Preface to the Second Edition
Preface to the Third Edition
Contents
Notes on Abbreviations
The Dictionary
Professor James Stevens Curl is a leading architectural historian.
His many books include Funerary Monuments & Memorials in St
Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh (2013); Freemasonry & the
Enlightenment: Architecture, Symbols, & Influences (2011-an earlier
version of which won (1992) the Sir Banister Fletcher Award as Best
Book of the Year); Spas, Wells, & Pleasure-Gardens of London
(2010);
Victorian Architecture: Diversity & Invention (2007); and The
Honourable The Irish Society and the Plantation of Ulster,
1608-2000 (2000). He contributed to, and edited, the scholarly
monograph Kensal Green Cemetery: The Origins and Development of the
General Cemetery of All Souls,
Kensal Green, London, 1824-2001 (2001), the first major study of
any nineteenth-century cemetery in the world. He is a Member of the
Royal Irish Academy, was twice Visiting Fellow at Peterhouse,
University of Cambridge, and is currently Professor of Architecture
at the University of Ulster. Dr Susan Wilson is an historian with
an especial interest in garden architecture, landscape aesthetics,
and places of commemoration. Her doctorate was conferred (2010) by
the University of Bristol
for her study of the 'Swiss Garden Cottage: the origins of the
châlet-style in British architecture'. She published her early
findings in Exercises in Translation: Swiss-British Cultural
Exchange (2006). In 2013
she chaired an interdisciplinary conference-session on the Rustic
Tradition in Garden Art in New York. She taught the history of the
applied and decorative arts at Chelsea College of Art and Design
(2000-6), and gained recognition for her teaching practice as a
Fellow of The Higher Education Academy (2007). She has collaborated
with Professor Stevens Curl on this edition of the Dictionary since
2012. Awarded (2012) the Opler Grant for Emerging Scholars by the
Society of Architectural
Historians (USA), she is also an Academic Member of the Landscape
Institute.
`...definitions are not only elegantly concise, they often sparkle
with sententious wit. Give me this pleasingly well written
dictionary any day.'
Christopher Catling, SALON: Society of Antiquaries of London Online
Newsletter
`the quintessential reference work for professionals, scholars and
interested laymen.'
Karen Latimer, Perspective: The Journal of The Royal Society of
Ulster Architects
`simply the best dictionary of architecture on the market ... a
delight.'
Gwyn Headley, Follies
`[a] magisterial Dictionary ... although outwardly formidable, is
surprisingly accessible and written in an engaging and often highly
opinionated style. Curl and Wilson give us much, much more than
mere facts ... This is a work of vast scholarship where learning is
presented with style and panache; it will remain the definitive
dictionary of architecture until Curl produces his fourth edition.
For the garden and landscape historian it is a remarkable
resource and ... should be the primary volume of reference for
amateurs and scholars alike.'
Timothy Mowl, Garden History: Journal of the Garden History
Society
`Beautifully written in clipped, scholarly prose, assiduously
referenced, with a comprehensive bibliography and seasoned with
Curl's own dry wit, the dictionary is both informative and readable
... a substantial addition, in every sense, to the library of those
with an interest in architecture and landscape design.'
Hugh Petter, The Georgian: The Magazine of The Georgian Group
`What gives the references the occasional sting and much in the way
of individuality is the marked viewpoint of James Stevens Curl,
feisty as ever. Not for him the banal tower block or the lusting
after weird and wonderful shapes in the perpetual search for
novelty'
Matthew Saunders, Newsletter of the Ancient Monuments Society in
association with The Friends of Friendless Churches
`The dictionary is a great achievement'
Ruairidh Moir, RIAS Quarterly: The Journal of The Royal
Incorporation of Architects in Scotland
`Written with considerable wit as well as great scholarship, this
is an indispensable book of reference.'
Graham Tite, Context: Journal of the Institute of Historic Building
Conservation
`The book is essential and it now has no real competitor ... a
hugely impressive work of scholarship.'
Gavin Stamp, Country Life
`This updated reference work should be a standard work for all good
libraries, both academic and public due to the Dictionarys pedigree
and reputation.'
Penny Dade, Reference Reviews
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