Alistair and Ann Martha Rowan Collection of Architectural Publications
TitleAlistair and Ann Martha Rowan Collection of Architectural Publications
Reference2017/050-
Scope and ContentThis collection was assembled by Professor Alistair Rowan over a period of some eighteen years between 1960 and 1978. The collection is European in its scope, extending to some 215 titles in a total of 268 volumes. Each volume exemplifies clearly in its content and style some aspect of the widely diffused European interest in the art and practice of architecture focusing either on the origins and principles of the Classical tradition from the 16th century to the early 1800s; on the analysis and understanding of Gothic buildings from early 18th-century antiquarian studies to the Gothic revival of the 19th-century; or on the practical concerns of tradesmen and people involved in building construction.
This is a special interest collection and, for the most part, the titles it contains are not found in other Irish institutions. Included are treasures such as the 1556 Venice publication of Daniel Barbaro’s commentary on Vitruvius, with plates by Andrea Palladio; the first full edition of Colen Campbell’s Vitruvius Britannicus of 1731; a sequence of several editions of Vignola’s seminal work on the Classical orders of architecture, extending from a copy of Regles des Cinq Ordres d’Architecture published in Paris in 1658 to Cinque Ordini di Architettura, Milan, 1863; Antoine Desgodetz’s magnificent Edifices Antique de Rome of 1682, and J.D. Le Roy’s Plus Beaux Monuments de la Grece of 1758.
The rich tradition of architectural publication represents an important and continuous element in the cultural inheritance of Europe. While Irish books on architecture were few, the impact of European publications was deeply felt and is clearly reflected throughout the country in the national architecture as it evolved.
Inevitably the European influence in Ireland is most obviously present in the buildings produced by generations of Irish architects who took their ideas from European pattern books. Their building range through the Palladianism of Edward Lovett Pearce and Richard Castle, to the refined Neo-classicism of Gandon and Francis Johnston and to the Picturesque castles built by Sir Richard Morrison and the Paine brothers. The dependence of Irish architects on published sources is particularly noticeable in the Gothic Revival churches of the nineteenth century by Thomas Duff, J.J. McCarthy, Pugin & Ashlin and William Hague.
Because of the direct influence of this publishing tradition on the built environment and architectural history of Ireland, because of the specific titles in the collection and their physical condition, and because so many of these titles are not to be found in any other Irish institutions or collections, the Rowan Collection should be regarded as pre-eminent in its class. Its presence in the Irish Architectural Archive constitutes a significant enhancement of the accumulated cultural heritage of Ireland.
This is a special interest collection and, for the most part, the titles it contains are not found in other Irish institutions. Included are treasures such as the 1556 Venice publication of Daniel Barbaro’s commentary on Vitruvius, with plates by Andrea Palladio; the first full edition of Colen Campbell’s Vitruvius Britannicus of 1731; a sequence of several editions of Vignola’s seminal work on the Classical orders of architecture, extending from a copy of Regles des Cinq Ordres d’Architecture published in Paris in 1658 to Cinque Ordini di Architettura, Milan, 1863; Antoine Desgodetz’s magnificent Edifices Antique de Rome of 1682, and J.D. Le Roy’s Plus Beaux Monuments de la Grece of 1758.
The rich tradition of architectural publication represents an important and continuous element in the cultural inheritance of Europe. While Irish books on architecture were few, the impact of European publications was deeply felt and is clearly reflected throughout the country in the national architecture as it evolved.
Inevitably the European influence in Ireland is most obviously present in the buildings produced by generations of Irish architects who took their ideas from European pattern books. Their building range through the Palladianism of Edward Lovett Pearce and Richard Castle, to the refined Neo-classicism of Gandon and Francis Johnston and to the Picturesque castles built by Sir Richard Morrison and the Paine brothers. The dependence of Irish architects on published sources is particularly noticeable in the Gothic Revival churches of the nineteenth century by Thomas Duff, J.J. McCarthy, Pugin & Ashlin and William Hague.
Because of the direct influence of this publishing tradition on the built environment and architectural history of Ireland, because of the specific titles in the collection and their physical condition, and because so many of these titles are not to be found in any other Irish institutions or collections, the Rowan Collection should be regarded as pre-eminent in its class. Its presence in the Irish Architectural Archive constitutes a significant enhancement of the accumulated cultural heritage of Ireland.
Extent268 volumes
Archival historyThe volumes in this collection were acquired by the National Library of Ireland from Prof Alistair and Mrs Ann Martha Rowan in 2018 and placed by the Library on deposit in the IAA.
