282 x 210 mm, paper, 80 pages, 60 colour illustrations
PRICE: £14.99
ISBN: 978 0 954904 14 2
The architectural writings, recordings and films of the poet Sir John Betjeman (1906-1984) are here celebrated in this catalogue accompanying a major exhibition at Sir John Soane's Museum. Marking the centenary of Betjeman's birth, the catalogue and exhibitions will bring together rare archive material both photographic and textual, as well as original art from Betjeman's friends and contemporaries such as John Piper, in celebration of his life-long passion for architecture.
From his bicyle tours of Victorian North Oxford as a young student to his hard-fought campaigns to save endangered masterpieces such as St Pancras Station in the 1960s, architecture remained Betjeman's great love. Following a spell at the Architectural Review in the 1930s, he went on to edit the iconic Shell Guidesand, after the war, became increasingly well known for his television work - his long, successful career as a broadcaster reaching its peak with his classical filmMetro-land.
As well as encouraging a better understanding of Britain's greatest towns and buildings, Betjeman was a tireless promotor of the marginal, the overlooked and the obscure. His love for Victoriana (he was a founder member of the Victorian Society in the 1960s) and his passionate pleas to preserve Britain's railway architecture are credited with instigating the great revival of interest today in buildings of the 19th century.
For those who are familiar with Betjeman's work this book will provide a feast of new material. For those unfamiliar with the man it will provide an irresistable introduction to one of the greatest architectural writers and broadcasters of the 20th century.
The writer and journalist Candida Lycett Green is Betjeman's daughter. Dan Cruiskshank, Alan Powers, Jonathan Glancey, Gavin Stamp and Ptolomy Dean are well-known writers on architecture in Britain.
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