The Collected Letters of A. W. N. Pugin: Volume I 1830-1842 - Review

Contemporary Review, Sept, 2001

The Collected Letters of A. W. N. Pugin: Volume I 1830-1842. Margaret Belcher, editor. Oxford University Press. [pound]70.00. 428 pages. ISBN 0-19-817391-1. Pugin's place in the architectural history of Britain is unquestioned. His is one of the most lasting evidences of the Gothic Revival in the nineteenth century, seen in Catholic churches up and down the country and in the rebuilt Houses of Parliament.

He was a convert to Catholicism and was, to say the least, zealous. He could be very prickly and demanding and his letters are not those of a retiring aesthete. This is the first complete edition of those letters ever published and, when finished, will reach five volumes. This first volume begins in 1830 when Pugin was eighteen and ends when he was an established controversialist, writer, designer, architect and leading figure in the Gothic Revival that would sweep Britain and the English-speaking World. His correspondence, which does not include letters to Pugin, 'constitutes the fullest record likely ever to be available of Pugin's life, of his thoughts and of his activities'. Through them we see the history of one of the greatest changes to the British landscape. Pugin and his fellows did more to remake Britain's towns and cities than any other group of men. They were only exceeded by the designers of the square boxes, ugly towers and hideous town centres of twentieth century planners. How Pugin would have wept and ranted. These letters give us Pugin 'without disguise' and, as the editor writes, 'restore him an integrity lost in scholarship'. The quality of the editing is very high indeed and one looks forward to the remaining volumes.