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Pevsner Architectural Guides
Welcome to Pevsner
Welcome to the home of Pevsner Architectural Guides - part of the Yale London website.
"Yale University Press deserves all the plaudits it has already received for perpetuating the series and bringing it as close to perfection as is possible in an imperfect world." —Ferdinand Mount, TLS

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Read the 2020-21 Pevsner Architectural Guides Newsletter here.
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Yale’s Pevsner Architectural Guides series is awarded The Longman - History Today Trustees’ Award 2013
Thursday, 10 January 2013
Yale University Press London is proud to announce that the Pevsner Architectural Guides series has won the Longman - History Today Trustees' Award.
Read More »
About Pevsner Guides
"The greatest endeavour of popular
architectural scholarship in the world."
—Jonathan Meades, The Observer
The Pevsner Architectural Guides, were begun in 1951 by the architectural historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner (1902-83) with the aim of providing an up-to-date portable guide to the most significant buildings in every part of the country, suitable for both general reader and specialist. The success of the volumes covering The Buildings of England led to the extension of the series to Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Each volume provides an introductory overview of the architecture of the area, followed by a descriptive gazetteer arranged alphabetically by place. Whilst cathedrals and their furnishings, great country houses and their parks form the grand set pieces, the books demonstrate the enjoyable diversity of architecture in the British Isles in accounts of rural churches and farmsteads, Victorian public buildings and industrial monuments.

A continuing programme of new editions keeps the series up-to-date with new information on older buildings and recent architecture while maintaining the tradition of Pevsner's own succinct accounts. Each book has over 100 photographs, mostly specially commissioned, numerous maps and plans, a glossary and indexes.
To contact the Pevsner team email: pevsner@yaleup.co.uk
www.lookingatbuildings.org is a resource from the Pevsner Architectural Guides and the Buildings Books Trust with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund
Pevsner History
Pevsner Architectural Guides is celebrating
its 60th Anniversary in 2011. None of this would have been possible without one man...
Nikolaus Pevsner, an art historian of European standing, conceived the idea of English architectural guidebooks after he settled in England in the 1930s. At that time architectural history was hardly recognised as a serious academic subject, nor was trustworthy architectural information readily available for the traveller. The success and achievement of his aim eventually became possible with the assistance and enthusiasm of Allen Lane, founder of Penguin Books, for whom Pevsner had written his Outline of European Architecture in 1942. Lane provided Pevsner with the means to begin research for the books in 1945 with the help of two part time research assistants, both German refugee art historians, and a secretary. For the next twenty five years a pattern was established whereby an assistant worked for around a year on each county, preparing notes from published sources. During the Easter and Summer university vacations, then armed with fat folders of half-foolscap sheets, Pevsner set off to visit two counties, driven by his wife and, after her death in 1963, by others, usually students at London University or the Courtauld Institute of Art.

Pevsner was unable to devote much more than a month to visiting each county and the speed at which the books were prepared inevitably led to errors and omissions. Each volume invited readers to send in comments and publication, and was immediately followed by a shower of letters eagerly drawing attention to anything from minor misprints to the relatively rare absence of whole villages or substantial houses. As the work became more demanding and time-consuming it became essential for Pevsner to share the writing with others. In the end, thirty-two of the books were written by Pevsner alone, ten together with collaborators, and four were delegated to others, all of whom made their own valuable contribution to the series.

The Guides
There are more than 80 volumes in the Pevsner Architectural Guides Series, with new editions being revised and published every year...
The Pevsner Architectural Guides were founded by Sir Nikolaus Pevsner (1902–1983). There are four series: England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Each county volume comprises a gazetteer describing the buildings of significance, accompanied by maps, plans, and more than 100 specially commissioned photographs; an informative introduction explains the broader context
The series also includes paperback City Guides, as well as the acclaimed Pevsner Architectural Glossary. Click on the links below to view the complete series.
• Buildings of England
• Buildings of Scotland
• Buildings of Wales
• Buildings of Ireland
• Pevsner City Guides
• Pevsner Introductions
Yale also publish a wide range of other Architecture titles. Take a look at a sample selection below, or click here to view a comprehensive list
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Gardens of Court and Country
David Jacques
RRP: £45.00
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Hardwick Hall
David Adshead
RRP: £75.00
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Apethorpe
Kathryn A. Morrison
RRP: £60.00
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Space, Hope, and Brutalism
Elain Harwood
RRP: £60.00
-
Centre Pompidou
Francesco Dal Co
RRP: £20.00
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Charles Percier
Jean-Philippe Garric
RRP: £50.00
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Gardens of Court and Country
David JacquesRRP: £45.00 -
Hardwick Hall
David AdsheadRRP: £75.00 -
Apethorpe
Kathryn A. MorrisonRRP: £60.00 -
Space, Hope, and Brutalism
Elain HarwoodRRP: £60.00 -
Centre Pompidou
Francesco Dal CoRRP: £20.00 -
Charles Percier
Jean-Philippe GarricRRP: £50.00
Newly Published
Take a look at a selection of our most recently published and revised Pevsner Architectural Guides...
To keep up to date with Pevsner's new releases as well as other architectural news, you can follow Pevsner on Twitter under the username @yalepevsner or you can like our Facebook page.
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Nottinghamshire
Clare HartwellRRP: £45.00 -
Cork: City and County
Frank KeohaneRRP: £45.00 -
Central Leinster
Andrew TierneyRRP: £60.00 -
Sussex: West
Elizabeth WilliamsonRRP: £60.00 -
Hertfordshire
James BettleyRRP: £60.00 -
Hampshire: South
Charles O'BrienRRP: £60.00
Work in Progress
Work continues to provide unrivalled coverage of the nation's buildings through a series of revised and new editions...
Forthcoming in 2020
County Cork
County Durham
Nottinghamshire
Wiltshire
Forthcoming in 2021
Birmingham and the Black Country
Yorkshire: North Riding
Oxfordshire: South
Staffordshire
Forthcoming in 2022
Surrey
Lothian (2nd edition)
To find out more about forthcoming Pevsner Guides, contact the team: pevsner@yaleup.co.uk

Map
Use the map below to find out which locations
are covered in the Pevsner Architectural Guides series...
Click on the locations to read more about the books...
Open the map in a new window
Key





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Links
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National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
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RCAHM of Wales
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The Scottish Civic Trust
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Victoria County History
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Weald and Downland Open Air Museum
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