From Palladianism to the Gothic Revival Two Centuries ofBritish Architectural Books frontispiece to Augustus Pugin. txampleso{Oothic archlteclUre. Y.2. 16:56. Designed byA. W. N. Pugin. Robert McDougall Art Gallery Christchurch, New Zealand 1987 20. 41 DC British Architectural Books Acknowledgements in Nineteenth-Century New zealand As the remaining examples of the On 9 septembet 1844 Bishop Selwyn's Ecclesiological Society for advice on Victorian buildings which gave visual chaplain. the Rev. W. C. Cotton. wrote to church building matters and in 1650 the character to colonial New Zealand his sisters in England from St John's Society ~made a grant ofits publications dwindle to a few. an exhibition showing College. Waimate, describing how to the Library of St Johns College. New the origins of the style-I> we as"'MICiate Selwyn was hard at wor1l drawing up Zealand, as a present to the Bishop of with European architecture of the plans for the college buildings. The that diocese-. Many of these wor\l.s can nineteenth century is timely. The New Bishop ~worked at the plans steadily as still be found at St John's. Zealand Institute of Architects' 1987 tho' he had been an architect and Similarly the Oxford Architectural Conference in Christchurch presented an nothing else - and before he gave over Society made presentations of its opportunity for an architecture related had not only the ground plan of the publications to the Bishop through its exhibition and Dr Ian Lochhead agreed whole establishment drawn up, but also publisher; J. H. Parker; one ofthe leading to curate MFrom Palladianism to the a beautiful general sketch of his Idea of publishers of architectural books in Gothic Revival~. We thank Dr Lochhead the whole - Mrs S[e1wyn] looked in and mid-Victorian England. In addition the for his willing contribution and those admired - and turning to the library received reports and publications private collectors and institutions which frontispiece of one of Pugin's books, viz. issued by the many provincial made volumes available for the an ecclesiastic in his study designing a architectural societies dedicated to the exhibition. building. said ·thereyou are my dea~ study of Gothic architecture in England. This delightful anecdote provides a as well as other architectural books. John Coley revealing glimpse of a colonial bishop Bishop selwyn was not of course. a directly confronting the problems of professional architect and it was men building in a new land, while Mrs such as fredrick Thatcher and Reader I am particularly grateful to John Coley selwyn's comment gives us a rare insight Wood who actually gave physical form and the Robert McDougall Art Gallery for into the way in which a Victorian to the Bishop's ideas. They too, no the opportunity to curate this churchman like selwyn approached his doubt, made good use of the books In exhibition, a task which has combined role as architect. The presence ofone of the College library. The influence of the excitement of new discoveries with rugin's books in the very room in which these works, many of which arrived in the pleasures of re-exploring familiar he was working also tells us much about New Zealand within a short time of their works. The exhibition was inspired by the the important rote which architectural publication, was of major importance in similar exhibition organised by Georgia books played in shaping the formative establishing the character of Anglican Prince at the Auckland Public Library In years of New zealand's architectural church architecture throughout New 198.3. and by the presence in the history. Zealand for the remainder of the University of Canterbury Library of Although we cannot be absolutely nineteenth centu~ samuel Hurst seager's collection of certain which book by Pugin was referred The library at St John's College is architectural books. I also wish to to by Mrs selwyn, Itwas probably his1hre remarkable because it is relatively well acknowledge the assistance received prinCiples or pointed or ChristIan documented. In the case of individual from Eleanor Hamlyn at the Auckland architecture (l84l), a copy of which, architects Information about their Public ubra~ Kathryn Bolland and Ms along with several other wol1l.s by Pugln, libraries is often much more difficult to K. A. Coleridge at the Victoria University was presented to selwyn in 1643 by Dr E. trace. Benjamin Mountfort's library is a Library and especially the staff of the S. Hawtry, the headmaster of Eton good example of this problem. University of canterbury Library without College. These books, alongwith the rest Mountfort arrived In Canterbury in 1850 whose help the exhibition could not have of Selwyn'S extensive architectural and gradually established himselfas this taken place. Each of the libraries library, can still be found in the Ubrary country's leading Gothic Revival mentioned has willingly agreed to lend of St John's College, Auckland, The architect. He Is known to have had an works to the exhibition. as have College frontispiece of 7'rue principles Is, extensive library but this was dispersed House and Collins Architects of however, a variant of the frontispiece to after his death and only isolated Christchurch. Thanks are also due to the second volume of Augustus Pugins volumes. some of which are Included in Judy Boyle who typed the catalogue. Examptes or Gothic architecture, this exhibition, have been traced. The finally we should recognise the designed by the younger Pugin in 1834. task of reconstructing Mountfort's contribution of those architects who While it is possible that this was the library can only be achieved by formed the: collections from which the image of the architect Mrs selwyn conjecture. and through the evidence of books in this exhibition have largely referred to, there Is no record of this the influences visible in his executed been drawn. war1\. ever being owned by selwyn nor of wori<s. its presence in the St John5 College In the case of Mountfort's contemporary, Ian J. Lochhead Library. W. B. Armson, we are much more School of nne,vU selwyn's architectural library was the fortunate, for his library has remained University of Canterbury first collection of its kind in New substantially intact in the office of zealand, and it was assembled with the Collins Architects, Christchurch, the specific purpose ofensuring that church firm he founded in 1870. What has also building in the Anglican Diocese of New survived is the record of an order for zealand would be carried out according books made by Armson in 1874 to the to the best principles and the very latest london bookseller; B. T. Batsford, which ideas. Bishop selwyn was a patron of the includes many items which can still be cambridge camden Societ): later the identified in the firm's library today. Ecdesiological Soc:iel): the body which. Armson's library is of particular interest from its foundation in 1839. vigorously as it has continued to grow, being promoted the reform of church augmented by subsequent members of architecture according to the model of the firm in the last decades of the the medieval church and the revival of nineteenth and the early years of this ancient ritualistic practices. Selwyn century. repeatedly referred to the selwyn's and Mountfort's libraries were made up almost exclusively of works on "". I ~ I,. .Q;:O:;:;:;:::;;.::;z;;J:" I ,I Gothic architecture. Armson's library, although containing a large number of works on Gothic. also included a significant number of publications on classical design. its composition renecting the character of his practice in which classical and Gothic designs were of equal importance. yet another well documented architectural library, that of the Wellington architect Thomas Turnbull. included important works on classicism. as well as many of the popular Gothic source books. Turnbull was particularly proud of his library and publicised it in the article on his practice in the Cyclopedia of New Zealand in 1897. ~His london agent. Mr Batsford, for very many years has had a standing order to send out all the best works published about architecture and kindred subjects. His extensive library therefore contains a valuable collection of architectural works, supposed to be the finest private collection in the Southern Hemisphere:'Turnbull not only collected recent publications but eighteenth-century works as well, including for example. Leoni's edition of Palladio's Four books on architecture and Wood's Ruins of Palmyra. Fortunately. his library formed part of the bequest made by John Urie Turnbull to the Victoria University Library in 1938. A collection of works on architecture which rivals Turnbull'S in both size and importance is that formed by the Christchurch architect. Samuel Hurst Seager. seager's collection was both large in size and impressive in scope. ranging from a seventeenth-century French translation of the four books on architecture of Palladio to recent studies of English vernacular houses which directly inspired Seager's own domestic works. As with Turnbull's library, it has remained intact, being presented to canterbury College in 1928, at which time a catalogue of the collection was pUblished. Seager's library, like those of Armson and Turnbull, contains books which are individually of considerable interest Collectively, however, they are of even more interest. for they tell us a great deal about the architects who owned The doric order; from Ahrilham Swan. The fjrl/lsh afCh/~ct London. 1758. them. The existence of these collections is century and which culminated in the to imagine that our knowledge of the indicative of the importance nineteenth century. During this period whole history ofart will be without its nineteenth-century New Zealand the tradition of classical architecture influence upon that which we architects placed on an accurate which had been revived during the ourselves generate .