The Formation of English Gothic: Architecture and Identity

Draper, Peter

New Haven/London: Published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art by Yale University Press, 2006. Hardcover. Black boards with gilt lettering; black DJ with color-photo-illustration and white lettering; vi, 287 pp.; richly illustrated. VG (Boards are lightly edgeworn/scuffed/smudged; textblock edges are lightly edgeworn; interior is clean; binding is solid.) / Good+ (DJ iw moderately edgeworn; it has some scuffs and smudges.). Item #196483
ISBN: 9780300120363

"In this original account of architecture in England between c.1150 and c.1250, Peter Draper explores how the assimilation of new ideas from France led to an English version of Gothic architecture that was quite distinct from Gothic expression elsewhere. The author considers the great cathedrals of England (Canterbury, Wells, Salisbury, Lincoln, Ely, York, Durham, and others) as well as parish churches and secular buildings, to examine the complex interrelations between architecture and its social and political functions. Architecture was an expression of identity, Draper finds, and the unique Gothic that developed in England was one of a number of manifestations of an emerging sense of national identity. The book inquires into such topics as the role of patrons, the relationships between patrons and architects, and the wide variety of factors that contributed to the process of creating a building. With 250 illustrations, including more than 50 in color, this book offers new ways of seeing and thinking about some of England's greatest and best-loved architecture." -- Book Jacket.