Yes; they make rather an odd couple-but; truly; Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) and Fiske Kimball (1888-1955) are the Johnson and Boswell of the story of American architecture. If not for Dr. Fiske Kimball; we might never have known that Thomas Jefferson was an architect. Though he was hailed as a brilliant statesman; Jefferson was all but unknown as an artist and an architect for nearly a century. But Kimball; an industrious scholar with a keen eye; made a series of critical discoveries that changed not just the image of Jefferson; but also rewrote the story of American architecture; introducing its first real practitioner. Benjamin Henry Latrobe; Charles Bulfinch; William Thornton; Robert Mills-Kimball identified the key figures who together with Jefferson transformed the craft of building into the art of architecture; at the same time setting the aesthetic tone for a young country still struggling to define itself. Part detective story; part narrative history; Dr. Kimball and Mr. Jefferson recreates the stories of these visionary men through the lens of the amazing Fiske Kimball; who; in resurrecting their legacy; helped found the twin disciplines of historic preservation and architectural history. Hugh Howards books include the definitive Thomas Jefferson; Architect; his memoir House-Dreams; the essay collection The Preservationists Progress; and an introduction to the architecture of Williamsburg; Colonial Houses. He lives in upstate New York with his wife and their two teenage daughters.
#2401847 in eBooks 2010-07-01 2010-07-01File Name: B004HO5A3M
Review
