Is Mr. Ruskin Living Too Long? Selected Writings of E.W. Godwin on Victorian Architecture, Design, and Culture

Kinchin, Juliet and Paul Stirton

Oxford: White Cockade Publishing, 2005. Softcover. Bw-illus. wraps with red decorative lettering. 416 pp. with small, bw illus. throughout. VG, clean and tight but art school ex-lib. with usual markings. Item #157511
ISBN: 9781873487129

Both indispensible reference book and perfect bedside reading for all those interested in Victorian architecture, design and culture. Architect, designer, theatre pundit, and all-round Aesthete, E.W. Godwin was also a prolific and influential journalist. This book gives easy access for the first time to his opinionated and extremely entertaining writings across a wide spectrum of key Victorian debates. Friend of Whistler, Oscar Wilde and William Burges, lover of Ellen Terry (and father of her illegitimate children) Godwin was intimately connected with High Victorian cultural life and a fearless commentator upon it. His witty criticism of notable contemporary architects carries us to the heart of the Battle of the Styles from the 1860s to the 1880s, while hilarious pen-pictures bring alive the lesser ranks of the profession, with its manipulative office life and annoying clients. His detailed descriptions of how he decorated and furnished his own very original houses give fresh and fascinating insight into aesthetic taste of the period. But Godwin was actively concerned also with theatrical design, art criticism, dress reform, health and archaeology. Indeed he regarded all these pursuits as linked together in a larger concept of 'Aestheticism'. This anthology gives an unrivalled sense of a wide-ranging engagement with modernity. Godwin's writings come into their own, as extracts arranged round various themes. Each chapter is accompanied by an introductory essay, and helpful notes. Numerous contemporary magazine illustrations and cartoons highlight the text. Includes a full bibliography of Godwin's writings and concise biographies of figures and organisations referred to in the text. - from the publisher's web site.