Dr. Kimball and Mr. Jefferson
Rediscovering the Founding Fathers of American Architecture
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- $17.99
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
Yes, they make rather an odd couple-but, truly, Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) and Fiske Kimball (1888-1955) are the Johnson and Boswell of the story of American architecture. If not for Dr. Fiske Kimball, we might never have known that Thomas Jefferson was an architect. Though he was hailed as a brilliant statesman, Jefferson was all but unknown as an artist and an architect for nearly a century. But Kimball, an industrious scholar with a keen eye, made a series of critical discoveries that changed not just the image of Jefferson, but also rewrote the story of American architecture, introducing its first real practitioner.
Benjamin Henry Latrobe, Charles Bulfinch, William Thornton, Robert Mills-Kimball identified the key figures who together with Jefferson transformed the craft of building into the art of architecture, at the same time setting the aesthetic tone for a young country still struggling to define itself. Part detective story, part narrative history, Dr. Kimball and Mr. Jefferson recreates the stories of these visionary men through the lens of the amazing Fiske Kimball, who, in resurrecting their legacy, helped found the twin disciplines of historic preservation and architectural history.
Hugh Howard's books include the definitive Thomas Jefferson, Architect; his memoir House-Dreams; the essay collection The Preservationist's Progress; and an introduction to the architecture of Williamsburg, Colonial Houses. He lives in upstate New York with his wife and their two teenage daughters.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
As the architect of Monticello and the University of Virginia, among other masterful buildings, Thomas Jefferson is widely considered by contemporary academics to be the most skillful practitioner of early American architecture. In his new retelling, Howard argues persuasively that were it not for Dr. Fiske Kimball, a 20th-century scholar and historian who researched his architectural heritage, we might still think of Jefferson as primarily, and exclusively, a talented statesman. This is not an exhaustive biography Howard has already written a definitive one on this subject. It's more like a one-act play that alternates between scenes set in Jefferson's late 18th century and Kimball's early 20th century, when he investigates numerous archives. We browse through Jefferson's library, peek over his shoulder as he writes letters and watch him sketch the European buildings that inspire him. Howard's narrative is particularly compelling as he takes us through the decades of efforts that went into Jefferson's laboratory of architectural experimentation his country home, Monticello. For context, he also includes chapters featuring other practicing architects of the time Pierre L'Enfant, Benjamin Henry Latrobe, Charles Bulfinch. Overall, readers will likely find that Kimball's single-minded passion for all things Jefferson is contagious.
