Skip to main content

Picture of author.

John Summerson (1904–1992)

Author of The Classical Language of Architecture

26+ Works 1,764 Members 11 Reviews

About the Author

Includes the name: Sir John Newenham Summerson

Also includes: John Summerson (1)

Image credit: via Babelio

Works by John Summerson

The Classical Language of Architecture (1966) 574 copies, 4 reviews

Georgian London (1945) 256 copies, 3 reviews

Architecture in Britain: 1530-1830 (1969) 229 copies, 1 review

A New Description of Sir John Soane's Museum (2001) 159 copies, 1 review

The Architecture of the Eighteenth Century (1986) 136 copies

Inigo Jones (1966) 118 copies

Heavenly Mansions (1949) 83 copies, 1 review

Penguin Modern Painters : Ben Nicholson (1948) 37 copies, 1 review

Victorian Architecture in England (1970) 30 copies

Unromantic Castle and Other Essays (1990) 21 copies

The Iveagh Bequest, Kenwood: A short account of its history and architecture (1970) 18 copies

Concerning Architecture-Essays on Architectural Writers and Writing Presented to Nikolaus Pevsner (1968) 16 copies

The London building world of the eighteen-sixties (1973) 13 copies

Eugene Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc, 1814-1879 (Architectural design profile) (1980) 13 copies

The life and work of John Nash, architect (1980) 11 copies

The Architecture of Victorian London (1976) 11 copies

Sir Christopher Wren (1965) 10 copies

Sir John Soane 1753-1837 (1952) 8 copies

Fifty Years of the National Buildings Record, 1941-91 (1991) 5 copies

John Nash: Architect to King George IV (1935) 4 copies

Architecture in England 3 copies

Design and practice in British architecture: studies in architectural history presented to Howard Colvin. Architectural… 3 copies

The Architectural Association, 1847-1947 3 copies

The indestructible columnar myth 1 copy

The Sheldonian in its time : an oration delivered to commemorate the restoration of the theatre, 16 November, 1963 1 copy

English castles (Peacock colour books) (1942) 1 copy

Associated Works

Architectural Monographs : John Soane (1983) — Contributor — 54 copies, 1 review

John Nash : a complete catalogue (1991) — Introduction — 39 copies, 1 review

New Classicism (1990) — Contributor — 30 copies

Victorian Suburb: Study of the Growth of Camberwell (1973) — Foreword — 17 copies

The National Trust: A Record of Fifty Years' Achievement (1945) — Contributor — 15 copies

Art Collections of Great Britain and Ireland (1986) — Introduction — 9 copies

The bombed buildings of Britain;: A record of architectural casualties: 1940-41 (2011) 5 copies

The Bombed Buildings Of Britain: Second Edition, Recording The Architectural Casualties Suffered During The Whole… — Notes — 4 copies

The west in English history (1949) — Contributor — 3 copies

Image, no. 1, Summer 1949 (1949) — Contributor — 1 copy

Tagged

16th century (9) 17th century (14) 18th century (48) 19th century (21) architectural history (62) architectural theory (24) architecture (439) Architecture/Architects (15) art (84) art history (54) Baroque (8) biography (14) Britain (15) British (17) British architecture (12) British art & architecture (11) buildings (7) classical (10) Classical Architecture (16) classicism (7) design (10) England (34) English (7) English architecture (8) Europe (7) Georgian (17) Great Britain (13) history (64) Inigo Jones (10) London (80) museum (8) museums (7) Neoclassicism (8) non-fiction (34) reference (13) Renaissance (15) theory (12) to-read (10) UK (11) Victorian (7)

Common Knowledge

Canonical name: Summerson, John
Legal name: Summerson, John Newenham
Birthdate: 1904-11-25
Date of death: 1992-11-10
Gender: male
Nationality: UK
Birthplace: Darlington, County Durham, England, UK
Place of death: London, England, UK
Cause of death: pneumonia
Places of residence: London, England, UK
Education: Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London (BA|1928)
Harrow School
Occupations: curator
museum director
art historian
architectural historian
architect
journalist
Relationships: Hepworth, Elizabeth (spouse)
Organizations: Soane Museum
Awards and honors: Knight Bachelor (1958)
RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1976)
Order of the Companions of Honour (1987)
Fellow, Society of Antiquaries of London
Fellow, British Academy (1954)
Commander, Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (1952)

Members

Reviews

El lenguaje clásico de la arquitectura : De L. B.… by John Summerson

Editorial Gustavo Gili, Barcelona

Flagged

Amarillo74 | 3 other reviews | Oct 17, 2022 |

Heavenly Mansion: and other Essays on Architecture by J Summerson

The great essays are great even if over a half century old. The reason for the rating is the not so great essays. Good try in finding something special in Gandy but ultimately not convincing. The Butterfield essay didn't seem thought through enough, downplays Pugin and doesn't really address the influence of the Camden Society in relationship to architectural thought. But, it could be a good essay if expanded . The main essay Heavenly Mansions on Gothic was cute and needed to be more developed on the house/temple idea. There is allot there. He really down plays Suger's thoughts and how it changed architecture. But that would be contrary to his thesis. It is amazing reading the Modern and preservation essays on how much he was a thought leader. He is still a classicist at heart. And his elitism does come through. Just read the Past in the Future to really feel that aspect.… (more)

½

Flagged

AaltoSax | Oct 6, 2022 |

Georgian London (Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in… by John Summerson

A great history of the architecture of Georgian London which also tells of its fate since 1830.

Flagged

drsabs | 2 other reviews | Feb 9, 2015 |

A new Description of Sir John Soane's Museum by Peter Thornton

What every serious museum guide should have: no pictures! Well it has a few, but only black and white, you must go there!

1

vote

Flagged

botanica | Jul 26, 2007 |

See More Reviews

Lists

Best Books on London (non-fiction) (1)

Statistics

Works: 26
Also by: 10
Members: 1,764
Popularity: #14,591
Rating: ½ 3.6

Reviews: 11
ISBNs: 63
Languages: 7

Charts & Graphs

See More Charts & Graphs

Pictures

Links

Dictionary of Art Historians entry

Independent Obituary

British Academy Biographical Memoir

NY Times Obituary

Helper Hub

LibraryThing members improve authors by combining author names and works, separating out homonymous authors into separate identities, and more.

Verdana Standard Verdana Small The Lorax System Standard System Large Georgia Large Text Atkinson

This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

NODES