The much-awaited reissue and re-expression of the classic New York rowhouse book Bricks and Brownstone with all new and updated text, new color photography, and new design It offers to a new generation the landmark volume in updated, refreshed form, and will stand the test of time as a landmark in its own right.
The classic book Bricks and Brownstone, the first and still the only book to examine in depth the varied architectural styles of the much-loved New York City rowhouse or "brownstone" was first published in 1972. That edition, and those that immediately followed, helped pave the way for a brownstone revival that has transformed the very appearance of the city. Rizzoli published a revised and expanded edition in 2003, to much fanfare. This edition revisits the classic, but features new and updated text, new color photography, and offers to a waiting audience the long-awaited re-issue of the landmark volume in renewed and brilliant new form.
Boasting more than 400 color and black-and-white images, this definitive volume examines in detail the Federal, Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, Italianate, and Second Empire architectural styles of the early and mid-nineteenth century, as well as the Neo Greco, Romanesque, Renaissance Revival, and American Colonial Revival styles of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Because this book so beautifully illustrates the unique decorative features of the different architectural styles-the doorway framing, the ironwork embellishments, the handsome mantles, and the sometimes elaborate ceiling ornamentation, among other elements, it has served and will continue to act as an invaluable resource for the thousands who have undertaken the restoration of a rowhouse to its original appearance.
Industry Reviews
"A bible for buffs, architects, and preservationists" - Judith Thurman, The New Yorker
"Classic" - New York Magazine
"Legendary ... A Stunning Photographic Timeline of New York City's Iconic Brownstones" - Architectural Digest
"Unrivaled" - Metropolis
"One of the Top 10 Books about New York City" - Edmund White, The Guardian
A Spectator (US) 2019 Book of the Year: "Building buffs, lovers of streetscapes, budding architectural preservationists and those who remain besotted by New York ... will treasure this new edition."
"Beautiful ... fantastically informative" - The Daily Beast
"Extraordinary ... conveys a love of New York City, its houses, and its people" - The New Criterion
"Informative, genially written history of the row house ... merits the attention of anyone seriously interested in urban architecture." - The New York Times
"The beautiful but also fantastically informative...tome is filled with wonderful photographs not only of the rowhouses that remain today, but also fantastically detailed close-ups of exterior and interior decorations as well as historical photographs from when they were first erected." -USA Breaking News
A reissue surely qualifies for a book of the year when it comes in gorgeous packaging, has a slightly updated text and reproduces a healthy ration of new photographs. Credit to Rizzoli for not only republishing Charles Lockwood's Bricks & Brownstone: The New York Row House ($85), first brought out in 1972 as the result of the author's undergraduate thesis at Princeton, but also for doing it in such style, with help from Patrick W. Ciccone and Jonathan D. Taylor. -Spectator USA
