Nikolaus Pevsner
January 30, 1902 - August 18, 1983) was a German-born British historian of art and, especially, architecture.
The son of a Jewish merchant, Pevsner was born in Leipzig, Saxony. He studied art history at the Universities of Leipzig, Munich, Berlin, and Frankfurt/Main in Germany (PhD 1924), worked at the Dresden Gallery (1924-28) and taught at Göttingen University (1929-33). In 1934, he moved to England to escape Nazism and taught at London, Oxford, and Cambridge Universities.
He is best known for his 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, The Buildings of England (1951-74), one of the great achievements of 20th-century art scholarship.
Pevsner conceived and edited the Pelican History of Art series (1953- ), many individual volumes of which are regarded as classics.
He died in London.
Selected bibliography
- Academies of Art, Past and Present (1940)
- An Outline of European Architecture (1943)
- Pioneers of Modern Design (1949; originally published in 1936 under the title Pioneers of the Modern Movement)
- The Buildings of England (1951-74)
- The Englishness of English Art (1956)
- The Sources of Modern Architecture and Design (1968)
- A History of Building Types (1976)
The Buildings of England
Work on the series continued after Pevsner's death. The list below is of the volumes that were in print in January 2004. The dates after each title are of the first publication and of any revised edition. All are now published by the Yale University Press.
- Bath (2003)
- Bedfordshire, Huntingdon & Peterborough (1968)
- Berkshire (1966)
- Buckinghamshire (1960;1994)
- Cambridgeshire (1954;1970)
- Cheshire (1971)
- Cornwall (1951;1970)
- County Durham (1953;1983)
- Cumberland & Westmorland (1967)
- Derbyshire (1953;1978)
- Devon (1952;1989)
- Dorset (1972)
- Essex (1954;1965)
- Gloucestershire: The Cotswolds (1970;1999)
- Gloucestershire: The Vale & Forest of Dean (2002)
- Hampshire (1967)
- Herefordshire (1963)
- Hertfordshire (1953;1977)
- Kent: North East & East (1969;1983)
- Kent: West & the Weald (1969;1976)
- North Lancashire (1969)
- South Lancashire (1969)
- Leicestershire & Rutland (1960;1984)
- Lincolnshire (1964;1989)
- London 1: The City of London (1997)
- London 2: South (1983)
- London 3: North-West (1991)
- London 4: North (1998)
- London 6: The City of Westminster (2003)
- London City Churches (1998)
- Manchester (2001)
- Norfolk 1: Norwich & North East (1962;1997)
- Norfolk 2: South & West (1962;1999)
- Northamptonshire (1961;1973)
- Northumberland (1957;1992)
- Nottinghamshire (1951;1979)
- Oxfordshire (1974)
- Shropshire (1958)
- Somerset: North & Bristol (1958)
- Somerset: South & West (1958)
- Staffordshire (1974)
- Suffolk (1961;1974)
- Surrey (1962;1971)
- Sussex (1965)
- Warwickshire (1966)
- Wiltshire (1963;1971)
- Worcestershire (1968)
- Yorkshire: The North Riding (1966)
- Yorkshire: The West Riding (1959;1967)
- Yorkshire: York & East Riding (1972;1995)
The Buildings of Scotland
The series continued under Pevsner's name into Scotland. The series is not yet complete.
