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The Arts and Crafts Movement in Britian Bibiliography

Among the English designers, William Morris is paramount and will be the subject of our postponed tour “William Morris and His Influence” next year in time to join the 150th anniversary celebrations of his move to Kelmscott Manor. There are so many exceptional books on his life and work, not to mention his own prodigious writings, that it is extremely difficult to know what to leave out. I have been very selective, suggesting only three.

The first is exquisitely illustrated and deals with his design work; the second discusses his career in light of the social and philosophical issues of his time; and the last, is one of the best current biographies of his life and work. Please share with us all your favorites

In The Spotlight

The Arts and Crafts Movement by Elizabeth Cumming and Wendy Kaplan was published in paperback by Thames & Hudson in 1991. It is richly illustrated, is a compact size, and concentrates on English sources and influences with brief sections on American and European designers. It also, as do several others, has an excellent Bibliography.

Arts and Crafts in Britain and America by Isabelle Anscombe and Charlotte Gere.  Published in the United States by Rizzoli in 1978. This book is extensively illustrated with photographs in black and white and in color. Of great value are the many short biographies of the principal designers and craftworkers, as well as discussions about the various guilds.

The Arts and Crafts Movement: A Study of its Sources, Ideals, and Influence on Design Theory.  by Gillian Naylor is currently in a second printing. The first edition came out in 1971, the most recent in 1990. The earlier edition was published in paperback by MIT Press; the 1990 edition was published by Trefoil Publications of London and is available in hardcover, and possibly in paperback.

The Arts and Crafts Companion by Pamela Todd, was published in 2004 by Bulfinch Press. Sumptuously illustrated, it is very well balanced between the American and English designers. Of considerable value is its chapter with a brief background on all the major figures of the Movement.

The English House, by Hermann Muthesius (Berlin: Wasmuth, 1904. (3vols) (Reprint: Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications, 1987.) This is a very thorough examination of English house design and construction between the 1880’s and the turn of the century. A paperback translation of the 1903 German book by Hermann Muthesius has been published by BSP Professional Books which have offices in Boston and Palo Alto and is available in the United States.  It contains sections on the development of housing in Britain, the layout and construction of homes, and the interior features. This book was one of the most influential on domestic architecture in England and on the Continent.           

Brown, Jane. Gardens of a Golden Afternoon: The Story of a Partnership

London: Penguin Group, 1982.

Carruthers, Annette and Frank Johnson. The Guild of Handicraft, 1888‑1988.

Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museums, 1988.

Cormack, Peter. Arts & Crafts Stained Glass,  Yale University Press, 2015

Crawford, Alan. C.R. Ashbee: Architect, Designer and Romantic Socialist. New Haven:  Yale University Press, 1985.

Crawford, Alan ed. By Hammer and Hand: The Arts and Crafts Movement in Birmingham. City Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham, 1984.

Davey, John, ed. Nature and Tradition: Arts and Crafts Architecture and Gardens in and Around Guildford. Guildford, UK: Surrey Gardens Trust and the Guildford Society, Guildford Borough Council, 1993 and 2003

Dunster, David, ed. Edwin Lutyens. London: Architectural Monographs and Academy Editions, 1979.

Gradidge, Roderick. The Surrey Style. The Surrey Historic Buildings Trust, 1991.

Greensted, Mary. The Arts and Crafts Movement in the Cotswolds. Far Thrupp, Stroud,  Gloucs.: Alan Sutton Publishing, Ltd., 1993.

Greensted, Mary Gimson and the Barnsleys: ‘Wonderful Furniture of a Commonplace Kind’. Far Thrupp, Stroud, Gloucs. UK: Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd., 1980.

Jewson, Norman. By Chance I Did Rove. Barnsley, UK: Gryffon Publications, 1986.

MacCarthy, Fiona. The Simple Life: C.R. Ashbee in the Cotswolds. London:  Lund Humphries Publishers Ltd., 1981.

Marsh, Jan. Jane and May Morris: A Biographical Story 1839‑1938. London, 1986.

Weaver, Lawrence. Houses and Gardens by E.L. Lutyens. Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK: Baron Publishing, 1981.

Wilhide, Elizabeth. William Morris Decor and Design. London: Pavilion Books, 1991.

W.R. Lethaby 1857‑1931: Architecture, Design and Education. London: Lund Humphries Publishers Ltd., 1984.

Simmonds, William. The Silent Heart of the Arts and Crafts Movement. The University of Chicago Press Books, 2019.

Uglow, Jenny. The Pinecone: The Story of Sarah Losh, Forgotten Romantic Heroine–Antiquarian, Architect, and Visionary.  Farrar, Straus and Giroux , 2013.

 

 

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Pre-Raphaelites

There are so many excellent books, as well as websites, on and about the Pre-Raphaelites and in particular the specific artists, that here are only a few and – with only one exception –we’ve only included those about the group as a whole rather than specific artists. And these are mostly those by our guides and lecturers. The exception is one of the best, that on Edward Burne-Jones by Fiona MacCarthy, who sadly just died this year and unfortunately was not one of our guides.

So here are just a very few from among the many books available. If you have particular ones that you have enjoyed and would like to share, please let us know and we will circulate the information.

Barringer, Tim. Reading the Pre-Raphaelites. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1999.

De Figueiredo, Peter. Victorian Manchester and Salford. Halifax: Ryburn, 1988.

Hunt, Tristram. Building Jerusalem : The Rise and Fall of the Victorian City. Henry Holt, 2005.

MacCarthy, Fiona. The Last Pre-Raphaelite :Edward Burne-Jones and The Victorian Imagination. London: Faber & Faber, 2012.

Marsh, Jan and Pamela Gerrish Nunn, Pre-Raphaelite Women Artists (1997, reissued 1999).

Treuherz, Julian. Pre-Raphaelite Paintings from the Manchester City Art Gallery. London: Lund Humphries, 1993.

Upstone, Robert. The pre-Raphaelite dream: drawings and paintings from the Tate Collection. London: Tate Britain, 2003.

Wildman, Stephen. Ruskin, Turner and the Pre-Raphaelites,. Tate Gallery, London, (with Robert Hewison and Ian Warrell) 2000.

Wood, Christopher. The Pre-Raphaelites. New York: Viking, 1981.

The Pre-Raphaelites. London: Tate Gallery/Allen Lane, 1984.