Nikolaus Pevsner

Sir Nikolaus Pevsner (January 30, 1902 – August 18, 1983) was a German-born British historian of art and, especially, architecture.

The Buildings of England

After moving to England, Pevsner found that the study of architectural history had little status in academic circles, and the amount of information available, especially to travellers wanting to inform themselves about the architecture of a particular district, was limited. He conceived a project to write a series of comprehensive county guides to rectify this, and gained the backing of Allen Lane, founder of Penguin Books, for whom he had written his Outline of European Architecture. Work on the series began in 1945. Lane employed two part-time assistants, both German refugee art historians, who prepared notes for Pevsner from published sources. Pevsner spent the academic holidays touring the country to make personal observations and carry out local research, before writing up the finished volumes. The first volume was published in 1951. Pevsner wrote 32 of the books himself and 10 with collaborators, and work on the series continued after his death.

Related Topics:
Allen Lane - Penguin Books

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The books are compact and intended to meet the needs of both specialists and the general reader. Each contains an extensive introduction to the architectural history and styles of the area, followed by a town-by-town - and in the case of larger settlements, street-by-street - account of individual buildings. The guides offer both detailed coverage of the most notable buildings and notes on lesser-known and vernacular buildings; all building types are covered but there is a particular emphasis on churches and public buildings. Each volume has a central section with several dozen pages of photographs, which continue to be in black and white.

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The list below is of the volumes that were in print in 2005. The original volumes are gradually being replaced with new editions in a larger format, updated to reflect architectural-history scholarship since the first publications of the guides and to include significant new buildings. The dates after each title are of the first publication and of any revised edition. All are now published by the Yale University Press.

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• Bath (2003) (Michael Forsyth)
• Bedfordshire, Huntingdon & Peterborough (1968)
• Berkshire (1966)
• Buckinghamshire (1960;1994) (rev. Elizabeth Williamson)
• Cambridgeshire (1954;1970)
• Cheshire (1971) (with Edward Hubbard)
• Cornwall (1951;1970)
• County Durham (1953;1983) (rev. Elizabeth Williamson)
• Cumberland & Westmorland (1967)
• Derbyshire (1953;1978) (rev. Elizabeth Williamson)
• Devon (1952;1989)
• Dorset (1972) (with John Newman)
• Essex (1954;1965) (rev. Enid Radcliffe)
• Gloucestershire: The Cotswolds (1970;1999) (David Verey, rev. Alan Brooks)
• Gloucestershire: The Vale & Forest of Dean (2002) (David Verey, rev. Alan Brooks)
• Hampshire & The Isle of Wight (1967) (with David Lloyd)
• Herefordshire (1963)
• Hertfordshire (1953;1977) (rev. Bridget Cherry)
• Kent: North East & East (1969;1983) (John Newman)
• Kent: West & the Weald (1969;1976) (John Newman)
• Lancashire: Manchester & the South-East (2004) ISBN 0300105835 (with Clare Hartwell and Matthew Hyde)
• North Lancashire (1969)
• South Lancashire (1969)
• Leicestershire & Rutland (1960;1984) (rev. Elizabeth Williamson)
• Lincolnshire (1964;1989) (with John Harris, rev. Nicholas Antram)
• Liverpool (2003) (Joseph Sharples)
• London 1: The City of London (1997) ISBN 0300096240 (with Simon Bradley)
• London 2: South (1983) ISBN 0300096518 (with Bridget Cherry)
• London 3: North-West (1991) ISBN 0300096526 (with Bridget Cherry)
• London 4: North (1998) ISBN 0300096534 (with Bridget Cherry)
• London 5: East (2004) ISBN 0300107013 (with Bridget Cherry and Charles O'Brien)
• London 6: Westminster (2003) ISBN 0300095953 (with Simon Bradley)
• London City Churches (1998) (Simon Bradley)
• Manchester (2001) ISBN 0300096666 (Clare Hartwell)
• Norfolk 1: Norwich & North East (1962;1997) (rev. Bill Wilson)
• Norfolk 2: South & West (1962;1999) (rev. Bill Wilson)
• Northamptonshire (1961;1973) (rev. Bridget Cherry)
• Northumberland (1957;1992) (with Ian A. Richmond, rev. John Grundy, Grace McCombie, Peter Ryder and Humphrey Welfare)
• Nottinghamshire (1951;1979) (rev. Elizabeth Williamson)
• Oxfordshire (1974) (with Jennifer Sherwood)
• Shropshire (1958)
• Somerset: North & Bristol (1958)
• Somerset: South & West (1958)
• Staffordshire (1974)
• Suffolk (1961;1974) (rev. Enid Radcliffe)
• Surrey (1962;1971) (with Ian Nairn, rev. Bridget Cherry)
• Sussex (1965) (with Ian Nairn)
• Warwickshire (1966) (with Alexandra Wedgwood)
• Wiltshire (1963;1971) (rev. Bridget Cherry)
• Worcestershire (1968)
• Yorkshire: The North Riding (1966)
• Yorkshire: The West Riding (1959;1967) (rev. Enid Radcliffe)
• Yorkshire: York & East Riding (1972;1995) (rev. David Neave)