Customer Reviews (1)

evocative picture of the kremlin
Yet another wonderful collection of paintings from the french punlishing house. This volume details the Kremlin in the 19th Century, it wonderfully captures the power and history that this ensemble of chuches and palaces epitimises. A great collectio, one stronlgly recommended for anyone with an interest in Moscow, Russia, Architecture, Art and Imperial Russia. In particular for those who have been fortunate enough to visit this most incredible place. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A majestic portrait!
I can't express how exquisitely these 4 volumes are packaged.Take a look at the price!!!There is a large case that contains four slender volumes bound in what appears to be handmade paper.Each volume focuses on one of four palaces.Each one contains watercolours with a description paragraph to the left.The watercolours are breathtakingly reproduced -- bright colors, intricate details.Treat yourself to these four, perhaps the most beautiful book ever produce on the subject of Imperial Russia.Go ahead and splurge!

Wonderful art and architecture books
These four volumes are a wonfderful collectionof watercolours and grisailles from the times of Imperial Russia. They would be suitable for anyone with an interestin art, architecture, Russia and St Petersburg. They show the four palaces (sadly there is no volume for other palaces such as Ropsha, Strelna or Oranienbaum) as they were before they were destroyed by the Germans in WWII. The palaces (both interiors and exteriors) as well as their gardens are brought to life by this wonderful collection. They are shown as they exisited throughout the 19th century and are interesting not only for their artistic and architectual merits but also for their intrinsic historic and cultural value. Very strongle recommended. ... Read more

Product Description
Full-page photographs and text highlight the history and outstanding architectural features of each home. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Overall, disappointing
The first thing potential readers will want to know is that this is an old publication dressed up with a new cover.The original book was published in 1986, and the latest "revised" edition is nothing of the sort.

The product description states that the book has been updated to reflect the condition of these sites post Katrina, but there isn't one mention of the word "Katrina" in the entire typeset.It's as if the storm never happened.The text included with each entry is both out of date and most summary.There is little architectural or historical context.Also, the photographs are of 1980s film vintage, which means that although they express artistic quality, they reveal the limitations of color imaging technology of that time.Many of the photographs are grainy and discolored, which is just not acceptable considering the advertised quality and contents of the book.

Buy it used.Otherwise, buy something newer.

TREASURES OF LOUISIANA
A well done book on Louisiana's spectacular plantations.The state is blessed with the best of these old homes and this book captures the essense of these structures quite well.All of the famous plantations are given several images and the text though not indepth is revealing.This is not quite as good as Gleasons book on the same subject, but it is close and makes a great companion book to it.If you have any interest in these singular buildings then i highly recommend this book along with Gleasons.

fantastic photography
This is a great book for anyone who is interested in plantation homes. It has over 80 wonderful photographs, and tells the story of each home shown. There are even two or three victorian style homes, built in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Very interesting and informative. I would recommend this book to anyone, wether your buying it for the information or the photographs!

beautiful photos
the book has lovely photos and briefly tells about each home. It would have been nice if there were more photos of the interior of homes. But the book has beautiful photography and is overall: GREAT!

Breathtaking Photography, Interesting Commentary
This book is hands-down one of the most beautiful picture books on Louisiana's remaining plantation homes.While most are in exquisite condition, there are a very few which aren't.The short story of eachplantation home is interesting and the photographs are gorgeous!It makesone want to go out, find a plantation home, buy it and restore it!Thereader will be amazed at the wealth these planters accumulated, manifestedin these awesome homes.Not all of the homes are huge antebelllummansions, though.I personally found the Creole plantations wonderfulexamples of a simple albeit beautiful home.I would recommend this book toanyone who loves old homes, Southern architecture or photography ingeneral. ... Read more

Product Description
McCormick's study is the first to show the interrelation of Vanbrugh's seemingly disparate careers as architect and dramatist. Perhaps because his talent embraced two diverse disciplines, Sir John Vanbrugh has received less critical attention that his achievements deserve. Vanbrugh wrote or adapted ten comedies (The Relapse and The Provoked Wife proving the most successful) and designed a host of country houses of which the best known are Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. In fact, no one built grander or more controversial country homes than Vanbrugh. McCormick challenges the previous critical studies of Vanbrugh that have concentrated on either his architectural of his playwriting career to the exclusion of the other. He reveals the role of Vanbrugh's life in his works, especially his experience as a hostage in France, arguing that Blenheim Palace and The Relapse and many other of his buildings and plays are linked by their creator's preoccupation with the notion of the 'citadel in danger.' He examines the sources of Vanbrugh's building style and demonstrates the essential continuity of his dramatic and architectural practice, a continuity stemming from his use of a distinctive body of combat and siege imagery in both his dramatic and architectural vocabularies. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume contains Allan Ramsay's "Enquiry into the Situation and Circumstances of Horace's Sabine Villa". It also features essays about Ramsay, Jacob More, Jacob Philipp Hackert, the garden and country house in 18th-century British thought, and the archaeology of the Licenza Valley. The aims of the editors are three-fold: to print the text as Ramsay would have wished to, had he been able; to publish the related illustrations by Hackert, More and Ramsay; and to provide some basic background facts and commentary. They hope to help the contemporary reader understand the antiquarian context in which Ramsay was writing and to appreciate Ramsay's contribution to our understanding of the site conventionally known as Horace's Villa. ... Read more

Product Description
A tribute to one of England's greatest treasures. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

MARLY, SIRE?
This is not a bad book on the famous Marly.This was Louis XIV favorite chateaux not Versailles.This is were he took his favorites to get away from the stict court edicate that was Versailles.This book is interesting as a niche book, the water colors are very pretty, they are all we really have to remember the parc de Marly bacause the chateaux is long gone, pulled down by a french philistine, that wanted to sell off the statuary and the fireplace and wood, etc of the small chateaux and its pavillions.This is one place I wish had survived, just to get a feel of what it was like for the king to relax, it would have been such a great site after touring the herculean Versailles.The park remains today, but the statuary is long gone, the Marly Horses, were first moved to the foot of the champs Elysee's, then onto the Louvre, where they reside to this day.I wish the French Government would rebuild Marly, they have the architectural blue prints, it would be fasinating to see, anachronistic, yes..but still..anyway, nice book, if you have any interest in Marly, this is about all you will find..sadly.

17th century French royal Garden design
This is a specialized book for those interested in architecture and/or period garden design from 17th century France. Marly was a favorite creation of The Sun King, Louis XIV. Built in a secluded narrow valley notfar from Versailles, it tried to create an informal palace where the Kingand favored courtiers could live a more informal existance not governed bystrict court formality as practiced at Versailles. The main features were aRoyal Pavilion for the King and his family and a series of small squarebuildings for quests from the court. The iconology was based on the Zodiac.The facades of the buildings featured "painted" architucture. Butthe main features were the gardens.

This book has a very briefdescription of the Royal Pavilion with two elevations and partial floorplans. The real focus is on reproductions of hundreds of color drawings(created in the 17th century) of the multitude of walks, bosquets,fountains, pools and open air "rooms" created by the"gardener king" Louis XIV. There are even multiple plans of thesame sites as they evolved over time.

A well done volumn, but again ofvery specialized interest. There are very few books on Marly as a chateau,as it did not long survive the French Revoultion. Today the site is used apublic park, but the elaborate gardens, statues and palace are long gone. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
The latest volume in the prestigious academic book series Documenting the Image, this is a fascinating survey illustrated by extremely rare photographs of the burned architectural and landscape complex known as the Rape of the Summer Palace.
In 1860, Western armies brought ruin to the treasured seat of the Qing emperors near Beijing.One hundred and fifty images have been collected to date as a support for an extensive study of the building of the palaces and their subsequent destruction.
This book is a rigourous analysis of the work and experiences of the European photographers, both amateur and professional, working in Beijing during this period, and, as such, becomes an account of the development of photography itself. Offering a fascinating glimpse into 19th-Century China, the book gives an historical overview of the political situation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Groundbreaking new research on early photography in China.
Régine Thiriez, an independent scholar who holds a Ph.D. in art history and is currently an associate research fellow in the East Asia Institute in Lyon (France), preparing an inventory of China photography, presents asubstantial body of important new research on photography in China from theearly years in the mid-19th century to 1860 as well as Qing dynasty China'sreception of European technology. Her study, Barbarian Lens: WesternPhotographer's of the Qianlong Emperor's European Palaces, explores theWestern involvement with the ruins of the European-style buildingsconstructed for the Qianlong emperor (r. 1736-1795) in his summer palace ofthe Yuanmingyuan, the "old" summer palace outside Beijing. The Yuanmingyuanwas sacked and burned in 1860 by a French and British expeditionary force.Only the European part of the garden, constructed of brick and masonry,left substantial ruins. Standing mysteriously on the overgrowngrounds of the half-abandoned site, the ruins exerted a powerful pull onEuropean memories of the humiliation of the Emperor of China, and theshameful part played by Western armies in the destruction of theincomparable garden-palace and the treasures kept there. Such are thetroubled feelings invoked by photographic images of the ruins. Placing theextant photographs in their historical context, Thiriez makes available tothe interested reader and China specialist alike unprecedented primaryresearch on the beginnings of photography in China, the identities andcareers of the mostly little-known men who produced photographic images,and the complex relationships between photography and Western penetrationof China. Barbarian Lens contains a wealth of scholarly information,presented in clear and succinct detail. Individual chapters focus on thepractice of photography in Beijing (beginning in the early 1860s), thetragic encounter of China and Europe in the destruction of the SummerPalace, the amateur and professional photographers of the ruins, as well asthe overlapping personal, political, and photographic ambitions of men inthe Qing Imperial Maritime Customs, Western diplomatic missions, and othervarious undertakings. The volume is amply illustrated with more than 50images-most of them previously unpublished-and includes extensiveappendices on such subjects as the pioneering French Mission Palais d'Étéstudies of the European palaces. Perhaps the most impressive appendixis an exhaustive 24-page list of all the photographs of the European ruinsidentified by Thiriez to date. It tabulates photographers, photographiccollections and sources, cataloguing information on the individual printssurveyed, the most likely date of the photo, additional reprints orrephotography of the same images (a very thorny problem in earlyphotography), and the importance of the photo to the study of the place. Italso cross-references the images, showing how they complement each otherthrough the years. The appendices, notes, and bibliography supplementa richly rewarding text and generously make available the result of adecade of painstaking research in an almost unknown and unstudied field. Ina volume that presents a complex, fascinating, and sometimes horrifyingstory of destruction and recovery, Régine Thiriez's contributions to thehistory of China photography and the fast-growing field of Qing dynastyhistorical studies are invaluable. ... Read more

Product Description
Illustrated history of Buckingham Palace. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Buckingham Palace, a review
I found the book to be very informative, good selection of pictures.It was interesting to compare the different rooms as they were changed from Queen Victoria through Queen Elizabeth.It lacks pictures and descriptions of the rooms in the new wing of the palace, the one facing the Victoria Monument.I do recommend this book, though, I wish it had more pictures of other rooms.

BUCKINGHAM PALACE
A nice book on one of the most recognizable if not prettiest palace in the world.The text is highly informative and the images are well presented.Buckingham Palace's exterior style is not exactly aweinspiring, it looks like a government building, like the treasury or department of state, it's really the interiors that make this place special.It's a high Georgian tour de force, the interiors are quite simply spectacular; they are elegant and have elan.If you have any interest in the Windsor's or love Georgian style then i highly recommend this book, if you have never seen the interior of this building, you will be pleasantly surprised. ... Read more

Product Description
Barns are the enduring symbols of a vibrant rural tradition as well as the heart and soul of a new generation of imaginative country houses.Architects are now using and rethinking these alluring and escapist structures, employing design principles that ensure they continue to complement the natural landscape in which they are set. Barns examines the architecture and design of barn conversions and a new generation of contemporary barn houses and illustrates a wide variety of ways to approach such spaces. Each chapter focuses on a key theme -- Landscape, Architecture, Materials, Light, Open Spaces and Private Spaces -- and features detailed case studies. All of the locations are part of a new wave of conversions or new-builds, spurred on by the growing exodus of city dwellers to the countryside.

The country equivalent of the urban loft, barns offer similar opportunities for open-plan flexible living. The open spaces and high ceilings give them a fluidity that allows multifunctional spaces for eating, relaxing and entertaining, making them the home of choice for those wanting to combine rural traditions and natural landscape with new architecture and unconventional layouts. As well as celebrating the new innovations in dividing and ordering space and experimenting with unexpected materials within such traditional structures, Barns also explores the attractions of vernacular architecture that encourages so many architects and homeowners to look again at the traditional barn materials like thatch, wood, mud and straw. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

I hated this book
If you have an old barn and want to get some ideas and inspiration for making a lovely living space without sacrificing the integrity and charm of the original, this book is not for you.I wish I had seen the review that appears before mine before I bought it.Soulless says it all.And most of the barns pictured are in Europe, to boot, except for one in Charlottesville that is so over the top, I thought I was looking at a cardboard model at first. This would be a great book if you have an airplane hangar you want to convert, but spare the barns.

Barns: Living in Converted and Reinvented Spaces
Lovely pictures of completely souless houses. Almost without fail, the buildings depicted started as gorgeous rustic barns, were stripped of every bit of character (with the exception of some beam-work), and populated with cold modern furniture. There is no warmth, character, coziness, or sense of home in any of them. They are carefully sanitized, and devoid of any sense of history. I can assure you that if I get to do a barn conversion, it would look nothing like any of the barns in this book. This book is inspirational--it tells me what NOT to do.

Renovation
Excellent - very informative but not too 'interior designed'!
My son is doing up an old house in Michigan and together we found some very good and sensible ideas to think about.

Barns Living in Converted and Reinvented Spaces
Good book overall if your intentions are to learn what architects and builders have done to old barns in converting them into modern and contemporary homes. Or a modern day interpretation of old barn design using todays style and building practices. Thankfully for most of the barn renovations mentioned, the authors did a good job in marrying the fine attributes that the old buildings possess with the modern styles and comforts that is required to make them habitable. All the pictures are exquisite, sharp and in good detail. I found the book an excellent idea source for my own pending barn renovation. ... Read more

Product Description
The Buen Retiro, a royal retreat and pleasure palace, was built for Philip IV on the outskirts of Madrid in the 1630s. With its superb display of paintings by Vel‡zquez and other contemporary artists, the palace became a showcase for the art and culture of Spain's Golden Age. A Palace for a King, first published to wide acclaim in 1980, provided a pioneering total history of the construction, decoration, and uses of a major royal palace, emphasizing the relationship of art and politics at a critical moment in European history. In this extensively revised edition, the authors review the scholarship produced on different aspects of the history of the palace and its decoration over the past quarter century. A number of new, previously unpublished illustrations have been added, and many of the plates are now reproduced in color. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

How can a book involving Philip IV *not* get five stars?
On March 31, 1621, Philip III, third Habsburg ruler of Spain, met a premature death, reportedly clutching in panic at the same crucifix his father and grandfather had held on their deathbeds generations before. Hisson and heir, the sixteen-year-old Philip IV, succeeded to what is nowknown collectively as the Spanish Empire - a vast conglomeration of landsand people whose progressive decline as a political entity has longremained a basic assumption amongst twentieth century historians and yetwhose cultural vitality has given its period the title of "The GoldenAge of Spanish Art."The accession of Philip IV seemed to inauguratea new era of reform after the previous regime's mindless inactivity andself-interested grandee domination. As the contemporary playwright Tirso deMolina remarked, "New architects acceded with the newking."

This premise serves as the central metaphor in A Palace for aKing. Elliott, a historian, and Brown, an art historian, examine both theliteral and political architecture of the reign, charting the complicated,often surprising interrelation between art and politics. The palace of thetitle is the Buen Retiro - an intended recreational center built for PhilipIV with astonishing speed during the years 1630-33, left largely in neglectafter the 1640's, and finally decimated by French and English troops duringthe Napoleonic wars. In reconstructing the circumstances surrounding itsconstruction and initial occupation, Brown and Elliott attempt to furnishthe reader with a "total" history of the Spanish Habsburg courtduring its penultimate representative's first twenty years of rule.

Thescope of the book is immense. In a prose that is precise and elegant, if attimes monotonous, it describes the political and economic issues of the dayas well as the relationship between the continuously vacillating king andhis powerful minister, the Count-Duke of Olivares, who until 1643 held thetrue control over Spanish government. It then goes on to analyze the palaceof the Buen Retiro itself, exploring the process of palace-building and thesymbolism of the palace as a repository of the values of the ruling class.Simultaneously, it looks at Spanish baroque painting, theater, andarchitecture and their inextricable connection to the court at Madrid,which, itself, was in so many ways like a giant theater. Elliott's inquiryand interpretation of the troubles besetting the institution that was thencalled the monarquía española and of the role played by Olivares makes forparticularly rewarding reading.

The book appears to be extremelywell-researched and provides an abundance of evidence from primary sourcesas varied as confidential memoranda, secret expense accounts and drawingsof architectural plans; the endnotes alone constitute twenty of its almostthree hundred pages. However, it is its very wealth of references andinformation that also lies at the core of its greatest weakness. Too often,the text becomes bogged down in statistics, where apparently meaninglessfigures about who paid whom and whose plot of land was where replace anyreal insights. The authors seem to become trapped in unneeded details,losing track of the larger picture that they originally intended to convey.As a result, in certain chapters, more attention than necessary is devotedto the actual logistics of building the palace and, consequently, notenough to the palace's political, social, and economic implications.

Still, aside from these slightly irritating flaws, Brown and Elliott'swork remains a highly absorptive and very informative look at subject thathas thus far remained sadly underrepresented amongst the scientificcommunity. The sheer extent of the information to be found makes this booka valuable resource for anyone interested in the period, while thedistressing lack of similar studies makes it absolutely essential for thoseat all curious about Spain's architectural history. It is, in my mind, afascinating complement and worthy companion to R.A. Stradling's landmarkPhilip IV and the Government of Spain. ... Read more

Product Description
Starting with the beginning of time, the site of Buckingham Palace, along with its nearby towns and landmarks, is thoroughly chronicled. ... Read more