Description
Book Synopsis... excellent publication ... As a tribute to the eminent John Cornforth, it could not be a more appropriate commemoration of his achievements during 40 years of studying English houses, both as houses and as temples to the muses of artistic creation. Charles Cator, Country Life
John Cornforth (1937-2004), the eminent architectural historian and passionate advocate of the historic interior, believed that inventories were an unrivaled primary resource for the interpretation of the historic interior. The book serves as a tribute to his lifelong interest in the field. Cornforth saw the importance of inventories in inspiring not just changes in approach to the history of the great house, but in underpinning the interpretation of the way in which these houses were used and lived in. Now that there is such fascination with the history of food and life below stairs, the contents of the kitchen and scullery assume as much interest as the grand rooms of entertainment. These inventories provide an opportunity to compare the arrangements of the interiors of the great country houses and town houses of the same noble families in different generations. They will inspire yet fuller interpretations of the households they document, and appeal to country house visitors and historians of interiors, patronage and collecting, and creative designers.
Trade Review'John Adamson in Cambridge has produced and printed a handsome volume ... The index demonstrates the value of inventories for an understanding of the furnished interior'. John Harris, The Art Newspaper; 'This book is an important step in the wider recognition of archival studies in relation to the social and cultural history of England ... Murdoch provides succinct and helpful editorial and summary introductions for each inventory (with one provided for Drayton House by Bruce Bailey) ... The index is also invaluable and provides the key to comparing the houses'. Andrew Moore, The Burlington Magazine
Table of ContentsForeword; Acknowledgements; Introduction; Part I: Montagu Inventories; Montagu House, Bloomsbury, London, 1709 and 1733; Boughton House, Northamptonshire, 1709, 1718, 1730; Ditton House, Buckinghamshire, 1709; Montagu House, Whitehall, London, 1746; Part II: The Drayton Inventories; Drayton House, Northamptonshire, 1710 and 1724; Part III: The Ditchley Inventories; Ditchley, Oxfordshire, 1743 and 1772; Part IV: Norfolk Inventories; Houghton Hall, 1745 and 1792; Holkham Hall, Norfolk and Thanet House, London, 1760; Part V: Inventories of the Marquess of Carmarthen; Kiveton and Thorp Salvin, Yorkshire, 1727; Part VI: The Marlborough Inventories. Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire and Marlborough House, London, 1740; Bibliography; Photographic credits; Glossary; Index.
