A commerce of taste : church architecture in Canada, 1867-1914 / Barry Magrill.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Magrill, Barry, 1964-

Series:

McGill-Queen's studies in the history of religion. Series two ; 56.

McGill-Queen's studies in the history of religion. Series two ; 56

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Religious architecture--Canada.

Religious architecture.

Pattern books--Great Britain.

Pattern books.

Gothic revival (Architecture)--Canada.

Gothic revival (Architecture).

Canada--Social conditions--19th century.

Canada.

Social conditions.

Canada--Economic conditions--19th century.

Economic conditions.

Great Britain.

Physical Description:

xix, 216 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Montreal : McGill-Queen's Unioversity Press, 2012.

Summary:

In the late-nineteenth century, the circulation of pattern books featuring medieval English church architecture facilitated an unprecedented spread of Gothic-style churches in Canada. Engaging several themes around the history of print culture, religion, and settlement, A Commerce of Taste sheds new light on the art and business of church building.

Bridging discourses from formal architectural analysis and cultural theory, Barry Magrill shows how the circulation of church pattern books offers a unique way of studying the relationships between taste, ideology, economics, and social change. "Taste" was a concept used to legitimize British - and to an extent Anglican - privilege, while other denominations resisted their aesthetic edicts. Pattern books eventually lost control of the exclusivity associated with taste as advances in printing technology and transatlantic shipping brought more books into the marketplace and readerships expanded beyond the professional classes. By the early twentieth century taste had become diluted, the architect had lost his heroic status, and architectural distinctions among denominations were less apparent.

In exploring how pattern books influenced architectural practice, provoked social conflict, and changed the face of the religious landscape, A Commerce of Taste presents a compelling new perspective on the history of church-building in Canada. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 The Rise of Commercial Society in Pre-Confederation Canada 11

2 Economy and Religion from the Maritimes to Upper Canada 48

3 Selling Ecclesiology as Identity in the Dominion of Canada 67

4 Property Ownership and Church-Building: The Financial Structure of Churches in Ontario 83

5 The Spread of Empire in Western Canada: Railway, Religion, and Church-Building 107

6 An Unfinished Business of Western Expansion 128

7 The Influence of US Artistic, Cultural, and Economic Capital 166.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780773539822

0773539824

9780773539839

0773539832

OCLC:

764385353