections (completed c1915) shows the enduring value of such works.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 13 May 2013 )
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