Henry Austin: In Every Variety of
Architectural Style,
by James F. O'Gorman. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan
University Press; 2008
(228 pp., 131 illus.) $35.00.
Long before "less is more," architecture was a
practical trade with occasional flights of fancy. In the 19th
century, talented architects, educated in traditional styles and guided by
published sources, could draw from a wealth of forms and ornament to create
individualized edifices with wide-ranging stylistic roots.
Henry Austin (1804-1891) worked in a
period that helped to define the architect's profession in the United States.
His early designs were consciously classical, mimicking the forms, proportions
and ornaments that were inherited from ancient Greece
and Rome. Strict historicism soon yielded to
historical eclecticism and Austin
incorporated Gothic, Moorish and Indian details into his designs. As form
followed fashion, Austin and other architects designed Gothic cottages, Moorish
retreats, and Italianate villas. The resulting revivalist styles express the 19th-century
search for an appropriate American architectural style rooted in, but distinct
from, historical precedents. Asymmetrical elevations, complex rooflines,
prominent verandahs, irregular floor plans, and a wealth of ornament add to the
visual delight of Austin's
buildings.
The breadth and variety of Austin's work is truly
delightful. Although he is known primarily for iconic structures like the
neo-Egyptian entrance to the Grove Street Cemetery
in New Haven (1839-47), the exuberantly eclectic
Morse-Libby House (1857) in Portland, Maine, and the high-style Victorian
City Hall (1860-62) in New Haven, Austin also
designed a wide array of homes, churches and commercial buildings throughout Connecticut and
beyond.
O'Gorman's welcome volume brings
together the tidbits of information on Austin's
life and work and begins to sketch a more complete picture of the man as
architect. The book is divided into chapters that focus on Austin's
major building types: domestic architecture, ecclesiastical architecture,
public and commercial buildings, and a section on Austin's later buildings (after 1860). Ample
and informative notes supplement the well written text. Appendices discuss the
contents of Austin's professional library,
evaluate his original drawings preserved in the collection of Yale University,
and explore the other individuals who were affiliated with his architectural
practice.
The book is beautifully formatted
for careful reading as well as browsing. The illustrations are large and
sharply reproduced. Any reader who has ever admired early Victorian
architecture will take pleasure not only in an armchair tour of Austin's work, but also
in observing how his buildings have changed over time.
—Gregory Farmer
Tobacco Sheds of Connecticut River Valley , by Darcy Purinton and Dale Vahill.
Atglen, PA:
Schiffer Publishing, Inc. 2009 (143 pages) $34.99.
The newly published Tobacco Sheds of Connecticut River Valley contains a wonderful
collection of photographs of these buildings and is narrated in a casual and
engaging style that links the images of the sheds to the stories of the people
who created them. The book guides the reader on a journey through the eyes of
two photographers, Darcy Purinton and Dale Vahill, and their quest to document
one of Connecticut’s
agricultural treasures. The authors’ clear love for the tobacco shed is evident
through the 200 beautiful photographs taken of the Connecticut River Valley
tobacco shed and the process of making cigars.
As picture
books go, this one has a preservationist’s sense of sincerity. Not only are the
compilation of the photographs impressive and the attention to detail a treat,
but the fact that a full two chapters outline the plight of these structures,
threatened with demolition by neglect or by design, elevates the book above a
common coffee book. Examples of adaptive re-use, both for agricultural and
other purposes, remind us that barns do not necessarily have to go to the dump
if they are no longer being used as they were originally intended.
The stories
of immigrant and local workers “suckering” the plants (pulling undesirable
leaves off the plants), the clear description of how tobacco leaves are
processed, and the emphasis on the tobacco shed as an important barn type lend
a degree of substance to a colorful and cheerful book.
Ultimately,
what makes this book a success is the collection of photographs. The often
sharp contrast of the man-made sheds against their scenic backdrop evokes a
sense of wonder and appreciation. The photographs combine saturation of color
with simplicity of composition and make hours of hard work setting up the
perfect shot look easy, as if one just strolled up to a scene and took a
snapshot. This book would be desirable on the table of any preservationist,
barn lover or cigar aficionado.
