The Mentor: Beautiful Buildings of the World, Serial no. 33

Ward, Clarence, 1884-1973Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.9
Word count
38K words
Chapters
4

Tags

English Originals Architecture World ArchitectureHuman GeographyPublic EducationHistorical ReappraisalArchitectural HistoryArchitecture ArtIllustrated GuideTravel GuideMagazine SelectionTraditional Aesthetics

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Mentor: Beautiful Buildings of the World, Serial no. 33 by Clarence WardAuthor: Ward, Clarence, 1884-1973,Language: English, Class: NA: Fine Arts: Architecture, Release Date: Jan 22, 2016

Editor's review

This book is the architecture-themed issue No. 33 of The Mentor series, written by Clarence Ward, a work of popular art education for general readers in the early 20th century. Its value lies not in offering a systematic theory of contemporary architecture, but in showing how world architecture was introduced to ordinary readers of that era: the selection favors classic and representative buildings, the writing aims at readability, and illustrations are used to explain architectural beauty. For today's readers it is more like a window: it offers a glimpse of the tastes and discourse of popular architectural aesthetics in the early 20th century, and also serves as an early specimen of popular writing on architectural history. There is no need to pursue technical details while reading; it is better treated as a small, period-flavored architectural travel booklet. It suits reading in spare moments, or alongside architectural images and travel notes, to feel the narrative rhythm of a popular publication from a century ago.

Who it's for

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Reading tips

  1. First read through the table of contents and pick an architectural type or region of interest to start with; there is no need to read it in order.
  2. Read alongside architectural images or maps to bridge the temporal gap in the textual descriptions.
  3. Compare with other popular writings on architectural history to observe differences in narrative approaches across eras.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4

FAQ

Is this book an academic architectural monograph? No. It is a popular thematic work for general readers, focused on introducing architectural beauty and representative works rather than systematic theory or technical analysis. It is suitable as supplementary material for popular reading on architectural history.
Can I read it if my English is only average? The text is popular-level English with relatively plain sentence structures, but it involves architectural terms and place names. A moderate level of English reading ability is enough to attempt it; use a dictionary for specialized vocabulary, and there is no need to read word by word.

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About the author

Ward, Clarence, 1884-1973 Author · American · 1884–1973

Clarence Ward (1884–1973) was an American architect and professor of art history who taught for many years at Oberlin College. Public information about him is limited, and many details of his life are difficult to verify, yet the two works held in the collection still reveal his scholarly interests. Mediaeval Church Vaulting focuses on medieval church vaulting, reflecting his interest in the history of building structures and construction techniques; The Mentor: Beautiful Buildings of the World addresses a broader readership, introducing fine architecture around the world in an illustrated, accessible format. One is a specialized study and the other popular general writing, but both center on architectural art, showing his inclination to turn professional knowledge into reading material for the public and contributing to the dissemination of architectural history.