WEBB: PHILIP WEBB. PIONEER OF ARTS & CRAFTS ARCHITECTURE

This is the definitive book on Philip Webb (1831-1915), a key figure in the Arts and Crafts movement and a leading member of the Pre-Raphaelite circle, who has since emerged as one of the most important architects of the nineteenth century. It provides a comprehensive account of Webbs design philosophy, his architectural work and his influence, while also telling his fascinating life story. Combining architectural history and biography, the compelling narrative gives a full picture of the character of this extraordinary man - a man known for his absolute integrity, who shunned publicity but nevertheless attracted clients of high status and came to be one of the most significant architectural innovators of his age. Interspersed with vivid descriptions of Webbs buildings, it covers his relationships with his clients, contractors and artistic contemporaries. These include his close friends in the Arts and Crafts movement, William Morris, Edward Burne-Jones, and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, who were also three of his fellow partners in the interior decorating and furnishing business, Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co.. As well as covering Webbs work for the firm, the book includes his involvement with the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, which he helped Morris to found, and for which he developed influential methods of repairing buildings unobtrusively.