Enfilade

From McGill-Queen’s University Press:

Joan Coutu, Jon Stobart, and Peter Lindfield, eds., Politics and the English Country House, 1688–1800 (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2023), 344 Pages, ISBN: 978-0228014027, $95.

Politics has always been at the heart of the English country house, in its design and construction, as well as in the activities and experiences of those who lived in and visited these places. As Britain moved from an agrarian to an imperial economy over the course of the eighteenth century, the home mirrored the social change experienced in the public sphere. This collection focuses on the relationship between the country house and the mutable nature of British politics in the eighteenth century. Essays explore the country house as a stage for politicking, a vehicle for political advancement, a symbol of party allegiance or political values, and a setting for appropriate lifestyles. Initially the exclusive purview of the landed aristocracy, politics increasingly came to be played out in the open, augmented by the emergence of career politicians—usually untitled members of the patriciate—and men of new money, much of it created on Caribbean plantations or in the employ of the East India Company. Politics and the English Country House, 1688–1800 reveals how, during this period of profound change, the country house remained a constant. The country house was the definitive tangible manifestation of social standing and, for the political class, owning one became almost an imperative. In its consideration of the country house as lived and spatial experience, as an aesthetic and symbolic object, and as an economic engine, this book offers a new perspective on the complexity of political meaning embedded in the eighteenth-century country house—and on ourselves as active recipients and interpreters of its various narratives, more than two centuries later.

Joan Coutu is professor of art history and visual culture at the University of Waterloo.
Jon Stobart is professor of social history at Manchester Metropolitan University.
Peter Nelson Lindfield is lecturer in history at Manchester Metropolitan University.

C O N T E N T S

Table and Figures
Acknowledgements

1  Introduction — Joan Coutu, Jon Stobart, and Oliver Cox

Part One: Political Positioning after the Glorious Revolution
2  Introduction — Oliver Cox
3  For Politics, Progresses, or Posterity? Some Alternative Reasons for Building State Apartments — Amy Lim
4  Holding Court at Marlborough House: The London Residence of Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough — Juliet Learmouth

Part Two: The Question of Style
5  Introduction — Anne Bordeleau
6  Gothic Architecture and the Liberty Trope — Matthew M. Reeve
7  ‘Whig Gothic’: An Antidote to Houghton Hall — Peter N. Lindfield
8  The House with Two Faces: From Baroque to Palladian at Wentworth Woodhouse — Dylan Wayne Spivey

Part Three: The Social Politics of the Country House
9  Introduction — Jon Stobart
10  Burke’s Exemplum: The ‘Natural Family Mansion’ and Wentworth Woodhouse — Joan Coutu
11  House Painting: Place and Position in Estate Portraiture, circa 1770 — John Bonehill
12  The House and Estate of a Rich West Indian: Two Slaveholders in Eighteenth-Century East Anglia — Elisabeth Grass

Part Four: Houses and Homes
13  Introduction — Kate Retford
14  The Clives at Home: Self-Fashioning, Collecting, and British India — Kieran Hazzard
15  William Pitt the Younger, 1759–1806: Reshaping the Political Home — Rowena Willard-Wright

Afterword: Whose Country House? — Dana Arnold

Bibliography
Contributors
Index

Distributed by The University of Chicago Press:

Celia Fisher, The Story of Follies: Architectures of Eccentricity (London: Reaktion Books, 2023), 398 pages, ISBN: 978-1789146356, $50.

Are they frivolous or practical? Follies are buildings constructed primarily for decoration, but they suggest another purpose through their appearance. In this visually stunning book, Celia Fisher describes follies in their historical and architectural context, looks at their social and political significance, and highlights their relevance today. She explores follies built in protest, follies in Oriental and Gothic styles, animal-related follies, waterside follies and grottoes, and, finally, follies in glass and steel. Featuring many fine illustrations, from historical paintings to contemporary photographs and prints, and taking in follies from Great Britain to Ireland, throughout Europe, and beyond, The Story of Follies is an amusing and informative guide to fanciful, charming buildings.

Celia Fisher has lectured and written widely on the history of plants and gardens in art. Her books include Flower: Paintings by Forty Great Artists and Tulip, the latter also published by Reaktion Books.

C O N T E N T S

Preface

Introduction: A Taste of Follies
1  Seeking out the Origins
2  Some Names to Conjure with
3  Telling a Story
4  Concepts of Freedom and Victory
5  Hunting and Husbandry
6  Waterside Follies and Grottos
7  The Lure of the East
8  From Ruins to Gothic and Picturesque
9  Hermitages and Tree Hoses
10  Into the Future

References
Further Reading
Acknowledgments
Photo Acknowledgments
Index

From Triglyph Books:

Benjamin Riley, The Bridges of Robert Adam: A Fanciful and Picturesque Tour (London: Triglyph Books, 2023), 156 pages, ISBN: ‎ 978-1916355477, £45 / $60.

The bridge has always stood as a transitional structure—not purely a work of engineering, nor simply a work of architecture. Its functional requirements are more stringent than those of the average building; it not only must stand up; it must stand up, support those who cross it, and effectively span the space over which it stands. As Samuel Johnson said, “the first excellence of a bridge is strength … for a bridge that cannot stand, however beautiful, will boast its beauty but a little while.” The Scottish architect Robert Adam (1728–1792) understood these precepts well, continually building bridges that were not just structurally sound, but also aesthetically pleasing. Unlike his contemporaries, Adam did not view bridges as mere skeletons upon which to apply ornament. Rather, he sought to achieve architectural totality, incorporating his bridge designs into greater architectural programs, thereby producing aesthetically pleasing and contextually specific designs. From the Pulteney Bridge in Bath to the ruined arch and viaduct at Culzean Castle in Ayrshire, The Bridges of Robert Adam: A Fanciful and Picturesque Tour will take the reader across Britain, shedding new light on an understudied aspect of the great architect’s career.

Benjamin Riley is the managing editor of The New Criterion, a monthly review of the arts and intellectual life based in New York. He holds degrees from Dartmouth College and the Courtauld Institute of Art, where his dissertation focused on the bridges of Robert Adam, becoming the basis for this book. His writing has appeared in The Georgian Group Journal, The New Criterion, The Spectator, and The Wall Street Journal, among other outlets. He lives in New York.

From UCL Press: (also see the CraftValue project website). . .

Christine Casey and Melanie Hayes, eds., Enriching Architecture: Craft and Its Conservation in Anglo-Irish Building Production, 1660–1760 (London: UCL Press, 2023), 396 pages, ISBN: 978-1800083561 (hardback), £55 / ISBN: 978-1800083554 (paperback), £35. Available as a free PDF file here»

Refinement and enrichment of surfaces in stone, wood, and plaster is a fundamental aspect of early modern architecture which has been marginalised by architectural history. Enriching Architecture aims to retrieve and rehabilitate surface achievement as a vital element of early modern buildings in Britain and Ireland. Rejected by modernism, demeaned by the conceptual ‘turn’, and too often reduced to its representative or social functions, craft skill here is presented as a primary agent in architectural production. In contrast to the connoisseurial and developmental perspectives of the past, this book is concerned with how surfaces were designed, achieved, and experienced. Contributors draw upon the major rethinking of craft and materials within the wider cultural sphere in recent years to deconstruct traditional, oppositional ways of thinking about architectural production. This is not a craft for craft’s sake argument but an effort to embed the tangible findings of conservation and curatorial research within an evidence-led architectural history that illuminates the processes of early modern craftsmanship. The book explores broad themes of surface treatment such as wainscot, rustication, plasterwork, and staircase embellishment, together with chapters focused on virtuoso buildings and set pieces which illuminate these themes.

Christine Casey is Professor in Architectural History and a fellow of Trinity College Dublin.
Melanie Hayes is Post-Doctoral Research Fellow of the Irish Research Council CraftValue project at Trinity College Dublin.

C O N T E N T S

List of figures
List of contributors
List of abbreviations
Foreword by Glenn Adamson
Acknowledgements

Introduction, Enriching Architecture: Craft and Its Conservation in Anglo-Irish Architectural Production, 1660–1760 — Christine Casey and Melanie Hayes

Part 1 | Loss and Retrieval
1  ‘Onslow Palace’: New Evidence of Eighteenth-Century Craft Technique at Clandon Park — Sophie Chessum
2  Piercing the Surface: Virtuoso Wooden Staircases from Cassiobury Park and Eyrecourt Castle — Mechthild Baumeister and Andrew Tierney
3  Fragments of Eighteenth-Century Craftsmanship: The Pearson Collection — Peter Pearson
4  Experiments with Historic Light in Kensington Palace’s Early Eighteenth-Century Interiors — Lee Prosser
5  Retrieving Craft Practice on the Early Eighteenth-Century Building Site — Melanie Hayes
6  Conserving Craft in Eighteenth-Century Buildings: The Role of the Conservation Architect — Tony Barton

Part 2 | Design and Making
7  The Geometry of Rustication: An Eighteenth-Century Case Study — Edward McParland
8  The Rough and the Smooth: Stone Use in Dublin, 1720–60 — Patrick Wyse Jackson and Louise Caulfield
9  Drawing out a Surface in Lime and Hair — Jenny Saunt
10  ‘Agreeable to Live in’: The Wainscoted Interior in Eighteenth-Century Britain and Ireland — Christine Casey
11  A Glorious Ascent: Staircase Design, Construction, and Craft in the Circle of Richard Castle — Andrew Tierney

Index

From Lund Humphries:

Rosalind P. Blakesley, Women Artists in the Reign of Catherine the Great (London: Lund Humphries Publishers, 2023), 152 pages, ISBN: 978-1848225459, £45.

Catherine the Great’s audacious power grab in 1762 marked a watershed in imperial Russian history. During a momentous 34-year reign, her rapacious vision and intellectual curiosity led to vast territorial expansion, cultural advancement, and civic, educational and social reform. In this pioneering book, Rosalind Blakesley reveals the remarkable role women artists played in her pursuit of these ambitions. With challenging commissions for an elite cast of Russian patrons, their work underscores the extent to which cultural enrichment co-existed with the empress’s imperial designs.

Catherine’s acquisitions propelled renowned artists to new heights. The history paintings that she purchased from Angelica Kauffman brought the Swiss artist to the attention of keen new patrons, while Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun found in Russia safe refuge from the horrors of revolutionary France. Just as important were Catherine’s relationships with lesser-known artists. The young sculptor Marie-Anne Collot made the arduous journey from Paris to St Petersburg to assist on the equestrian monument to Peter the Great and enthralled Russian society with her portrait busts, while Grand Duchess Maria Fedorovna, wife of Catherine’s troubled son Paul, sculpted cameos which the empress sent to distinguished correspondents abroad. With stories of extraordinary artistic endeavour intertwined with the intrigue of Catherine’s personal life, Women Artists in the Reign of Catherine the Great uncovers the impact of these and other artists at one of Europe’s most elaborate courts.

Rosalind Polly Blakesley, a prize-winning writer and academic, is Professor of Russian and European Art and a Fellow of Pembroke College at the University of Cambridge. A Trustee of the V&A and Syndic of the Fitzwilliam Museum, she has authored books including The Russian Canvas (Yale University Press, 2016) and The Arts and Crafts Movement (Phaidon Press, 2006), and curated exhibitions at the National Portrait Gallery, London, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington DC.

C O N T E N T S

Conventions and Abbreviations

Introduction
1  Inscribing a Future Empress
2  Catherine Enthroned
3  The Academy and the Hermitage
4  A Parisian Find
5  The Chisel and the Mallet
6  Unexpected Treasures
7  The Doyenne of Rome
8  An Artist in the Family
9  The Triumphant Refugee
Epilogue

Acknowledgements
List of Illustrations
Bibliography
Index

From Princeton UP:

Mary Beard, Twelve Caesars: Images of Power from the Ancient World to the Modern (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2021), 392 pages, ISBN: ‎978-0691222363, $35. The A. W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts, volume 60.

From the bestselling author of SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome, the fascinating story of how images of Roman autocrats have influenced art, culture, and the representation of power for more than 2,000 years.

What does the face of power look like? Who gets commemorated in art and why? And how do we react to statues of politicians we deplore? In this book―against a background of today’s ‘sculpture wars’―Mary Beard tells the story of how for more than two millennia portraits of the rich, powerful, and famous in the western world have been shaped by the image of Roman emperors, especially the ‘Twelve Caesars’, from the ruthless Julius Caesar to the fly-torturing Domitian. Twelve Caesars asks why these murderous autocrats have loomed so large in art from antiquity and the Renaissance to today, when hapless leaders are still caricatured as Neros fiddling while Rome burns.

Beginning with the importance of imperial portraits in Roman politics, this richly illustrated book offers a tour through 2,000 years of art and cultural history, presenting a fresh look at works by artists from Memling and Mantegna to the nineteenth-century American sculptor Edmonia Lewis, as well as by generations of weavers, cabinetmakers, silversmiths, printers, and ceramicists. Rather than a story of a simple repetition of stable, blandly conservative images of imperial men and women, Twelve Caesars is an unexpected tale of changing identities, clueless or deliberate misidentifications, fakes, and often ambivalent representations of authority. From Beard’s reconstruction of Titian’s extraordinary lost Room of the Emperors to her reinterpretation of Henry VIII’s famous Caesarian tapestries, Twelve Caesars includes fascinating detective work and offers a gripping story of some of the most challenging and disturbing portraits of power ever created.

Published in association with the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.

Mary Beard is one of the world’s leading classicists and cultural commentators. A specialist in Roman history and art, she is professor of classics at the University of Cambridge and the author of bestselling and award-winning books, including SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome and Women and Power: A Manifesto. She has also written and presented many television programs, from Civilisations and Meet the Romans to The Shock of the Nude. She lives in Cambridge, England.

C O N T E N T S

List of Tables

Preface
1  The Emperor on the Mall: An Introduction
2  Who’s Who in the Twelve Caesars
3  Coins and Portraits, Ancient and Modern
4  The Twelve Caesars, More or Less
5  The Most Famous Caesars of Them All
6  Satire, Subversion, and Assassination
7  Caesar’s Wife . . . Above Suspicion?
8  Afterword

Acknowledgments

Appendix: The Verses underneath Aegidius Sadeler’s Series of Emperors and Empresses

Notes
Bibliography
List of Illustrations
Index

From Norton:

Edward Larson, American Inheritance: Liberty and Slavery in the Birth of a Nation, 1765–1795 (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2023), 368 pages, ISBN: 978-0393882209, $32.

From a Pulitzer Prize winner, a powerful history that reveals how the twin strands of liberty and slavery were joined in the nation’s founding.

New attention from historians and journalists is raising pointed questions about the founding period: was the American revolution waged to preserve slavery, and was the Constitution a pact with slavery or a landmark in the antislavery movement? Leaders of the founding who called for American liberty are scrutinized for enslaving Black people themselves: George Washington consistently refused to recognize the freedom of those who escaped his Mount Vernon plantation. And we have long needed a history of the founding that fully includes Black Americans in the Revolutionary protests, the war, and the debates over slavery and freedom that followed.

We now have that history in Edward J. Larson’s insightful synthesis of the founding. With slavery thriving in Britain’s Caribbean empire and practiced in all of the American colonies, the independence movement’s calls for liberty proved narrow, though some Black observers and others made their full implications clear. In the war, both sides employed strategies to draw needed support from free and enslaved Blacks, whose responses varied by local conditions. By the time of the Constitutional Convention, a widening sectional divide shaped the fateful compromises over slavery that would prove disastrous in the coming decades. Larson’s narrative delivers poignant moments that deepen our understanding: we witness New York’s tumultuous welcome of Washington as liberator through the eyes of Daniel Payne, a Black man who had escaped enslavement at Mount Vernon two years before. Indeed, throughout Larson’s brilliant history it is the voices of Black Americans that prove the most convincing of all on the urgency of liberty.

Edward J. Larson is the author of many acclaimed works in American history, including the Pulitzer Prize–winning history of the Scopes Trial, Summer for the Gods. He is University Professor of History and Hugh and Hazel Darling Chair in Law at Pepperdine University, and lives with his family near Los Angeles.