Robert Adam is perhaps the best known of all British architects, the only one whose name denotes both a style and an era. The new decorative language he introduced at Kedleston and Syon around 1760 put him at the forefront of dynamic changes taking place in 18th-century British architecture. His later claim that his practice with his brother James had effected 'a kind of revolution' in design was no idle boast. Their style dominated the later Georgian period and their influence was widespread, not only in Western Europe but in Russia and North America. But for such a well-known figure, much of Robert Adam's art still remains poorly understood. This new study, based on papers given at a Georgian Group symposium in 2015, looks afresh at many aspects of the Adam brothers' oeuvre, such as interior planning, their use of colour, the influence of classical sources, their involvement in the art market, town planning and building speculation, and Robert Adam's late picturesque drawings and castle designs - all within the context of the Adam family background and their personal and working relationships. The Scottish architecture of Robert and James's older brother, John, is also assessed. There are essays by established Adam experts as well as contributions from a younger generation of historians and postdoctoral scholars, one of the book's aims being to stimulate further research on the Adams' contribution to British architecture, art and design.

A dandelion in the garden of an autocratic rose-fancier triumphs over the threat of extinction.

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

THE Essay which gained the Architectural Association Essay Prize for the Session 1902-3, on "The Life, Work and Influence of Robert Adam and His Brothers," by Mr. John Swarbrick, after appearing in the pages of Architectural Association Notes, has been reprinted in pamphlet form, of which a copy has been sent to us. Though in general we should not devote a separate article to the review of a pamphlet, Mr. Swarbrick's careful and well-written monograph on the subject, for which he deserves all credit, affords an opportunity for a consideration of a career which formed an important chapter in the history of modern English architecture, and to which there is nothing analogous in the modern developments of Renaissance architecture in any other country. To weigh correctly the reputation enjoyed by the Brothers Adam, and to assign them their position among the architects of the XVIIIth century, is not, as Mr. Swarbrick confesses, an entirely easy matter. He has nevertheless attempted a short estimate of their influence, although the greater part of his essay is occupied with a comprehensive review of their work and career, compiled, as the appendix shows, from a great variety of sources. The task is difficult, it is further explained, in consequence of the diverse character of their undertakings. This, in a sense, is so. And it is perhaps only by considering their works as a whole, as the Adams themselves treated them, that we are likely to arrive at a result.... --The Builder, Volume 87