Category Archives: library

library

Ghosts Along the Mississippi

Laughlin, Clarence John. Ghosts along the Mississippi : an essay in the poetic interpretation of Louisiana’s plantation architecture. New York: Bonanza Books, c1961.

Within the Library of Drury Blakely Alexander there are many books that focus on regional and domestic architecture. However, one of these stands out from the rest. Clarence John Laughlin’s Ghosts Along the Mississippi is more than just your typical Southern architecture coffee table book filled with allusions to magnolias and Southern Living style photography. Instead, this book is an unusual blend of plantations and poetry by one of the South’s best known Surrealist photographers. Clarence John Laughlin (1905-1985) was born near New Orleans and, despite employment with Vogue and the United States government,  his interest in “the evolution of Louisiana plantation culture” stayed with him throughout his professional life. Ghosts Along the Mississippi, first published by Scribner’s Sons in 1948 and then reprinted by Bonanza in 1961, is among his best known works. This fascinating book contains 100 black and white plates of abandoned plantations, moss-strewn bayous, and decrepit old cemeteries. Subtitled An Essay in the Poetic Interpretation of Lousiana’s Plantation Architecture, each image is also accompanied by original text from the author/photographer. Through evocative language, colorful historic details, and unusual double-exposed photographs, Laughlin succeeds in capturing the “grandeur and decay” of the old South in a way that is both novel and compelling.

Library of Congress call number: F 370 L3 1961

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East Texas Architecture

Garner, John S. East Texas architecture: a select study / prepared for the Texas Society of Architects by John S. Garner. [College Station, TX: J. Garner], c1979.

John S. Garner’s East Texas Architecture: A Select Study is a labor of love describing more than 150 buildings across 33 counties in East Texas. This incredibly useful study, undertaken through a grant from the Texas Society of Architects to further scholarship in the “History of Architecture and the Southwest,” spotlights a myriad of forms – from log or “dog-trot” cabins to Gothic Victorian mansions and Greek revival courthouses. The book is organized according to city (Texarkana, Longview, Tyler, Mexia, Lufkin – to name but a few), with each community featuring several structures of varying styles. The buildings are represented by a single, yet straightforward image, and a description detailing the building’s history and significance. Although this publication is not glamorous or glossy (like many of the books in the Architecture & Planning Library), it provides a wealth of information on historic, regional architecture.

Library of Congress call number: NA 730 T5 G37 1979

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Historic Houses of Early America

Lathrop, Elsie. Historic houses of early America. New York: Tudor Pub. Co., 1941, [c1927].

When I first saw Historic Houses of Early America sitting on the library shelf I didn’t even consider it for a blog post. With such a dry, straightforward title I was expecting plans and diagrams which, although useful for architectural scholarship, don’t often equate to riveting reading. This book, however, proved to be anything but boring! Written by Elsie Lathrop in 1927, Historic Houses was popular enough to enjoy several editions, including this 1941 publication bequeathed to the library by Blake Alexander. With 464 pages and copious illustrations, Historic Houses of Early America is more than your average architectural history book. Not only does the book provide detailed descriptions of some of this country’s earliest dwellings, it contains colorful stories and amusing anecdotes which truly make the homes, and their inhabitants, come alive! So if you’d like to see history through the lens of domestic architecture or if you just want to read some good ghost (!) stories, check out Lathrop’s Historic Houses of Early America.

Library of Congress call number: E 159 L34 1941

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Art Deco Interiors In Color

Fry, Charles Rahn. Art deco interiors in color. New York: Dover, c1977.

Sometimes the images in a book are too good not to share with a wider audience! That is definitely the case with Art Deco Interiors in Color by Charles Rahn Fry (1943-1990). Filled with 62 watercolor drawings, Art Deco Interiors in Color showcases important and rare illustrations from several French design portfolios of the 1920s. The author, Charles Rahn Fry was a founding member of the Lenox Society of the New York Public Library and a fellow of the Morgan Library. He was also an avid collector of pochoir, a hand-colored stenciling method that flourished in France at the turn of the century. Many of the book’s plates were produced by this technique, which was popularly used in the creation of Art Nouveau and Art Deco design, fashion, and architecture publications. Although the colors and patterns (check out that…zebra?) might seem ridiculous to today’s tastes, the images are historically interesting for their representation of what was, at the time, considered to be the height of fashion.

Library of Congress call number: NK 1986 A78 A77

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Libraries Introduce Limited Campus Delivery

The University of Texas Libraries has launched a new service that will help bring the Libraries’ resources to users.

Materials Retrieval allows patrons to request eligible resources to be retrieved from their regular location and delivered to the Libraries branch checkout desk of their choice for pickup.

The free service is available to all patrons with current checkout privileges — including courtesy borrowers — and there is no limit to the number of items patrons may request.

Most items will be available for pickup within three to five business days. Libraries materials that check out from participating libraries for 14 or more days are eligible for request (some restrictions apply), along with audiovisual materials from the Fine Arts Library, which check out for 7 days.

Retrieval requests are made from through the library catalog record of the resources, with eligible items displaying a “Request” button.

More information about the service is available on the Materials Retrieval FAQ page.

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Memories of Blake Alexander

I never had a chance to meet Blake Alexander, who passed away one year ago today, but after perusing his library for the past six months I feel as if I have a strong sense of what he was like as both a professor and a person. One of the many ways he has revealed himself is through the gift inscriptions often found between the endpapers and cover pages of his books. These short, and often charming, messages show what an impact he had on his students as well as the high regard he was held in by his colleagues. I’m always touched when someone inscribes a book to me, and I’m sure Blake especially treasured these books with their sweet and thoughtful notes. Here are some of my favorites:

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Old House Colors

Schwin, Lawrence. Old house colors: an expert’s guide to painting your old (or not so old) house. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., 1990.

I had some initial hesitations about allowing Old House Colors: An Expert’s Guide to Painting Your Old (Or Not So Old) House by Lawrence Schwin III back on the shelf. “Really,” I said to myself, “do we actually want to encourage people to paint their homes garish reds, greens, and yellows?” However, Schwin’s color schemes are not meant for just any old house. An “insider’s manual for choosing the most beautiful and most authentic exterior paint selection for your home,” the title contains a total of 35 styles from every period, each showing “in gorgeous full color the exact shadings and nuances” essential to obtaining an exact reproduction. And, because the composition of paint has changed so much over the decades, the book includes “valuable charts showing how to mix today’s brand-name paints” to exactly replicate the recommended colors. Although I initially dismissed it, the more I looked through the pages of Old House Colors the more I realized what a useful resource it could be for anyone interested in historic preservation and restoration, two topics that aligned exactly with Professor Alexander’s interests.

Library of Congress call number: TT 320 S38 1990

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Battle Hall Centennial T-Shirts!

BATTLE HALL CENTENNIAL Celebration comes to a close…   in style!

On 11-11-11 the School of Architecture and the University of Texas Libraries marked the beginning of a year-long celebration of Battle Hall’s 100th anniversary with a grand party and lecture.  The exhibit Our Landmark Library: Battle Hall at 100 and a self-guided tour offered continued enjoyment throughout the year.

From now until the end of the semester, your Architecture & Planning Library will be holding a daily drawing for commemorative Battle Hall Centennial t-shirts.

When you check out your books, ask your friendly library staff how YOU can earn a chance to win!

Happy Holidays-
From your friends at the Architecture & Planning Library


Designed by Cass Gilbert as the University of Texas’ first library building, Battle Hall was completed in 1911 at a cost of approximately $280,000.  Throughout its history it also served as the Office of the President, the home of UT’s first rare book collection and archive, the home of the newly created Fine Arts department, and a U.S. Post Office.  Today, it is home to the Architecture & Planning Library and its Alexander Architectural Archive.  To learn more, check out Our Landmark Library Battle Hall at 100

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Country Furniture

Watson, Aldren A. Country furniture. New York: Crowell, [1974].

At first, a book like Country Furniture by Aldren A. Watson (1917- ) might seem out of place in the Architecture and Planning Library. Although many architects and architecture students have an interest in furniture design, their tastes tend to run in a more modern direction. Country Furniture, meanwhile, is a book that celebrates the traditional and, most of all, the handcrafted. Despite its old-fashioned subject matter, this title is a full of extremely comprehensive and valuable information on everything from established woodworking techniques and the properties of wood, to the woodworker’s workshop and the typical community it might have existed and thrived in.

What first attracted me to this book were the “over three hundred detailed pencil drawings” by author and illustrator Aldren A. Watson. These simple pencil drawings are remarkable for their clear and concise description of antique furniture. Watson, a respected New England artist, is well known for books on craftsmanship. Titles such as The Blacksmith: Ironworker and Farrier and Hand Tools: Their Ways and Workings show a deep appreciation for bygone techniques and, as such, are an indispensable resource for historians and preservationists.

Library of Congress call number: TS 880 W33 1974

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Highlights of Manhattan

Will, Irwin. Highlights of Manhattan. New York: Century Co., [1927].

Highlights of Manhattan was one of the first books in Professor Alexander’s library that caught my eye. Its lovely gilded cover and “roaring twenties” font beckoned me to open it up and see what was inside. When I finally did, I wasn’t disappointed. The title, by Will Irwin (1873-1948), is a travel book of New York City that details significant locations in and around the city – from Broadway all the way up to The Cloisters. These “highlights” are enhanced by thirty-two gorgeous engravings and one color etching by illustrator E. H. Suydam (1885-1940). Suydam, a student of the Philadelphia Museum’s School of Industrial Art, was a talented illustrator, etcher, lithographer, and block printer who specialized in providing images for travel books. Over the course of his career he created more than twenty volumes for Century, one for each of the “great” American cities.

Tourist’s guidebooks, like Highlights of Manhattan, are an important part of any architecture library. Although a volume from the 1920s might be outdated and irrelevant to anyone planning a trip to New York City today, that same title can hold a wealth of information for architectural historians and preservationists. Just a quick perusal of Highlights of Manhattan gave me both a real sense of what it might have been like to visit 1920s New York and allowed me to note some of the changes that have made a lasting impression on the city.

Library of Congress call number: F 128.5 I7 1927