History and Theory
Historical Building Assignment
Introduction
Westminster Abbey ( besides known as ‘The Collegiate Church of St Peter’ ) located in the City of Westminster, London is the chosen edifice for this assignment. The Westminster Abbey is a cathedral in the Gothic architecture signifier and has series of rebuilt a figure of times since 624. The mention books utilised for this intent are ( 1 ) Undertaking Gutenberg’s Historical Description of Westminster Abbey ( by Jas. Truscott and Son ) , ( 2 ) The History and Treasures of Westminster Abbey ( by Lawrence E. Tanner ) and ( 3 ) The Rough Guide to London ( by Rob Humphreys ) .
Beginning 1: Undertaking Gutenberg’s Historical Description of Westminster Abbey
The Project Gutenberg’s Historical Description of Westminster Abbey was written by anon. authors from the company called Jas. Truscott and Son and was published on 27ThursdayOctober 2012. Sing that the book was published in 21stcentury while the edifice was built centuries ago, the information might be tainted by the designers in the 21stcentury. The prologue of the book called Project Gutenberg’s Historical Description of Westminster Abbey exactly describes the history dating back to the first building of the Westminster Abbey which held in 624 ( as shown in the exposure above ) until the present building ( as shown in the exposure below ) .
‘From the decease of Henry VII till the reign of William and Mary, no attention was taken to mend or continue the ancient church. By the robberies made upon it by Henry VIII, and the depredations it sustained during the unhappy civil disturbances, its ancient beauty was in a great step destroyed ; nor did their Statelinesss go about to reconstruct it, till it became an object of parliamentary attending, and till a considerable amount was voted for that intent merely. This ballot being passed, Sir Christopher Wren was employed to adorn it and give it a thorough fix, which that able designer so skillfully and dependably executed, that the edifice is thought at this twenty-four hours to desire none of its original strength, and to hold even acquired extra stateliness by two new towers’
[ figure 1 ]
The quotation mark, above, is the illustration of the archives in the book that records people who were responsible for the wellbeing of the Abbey, the designs and the events. The book is really descriptive about the manner it was built and the architectural designs of the Abbey such as vaulting, buttresses, clearstory Windowss etc.
Every chapter in the book explains the history of the chapels in the Abbey and lists every portion along with the reference of specific Masons, sculpturers and the grave shapers. A list of the people who are buried in every chapel besides shows the program of the chapel stand foring their tombs/sculptures. It is interesting to see the description of each grave explicating the specific visual aspect, how the graves were designed and for what ground.
“GRACE SCOTT.- Affixed to the bordering pillar is a orderly tablet, on which is this lettering: – ‘Grace, eldest girl of Sir Thomas Mauleverer, of Alterton Mauleverer, in Yorkshire, Bart. , born 1622, married to Colonel Scott, a member of the Honourable House of Commons, 1644, and died February 24, 1645: “He that will give my Grace but what is hers, must state her decease has non made merely her beloved Scott, but Virtue, Worth, and Sweetness, widowers.””
[figure 2 ]I believe that the book of “Project Gutenberg’s Historical Description of Westminster Abbey” is aimed at the people who want to cognize the significance of the edifice and perchance aimed at the historiographers who want to cognize the names of the people who are buried in this brilliant edifice. Although there are non plenty exposure for the reader to make an imaginativeness from the book, illustrations of the programs in the Abbey convinces the reader to see the edifice and so utilize the programs to direct the reader to the grave.
Beginning 2: The History & A ; Treasures of Westminster Abbey
On the other manus, The History and Treasures of Westminster Abbey written by Lawrence E. Tanner and published about 60 old ages ago in 1953. The writer was appointed as the Keeper of the Memorials in Westminster Abbey leting him to tour the Abbey at will and establish his research from the paperss on the evidences. He besides had entree to the Dean of the Westminster Abbey who helped Tanner in the digest of the book. As there was a tradition of the surpassing Deans to edify and go through valuable information to their replacements, this hierarchy allowed Tanner to profit from the information dating back to the first appointed Dean of Westminster Abbey. For these grounds, the information about the history of Westminster Abbey may be more dependable.
“As Keeper of the Muniments, Mr Tanner has had entree to a aggregation of paperss that surpasses in scope and involvement that of any other great church in this state. The fruits of his research have been skillfully used to enrich and inspire his narrative, and the consequence is a book which will be with pleasance and net income by all who wish to larn something of the narrative of the Collegiate Church of St. Peter in Westminster, normally called The Abbey.”
[figure 3]Each chapter in the book represents the epoch of the Westminster Abbey dating from Henry III to Elizabeth II and besides the book contains 80 scoops photographs by Harold White, 50 surveies of item R.P. Howgrave-Graham, and more than 40 other illustrations. Those photographs dedicate the insides of the Westminster Abbey at each epoch during from Henry III to Elizabeth II and besides the programs of how the edifice was built.
I believe that the book “The History and Treasures of Westminster Abbey” is aimed at people who are analyzing Westminster Abbey as a mention of the history every bit good as an illustration of Gothic architecture. The historical exposure of old building of the Abbey in such epochs besides provide a glance of how certain facets of the Abbey have evolved over clip.
Beginning 3: The Rough Guide to London
With two historical mentions, I chose The Rough Guide to London written by Rob Humphreys in the courtesy of Rough Guides and was published as the 9th edition on January 2012 as the 3rd mention book to foreground what countries of the Abbey are deserving sing and why. The book is written as a usher to tour visitants about London as it contains all of the historical edifices including Westminster Abbey. Although it doesn’t describes every bit much as the other books listed on this essay but for its intent of the book is to involvement the tourist/reader with the short descriptions around the metropolis of London and pull the attending to them so they can see the historic edifices.
In add-on to a description of the history and subdivisions of The Westminster Abbey, the book besides contains information about the guided Tours, services, opening times, ticket monetary values, the web site, the nearest station, the location, and short description about the history, written statement about the each portion of the Westminster Abbey, exposure and the museum. The paragraph below is an first-class representation of the manner the book attracts the reader’s attending and forces him to see this exceeding architectural memorial.
“The House of Parliament shadow their much older neighbor, Westminster Abbey, which squats awkwardly on the western border of Parliament Square. Yet this individual edifice embodies much of the history of England: it has been the locale for every enthronement since the clip of William the Conqueror, and the site of merely about every royal entombment for some five hundred old ages between the reigns of Henry III and George II. Tonss of the nation’s most celebrated citizens are honoured here, excessively – though many of the rocks commemorate people buried elsewhere – and the inside is cluttered with literally 100s of memorials, alleviations and statues.”
[figure 4 ]Decision
As the cyberspace appears to hold become the first location for people interested in history every bit good as architecture, it is somewhat dissatisfactory that the one of the cardinal beginnings on the cyberspace while supplying really accurate information, lacked the ocular facet of the edifice. As there were no images, it is hard for the reader to make a mental image of the Abbey particularly if he can non see the edifice itself. This besides leaves the reader inquiring if the facts are true or non.
The paper-back book book which is found in few libraries chiefly in the metropolis of London, The History and Treasures of Westminster Abbey appears to supply much more grounds through images. However, there’s another disadvantage as the people can non entree this book if they are far off from the metropolis of London. Besides the reader gets a feeling that the figure of exposure and the size seems to over-take the sum of the authorship in the book.
Finally for the last book, the Rough Guide to London is evidently targeted at the tourer who wants to see the historical edifices such as Westminster Abbey so the information is limited merely for the tourist’s involvement.
Beginnings
I have chosen the book from each beginning ( cyberspace, book and a diary ) to analyze the difference in the literature written by those writers. The Undertaking Gutenberg’s Historical Description of Westminster Abbey was found from the cyberspace ( http: //www.gutenberg.org/files/41195/41195-h/41195-h.htm ) . The History and Treasures of Westminster Abbey was found in the library of University of Westminster School of Architecture, while the Rough Guide to London was found in Waterstones and used as the diary.
Bibliography
Page 1:exposure, hjjanisch, ( 2010 ) , Westminster Abbey [ ONLINE ] . Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.flickr.com/photos/hjjanisch/4418022608/ [ Accessed 09 November 13 ] .
Page 2:exposure,Jas. Truscott and Son, ( 2012 ) , Westminster Abbey [ ONLINE ] . Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.gutenberg.org/files/41195/41195-h/images/cover.jpg [ Accessed 09 November 13 ] .
Page 2:figure 1,Jas. Truscott and Son. ( October 27, 2012 ) . Undertaking Gutenberg’s Historical Description of Westminster Abbey. Available: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.gutenberg.org/files/41195/41195-h/41195-h.htm. Page 4, Paragraph 2, [ Accessed 9th November 2013 ] .
Page 3:figure 2,Jas. Truscott and Son. ( October 27, 2012 ) . Undertaking Gutenberg’s Historical Description of Westminster Abbey. Available: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.gutenberg.org/files/41195/41195-h/41195-h.htm. Page48, Paragraph 2, [ Accessed 9th November 2013 ] .
Page 3:exposure, David Levene, ( 2013 ) , Westminster Abbey [ ONLINE ] . Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2013/2/5/1360094651395/Westminster-Abbey-009.jpg [ Accessed 09 November 13 ] .
Page 4:figure 3, Lawrence E. Tanner ( January 1953 ) .The History and Treasures of Westminster Abbey.1sterectile dysfunction. Westminster: Pitkin. Page 7, Paragraph 3, Line 6-16.
Page 5:figure 4, Rob Humphreys ( 1995 ) .The Rough Guide to London. 9Thursdayerectile dysfunction. London: Rough Guides Limited. Page 53, Paragraph 2.
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