Historic Preservation and Architectural History Reference Books

Classes resume again on Friday afternoon and we will shortly post about this semester's classes. In the meantime, we are clearing up an accummulation of items that will likely be of interest to our readers:

The National Trust for Historic Preservation's Forum Listserv recently had a thread about standard references for an architectural historian's library. Based on the ensuing discussion, Lena Sweeten compiled the following list (feel free to recommend additions by adding a comment to this post!):

Blumenson, John G. Identifying American Architecture - A Pictorial Guide to Styles and Terms, 1600-1945, Revised Edition. Alta Mira Press, 1995. 2nd Revised Edition.

Brand, Stewart. How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built. New York: Penguin Books, 1994.

Ching, Francis D. K. A Visual Dictionary of Architecture. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1997.

Condit, Carl W. The Chicago School of Architecture: A History of Commercial and Public Buildings in the Chicago Area, 1875-1925. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998 (reprint).

Davis & Switzer. America’s Favorite Homes (houses by mail order catalogues)

George, Charles, A.I.A. and Harold Reeve Sleeper. A.I.A. Architectural Graphic Standards. Fourth Edition. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1952.

Gottfried, Herbert and Jan Jennings. American Vernacular Design, 1870-1940. Iowa State Press, 1988.

Gottfried, Herbert, and Jan Jennings. American Vernacular Interior Architecture, 1870-1940. Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1987.

Gowans, Alan. Styles and Types of North American Architecture. New York: Icon Editions, 1992.

Hamlin, Talbot. Greek Revival Architecture in America. Dover Publications, 1985.

Harris, Cyril M. Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. 4th edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional, 2005.

Hubka, Thomas C. Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn: The Connected Farm Buildings of New England.

Isaac, Rhys. The Transformation of Virginia, 1740-1790 (focused more on social history)

Jackson, Kenneth T. Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States. Oxford University Press, 1987.

Jester, Thomas C. Twentieth-Century Building Materials (deals with the most common not-so-old materials such as masonite, plastic laminates and vinyl tiles.

Lanier, Gabrielle M., and Bernard Herman. Everyday Architecture of the Mid-Atlantic: Looking at Buildings and Landscapes. Creating the North American Landscape series. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997.

Lounsbury, Carl R. and Vanessa E. Patrick, eds. An Illustrated Glossary of Early Southern Architecture and Landscape. University of Virginia Press, 1999 (reprint).

McAlester, Virginia and Lee McAlester. A Field Guide to American Houses. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000 (reprint).

Meany, Terry. Working Windows: A Guide to the Repair and Restoration of Wood Windows. The Lyons Press, 1998.

Noble, Allen G. Wood, Brick, and Stone: The North American Settlement Landscape. Vol 1, Houses. University of Massachusetts Press, 1984.

Noble, Allen G. Wood, Brick, and Stone: The North American Settlement Landscape. Vol. 2, Barns and Farm Structures. University of Massachusetts Press, 1986 (reprint).

Phillips, Steven J. "Old House Dictionary: An Illustrated Guide to American Domestic Architecture 1600 to 1940." Washington, DC: The Preservation Press, National Trust for Historic Preservation, 1994.

Pierson, William H. American Buildings and Their Architects: Technology and the Picturesque, the Corporate, and Early Gothic Styles, Part A. Doubleday, 1980.

Pierson, William H. American Buildings and Their Architects. Vol. 1: The Colonial and Neo-Classical Styles. Oxford University Press, 1986 (reprint).

Poore, Patricia. The Old House Journal Guide to Restoration. Dutton Adult, 1992.

Poppeliers, John. What Style Is It? A Guide to American Architecture, Revised Edition. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 2003.

Ramsey, Charles George, Harold Reeve Sleeper, Donald Watson, eds.

Architectural Details : Classic Pages from Architectural Graphic Standards 1940 – 1980. Wiley, 2001.

Scully, Vincent J. American Architecture and Urbanism. Revised edition. Henry Holt & Co., 1988.

Stevenson, Katherine Cole, and H. Ward Jandl. Houses By Mail: A Guide to Houses from Sears, Roebuck & Co. Dover Publications, 1991.

Walker, Lester R. American Shelter: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of the American Home. Revised edition. Overlook Hardcover, 1998.

Walker, Lester R. American Homes: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Domestic Architecture. Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2002.

Weitzman, David. Traces of the Past: A Field Guide to Industrial Archaeology. Encore Editions, 1983. (with descriptions of changing railroad track, specialized out buildings such as brick forges, coke furnaces, oil derricks and lots of early bridges)

Whiffen and Koeper. American Architecture. Vol. 1: 1607-1860. The MIT Press, 1981 (reprint). Vol. 2: 1860-1976. The MIT Press, 1983 (reprint). (2 vol)