The Greek Revival: Neo-Classical Attitudes in British Architecture 1760-1870

This is the standard study of the Greek Revival. Unlike the Gothic Revival, it was a movement which had to wait a long time for its historian. Yet as a style it was of enormous importance, and its influence can be seen throughout Britain and beyond.
The book opens with the rediscovery of Greece, a story of romance and adventure rich in extraordinary personalities: 'Hell Fire' Dashwood, 'Twitcher' Sandwich, and their cronies in the Dilettanti Society: Sir William and Lady Hamilton, Payne Knight and 'Rapid' Gell, Lord Elgin, Lord Byron and that apostle of Neo-Classicism, J. J. Winckelmann. Their discovery of Greece is a major chapter in the history of classical scholarship, and Neo-Classicism is the subsidiary theme of this book. The propagation of Neo-Classical theory is explained, the expression of that theory in Greek Revival architecture fully explored, and the whole movement placed within the context of Romanticism.
Many of the leading architects between 1760 and 1870 came to be involved: 'Athenian' Stuart, Robert Adam, Sir William Chambers, James Wyatt, Thomas Harrison, Sir John Soane, John Nash, Sir Robert Smirke, William Wilkins, C. R. Cockerell, 'Greek' Thomson, and others. Their work is illustrated in over 250 illustrations, which provide a unique visual survey to complement the author's comprehensive text.
A full-scale bibliography (updated for this paperback edition) lists the many articles and monographs by modern scholars working in this field as well as the extensive literature of Neo-Classical archaeology.