VERY grand hotels!

During our first three years of marriage, while working and travelling around Europe, spouse and I lived in Youth Hostels or slept in the boot of our car. Later, when the children arrived and had started primary school, we stayed in cheap hostels that at least had a private toilet and a shower in each room. Decades later I read Grand Hotels, a heavily illustrated architectural history by Elaine Denby covering the international deluxe life of the 1830s-1930s. Denby is an architect and a member of the Art Workers Guild.

Fairmont Empress

WESTJETVacations

Her chapters appear thus:
1. Origins
2. Size and Grandeur in the United States
3.Euope Burgeoning
4.The Swiss Genius
5. Fin de Siècle
6. Founded in Empires
7. Journeys to the East
8. Into the Twentieth Century and Times of Change
9. Reality and Illusion

The Federal Coffee Palace, Collins St Melbourne, in 1888

largest and grandest Coffee Palace ever, demolished in 1973

Wiki

The styles of architecture and decor have varied enormously for grand hotels: a French Renaissance château manner for the Canadian Pacific Railroad in the 1880s; a fantastic Moorish-style confection for the Tampa Bay on Florida's Gulf Coast (1891); Art Deco for Oliver Hill's seaside Midland Grand at Morecombe in England (1933). And the services available were equally stunning: Turkish baths, rifle-ranges, even a fleet of vintage Rolls-Royces at Hong-Kong's Peninsula. To keep this illusory world glittering, the reality had to run like clockwork, with managers like César Ritz, king of hoteliers, monitoring every detail from ballrooms to basement boilers. Grand Hotels explores every aspect of this all-but-vanished world of opulence, from the entrepreneurs, architects and designers who made it possible to the ambitious individuals and dynasties that kept it going.

The Grand Hotels of Joseph Cornell is a book by Robert Coover that explores a world of Grand Hotels. The book describes rooms that are accessed by a ferris wheel and open onto crystal cages, sand fountains and night voyages, evoking a sense of childhood, games and princesses. "Although childhood is the model of all architecture, the Grand Hotel Nymphlight is the only one known to be specifically devoted to the child within. The grand hotels that Coover, best known as a trailblazing fiction writer and proselyte of hypertext, describes in this small book of prose poems belong to the hotel series by the American dioramist Joseph Cornell, making this book a set of brochures to the marvellous. The Grand Hotel Nymphlight temporarily transforms its residents into innocent, joyful childhood versions of themselves. The Grand Hotel Night Air Balloon boasts a lobby filled with caged tropical birds, a musical fountain and rooms without walls, all enveloped in a blue haze recalling helium. and The Grand Hotel Sand Fountain, a hotel of brief encounters, provides the ultimate therapy for the alienated wallflower, never permitting anyone do anything alone opening a door, riding an elevator except leave. 

Coover, with magnificent simplicity, orchestrates countering strands of pathos and wonder, decadence and innocent glee, in these 10 short chapters that are sure to make anyone permanently dissatisfied with the run-down bed-and-breakfast place. Forecast: Coover is classed with John Barth and Donald Barthelme as a fiction writer, and is particularly well read on campus. A creative display might feature this small press book, Utopia Parkway (a biography of Cornell).

This one-volume international survey of grand hotels focuses on the century ending around 1930, when "profound social changes following the Great War of 1914-18 had reduced the demand and left many of the grand hotel buildings falling into decay." While the book focuses on grand hotellerie in Europe and the US, fine hotels in Canada, Australia, South Africa, the Middle East and Asia are also cov-ered. The author has done a wonderful job of weaving together the histories of some 475 hotels (some no longer exist) to help clarify a period of unprecedented social and technological transformation. The text flows nicely and is accompanied by over 400 photographs of interior and exterior views, architectural drawings and plans, and portraits of noted owners, architects and builders.

Arising from many years of travels and visits throughout Europe, North America, the Near East and the Orient, this examination of the luxury hotel is an architectural and social history that covers the world from the 1830s to the 1930s, but also takes note of recent refurbishments.  Elaine Denby is an architect and a member of the RIBA and the Art Workers Guild.

Fairmont Banff Springs, built 1888

My only experience with these grand hotels was the Canadian Pacific Railway Hotel which was completed in 1885; general manager William Cornelius Van Horne wanted to boost ridership and realise the tourism potential of the Canadian West. The luxurious Banff Springs Hotel in Alberta was among the first hotels built by the railway to realize Van Horne’s vision. Designed by New York architect Bruce Price to resemble the castles of Scotland, the hotel opened in 1888. The Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel standing today, the one in which spouse and I experienced the Good Life, was rebuilt in the late 1920s after fire destroyed the first hotel building. It’s within Banff National Park, perfect for us arriving by train on our Rocky Mountaineer tour across the western provinces.

Grand Hotel Vienna

Jet2Holidays

Grand Hotel Vienna

public area - reception, restaurants, bars and pianos

40 Objects 40 Years display, Freud Museum

In his essay Civilisation & its Discont­ents 1929, Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) had analysed the aggressive cruelty that changed men into sa­vages. Aft­er Hit­ler took power in Germany in 1933, as much as he recog­nised these trends, Freud was reluctant to apply them to Vienna. Even when the Nazis burnt all the books in 1933 by hated authors, including Freud! Yet he supported his sons Oliver (1891–1969) & Ernst (1892–1970), to leave Ber­lin and to move to London in 1933.

I invite you to reread Freud's escape: Nazi Vienna->London 1938. Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Doll­fuss DID ban the Nazi Party in June 1933, but he was assassinated by local Nazis a year later. Even then desperately hoped that Doll­fuss’ succ­ess­or would continue policies of ind­ep­end­ence and basic decency. Why? Freud’s revol­u­t­ionary visions into the uncharted sub­conscious mind SHOULD have prepared him for the dark forces moving ahead.

Anna and dad Sigmund Freud, Vienna, 1920

Freud Museum, London

Sigmund didn't believe that Aus­tria would come under German rule! Yet in 1938 German soldiers were massing on Austria's border, annexing Austria into the 3rd Reich. Many Jews urgently fled to safety, but Freud was 81 and very ill with cancer; and U.K migration quotas remained inflex­ible.

Why had Freud not left Vienna quickly? Because he’d spent his apol­it­­ical life­ claiming that Nazi sturm and drang was mere noise, the outward man­i­festation of messy inner liv­es. Note Hitler appeared on the balcony of Vienna’s imper­ial Hof­­burg Palace to declare the Anschluss in March 1938 i.e absorption of Austria into the 3rd Reich. Vienna was fill­ed with excited Nazi sup­p­orters, thugs looted Jewish shops, damaged synagog­ues and attacked Jews. And ruined Freud’s International Psychoanalytic pub­lish­ing house.

While Freud believed in­sight would return to his be­loved cult­ur­ed Vienna, everyone in Freud’s circle tried to get him to leave. Note these fol­low­ers risked their OWN political capital, personal income and physic­al safety to save him. Anna Freud (1894-1982) had ministered to all her father’s needs while man­aging her own pioneering child psycho-analyst pract­ice. She dealt with the new Nazi overlords who were extort­ing money from notable Jews seeking to emig­rate. But she would never have left her dad. Physician-neurologist Ernest Jones (1879-1958) tire­lessly pro­moted Freud’s ideas in Europe. When he heard the threat to Freud, Jones flew to Vien­na to bend British immigration rules. US’s ambassador to France William Bullitt Jr (1891-1967) had been Freud’s patient in the 1920s. Their friendship devel­oped later, through collaborating on a Pres Wood­row Wilson biography; the U.S even demanded Freud’s safe release. Dr Max Schur was treating Freud’s jaw can­c­er. Schur’s loyalty was clear when he delayed his own family’s exit! 

Marie Bonaparte (1882-1962), grandniece of Napoleon & wife of Prince George of Greece-Denmark, had been Freud’s pat­ient be­fore she too became a psychoanalyst. She rushed to Vienna, paying the Nazis for Freud’s huge flight tax.

The refugees boarded the Orient Express in June 1938, 3 months after Hitler annexed Austria, and they noted that tension inten­sified as the train rolled through Ger­many via Munich and Dachau. At 3AM the train reached the border where the Ger­man bor­der guards glan­ced at his docum­ents, then into France with Bonaparte, then continuing to London.

Freud's four sisters in Vienna 1941

Holocaust Historical Society

Of Freud’s children, Anna and Martin had been taken by the Gestapo, but lived. Freud’s 4 sisters Rosa, Marie, Pauline & Adolfine stayed and were exterm­inated.

Freud's home in Maresfield Gardens, Hampstead

Later the Freud Museum

Note the Blue Heritage Plaques

The remaining Freuds moving to London, in Maresfield Gardens Hampstead in July. They brought their belongings, AND an amazing intellectual world. Freud spent the last year of his life with the objects that shaped his views about mental health. His London study has been preserved just as he left it, including thousands of books. And he avidly collected 2,500 Egyptian, Greek & Roman figures, & Asian artefacts that showed his interest in ancient life.

In London Freud was too ill to work and died with a year. Anna, a pioneering child psychologist, continued to live there until her death in 1982. According to her wishes, it opened as a permanent Museum in July 1986, with the entire contents of her father’s study and library left intact. So let’s visit Freud’s home-museum in London this year.

Freud's psychoanalytic couch surrounded by his books and art objects

Freud Museum

 

Freud’s couch from Vienna came in 1938 because it had been the centre of his psycho-analysis practice, blurring the line between work and home. Thus the couch had been essential in recreating end-of-century atmosphere Vienna, remaining in Freud’s study in the London Museum today. And explore the amazing books and collectibles next to the couch.

The exhibition, Protected: 40 Objects 40 Years, displays the life & work of the great Freud family marking the Museum’s 40th anniversary. Novelist Esther Freud and others from the world of culture & psychoanalysis have chosen objects from Museum archives to celebrate the event. These objects tell the story of the Museum, the history of psychoanalysis and of exiled family life. Esther Freud chose a young letter from her dad-artist Lucian Freud (Sigmund’s grandson), who wrote to his parents (Ernst Freud & Lucie Brasch) whilst he was away at English boarding school. Some of the artefacts were hidden from sight in the museum’s attic and are being shown for the first time in a collection curated by Briony Davis. One of the pieces on display is a metal porcupine, a momento of Freud’s trip to the USA in 1909, picked as a reflection on confusions of intimacy. See animal figures in relief, chosen by Neuberger, who was fascinated to find such an item in Freud’s personal collection.

One wall of Freud's library

Freud Museum, London

 

See a C13th copper Chanukah lamp, featuring a Hebrew inscription about light from Proverbs. The psychoanalyst was famously ambivalent about his Jewish heritage so this lamp was probably never lit by him; rather it was and appreciated as a cultural and historical artefact, not religious.

 

Chanukah lamp with 3 animal medals and Hebrew letters in relief

13th century, Northern France or Germany

The Freud Museum London

Following Freud’s own vision, the Museum Director’s aim was to create chances for everyone to learn about and from psychoanalysis. They urged the cultural commentators to be wide-ranging in their choices, about the past of course and also about the contemporary relevance of their chosen object. Other objects on display include a battered leather suitcase belonging to the Freuds’ live-in maid Paula Fichtel and the hand-written recipe book belonging to Freud’s wife Martha for Viennese apple strudel etc. And see Anna’s sewing machine and her patterns for cardigans, plus her embroidery and lacework. She saw weaving and embroidery invaluable crafts, alongside the serious work of psychoanalysis.

The exhibition is presenting lectures and tours in the anniversary year, and they are also building the Freuds’ beloved garden into a mental health refuge.

 

Emp Rudolf, Prague: arts, science, palace

Rudolf II (1552-1612) was born in Vienna to Maximilian II and Maria of Austria, grandson of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I. Part of the Habsburg dynasty, they ruled a union of Austria, Germany, Hungary, Croatia & Czech Republic (1483-1806). At 11 Rudolf was separated from his big family and sent to his uncle Philip II’s Spanish court, where he lived a lonely 8 years with stern tutors. He returned from Madrid as a lonely young man.

Old Royal Palace within Prague Castle, started C12th 

additions by Rudolf II

Living Prague

The eldest surviving son of Emperor Maximilian II and Maria, who was herself the daughter of the Emperor Charles V, Rudolf was crowned King of Hungary in 1572 and of Bohemia in 1575 as Rudolf II. He succeeded his father as Emperor in 1576.

The new Holy Roman Emperor moved the Habsburg capital from Vienna to Prague in 1583, settling in the centre of his mighty Empire. The Habsburgs had traditionally favoured Vienna, but the Ottoman Empire had invaded Hungary decades before; thus the Habsburgs had fought lengthy land wars on their border since. Prague Castle put Rudolf safely distant from Turkish army’s advance.

Prague was a key centre in continental Europe, a land-locked city with Baltic Sea 500 km north and Adriatic Sea 600 km south. It was a busy urban centre comparable in size & culture to Amsterdam and located at the cross-roads linking Vienna, Krakow, Nuremberg, Augsburg and Munich.

The court-centred city flourished, split into 4 administrative areas: Old Town, New Town, Lesser Town and Castle. Between Old Town and the river to the north was the gated Jewish town, with its inhabitants locked in each night. Accounts of Prague burghers & merchants revealed that wealthy families owned items that extended to distant lands. Luxury items flowed.

Collecting was a Habsburg family passion. Rudolf’s grandfather liked Roman coins and dad Maximilian loved antique statues. So the imperial seat became a lavish court where Rudolf became a very royal collector. Lions, parrots, Turkish armour and exotic stones from Sth America and the Far East poured into Rudolf’s collections. His court attracted diplomats, artists, artisans and scientists seeking the Emperor’s patronage contributed to Prague’s dynamic cultural richness for 30+ years.

Rudolf devoted his life to accumulating the greatest collection of the arts in all of Renaissance Europe. He owned works by Leonardo da Vinci, Paolo Veronese, Pieter Brughel Elder, Titian and Hieronymus Bosch, as well as sculptures by Adriaen de VriesAnd he amassed vast treasures as patron of Mannerists, e.g., Hans von Aachen, Bartholomeus Spranger, and Giuseppe Arcimboldo.

Durer, Feast of the Rosary, 1506, 162 x 192 cm,

National Gallery Prague
Wiki

All these works seduced Rudolf who was helpless under their spell. German artist Albrecht Dürer had produced The Feast of the Rosary (1506), an image of the Virgin and Child surrounded by high-status believers including a pope and some kings. In early C17th this was a Venice altarpiece of the German Church. For a century, the city’s transient German merchants had prayed before it, hoping for prosperity at Venice’s many marketplaces. Rudolf had a huge appetite for art and his frantic notes commanded a European network of ambassadors and dealers who serviced his obsession, buying treasures on his behalf. Now Rudolf pestered the German community ceaselessly, sending his men to meet the church’s clergy for haggling. The congregation wouldn’t part with it but in 1606 they relented. In the building’s dim medieval interior, the painting was extricated and wrapped in carpets. He paid 9 times the original price for The Rosary, a fantastic sum! Flemish artist Bartholomeus Spranger accompanied The Rosary on its trip; the strongmen who were ordered to carry The Rosary from Venice to Prague had to haul it over the Alps by hand, working in a relay to carry it over. Mud and snow made the journey gruelling, so when the Rosary finally arrived in Prague, Rudolf sent everyone out to relish it alone.

Inventories from 1600 showed exquisite items eg seashells mounted in silver. Crammed into cabinets were trinkets made out of mother-of-pearl and coral, engraved brass plates, clocks, headpieces, helmets, maths instruments and the skins of thoroughbred Indian horses. Other key objects included a phial of the earth from which God created Adam; nails from Noah’s ark; and stuffed exotic animals. 

Jost Bürgi, mathematician, astronomer and clockmaker,

had his own clock workshop at Prague Castle.
World of the Habsburgs

Rudolf started major Renaissance additions to Prague Castle, new palace wings and the Mathematical Tower for his treasures. Each acquisition needed space so Rudolf modified his castle to make room for his growing number of objects. He built halls for his pictures and sculptures, and smaller rooms for jewels, books & animals. The Kunstkammer-cabinet of curiosities sat in a corridor. And next to his bedchamber were his favourite objects. Rudolf believed his religious possessions shielded him from harm, using his treasures for protective rituals. When Rudolf felt under threat from his enemies, he collected his Holy Grail (an agate bowl that collected Christ’s blood whilst on the cross)!

Cellini Salt Cellar

Reddit

Commissioned by French Francis I, the Cellini Salt Cellar was gifted in 1570 to Rudolf II's uncle Archduke Ferdinand of Tyrol. Then it featured in Rudolf II’s Kunstkammer. The salt cellar was an enamelled gold table sculpture by Benvenuto Cellini,  portraying Land, Tellus and Sea, Neptune. It was to promote conversation among intellectuals on the object's meaning. Today it is kept at Kunsthistor-isches Museum in Vienna, one of the world's most famous works of gold-smithing. Mounted on an ebony base, it features the mythological figures of Neptune and Demeter, flanked by a small temple and a shell to hold pepper and salt. Worth $US55-$65 million now.

His ambitious collection would be encyclopaedic! The Kunstkammer was organised into themes: Naturalia: natural history, zoology, botany, mineralogy; Scientifica: clocks, watches, globes; Artificialia: coins & prints. Knowledge was constantly evolving; scholarship was never complete.

Rudolf’s accumulation of objects did not isolate him. He allowed trusted scholars, scientists and alchemists into his flats to admire his objects. By studying his range of curiosities unmatched in size, diversity and variety, some of Rudolf’s circle made key discoveries. See his loved court astronomers; Tycho Brahe used Rudolf’s mathematical instruments to track Mars’ orbit. Later Johannes Kepler used these results for his laws of planetary motion, proving planets move in elliptical orbits around the Sun.

Rudolf may well have suffered from schizophrenia; his young brother Archduke Matthias and his army prepared to take over in 1611 and did, once Rudolf died in 1612. Some of the court’s wealth was transferred back to Vienna, which quickly became the settled Habsburg seat of power. The religious, dynastic and territorial issues that Rudolf left unaddressed during his reign led to the outbreak of 30 Years’ War (1618).

Prague Castle Art Gallery

Living Prague

Rudolf II changed Prague into a vibrant Renaissance hub in 1583-1612, but then Europe fell into one of the most destructive conflicts ever. When a Swedish army invaded Prague in 1648, soldiers pillaged 69 bronze statues, 470 paintings, 179 ivory objects and 600 agate & crystal goblets, and substantial war booty. Many precious items from Rudolf’s collections are still in Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. But many items stayed in Prague Castle. Some were pillaged by the Swedish Army stationed in Prague after 30 Years’ War ended in 1648, and ended up in Swedish collections.

Imperial crown made in Prague by Jan Vermeyen for Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II, 1602

Hofburg Palace in Vienna

Wiki

C19th landscape star: Eugene von Guérard

Vienna-born Eugene von Guérard (1811-1901) toured Italy with his father and teacher Bernhard von Guérard, painter of miniatures to Emperor Francis I of Aust­ria.

In 1830-2 Eugene lived in Rome, studying traditional landscapes under Giovanni Battista Batti. Any Poussin-type influen­ces in von Guérard’s mature work came from Bat­ti’s great pas­s­ions - Claude Lorrain, Nic­ol­as Poussin and Salvator Rosa. If there was a feeling of mystery, grandeur of nature and spir­itual values in his art, it probably came from the German Naz­arenes. If there was an interest in the natural world in Eugene’s art, con­sid­er the scientist-explorer Alexander von Humboldt. The most important landscape painter for the young Austrian was Johann Anton Koch.

In 1838 van Guérard studied at the Düsseldorf Kunst-akademie, where he was encouraged to paint directly from nature a la Dutch landscape painting. During his Düsseldorf studies, he absorbed the German art promoted by landscape lecturer Joh­ann Wilhelm Schirmer. The work of the Düsseldorf Kunstakademie was char­acterised by finely detailed landscapes, often with religious or allegorical stories set in the landscapes. Leading members of the Düsseldorf School advocated en plein air with subdued colours, part of the German Romantic movement.

 Aborigines Met on the Road to the Dig­gings, 1854

Attracted to Australia at the height of the Victorian gold rush, von Guérard moved to the Ballarat goldfields in 1852 and tried his luck.  But labouring in boiling hot summers and wet miserable winters did­ not make Eugene rich. So the artist sensibly left the dig­g­ings and acc­ept­ed com­missions to document wealthy landed estates. Only one copy of von Guérard's 1852–1854 goldfields diary remains, translated from Ger­man by his Australian-born daughter. And 10 sketches about camp life.

Ballarat goldfields, 1853-4

Von Guérard became fascinated with the Australian bush, trav­el­ling widely between 1852-82. In this time, he filled 22 sketch books with drawings that captured his sense of wonder. He travelled away from civilisation, carrying pencils and sketch books, then returned to the comfort of his own studio to transform his sketches into completed paintings.

A 2018 exhibition, Eugene von Guérard: Artist–Traveller, was at Ballarat Art Gallery. It examined von Guér­ard’s many adventures in the Western Dist­rict, his sketches and his best known and most sensitive paintings. Many of the drawings and sketchbooks from our most famous mid C19th col­on­ial artist came from the State Libraries of Victoria and NSW.

Geelong Gall­ery’s loan of three von Guérard works was much val­ued by the Exhibition, adding to a new re-examination of his Aust­ral­ian art. The 3 works were Aborigines met on the Road to the Diggings 1854, View of Geelong 1856 and View from Fritz Wilhelm­berg, Herne Hill Geelong 1860. Additionally there were paintings from the National Gallery of Australia, National Gal­lery of Vic­t­oria/NGV, Warrnam­bool Art Gallery, Benalla Art Gallery and from private collectors, some of which were never seen by the public before.

Examine von Guérard’s painting Aborigines Met on the Road to the Dig­gings 1854, normally at the Geelong Gallery. Note the rough, dry gum trees, the distant hills and sweeping plains which all “trans­late into Italian with warm distant clouds, a sweet sienna glaze and a lyrical composition”.

von Guérard had been train­ed to unify his pictures with an atmos­pheric restfulness, typically in a quiet moment, facing the peace of nature. The hills and clouds collected warm light on their west­ern side, from the Otway Ranges in Australia to Ves­uv­ius in Italy. Just think of the Italian grace that inspired Claude Lorraine and Salvator Rosa.

Mount Abrupt, The Grampians, Victoria, 1856

Of course Eugene von Guérard’s art had begun in Europe and carried with it two contrasting European traits: a] an affinity with class­icism and an air of noble serenity; and b] an attraction to the de­tail of nature, the exact scientific recording of flora, topog­raphies and peoples.

But then he deliberately went into the unfamiliar, depicting Aborigines in the bush. Far from the image of the Noble Savage, he showed the indigenous people con­front­ed with trade and European culture. Sometimes acad­em­ics expressed unease about the depict­ions of Aborigines, which may have been as­sociated with a fatalistic view of future extinction. But von Guérard was a painter who acknow­ledged the Abor­iginal presence, showing the land as their natural home. 

  John King’s Station, 1861

It was clear from his paintings that Aboriginals played an important role in daily life on the Victorian goldfields: Native Police, miners, route guides, diggers, wives, farmers and traders. In fact the goldrushes opened up NEW opportunities for Ab­or­iginal people to take part in the colonial economy. Their lab­our was in demand on pastoral stations when most of their men left for the goldrush. And because the Central Victorian goldfields were cold in winter, furs were traded.

The exhibition catalogue was filled with drawings, oil paintings and text by Dr Ruth Pullin. She focused on works, notable for their lighting, detail and scientific accuracy.

von Guérard’s 1861 painting John King’s Station seemed like a property portrait, painted in the tradition of the artist’s Western Dis­t­rict commissions. The composition came from classical European landscape tradition, and the contents may have reflected the social and economic concerns of the European landowner. But Pullin suggested that alternative realit­ies concerning this place became apparent. The dark history of war, massacre and dispossession associated with the European settlement of the region was both concealed and revealed in von Guérard’s landscape.

In 1870 von Guérard became the NGV’s first Master of the School of Painting, where he was a great teacher for Frederick McCubbin, Tom Roberts etc. But older age saw him adhering to picturesque qualities and de­tailed treatment, when the rise of the more intimate Heidelberg School style of art was demanding change. Von Guérard retired from his position at the National Gallery School in late 1881 and sailed for Britain, dying in London in 1901.

Philip de Laszlo, Hungary's finest portraitist! Spy?

László, Portrait of Franz Joseph I

in hussar field marshal's uniform, 1899

Hungarian National Museum

Philip de Laszlo: His Life and Art is a 2010 biography by Duff Hart-Davis, based on the artist’s papers, letters, press cut­t­ings and diaries. Hart-Davis was qualified to do the writing; he was related to King George III and to two of my favourite historians Duff Cooper and son John Julius Norwich. The author’s connections to royal, ar­is­tocratic and literary circles were clear, even in art history. The 145 plates in his book were fine examples of de Laszlo’s portraits.

Fulop Laub (1869-1937) was born in Budapest to a Jewish tailor. Due to hard work and talent, he joined Hungary’s Nat­ion­al Academy of Arts, then studied in Munich and Paris. Once he'd converted to Catholicism in 1894 and Hungar­ianised his name to Philip de Laszlo, royal commis­s­ions arrived eg Aust­rian Emperor Franz Joseph, Pope Leo XIII, Kaiser Wilhelm II, King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. And Presidents Theodore Roosevelt & Calvin Coolidge. His career matched the final peak of Europe’s last great royal courts!

Crown Princess Cecilie of Germany, 1908

Prussian Palaces and Gardens, Berlin

Wiki

In 1892 he met Lucy Guinness, from the wealthy Ir­ish Protestant bank­ing family. They married in 1900, built a refined house in Pest, had 6 children, raised into the Hung­arian nobility by Emperor Franz Josef, convert­ed to An­g­lic­anism and moved to Vienna.

Eventually he needed a bigger stage: Britain. From 1907 on, when he was based in London and joined the Royal Society of Brit­­ish Art­ists, de Laszlo’s career boomed. But the tim­ing was problematic. As war with Germany and ally Austro-Hungary approached, de László needed to become a British subject to protect his sons from con­scription into Hungary’s army. Citizenship came in 1914!

In Berlin, outbreak of host­il­ities in Aug 1914 saw wild demonst­ra­t­ions against for­eigners. And in return, spy fever generated by WW1 placed many imm­igrants in Britain und­er sus­pic­ion. In May 1915 a German U-boat sank the Lusitania off Ireland’s SW coast, kil­ling 1200 pass­en­gers and crew. The Times demanded internment of Bri­tain’s c9,000 nat­ur­alised aliens, children excluded from schools and property taken. Thankfully P.M Asquith prot­ected naturalised Brit­ons.

de László was concerned for his family in Budapest, who depended on him for financial support. The Dutch Minister for Foreign Affairs in London suggested he use the Dutch diplomatic bag because all ordinary post to Holland was censored. Although neut­ral, the Dutch were con­sidered pro-German and closely monitor­ed.

MI5 knew who was going in and out of de László’s studio, and they in­tercepted his mail. The case against him became more serious in July 1917 when a report, attributed to de László, revealed British maritime los­ses and mine product­ion; that the king wanted the war to end; and that Alsace-Lorraine wasn’t worth fighting for. It suggested that de László was desperate to have his Hungarian nationality restored! Above all, they found, de László was a con­vert­ed Jew with a wide social circle that included an entrée to British and German courts.

de László was grilled by Basil Thomson (Special Branch) and Ver­non Kell (MI5) in Aug 1917. If MI5 couldn’t intern de László for pacifism, they might convince people that he’d abused the diplomatic bag, creat­ing secret cont­acts with the en­emy. So they sent de László to Brixton Prison in Sept 1917, until a nervous breakdown saw him freed.

The attitude to aliens in Britain worsened. In July 1918, Evening News called it "Enemy Alien Week"; a rally was held in Tra­f­algar Square; vigil­an­te groups hunted for Ger­man spies. And negative attitudes to natur­al­ised Britons didn’t al­ter with war’s end in Nov 1918. A news­paper editorial demanded to know what MI5 had un­ear­th­ed on de László. & the case was debated in the House of Lords, May 1919! None­­theless the case against the art­ist was still brought before the Denatur­al­is­ation Comm­ittee. His 5-day hearing took place in June 1919. The pro­s­ecution in­c­luded Att­or­ney General Sir Gordon Hewart while De László’s defence team included ex-Home Secr­etary, Sir John Sim­on. The 3-man committee took merely 15 minutes to dismiss the case.

Princess Beatrice, 1926

Royal Collection

Wiki

King Umberto II of Italy, 1928

private collection

Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother), 1925

Royal Collection Trust

Unbelievably Philip’s career was not destroyed. In the 1920s-30s, this international, multi-lingual man was invited all over Europe and North America to paint the portraits of important royals, nobles and church leaders. Consider a few examples: Lord Richard Percy and Lady Diana Percy (1922, 1924); Queen Marie of Romania (1924); Princess Helen of Greece and Denmark (1925); Lord Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma and Lady Edwina Mount­batten (1925); U.S Presid­ent Calvin Cool­idge (1926); Randall Davidson, Archbishop of Canter­b­ury (1926); King Alfonso XIII of Spain (1927); Prince Louis II and Princess Charl­otte of Monaco (1928); George Bell Bishop of Chichester (1931); Andrew Mellon (1931); and Cosmo Gordon Lang, Archbishop of Canterbury (1932).

Archbishop of Canterbury, 1937

Lambeth Palace, London

He was widely respected, and elected president of Royal Society of British Artists in 1930. So see the portraits, cat­alogue and exhibitions in the de Laszlo Archive.  And perhaps read Giles MacDonogh, To Frame a Painter | History Today, Feb 2021.

 

World's most liveable city. Hello Vienna!

The Global Liveability Survey is a measure of urban quality of life, published annually by the Economist Intelligence Unit/EIU. The EIU is a multi-nat­ional media company based in London, best known as publish­er of The Economist 

baroque Plaque Column, Vienna

1679. Bing

Vienna kohlmarkt

The survey assesses 140 of the world’s major cities in fixed cat­egories, stab­ility, education, universal health care, public trans­port, culture and envir­on­ment. Cities were scored out of 100, with the avail­ability of goods and services pushing scores up and pers­onal risk (guns, terrorism) pushing down.

In 2010 & 2011, Vancouver remained in top position. Even in 2014, 2015 and 2016, the top cities have remained amazingly constant, scoring VERY closely:

1 Melbourne; 
2 Vienna;
3 Vancouver;
4 Toronto;
5 Calgary;
6 Sydney;
7 Helsinki;
8 Perth; 
9 Adelaide;
10: Auckland.

Australian and Canadian cities did best, capturing 7 of the top 10 spots. So why did the world’s most powerful cities not score well? Global business centres (cities with 8+ mill­ion) eg New York, London, Paris and Tokyo were victims of their own size, with strained public transport, higher crime rates and crowd­ing. London ranked 53rd! In addition, The Economist Intelligence Unit show­ed Europe scores had been pushed down a bit by the euro-zone crisis.

The report concluded the best scoring cities were mid-sized cities (2-4 mill) in weal­thier countries with a relatively low population density. Cities with a significant proportion of their area allocated to green parkland did well, as did cities with Olympic Games-standard sporting facilities.

But some disagree that the successful cities were equally live­able for all residents eg The Victorian Council of Social Ser­­vice said Melbourne's top ranking failed to recognise the growing disparity between those who can afford to live where the services and jobs are, and those who have to live in areas of high unemployment, expensive housing and very long public transport commutes. [NB aggr­eg­ated stats lose individual differences in overall results].

The same Global Liveability Survey listed Damascus Syria as the least liveable cities in the Aug 2015 index, although Harare Zimbabwe, Dhaka Bangladesh, Tripoli Libya, Lagos Nigeria and Port Moresby PNG were close. But that too can change. Ongoing conflicts in Syria, Ukraine and Libya might have been predicted, but totally unexpected tragedies in France, Belgium, Tunisia, Ukraine and Gaza were not predict­ab­le. In Athens, governmental austerity reduced employment and reduced the provision of public services.

European cities dominated the top 10 positions in the Quality of Living Rankings, with Vienna remaining in the No.1 spot and Zurich, Geneva, Munich, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt and Copenhagen coming in the top 10. How could the Mercer results be so different from the Glob­al Liveability Survey results, in the same year? Because this American global human resource and fin­an­c­ial firm, is more infl­uenced by business concerns eg currency exch­ange regulations, banking services, housing costs and consumer goods.

The Economist Intelligence Unit is a British business providing fore­casting and advisory services through research and analysis, includ­ing country, industry and management analyses world-wide. It has pub­lished an annual Global Liveability Ranking which began in 2004. The Unit ranks cities for their urb­an quality of life, based on assess­ments across five categories: stability, infrastructure, healthcare and culture, education and environment.

With Melbourne winning the world title for the many previous years, it may come as a surprise to Australians that in 2018 Vienna for the first time topped the EIU’s Global Liveability Index. The diff­eren­ces between the top 30 cities in this index were small. Vienna and Melbourne were VERY close in the index of 140 urban cen­tres for years, and are still separated by less than a point.

In 2018, Vienna was the World's Most Liveable City, the results being: 1. Vienna Austria; 2. Melbourne Australia; 3. Osaka Japan; 4. Calgary Canada; 5. Sydney Aus; 6. Vancouver Canada; 7. Toronto Canada, Tokyo Japan; 9. Copen­hagen Denmark and 10. Adelaide Aus. Vienna and Melbourne saw an improve­ment in their score this year, scoring maximum points in health-care, educ­ation and infra­structure. But while Melbourne extended its lead in the cult­ure and environment component, that was out­weighed by Vienna’s improved stability ranking. Os­aka's impro­ved in public traffic, as well as a consistent dec­line in crime rates, contributed to Osaka’s im­p­roved ratings in infra­structure and stability categories.

Osaka, Calgary and Sydney filled the top 5 positions. The EIU be­lieved the survey usually favoured medium-sized cities in wealthy countries, of­ten with relatively low population densities. Larger, more crowd­ed cities tended to have higher crime rates and more strained infrast­ruc­ture.

Australia and Can­ada achieved great liveability results, as expect­ed. Melbourne (98.4%), Sydney (97.4%) and Adelaide were joined by Calgary (97.5%), Vancouver (97.3%) and Toronto (97.2%) in the Top Ten. But apart from Vien­na, only one other European city achieved a great rating. This was Copen­hagen, 9th place at 96.8%. Helsinki and Ham­burg, who held Top Ten places last year, dropped out.

Green spaces are important. 50% of Vienna comprises green areas, parklands and gardens that can be reached on foot or by tram. Mel­bourne has huge public parks and wide, tree-lined boul­evards. Vancouver has its harbour setting, with beaut­iful parks and gardens. Copenhagen has fine Botanical and Tivoli facilities.

Now examine January Magazine's published results of The 2020 Best Countries Report which was part of US News’ Government Rank­ings init­iative, measuring government performance at the state and inter­national levels.

Overall Best Countries results 2020
1. Switzerland
2. Canada
3. Japan
4. Germany
5. Australia
6. United Kingdom
7. United States
8. Sweden
9. Netherlands
10. Norway and New Zealand

Regarding Switzerland, the report emphasised that “Switzerland has low unemp­loyment, a skilled labour force and one of the highest gross domestic products per capita in the world, according to the CIA World Factbook. The country’s strong economy was powered by low corporate tax rates, a highly-developed service sector led by financial services and a high-tech manufacturing industry.”

Citizens painted a bleak picture when asked about nations’ trust­­worth­in­ess. While the US was seen as the most powerful country in the wor­ld, it was not seen as trustworthy. Can­ada was seen as the most trustworthy country, and has been since the first Best Count­ries re­port in 2016. During the same time, perceptions of the US as being trust­worthy steadily drop­­ped to a record low of 16.3 on a 100-point scale. As did UK also fall in this attribute

There was global consensus about climate change’s effects, 87% agr­eeing it was serious. Of the 36 countries surveyed, people in Rus­sia agreed about climate change the least (71%), and Indonesia ag­reed the most (97%) with Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa. Only 60% agreed their country addressed climate change.

For Quality of Life in 2022
1. Canada
2. Denmark
3. Sweden
4. Norway
5. Australia
6. Netherlands
7. Switzerland
8. New Zealand
9. Finland
10. Germany

Since 2012 the World Happiness Report has published World's Most Liveable Cities in an annual survey ran by the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network. The survey ranks global happiness in countries globally and the World Happin­ess Report’s most imp­ortant source has always been the Gallup World Poll, unique in the range and com­parability of its global series of annual surveys. The Gal­lup World Poll prov­ide the basis for the an­nual happiness rankings have always drawn in readers who want to know how their nation is faring but soon become curious about the secrets of life in the happ­iest countries. Right from the outset, we received very favour­able terms from Gallup and the very best of treatment. Gallup resear­ch­ers have also contrib­uted to the content of several World Happin­ess Reports. The value of this part­ner­ship was recognised by two Better­ment of the Human Conditions Awards from the Society for Quality of Life Studies. Although the statisticians typically base the ranking on data from the Gallup World Poll, this year was a bit differ­ent. Since the researchers were unable to do face-to-face in­terviews in a number of countries, they focused on the relation­ship between well-being and Covid-19 in order to rank the countries.

“Surprisingly there was not, on average, a decline in well-being when measured by people’s own evaluation of their lives. A possible explan­ation is that people see Covid-19 as a common, outside threat affecting everybody and this has generated a greater sense of solidarity and fellow-feeling.”

We need urgently to learn from Covid-19. The pandemic reminds us of our global environmental threats, the urgent need to cooperate, and the difficulties of achieving cooperation in each country and glob­al­ly. The World Happiness Report 2021 reminds us that we must aim for wellbeing rather than mere wealth, which will be fleeting indeed if we don’t do a much better job of addressing the challenges of sustainable development.”

Adelaide

Melbourne

Osaka

Vancouver

It's official! In 2021 Finland is the Happiest Country in the world for the 4th year running. So where did other countries fall on the list this year? Norway slipped a bit this year, coming in at #8. Last year, Norway was at #5, and in 2019, Norway was in the top three overall. United Kingdom slipped 4 spots from 2020, coming in at #18, while Germany is at 7—up 10 spots. Another big leap was Croatia, which rose to 23 this year, up from #79 in 2020.

One of the countries that had a challenging time this past year—China—made the top 20 in 2021, coming in at number 19. It was a dramatic leap from last year, when China was at 94. But the researchers, who took a deep dive into the lessons learned in Asia, weren’t surprised. “The East Asian experience shows that stringent government policies not only control Covid-19 effectively, but also buffer the negative impact of daily infections on people’s happiness,” said the Korea Development Institute.

There were similar success rates in Australia, which ranked #12 and New Zealand at #9 “The evidence shows that people’s morale improves when the government acts,” says the editors. Besides the happiest countries in the world, the Happiness Report also looked at the places where people are the most miserable. This year, countries like Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Jordan were ranked as some of the unhappiest countries in the world.

Vienna was named the world's most liveable city in 2024 for the 3rd year running, according to the EIU's latest results. Two Can­adian cit­ies (Calgary, Vancouver) and 4 in Asia-Pacific (Melbourne, Sydney, Osaka,Auckland) completed the top 10. 

The 2020 Best Countries methodology used data gathered from a sur­vey of 20,000 business leaders; college educated individuals; and general citizens who were repres­ent­ative of their count­ry. The goal of the Best Countries report was to understand how global perceptions are related to investment, foreign trade and tourism of a nation. But Best Count­ries should also measure peace for the re­sidents, democracy, universal health care, adequate social housing, unemployment rates, free schooling for all children.

Beyond the essential ideas of broad access to food and housing, to quality education and health care and employment, the Quality of Life measure may also include intangibles such as job security, political stability, individual freedom and environmental quality.

And I have another question. Does cultural diversity add to a city’s overall liveability? If GIU could measure cultural div­ersity (eg the proportion of a city’s population born overseas), Toronto might maximise its score. But then if climate was one of the included catagories, Toronto might go down the list a tad and Barcelona might go up the little.

Maria Anna & Wolfgang Mozart: 2 geniuses?

Until she was 16, Maria Anna Mozart (1751-1829) shared equal billing with her brother Wolfgang Mozart (1756-91), 5 years younger. Musical partners and collaborators, Wolfgang and Maria Anna played music together before royalty, and were the talk of Europe. So what happened to her?

Wolfgang (L) and sister Maria Anna (R) were devoted to each other and ?co-writers of Wolfgang’s earliest work. 
FrontRowCentre

Maria Anna was the first child of Leopold Mozart, a musician and composer who had his daughter musically educated from a young age. Maria showed great talent, a child prodigy in both composing and playing. When Wolfgang was young, he was quickly engrossed in playing music with his sister. The film featured emotional images of this childhood bond, emphasising the siblings’ cooperation with music. Leopold recognised his children’s unusual talents; he soon had them travelling and playing concerts to the European aristocracy.

According to a new film Mozart’s Sister (2012), imagined the Mozart family's tiring life on the road from 1763 on, travelling by coach from one royal court to another. Together the wonder-children toured most of Europe. Contemporary reviews praised Maria, and she was even billed first on promotional posters. As a child, there was no issue with performing for an audience. But skilled singer, harpsichord player and violinist nicknamed Nannerl, was first seen as the family's infant prodigy. In the film, she was still performing, though increasingly side-lined by Wolfgang's growing fame. Her father bowed to social strictures for women, refusing to let her continue with violin or composing, while privately conceding Nannerl's talent to his wife. The teen fretted about her career prospects, but was forced to retire at age 17, was left at home, and was never to play in public again.

Having been forced to withdraw from public life because she was now a woman, the film explored how she was retired by dad Leopold and what happened to her music. She had been a musical prodigy just like her younger brother Wolfgang, so naturally she retained her love of music.

The two Mozart siblings, 

The Conversation

An amazing new discovery of her creative work is being uncovered through historians, musicologists, letters between siblings and other evidence. If confirmed, this new evidence suggests she may have contributed to her brother’s earliest works; a global search for her own works continues. The musical-mystery story unfolded around the world with historians following why her lost talent may have been hidden all this time.

This film came at a time, 2012, when many people were reassessing the nature of female authorship in the arts. The Mozart case was not an oddity. There were many other examples of women whose talent was obscured OR completely lost. Many people analysed the less well-known female creators of today, composers, musicians and conductors, as well as the very low rates of female participation in classical music today. In 2020-21 season a survey of the top 100 global orchestras found 5% of works were composed by women!

Writer René Féret's film was partly a feminist reclaiming of one of history's lost women, plus a revisionist version of Mozart's early life. The issues commanded attention, including a clear sense of the hardship and bitterness Mozart Sr put his family through. Marc Barbé and Delphine Chuillot were Léopold and Anna-Maria Mozart, the parents who put their children through a gruelling continental tour. Their 10-year-old Wolfgang/David Moreau was remarkable.

The person who felt all this most keenly was Mozart's elder sister, Nannerl, played by the writer’s daughter Marie Féret. She was reduced to the status of Wolfgang's accompanist, despite being a talented musician and having, she claimed, contributed to her brother's compositions. Then a quirk of fate led to her friendship with the King's younger daughter Louise, played by another Féret daughter, Lisa Féret. The exchanges between Louise and Nannerl were sometimes tough. But the two sisters’ performances had a kind of rugged authenticity that attracted.

Maria Anna and Wolfgang at piano, and parents Leopold and Anna Maria;

by Austrian artist Johann Nepomuk della Croce,
c1780; Mozart House, Salzburg. Wiki 

Maria Anna and Wolfgang were inseparable and often composed together. But this ended when Maria Anna turned 17. For women musicians in C18th, it was thought unseemly for a girl to perform in public, likening this public performance to that of a prostitute. Regardless of their skill, these women wouldn’t have any career prospects. They were even banned from playing musical instruments deemed unseemly eg violin and cello. Even though this was during the Enlightenment, any enlightenment was reserved for white men only. Definitely not to women! Yet Wolfgang continued pursuing music at will. Maria Anna’s musical talents weren’t even encouraged at home. Her life was only illustrated through her diary entries, which ware mainly filled with ordinary family events.

Maria Anna married Johann Baptist von Berchtold zu Sonnenburg in 1783 and had 3 children . They moved to St Gilgen in Austria near the Mozart family home in Salzburg, and continued to practise music daily. On her husband’s death in 1801, and now with an income and a title (baroness) in her 50s, she returned to solo concerts.

Mozart’s Sister was a documentary that functioned on several levels. A] It was a biopic that portrayed Maria Anna’s story by recreating her childhood. The narration and interviews highlighted her relationship with her brother. It was filmed in Austria and framed by present-day museum curators and experts. B] The film was a broader statement on the non-appearance of female composers.

Director Madeleine Hetherton-Miau’s created a hard-hitting documentary. The film offered a well-researched investigation into Maria Anna’s life, showing how the draconian attitudes that prevailed in her time condemned her to a lesser life than Wolfgang, even though she was equally talented. It also reminded of the importance of championing women musicians today, to avoid discrimination being repeated. The director was excellent in portraying this duality via the contrast of Maria Anna’s path with the brilliant young British composer Alma Deustger (b2005). Deustger has great skills in composing and conducting, but she was able to pursue her passion and make it her career. The film used a recent literary trend i.e discussions of how talented women in history were overshadowed by their more famous male equals, then overlooked totally.

"The Library: a World History" - great book

The Library: A World History is a great book, with Will Pryce’s images and architectural librarian historian James Campbell’s text. It analysed global library architecture in 1 volume, from ancient Mesopotamia to modern China and from the beginnings of writing, to the present day. The photos noted that each age and culture reinvented the library, moulding it to reflect priorities and civilisations.

Melk Abbey Library, Austria

A Benedictine monastery

Libraries can be divided into academic, administrative or private types, some of which were rooted in the ancient world. The first writing system arose 5,500 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia, secured on fragile papyrus or clay when academics realised they had to archive and protect them. Rulers created libraries to consolidate and expand their influence, and to display their political power to citizens. The majestic Library of Alexandria was created in c300 BCE by ?Alexander the Great and lasted until damaged by secular-Roman and religious-Christian enemies.

First chapters traced the destroyed libraries of Rome, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and Eastern and Islamic worlds, so the authors the data had to infer from references and archaeology. But great photos of library remain at Pergamon & Ephesus. Over centuries, key concerns outdid place and time: structure, iconography, function. But each era took a particular style specific to the materials and technology, plus the era’s world view.

The two men surveyed many libraries, from the expansive new National Library of China to the Tripitaka Koreana 1251 in South Korea, one of the oldest intact libraries anywhere. The photographs were perfect, and they gave purpose to the text, taking a great look into the decorative and educational history of library buildings.

Library of Congress, Washington DC

A library consisted of books and the buildings that housed them, more than the dark wooden shelves in academia. From the Library of Congress’ great dome, to the white façade of Seinäjoki Library Finland, to the ancient ruins of Turkey’s Library of Pergamum, Campbell and Pryce travelled the globe together, detailing 80+ libraries that demonstrated the many approaches to design. Library architecture showed its builders’ wealth, culture and learning. Note that libraries were open to the public back in the Renaissance!

In Korea, wooden character blocks were created in c1011 to print the Tripitaka Koreana, a central Buddhist text. The idea didn’t progress until Johannes Guttenberg created a very similar technology 450 years later, in the very different socio-economic setting of Early Modern Europe. In the next centuries, innovations in printing technology and the declining cost of books led to rapid proliferations of knowledge, and then to the emergence the modern scientific and industrial world. Thus the modern public library emerged in the mid-C19th.

The writing should have covered the wide set of professions: librarians, scholars and patrons; they played key roles in creating this institution. Some critics said the book largely neglected the different roles and instead focused on the architectural history of libraries. It DID chronicle a flexible architectural history, especially of the wealthy and powerful: from the ruins of multi-storeyed covered walkways of ancient Greece to the sutra stores of C11th Buddhist temples; from the Middle Ages’ Gothic cloisters to the functional modern age. But I liked that.

Theft remained an enduring threat, so books were regularly chained to monasterial walls in the Middle Ages and early modern period. The earl-iest monastic libraries housed the sets that showed the internal struggle between religiosity and human nature. So in those libraries, books were chained to desk-mounted rods, to prevent monks being tempted to sell books to outsiders, despite poverty vows. Read how other aspects of pre-serving books’ physical integrity have confounded librarians for centuries. In China mineral gypsum was placed beneath shelves to stop the damp.

The photos showed sumptuous swirls of marble, golden gilding and a rain-bow of Rococo frescoes that recalled the exquisite beauty. Campbell’s captions illuminated architectural tricks invisible to us normals eg the stone elephant, perched on a portal in the Biblioteca Malatestiana Library of Cesena Italy, was the Malatesta dynasty’s symbol.

The library tour went from the clay tablet storehouses of ancient Mesopotamia and beautiful Buddhist sutra blocks, to the paper prints in Korea and Japan, to the grandiose designs and multi-media C21st spectaculars. The book put such sites into long perspective, seeing book technology, readers' needs and architectural solutions.

But why the focus on institutions created specifically for the privileged with no place for local, ordinary libraries. Clearly this was a study of libraries designed to be admired. See Osaka’s soaring book wall at Shiba Ryotaro Museum, its triple-height, Japanese oak shelves. Yale's Beinecke Library was walled with Vermont marble, and the honey glow. At Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, the library has one-person desks, each with private sunny windows. This library was built in the 1970s by Louis Khan. Campbell's commentary noted that Khan had a theory to plan a brand-new library in New Hampshire. Holland’s Delft Library grew with a concrete cone to use as a reading room. Its solid sides allowed no view out and the enclosed space was inadequate.

Old Bodlien Library, Oxford

The British Library was referred to, but there were no photos. Instead examine the British facilities eg Wells Cathedral Library, Cambridge Public Library, Thomas Bodley's Bodleian Oxford  and John Radcliffe's Camera Oxford. The superb buildings were erected, not to celebrate books, but rather for architects to stretch their vision; for universities to spend money; and to honour  benefactors. 

The book has heaps of pictures of old and modern libraries, but also a balanced resumé of the history of library-architecture. The focus was on the buildings, but information about the evolution of books and of collections themselves emerged. Readers can look at the position of bookcases and tables, distribution of space, illuminance, all have their own background, value and history!

George Peabody Library (1878) is linked to Johns Hopkins University, focused on research into C19th. Formerly the Library of the Peabody Music Institute, it was in Mt Vernon-Belvedere historic cultural neighbourhood of Baltimore. The collections are free for use by the general public, in keeping with the Baltimorean merchant/philanthropist George Peabody's creation of a community library.

George Peabody Library

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore

The book focused on how people collected, protected and catalogued knowledge in writing. But the underlying themes were presented in such a subtle way as to go unnoticed amongst all the data that is presented. Be certain that Campbell's work was not simply recounting the many buildings that made up history’s libraries. It was a map of the ever-changing ideas of privilege, interface between civilisation and nature, egalitarianism, interplay between trust in man’s good and the fear of man's greed.

Then the book described medieval libraries and explained how libraries evolved, beginning with the Renaissance. The photos of libraries in monasteries, universities, palaces and cities are gorgeous. They showed the gradual evolution of storage and reading spaces from books fixed to a one-person lectern space, to stalls, walls, stacks and the modern mix of media and hard copy. The authors discussed the rise of librarians in design, lauding their practical insights as a necessary corrective to earlier architectural neglect of operating and preservation issues.

The stunning photos and texts came mostly from the U.S and Europe, with some modern examples from China and Japan. Qere the 300-odd local libraries that have closed since 2010 ever examined? or the 400 more that might close? Campbell's history knew libraries were always at risk. Fires have gutted them since Rome, plus struggles with damp, beetles, bombs. A plane crashed into a Slovenian reading room!

In considering the future library, Campbell stated that the future will be as a museum for books that are curated, displayed and preserved for posterity, and a workspace for the general public. But consider Google’s project of digitising world libraries. In his limited mentioning of the giant internet, people might neglect the immaterial aspects of the history. But history wasn’t just architectural.

In Britain now THE significant element to the story were those libraries closed or thinking of closing. Campbell noted that public libraries are being closed in Europe etc, and criticised the university that changed its library to an Information, Communications and Media Centre in 2004.

La Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Venice

note the imposing sculpture of Petrarch, created in 1904

venezia blog

Summary
Campbell is an architectural historian, so his writing on the building of libraries was fine. The two men combined their talents and gave the reader a look at the history of libraries from 20+ different countries. Some were very old and others newer, but all were unique and original.    

Now something quite separate. The 1000 Library Awards named the most beautiful ones in 2025, based on 200,000+ votes from global booklovers on line. The results of the 2025 Top 10 Most Beautiful Libraries globally included international libraries, showcasing both modern & historic architectural styles: 

South Australia State Library

State Library Victoria, Australia 

 1.Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

 2.South Australia State, Australia

 3.St Gallen Abbey, Switzerland

 4.Duke Humfrey's, Oxford Uni, Britain
 5.Admont Abbey, Austria
 6.Cuypers Library, Amsterdam, Netherlands

 7.State Library Victoria, Australia 
 8.Royal Portuguese Cabinet of Reading, Rio, Brazil
 9.Wiblingen Abbey Ulm, Germany
10.Sainte-Geneviève, France

Johannine Library, University of Coimbra, Portugal

Johannine Library 
A baroque masterpiece
Founded by King John V of Portugal (1689 - 1750) it is one of the richest baroque libraries in Europe. Built between 1717 and 1728, this library is located in the most central place of the University of Coimbra, the Palace of Schools (Paço das Escolas). It was built to house the university library and has a collection of about 70 thousand volumes (prior to 1800), with a large nucleus of the Old Book.

The library space includes three rooms that communicate with each other through arches entirely covered with shelves. Chromatically, the first room has a gold decoration on a green background, the second one a gold decoration on a red background and the last one a gold decoration on a black background.

The architecture of this magnificent space focuses on the figure of the Illuminist monarch: the portrait of King John V of Portugal, placed on the wall at the top of the building, in the three rooms, functions as a "vanishing point", like an altar of knowledge in an allegory of the figure of the King.

In addition to the many works of New Christian teachers at the University of Coimbra, this library houses one of the most important treasures of the Jewish heritage in Portugal, the Coimbra Bible, commonly known as the Abravanel Bible.

A magnificent and extremely rare specimen of the illuminated Hebrew bible of the second half of the 15th century, the Abravanel Bible was wrongly related to this important Lisbon philosopher due to an incomplete reading of the possession and genealogical notes which are inscribed in the very support of the text - in fact, the figure of Isaac Abravanel (1437-1508) is fundamental to understand the culture, philosophy and Sephardic theology of the late 15th century, and this thinker was a very active figure in the cultural strengthening of his community, especially by creating a library and a religious school in Lisbon, and it was natural to associate his name, almost mythical, to this unique book.

This illuminated Bible is one of the most important examples that proves the wealth and prosperity of the art of illumination in the second half of the 15th century, when printing was already beginning to develop through Gutenberg's technique. Certainly produced by the so-called School of Lisbon, with strong influences from the School of Andalusia, this magnificent volume recovers elements of decoration with a clear Islamic flavour, of a horizon of interculturality and of interface between the Jewish, Islamic and Christian monotheisms.

The decoration favours vegetal and geometric motifs, whether in decoration or micrography. Indeed, the Coimbra Bible, or Abravanel, is still a magnificent example of this style of writing and decoration where drawing is achieved through writing so small that, when not attentive to it, it seems to be a simple trace. The consultation of the works requires prior scheduli