Enfilade

From the University of Illinois Press:

Christoph Wolff and Markus Zepf, The Organs of J. S. Bach: A Handbook, translated by Lynn Edwards Butler (Champaign, University of Illinois Press, 2012), 240 pages, cloth ISBN: 978-0252036842, $80) / paper ISBN: 978-0252078453, $30.

The Organs of J. S. Bach is a comprehensive and fascinating guide to the organs encountered by Bach throughout Germany in his roles as organist, concert artist, examiner, teacher, and visitor. Newly revised and updated, the book’s entries are listed alphabetically by geographical location, from Arnstadt to Zschortau, providing an easy-to-reference overview.

Includes detailed organ-specific information:
• High-quality color photographs
• Each instrument’s history, its connection to Bach, and its disposition as Bach would have known it
• Architectural histories of the churches housing the instruments
• Identification of church organists

Lynn Edwards Butler’s graceful translation of Christoph Wolff and Markus Zepf’s volume incorporates new research and many corrections and updates to the original German edition. Bibliographical references are updated to include English-language sources, and the translation includes an expanded essay by Christoph Wolff on Bach as organist, organ composer, and organ expert.

The volume includes maps, a timeline of organ-related events, transcriptions of Bach’s organ reports, a guide to examining organs attributed to Saxony’s most famous organ builder Gottfried Silbermann, and biographical information on organ builders.

Christoph Wolff is Adams University Professor at Harvard University and director of the Bach Archive in Leipzig. Markus Zepf, a musicologist and organist, is on the staff of the Germanic National Museum in Nuremberg. Lynn Edwards Butler, who has published numerous articles on the organ, is a practicing organist with special expertise in restored baroque organs in north and central Germany.

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From Rizzoli:

Jeremy Musson, English Country House Interiors, foreword by Sir Roy Strong, photographs by Paul Barker (Rizzoli, 2011), pages, ISBN: 978-0847835690, $60.

A highly detailed look at the English country house interior, offering unprecedented access to England’s finest rooms. In this splendid book, renowned historian Jeremy Musson explores the interiors and decoration of the great country houses of England, offering a brilliantly detailed presentation of the epitome of style in each period of the country house, including the great Jacobean manor house, the Georgian mansion, and the Gothic Revival castle. For the first time, houses known worldwide for their exquisite architecture and decoration–including Wilton, Chatsworth, and Castle Howard–are seen in unprecedented detail. With intimate views of fabric, gilding, carving, and furnishings, the book will be a source of inspiration to interior designers, architects, and home owners, and a must-have for anglophiles and historic house enthusiasts.

The fifteen houses included represent the key periods in the history of English country house decoration and cover the major interior fashions and styles. Stunning new color photographs by Paul Barker-who was given unparalleled access to the houses-offer readers new insights into the enduring English country house style. Supplementing these are unique black-and-white images from the archive of the esteemed Country Life magazine.

Among the aspects of these that the book covers are: paneling, textile hangings (silks to cut velvet), mural painting, plasterwork, stone carving, gilding, curtains, pelmets, heraldic decoration, classical imagery, early upholstered furniture, furniture designed by Thomas Chippendale, carved chimney-pieces, lass, use of sculpture, tapestry, carpets, picture hanging, collecting of art and antiques, impact of Grand Tour taste, silver, use of marble, different woods, the importance of mirror glass, boulle work, English Baroque style, Palladian style, neo-Classical style, rooms designed by Robert Adam, Regency, Gothic Revival taste, Baronial style, French 18th-century style, and room types such as staircases, libraries, dining rooms, parlors, bedrooms, picture galleries, entrance halls and sculpture galleries.

Houses covered include: Hatfield – early 1600s (Jacobean); Wilton – 1630/40s (Inigo Jones); Boughton – 1680/90s (inspired by Versailles); Chatsworth -1690/early 1700s (Baroque); Castle Howard – early 1700s (Vanbrugh); Houghton – 1720s (Kent); Holkham – 1730s-50s (Palladian); Syon Park – 1760s (Adam); Harewood –  1760s/70s (neo-Classical); Goodwood – 1790s/1800s (neo-Classical/Regency); Regency at Chatsworth/Wilton/C Howard etc – 1820/30s; Waddesdon Manor – 1870/80ss (French Chateau style); Arundel Castle -1880s/90s (Gothic Revival); Berkeley Castle – 1920/30s (period recreations and antique collections); Parham House – 1920s/30s (period restorations and antique collections). The range is from the early 17th century to present day, drawn from the authenticated interiors of fifteen great country houses, almost all still in private hands and occupied as private residences still today. The book shows work by twentieth-century designers who have helped evolve the country house look, including Nancy Lancaster, David Hicks, Colefax & Fowler, and David Mlinaric.

Jeremy Musson is a leading commentator and author on the English country house. He was architectural editor of Country Life from 1998 to 2007, for which he wrote hundreds of articles on country houses and is still a contributor. As a former National Trust assistant curator he redecorated state rooms at Ickworth Park and curated Anglesey Abbey. Musson is the author of several books including The English Manor House, Plasterwork, How to Read a Country House, The Country Houses of Sir John Vanbrugh, and Up and Down Stairs: The History of the Country House Servant. A contributor to World of Interiors, The British Art Journal, and Cornerstone, he has interviewed many figures in the world of heritage, arts, and interior design, and he co-wrote and presented The Curious House Guest, a BBC2 series on important country houses in 2005-2006. Art historian Sir Roy Strong is the former director of London’s National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Paul Barker is one of the U.K.’s leading architectural photographers.

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From Yale UP:

Keith Thomson, Jefferson’s Shadow: The Story of His Science (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012), 336 pages, ISBN: 978-0300184037, $30.

In the voluminous literature on Thomas Jefferson, little has been written about his passionate interest in science. This new and original study of Jefferson presents him as a consummate intellectual whose view of science was central to both his public and his private life. Keith Thomson reintroduces us in this remarkable book to Jefferson’s eighteenth-century world and reveals the extent to which Jefferson used science, thought about it, and contributed to it, becoming in his time a leading American scientific intellectual.

With a storyteller’s gift, Thomson shows us a new side of Jefferson. He answers an intriguing series of questions—How was Jefferson’s view of the sciences reflected in his political philosophy and his vision of America’s future? How did science intersect with his religion? Did he make any original contributions to scientific knowledge?—and illuminates the particulars of Jefferson’s scientific endeavors. Thomson discusses Jefferson’s theories that have withstood the test of time, his interest in the practical applications of science to societal problems, his leadership in the use of scientific methods in agriculture, and his contributions toward launching at least four sciences in America: geography, paleontology, climatology, and scientific archaeology. A set of delightful illustrations, including some of Jefferson’s own sketches and inventions, completes this impressively researched book.

Keith Thomson is Executive Officer fellow at the American Philosophical Society and professor emeritus of natural history at the University of Oxford. He was for five years a visiting fellow of the International Centre for Jefferson Studies at Monticello, VA. He lives in Philadelphia.

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From Rizzoli:

Diane Dorrans Saeks, Ann Getty: Interior Style, photographed by Lisa Romerein (New York: Rizzoli, 2012), 240 pages, ISBN: 978-0847837915, $55.

The first-ever compilation of the luxurious interiors from the influential designer and philanthropist Ann Getty. For those who are passionate about fine interiors, the preservation of antiques, the highest level of craftsmanship, and respect for architectural integrity, this book offers an insider’s view of the exquisite designs of Ann Getty. Fluent in classical styles and periods and known for sourcing her vast array of objects and opulent materials from across the globe, Getty creates interiors that are steeped in historical style yet remain fresh and vibrant for today’s clientele.From the exceptional residence she and her music-composer husband, Gordon Getty, use for entertaining and displaying their world-class collection of art and antiques, to the comfortable yet elegant townhouse she designed for a stylish young family, the book showcases richly detailed interiors that are coveted by design enthusiasts and collectors. Featured are pieces from Getty’s successful furniture line of original designs inspired by the renowned Getty collection as well as her own extensive travel and design studies.This intimate look, Getty’s first-ever monograph, demonstrates how to combine objects from different time periods and styles in a sumptuous atmosphere rich in bold colors, vibrant textures, and classic elegance.

Diane Dorrans Saeks is a noted design lecturer, founder of the design/travel blog The Style Saloniste, and the best-selling author of more than twenty books. Lisa Romerein’s photographs have been featured in many books, including Michael S. Smith: Elements of Style, as well as C magazine, Town & Country, and Elle Decor.

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As Catherine Bigelow writes in her article, “Ann Getty’s ‘Interior Style’,” for SFGate (8 October 2012) . . .

Ann Getty’s San Francisco House. In the foyer, a vignette of Meissen figures sits beneath a painting by  Canaletto. Photo: Lisa Romerein from Ann Getty: Interior Style. For more photos, available at Harper’s Bazaar, click on the image.

“All this time, people assumed Ann was having endless couture fittings in Paris,” said Saeks, a San Francisco design writer who has penned 21 Rizzoli titles. “But actually she was studying 18th-century French antiques and having private tours of hidden collections at the Louvre.”

In the ’60s, Getty studied paleoanthropology and biology at UC Berkeley, and she remains devoted to philanthropic support of science and academic research. But for more than 40 years, she has also been hands-on in designing and running her own well-appointed homes. The book features four, including her Willis Polk-designed Gold Coast manse and the first-ever peek at her childhood home, and most personal redesign, in Wheatland (Yuba County), where the Gilbert family still runs their decades-old walnut ranch.

In addition to her intuitive design sense, Getty also drew upon inspiration and early tutelage from storied designer Sister Parish, her late father-in-law and antiquities connoisseur J. Paul Getty, as well as collections within the Getty Museum. . .

The full article is available here»

As you may have already noticed, this year’s Holiday Gift Guide feature has been scaled back from last year (try searching for ‘holiday gift guide’), and rather than taking up a full week, postings will appear occasionally alongside regular offerings. While the following food books are not exclusively about the eighteenth century, I think dix-huitièmistes interested in food and its history will find something to enjoy. -CH

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From London Calling:

Ralph Roylance, The Epicure’s Almanack: Eating and Drinking in Regency London, edited by Janet Ing Freeman (London: British Library, 2012), 512 pages, ISBN: 978-0712358613, $55.

The British Library has published a new edition of the 1815 Epicure’s Almanack, the first ever ‘good food guide’ to London. Listing some 650 eating houses, taverns, coffee houses, and inns, the original Almanack was the work of Ralph Rylance, an aspiring poet and dramatist. This new edition, edited by Janet Ing Freeman, presents his original text together with commentary on many of the establishments and on the wider subject of eating and drinking in London at the beginning of the nineteenth century.

Fewer than 30 copies of the original book are recorded in libraries today. It was never continued nor reprinted, and lack of public enthusiasm for the guide meant that several hundred unsold copies were destroyed two years after publication. Nonetheless, scholars continue to refer to it for descriptions such as that of London’s first Indian restaurant, the Hindostanee Coffee House in Marylebone, where all the dishes were ‘dressed with curry-powder and the best spices of Arabia’, and a room was set apart for ‘smoking from hookahs with oriental herbs’.

Rylance reviewed the eateries and their menus single-handedly and on foot. His book provides an excellent contemporary view of an important aspect of Regency London life, and gives a glimpse of a bygone city, in which the oysterman at the Cock Tavern in Fleet Street busily opens shells ‘with the dexterity of a squirrel’ and more elegant eating houses display their wares in the window, including the ‘fine, lively, amiable turtle’ shortly to appear on the menu.

Larissa Zimberoff reviewed the book for The Inquisitive Eater (21 November 2012).

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From the website for the book:

Bee Wilson, Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat (London, Basic Books, 2012)), 352 pages, 978-0465021765, $27.

Since prehistory, humans have braved sharp knives, fire, and grindstones to transform raw ingredients into something delicious—or at least edible. Tools shape what we eat, but they have also transformed how we consume, and how we think about, our food. Technology in the kitchen does not just mean the Pacojets and sous-vide of the modernist kitchen. It can also mean the humbler tools of everyday cooking and eating: a wooden spoon and a skillet, chopsticks and forks.

In Consider the Fork, award-winning food writer Bee Wilson provides a wonderful and witty tour of the evolution of cooking around the world, revealing the hidden history of everyday objects we often take for granted. Knives—perhaps our most important gastronomic tool—predate the discovery of fire, whereas the fork endured centuries of ridicule before gaining widespread acceptance; pots and pans have been around for millennia, while plates are a relatively recent invention. Many once-new technologies have become essential elements of any well-stocked kitchen—mortars and pestles, serrated knives, stainless steel pots, refrigerators. Others have proved only passing fancies, or were supplanted by better technologies; one would be hard pressed now to find a water-powered egg whisk, a magnet-operated spit roaster, a cider owl, or a turnspit dog. Although many tools have disappeared from the modern kitchen, they have left us with traditions, tastes, and even physical characteristics that we would never have possessed otherwise.

Blending history, science, and anthropology, Wilson reveals how our culinary tools and tricks came to be, and how their influence has shaped modern food culture. The story of how we have tamed fire and ice and wielded whisks, spoons, and graters, all for the sake of putting food in our mouths, Consider the Fork is truly a book to savor.

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From Columbia University Press:

Massimo Montanari, Let the Meatballs Rest: And Other Stories About Food and Culture, translated by Beth Brombert (New York: Columbia University Press, 2012), 192 pages, ISBN: 978-0231157322, $27.

Known for his idiosyncratic, entertaining investigations into culinary practice, Massimo Montanari turns his hungry eye to the phenomenon of food culture, food lore, cooking methods, and eating habits throughout history. An irresistible buffet of one hundred concise and engaging essays, this collection provides stimulating food for thought for those curious about one of life’s most fundamental pleasures.

Focusing on the selection, preparation, and mythology of food, Montanari traverses such subjects as the status of the pantry over the centuries, the various strategies of cooking deployed by humans over time, the gastronomy of famine, the science of flavors, the changing characteristics of convivial rituals, the customs of the table, and the ever-evolving identity of food. He shows that cooking is not only a decisive part of our cultural heritage but also communicates essential information about our material and intellectual selves. From the invention of basic bread-making to chocolate’s acquired reputation for decadence, Montanari positions food culture as a lens through which we can plot changes in historical values and social and economic trends. Even the biblical story of Jacob buying Esau’s birthright for a bowl of lentils is a text full of essential meaning for Montanari, representing human civilization’s all-important shift from a hunting to an agrarian society. Readers of all backgrounds will enjoy these delectable insights and their easy consumption in one companionable volume.

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From Bloomsbury:

Russell Norman, P O L P O: A Venetian Cookbook (Of Sorts) (London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012), 320 pages, ISBN: 978-1408816790, £25.

Tucked away in a backstreet of London’s edgy Soho district, POLPO is one of the hottest restaurants in town. Critics and food aficionados have been flocking to this understated bàcaro where Russell Norman serves up dishes from the back streets of Venice. A far cry from the tourist-trap eateries of the famous floating city, this kind of cooking is unfussy, innovative and exuberantly delicious.

The 140 recipes in the book include caprese stacks; zucchini shoestring fries; asparagus with Parmesan and anchovy butter; butternut risotto; arancini, rabbit cacciatore; warm duck salad with wet walnuts and beets; crispy baby pizzas with prosciutto and rocket; scallops with lemon and peppermint; mackerel tartare; linguine with clams; whole sea bream; warm octopus salad; soft-shell crab in Parmesan batter with fennel salad; walnut and honey semifreddo; tiramisù; fizzy bellinis and glasses of bright orange spritz.

With luminescent photography by Jenny Zarins, which captures the unfrequented corners, the bustling bàcari and the sublime waterways of Venice, POLPO is a dazzling tribute to Italy’s greatest hidden cuisine.