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The Essay
Printing Technology and the Role of Illustration America's Introduction to Aesthetics Architectural Advice Books: The A.J.s Architectural Advice Books: Other Writers |
Calvert Vaux, an English architect recruited by A. J. Downing as a junior partner, ranked Downing's obvious successor. Through Villas and Cottages, Vaux exhibited an amazing familiarity with the tangled issues of home design and cultural identity that consumed some Americans. Unlike Downing, who often published designs by a variety of working architects, the plans Vaux chose for Villas and Cottages were his own. Vaux is best known for his partnership with Frederick Law Olmsted in the creation of Central Park, but the content of Villas and Cottages accords him lasting status as an architectural and social critic. Samuel Sloan’s The Model Architect (1852), a cross between a pattern book and a “positioning piece” for this successful working architect, contains full-page lithographs. Some of these illustrations were printed in multiple colors, a highly unusual feature at the time. Fifteen years later, Sloan produced the more modest but also important Homestead Architecture (1866). The title refers to the potent symbol of the “old family place,” the homestead, an unerring moral compass throughout life. Gervase Wheeler and other architectural writers also drew upon this particularly American emblem of pride and sentiment.
Some advice givers addressed less wealthy readers who dreamed of building their own homes. Typical of them is Charles Dwyer, who authored The Economic Cottage Builder; Or, Cottages for Men of Small Means (1856). Likewise, John W. Ritch unflinchingly categorized his offerings in the subtitle of his work, The American Architect, as “Original Designs of Cheap Country and Village Residences.” These books helped Americans, no matter what level their income, to incorporate good design into their homes.
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