Book Description

Everything Sir Christopher Wren undertook, he envisaged on a grander scale -- bigger, better, more enduring than anything that had gone before. A versatile genius who could have pursued a number of brilliant careers with equal virtuosity, he was a mathematical prodigy, an accomplished astronomer, a skillful anatomist, and a founder of the Royal Society. Eventually, he made a career in what he described disparagingly in later life as "Rubbish" -- the architecture, design, and construction of public buildings.

Customer Reviews (6)

Sir Christopher Wren: architect and scientist
Christopher Wren was born in 1632 and died in 1723.He was born when Charles I was king, and died during the reign of George I.

'Visitor, if you require a tomb, look down.If you require a monument, look around you.'This was the tombstone inscription proposed by Sir Christopher's son, and it would have indeed distinguished more carefully the man from his work.

Sir Christopher Wren was one of an immensely talented group of Restoration scientists and architects who flourished in the late 17th century.His architectural achievements include St Paul's Cathedral and many of the significant buildings built (or rebuilt) in London after the Great Fire in 1666.Much of his scientific work was done in collaboration with Robert Hooke and while it is perhaps less visible to non-scientists it is highly significant.

This is not a book so much about Sir Christopher himself as it is about the span and influence of his public life.Those with an interest in Restoration science will recognise Boyle, Newton, Hooke, Flamsteed and Halley amongst others.Those with an interest in the Stuart dynasty will recognise some of the dynastic failings which impacted on the execution of some of Sir Christopher's architectural designs.

This is an ambitious book and one which could have benefitted from more careful editing.The first name of the first Earl of Clarendon (Edward rather than Henry) is likely to be known by most interested in this period and is a relatively minor issue but it jars.

I would recommend this book to those with an interest in 17th century science and architecture in its own political setting.Ms Jardine provides extensive notes and a comprehensive bigraphy for those who want to read either more widely or in more detail.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Well researched but trivial
I admit that I approached this book hoping for more info about his architecture and scientific thinking. And also admittedly, the author straight off the bat says that if you are looking for pure architecture on Wren look at another book, or pure scientific theories of Wren also look at another book. However, I was hoping for a middle ground. The book delves more into the turbulence of the times and how that affected young Wren's monetary standing. Lots of info about minor characters. Lots of overly long and redundant quotes from archaicly written (obviously) source materials that the author has to paraphrase almost word for word after the quote. But very little info about the science or the architecture.

on a grander scale
the author has obviously researched this great man's life thoroughly.unfortunately, she has so much to say it comes tumbling down onto the pages in the form of a poorly edited - if it was edited at all - work. it is impeded by a maddening amount of sentences aborted by " ()"and" -" to the point some sentences are so disjointed it is necessary to re read them to figure out where a sentence was headed before it got short circuited. some additions of this type can be informative, most are not.footnotes could have helped saved what could have been a great work on a great man by a great author. instead, it often reads as a mass of annoying self-interruptions and break up of sentence continuity.

ýreader if you require a monument, look around youý
"reader if you require a monument, look around you"(inscription of the plaque at Wren's tomb)

Sir Christopher Wren was born to a life of privilege that evaporated when Charles I was deposed.His father was Order of the Garter.Suddenly his family was in danger of losing life as well as property.These were Wren's student years.During this period Wren became pragmatic, and he survived.

It was the Restoration of Charles II to the throne of England that restored the fortunes of the Wren family.Too late for the father, but at precisely the right moment for the son.Charles II restored the monarchy, and restored the fortunes of Wren.The Restoration was an extraordinary period.

Wren was a Renaissance man, best known for his architecture, in particular St. Paul's Cathedral. But Wren also "mapped moons and the trajectories of comets"He "pursued astronomy and medicine during two civil wars."

This is a scholarly biography, and not light beach reading.Lisa Jardine's 85 pages of notes and an eighteen page bibliography may give some insight into how seriously she has taken her subject. On a Grander Scale is a detailed report on a fascinating time in England's history and one of the men that made it so.It is well done, accurate, and intellectually stimulating.

Christopher Wren and Contemporaries
Writer Lisa Jardine has written a very interesting book about Sir Christopher Wren and the extraordinary 91 years of life he lead. Even when you allow for the nearly century long life of this man it is still amazing the scope of what he accomplished, and how much more of his work we would enjoy today if it had been finished. Sir Wren served a variety of Monarchs, all who wanted to place their own mark upon London, and this often lead to his projects being delayed, stopped in the midst of their development or never getting off the pages he created them upon.

This book is not a traditional biography that focuses exclusively on the primary individual and only touches on his peers when appropriate. Lisa Jardine explores in varying detail, at times very carefully, the lives of the men that were contemporaries of Sir Wren. These detours will be welcome by those who already are well educated as to who Sir Wren was and what he did. If you are picking up this book for an in depth view of this man alone, this book will not satisfy your goal. An example that literally illustrates my point is the 16 color plates that are to be found in the book. Only 3 pages are dedicated to his architectural drawings, as many are dedicated to documents that bear only his signature, and more are dedicated to portraits of the royal heads of state he served together with portraits of their children. The same can be said for many of the black and white reproductions throughout the book, they are primarily of his peers, friends, and at times his adversaries. There are contemporary photographs of some of the churches he reconstructed with mention of the architectural sleights of hand that were used to make the buildings appear to the eye differently than they actually sat on the site. But the details are not shown, simply the building, I wanted the details.

The author also spends a great deal of time on the order of The Knights of the Garter. This is a fascinating subject and group of people that has catalyzed entire books on its own. In this work it again occupies color plates that I would have like to have seen occupied by Sir Wren's work, I did not need to see the front page of a book about the society that was not even written by Sir Wren. There was also a style employed by the author that at times, while very accurate, was redundant. Lisa Jardine would describe an event, for example between Sir Wren and a friend; she would then place the original letter that would once again explain what she had just told the reader. Now reading the original source material is interesting, but in a 483 page book that purports to cover the 91 year life of one of History's noted personages, once this additional material is subtracted together with all the photos and images that are not of Sir Wren and his work, the amount of the book dedicated to the man and his work is substantially less than the whole.

I enjoyed the book but it is not a book that after a reader completes it, will set it down and feel they have a good understanding of the marvels he created for London and its Royal Families. His life was too long, too complex, and too varied in its pursuits to crowd his story with so much material on others. There is no reason the 16 pages of color plates could not have been devoted to his work, I did not need to see the children of kings and queens. I wanted to see his buildings and his architectural drawings that are beautiful art by themselves.

By all means read and enjoy this book, it will certainly cause you too seek out more reading on one of the ore remarkable men to have even inhabited London, and to have placed his mark on History. ... Read more

Book Description
The Great Fire of 1666 devastated the centre of London, with a loss of old St. Paul's and eighty-six parish churches. Sir Christopher Wren, working with Commissioners appointed by Parliament, was responsible for rebuilding the cathedral and fifty-one of the parish churches, although the immediate need to start rebuilding made his design for an overall replanning of the City impossible. The work was funded by a tax on coals brought into the City of London.Much has been written about Wren's rebuilding of St. Paul's, far less about the other City churches, the principal subject of this book: this is indeed the first modern book to examine them as a whole. Paul Jeffery describes how and when the churches were built, exploring the respective contributions of Wren and of his two principal assistants, Robert Hooke and Nicholas Hawksmoor. Working from the surviving drawings and records and from the evidence of the churches, he explains the principal features common to the churches and their individual features. The result of the work was a unique set of contemporary churches. While not all are of the standard of Wren's masterpieces, such as St. Stephen Walbrook and St Bride's, none is without architectural merit and interest. The second part of the book is a gazetteer of all the churches, including those that no longer exist. The book is heavily illustrated and provides a visual record of all the churches.Since they were built the Wren churches have suffered steady losses. St. Christopher-le-Stocks was demolished in 1782 to make way for the Bank of England. Others, such as St Dionis Backchurch and St. Antholin Budge Row, were lost to Victorian parish rationalisation. Many were destroyed or badly damaged in the Second World War. Only twenty-three of the original fifty-one remain. These are now under threat again, with the Templeman Report's proposal that only four of the existing churches (none by Wren) should be retained as parish churches. They provide a test case of conservation, sitting as they do in the middle of the City of London. The City Churches of Sir Christopher Wren presents a clear case both for their importance and for their preservation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Uneven but extremely useful
St. Mary-le-Bow, Cheapside, St. Bride, Fleet Street and St. Stephen Walbrook (the 'dress rehersal for St. Paul's Cathedral') are familiar to most Londoners; their elaborate spires, now hemmed in by ugly office-blocks, spatter the horizons of tidy panoramas of 18th century London by Canaletto and Samuel Scott.Every one of these - with maybe the exception of St. Martin Ludgate - was gutted during the Second World War, by which time many of their pews, reredos and glass had been ousted in favour of convenient but sytlistically incongruent fittings. St. Dunstan-in-the-East, not exclusive in Wren's oeuvre as an exercise in 'Gothick' architecture (in spirit rather than in form), is now a pretty free-standing tower looming over a formal garden.St. Mary Aldermanbury was rebuilt in Wisconsin, whilst St. Michael Bassishaw, and St. Christopher-le-Stocks (to name but two) survive only as drawings and descriptions.Jeffery's 'City Churches of Sir Christopher Wren' is an affordable, nicely produced survey of the 52 London churches built from 1670 to replace those gutted during the Great Fire in 1666.After several discursive essays on design, attribution, fittings and other aspects of their conception, Jeffrey provides an expansive gazetter of each church.

His objective is - as he states in his introduction - to present a case for the conservation of the 20-odd churches that remain, whilst addressing aspects of authorship and parochial history relevant to the particular buildings.For those who find the twenty volumes of the exhaustive (and undigested) Wren Society journals daunting and (in the case of most copies accessable) rather fragile, Jeffery's parochial histories and surveys of expenses, craftsmen and subsequent renovations to the churches are brief, concise, and specific.The photographs and engravings included (as appropriate) are eloquent and printed to a high standard.Furthermore, plans (some in Jerrery's own hand) of churches of which little information can be milked (St. Olave Jewry, St. Matthew Friday Street and St. Mary Woolnoth before Hawksmoor replaced it, etc.) are included with each entry in the gazetter, and this section is the author's finest; but his excursions in problems of authorship give frequent pause for thought.

The attribution of St. Paul, Benet's Wharf, and St. Edmund the King to Robert Hooke is reasonably well established: the elevation of the recessed ranges of Bethlehem Hospital and the east and west elevations of Ramsbury Manor are sufficiently close in detail to identify Hooke as the probable author.Furthermore, the similarity of St. Martin Ludgate to St. Edmund means that Hooke's oeuvre is more elastic than one might have anticipated.However, the oblique and hazy attribution of the steeple of St. Mary-le-Bow to Hawksmoor is, quite simply, unhistorical: a drawing by Hawksmoor for the church (complete with an unbuilt three-bay brick loggia with stone coigns and pilasters) is not sufficient ground for the attribution that Jeffery implies.Furthermore, the delegation of 'thirds' of the city to respective surveyors (which has some documentary support) contradicts Jeffery's own conclusion that autograph works by Wren are largely concentrated in the north and west of the city.This would account for St. Clement Danes and St. James Picadilly (whose authorship has never been doubted), but the churches grouped far further east (around St. Vedast, Foster Lane, and St. Lawrence Jewry) are similarly attributed to Wren in other studies on what seem sound traditions. Jeffery does not delve into stylistic analysis to a sufficient degree to play with questions of this sort, and the results he presents should be treated with caution.

As a book that pleads for the conservation of these sometimes crude, ugly or obscure but consistently fascinating and diverse churches, The 'City Churches' succeeds. Thomas Archer's vast Westminster church, St. John, Smith Square, is at present a concert hall; similarly, Wren's St. Magnus the Martyr, whose rusting iron cramps are staining the coursed rubble masonry at the east-end, has been relegated the status of an uninteresting, decaying hybrid wedged onto a narrow site.Jefferys study underlines - in its imperfect but worthwhile scholarship - that the City Churches of Sir Christopher Wren, despite mutilation and neglect (All Hallows, Lombard Street, was pulled down, in the face of fairly serious disgust, as recently as 1938), continue to warrant study and are of considerable architectural interest. ... Read more

Book Description
SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN iffl HIS TUBS. WITH ILLUSTRATIVE SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES OF THE IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTUEY. DY JAMES ELMES. LATE SURVEYOR OF THE JL WA XJL v juvi ON AtrrnoR OF MEMOIRS Off SIB. CHRISTOPHER WREN LECTURES OK ARCHITECTURE ANECDOTES OF ART AND ARTISTS DICTIONARY OF TTtB FINlfl AUTR SOTmtfTIFIC, IHSTOR. TCA. L AND COMMKllCIAL SUltVKY OP THE PORT Off LONDON, UTO. BttlTOR OP Sttt WILLTAW JONESS DISCOURSES ANNALS OF THE FXNB ARTS HOIW3 YAClV i, ETO. There arc throe Crowns - the Crown of the Law, the Crown of the Priesthood, and the Crown of Eoyalty but the Crown of a good Name is superior to them all. n c Talmud. LONDON CHAPMAN HALL, 193, PICCADILLY. MDCOOLTL J VK l l- ul 1 M MI JL TO HIS KOYAL HIGHNESS PRINCE ALBERT, KG., F. R. S., ETC., ETC., ETC., PRESIDENT OF HER MAJESTYS COMMISSIONERS FOR THE - PROMOTION OF THE EXHIBITION OF THE WORKS OF INDUSTRY OF ALL NATIONS IN 1851. MAY IT PLEASE TOUR RoTAL HlGHNESS, THE proposition, execution and termination of the great and wondrous exhibition of the natural pro ductions, industry and arts of all nations, which forms the characteristic feature and the crowning triumph of the memorable year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, has transmitted the name of your Royal Highness to the most distant regions of the earth, and will convey it to the latest posterity among those bene factors of the human race who have rendered the greatest honour to HIM who is the author of peace and lover of concord TIIEROTORE a memoir of that period of English his tory which gave birth to the Royal Society, witnessed DEDICATION. the destruction and restoration of the City of London, produced a Boyle, a Newton and a Wren, and was pro lific in the fruits of the new or experimental philosophy the offspring of the illustrious Lord JJacon cannot but be congenial to the head which conceived and the heart which presided over the destinies of this mighty Macrocosm this true Temple of Concord the Exhi bition Building in Hyde Park. BUT, Eoyal Sir, there is a private, and, perhaps, a selfish motive that induced me to week your protection of my unpretending volume, which in a romombranco of the honourable praise your lloyal Highness bestowed on my late sons great work, St. Goorgoa Hall, in Liverpool, a building which does honour to tho taste and munificence of the merchant-princes of that groat commercial town, whilst the edifice wua in progress under its young inventors superintendence. Nor can. I forget tho splendid modalliou-ot-henour, you eonfomxl upon him, which I hope my little grandson, who in too young to know his loss, may live to appreciate nor the kind and affecting manner in which our Mont Gracious Quoen and your Koyal Highness conde scended to mention tho young architects premature death in the recent royal progress through tho County Palatine and Duchy of Lancaster. DEDICATION. V WHETHER the public or the private motive predomi nated, I cannot., however, refrain from expressing, as one of the great ikmily of man, of the British stock, my humble portion of gratitude to your Royal Highness, for the elevation of our national character, by collecting in our metropolis the great congregation of arts, manufactures and commerce, with professors, admirers and patrons from every part of the habitable globe. AT the same time, I take leave most respectfully to express my sincere thanks for the prompt and flattering manner in which your Royal Highness condescended to accept my dedication of Sir Christopher Wren and his Times I have the honour to be, Sm, Your Royal Highness most obedient and Very humble servant, JAMES ELMES. PEEF1CK THE quarto volume of Memoirs of the Life and Works of Sir Christopher Wren, which I published some years ago, was almost exclusively devoted to that distinguished man and his works... ... Read more