John Soane: An Accidental Romantic Book

Sir John Soane (1753-1837) is one of the most influential, if eccentric, of English architects. Most of his designs were so radical they never came into being-- just as well, some critics say. But Gillian Darley, in this ambitiously produced but disappointingly illustrated (most of the reproductions are in black and white) biography, champions this son of a bricklayer. Soane was a self-made man, with all the faults associated with that--egotistic, quarrelsome and with sufficient dilletantish genius to discredit him in the eyes of his peers. But by 1800 he was rich and successful; the personal architect of two prime ministers. He designed the Bank of England, the Dulwich Picture Gallery and Westminster's Law Courts, as well as Britain's beloved red telephone box. His unprecedented use of neoclassical elements and eclectic styles gave Londoners a chance to marvel at theatrical effects and spatial trickery. His greatest achievement, though, remains his home in Lincoln's Inn Fields that he bequeathed to the nation on his death. The Soane Museum is as complex and intriguing as the man himself and if it hadn't been for Darley's diligent research and sensitivity, we wouldn't have known quite how troubled the man was behind this glorious facade. --Lilian PizzichiniRead More