Nineteenth-century decoration /

One would expect the strength of any volume on interior decoration to be visual evidence. Gere does not disappoint. Lavishly illustrated with contemporary photographs and watercolors of the 19th-century rooms discussed, hers is a resplendant history, not only because of the houses discussed, but also for the exquisite quality of those art objects used as illustrations. Accompanying these fine drawings, watercolors, and photographs are quotations and descriptions drawn from contemporary accounts that add to historical veracity and provide the readers a sense of immersion in the 19th-century. Illustrations predominate; the text covers the pages around each visual source. In this regard, the volume is crowded, but because of the wealth of material included, the design is excusable. Generally, the sources cited are described in the text, but fuller citations would have been helpful to those wishing to do further research and footnotes should have been included. The bibliography of both 19th-century and contemporary work is good, however. Design historians have tended to focus on commissioned, architect-designed rooms; what is still needed is a history of interior design that addresses social and class distinction. This book, as promised, serves as a general overview of 19th-century interior design and can be used as a companion to more specific and scholarly works. Recommended. -J. Barter, Amherst College

Encyclopedic in scope, imaginative in execution, this illustrated volume surveys and summarizes the aims and achievements of American and European interior decoration during a century marked by technological inventions (plumbing, lighting, etc.) and the launching of design as a bona fide art and craft. Historian Gere divides the book into two parts: the first discusses 19th-century buildings (town houses, country houses, conservatories, cottages); the second leads the reader chronologically through the period. Such range in time and place may be dizzying for the uninitiated--English drawing rooms and Neapolitan salons rub shoulders, and the impact of English designer William Morris on Australia is covered. The author marshals documentary photographs, paintings and prints to suggest not only the look of an overstuffed Victorian studio, but the feel of actress Sarah Bernhardt's slinky Moorish-style boudoir. Gere evokes--drawing often on the writings of 19th-century witnesses--as well as analyzes. Interior Design Book Club featured selection; Country Homes & Garden Book Club alternate . (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved