Among the most influential figures of the Gothic Revival in nineteenth-century Britain, Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812–52) distinguished himself as an architect, author and interior designer. He had crafted furniture for George IV at Windsor, but his greatest triumph was the design and fitting out of the new Palace of Westminster with Charles Barry (1795–1860) following the fire of 1834. First published in 1836, Contrasts is Pugin's most famous work, championing the medieval over the modern through satirical comparison of divergent styles. Reissued here in its substantially revised second edition of 1841, the book reflects its author's Catholicism and a developing interpretation of Gothic architecture. Along with The True Principles of Pointed or Christian Architecture (1841), this work remains essential reading for those seeking to understand the growth of the Gothic Revival, illuminating with many illustrations the theories guiding one of Britain's most important architects.
