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Reading houses and building books : Andrew Jackson Downing and the architecture of popular antebellum literature, 1835-1855 / Adam W. Sweeting.
Fine Arts Library PS253.N7 S94 1996
Available
LIBRA - Athenaeum of Philadelphia Circulating PS253.N7 S94 1996
Available from offsite location
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Sweeting, Adam W., 1963-
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Downing, A. J. (Andrew Jackson), 1815-1852.
- American literature--Hudson River Valley (N.Y. and N.J.)--History and criticism.
- American literature.
- Architecture and literature.
- History.
- Hudson River Valley (N.Y. and N.J.)--Intellectual life--19th century.
- Hudson River Valley (N.Y. and N.J.).
- Authors, American--Homes and haunts--Hudson River Valley (N.Y. and N.J.).
- Authors, American.
- Authors, American--Homes and haunts.
- Hudson River Valley (N.Y. and N.J.)--Intellectual life.
- American literature--19th century--History and criticism.
- Popular literature--United States--History and criticism.
- Popular literature.
- United States.
- Downing, A. J. (Andrew Jackson), 1815-1852--Influence.
- Downing, A. J.
- Books and reading--United States--History--19th century.
- Books and reading.
- Architecture and literature--History--19th century.
- Landscape architecture--United States.
- Landscape architecture.
- Downing, Andrew Jackson, 1815-1852--Influence.
- Influence (Literary, artistic, etc.).
- Intellectual life.
- United States--Hudson River Valley.
- Local Subjects:
- Downing, Andrew Jackson, 1815-1852--Influence.
- Genre:
- Criticism, interpretation, etc.
- History.
- Physical Description:
- x, 230 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
- Place of Publication:
- Hanover : University Press of New England, [1996]
- Summary:
- Andrew Jackson Downing's reputation as architect, landscape designer, and author spread far beyond his native Hudson River Valley during the first half of the 19th century. But as Adam Sweeting suggests in this elegantly written, illustrated account, Downing's real legacy lies in the philosophical statement he created by melding the literary and building arts with an intensely moralistic outlook.
- Along with such contemporaries as William Cullen Bryant, Washington Irving, and Frederick Law Olmsted, Downing pursued what Sweeting calls genteel romanticism, an ideal that viewed the confluence of polite literature and graceful dwellings as not just an aesthetic statement, but an ethical imperative.
- This study of a unique coalescence of literature, architecture, and gardening illuminates "the widely held belief that efforts to reform the world began at home, that beautiful and clean houses produced morally beautiful and spiritually clean people."
- Andrew Jackson Downing's reputation as architect, landscape designer, and author spread far beyond his native Hudson River Valley during the first half of the 19th century. But as Adam Sweeting suggests in this elegantly written, illustrated account, Downing's real legacy lies in the philosophical statement he created by melding the literary and building arts with an intensely moralistic outlook. Along with such contemporaries as William Cullen Bryant, Washington Irving, and Frederick Law Olmsted, Downing pursued what Sweeting calls genteel romanticism, an ideal that viewed the confluence of polite literature and graceful dwellings as not just an aesthetic statement, but an ethical imperative. This study of a unique coalescence of literature, architecture, and gardening illuminates "the widely held belief that efforts to reform the world began at home, that beautiful and clean houses produced morally beautiful and spiritually clean people."
- Contents:
- Ch. 1. "The Imperfections of Our Nature": Downing's Landscapes and the Picturesque
- Ch. 2. "For Convenience and Comfort": Downing's Architectural Pattern Books
- Ch. 3. Framing the Restless Mirror: The Hudson River and the Genteel Aesthetic
- Ch. 4. "A More Beautiful and Tasteful Model": Architecture, Morality, and Gentility
- Ch. 5. "A Very Pleasant Patriarchal Life": The Homes of the Genteel Romantics
- Ch. 6. The Stage Comes to Life: The Socialization of Genteel Aesthetics.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 191-197) and index.
- Local Notes:
- Athenaeum copy: Gift of author, 1996.
- Other Format:
- Online version: Sweeting, Adam W., 1963- Reading houses and building books.
- ISBN:
- 0874517508
- 9780874517507
- OCLC:
- 33133047
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