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A Cartoon History of Architecture
Here of All PLaces The Pocket Lamp of Architecture incorporating Homes Sweet Homes and Pillar to Post and homes across the Atlantic
199 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1959
About the author
Osbert Lancaster
122 books5 followersBorn in London, Osbert Lancaster was educated at St Ronan's School, and then at Charterhouse and Lincoln College, Oxford.
He graduated with a fourth-class degree in English after an extra year beyond the normal three years of study. Intending a career in law, he failed his bar exams and instead entered the Slade School of Art in London.
Lancaster initially worked alongside Betjeman at 'The Architectural Review'. In 1936 he published 'Progress at Pelvis Bay', the first of his many books of social and architectural satire.
In 1939 he became cartoonist at the Daily Express, where he pioneered the Pocket Cartoon, a single-panel, single-column topical drawing appearing on the front page, since imitated in several British newspapers. In these he sympathetically mocked the British upper classes, personified by his characters William (8th Earl of Littlehampton, formerly Viscount Draynflete) and his wife Maudie.
During his Express career Lancaster drew some 10,000 cartoons over a period of 40 years.
During World War II, he worked in press censorship, then in Greece as a Foreign Office press attaché. During the war years his cartoons provided comic relief from the privations of rationing and bombing raids.
He received a knighthood and his other honours included a CBE in 1953 and an honorary DLitt from Oxford, as well as honorary degrees from Birmingham (1964), Newcastle upon Tyne (1970), and St Andrews (1974).
He was married twice, first, to Karen Elizabeth Harris, daughter of Sir Austen Harris, with whom he had a son, William and a daughter and second, after Karen died in 1964, to the journalist Anne Scott-James, whom he married in 1967 and who became his widow.
He died of natural causes, aged 77, in Chelsea. The obituary in The Times summed up his career with "The most polite and unsplenetic of cartoonists, he was never a crusader, remaining always a witty, civilized critic with a profound understanding of the vagaries of human nature." He is buried at West Winch, Norfolk.
His drawings and cartoons were the subject of an exhibition marking the centenary of his birth, entitled 'Cartoons and Coronets: The Genius of Osbert Lancaster' at The Wallace Collection from October 2008 to January 2009. Curated by James Knox and supported by the John R. Murray Charitable Trust of John Murray (publisher), it coincided with the publication of a new biography with the same title as the exhibition.
He graduated with a fourth-class degree in English after an extra year beyond the normal three years of study. Intending a career in law, he failed his bar exams and instead entered the Slade School of Art in London.
Lancaster initially worked alongside Betjeman at 'The Architectural Review'. In 1936 he published 'Progress at Pelvis Bay', the first of his many books of social and architectural satire.
In 1939 he became cartoonist at the Daily Express, where he pioneered the Pocket Cartoon, a single-panel, single-column topical drawing appearing on the front page, since imitated in several British newspapers. In these he sympathetically mocked the British upper classes, personified by his characters William (8th Earl of Littlehampton, formerly Viscount Draynflete) and his wife Maudie.
During his Express career Lancaster drew some 10,000 cartoons over a period of 40 years.
During World War II, he worked in press censorship, then in Greece as a Foreign Office press attaché. During the war years his cartoons provided comic relief from the privations of rationing and bombing raids.
He received a knighthood and his other honours included a CBE in 1953 and an honorary DLitt from Oxford, as well as honorary degrees from Birmingham (1964), Newcastle upon Tyne (1970), and St Andrews (1974).
He was married twice, first, to Karen Elizabeth Harris, daughter of Sir Austen Harris, with whom he had a son, William and a daughter and second, after Karen died in 1964, to the journalist Anne Scott-James, whom he married in 1967 and who became his widow.
He died of natural causes, aged 77, in Chelsea. The obituary in The Times summed up his career with "The most polite and unsplenetic of cartoonists, he was never a crusader, remaining always a witty, civilized critic with a profound understanding of the vagaries of human nature." He is buried at West Winch, Norfolk.
His drawings and cartoons were the subject of an exhibition marking the centenary of his birth, entitled 'Cartoons and Coronets: The Genius of Osbert Lancaster' at The Wallace Collection from October 2008 to January 2009. Curated by James Knox and supported by the John R. Murray Charitable Trust of John Murray (publisher), it coincided with the publication of a new biography with the same title as the exhibition.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 22, 2013
Um texto e um desenho a cada estilo arquitetônico: o texto na página da esquerda, o desenho na da direita. O texto é bom, o desenho ainda melhor.
August 30, 2007
"A brief and much-too-frivolous view of human habitation inside and out in word and picture -- from Stonehenge to Manhattan."
So says the front cover blurb. What it doesn't tell you is that this is vintage Osbert Lancaster, illustrator par excellance. While not widely known today, he made quite a splash in British magazines as a cartoonist in post-war Britain. Something of an authority on architecture, here he does an admirable job of illustrating the evolution of domestic architecture. Sound dry? Well, it's not. It's Lancaster, so it's quite witty.
So says the front cover blurb. What it doesn't tell you is that this is vintage Osbert Lancaster, illustrator par excellance. While not widely known today, he made quite a splash in British magazines as a cartoonist in post-war Britain. Something of an authority on architecture, here he does an admirable job of illustrating the evolution of domestic architecture. Sound dry? Well, it's not. It's Lancaster, so it's quite witty.
April 9, 2013
When I first picked this book off the shelf I misread the title as “A History of Cartoon Architecture.” Now there’s a story waiting to be told.
PS. Can anything beat the name "Osbert Lancaster?" No, nothing can.
PS. Can anything beat the name "Osbert Lancaster?" No, nothing can.
January 22, 2011
Brilliant! Tongue in cheek analysis of architectural styles that is a real education.
July 25, 2024
This is a nice read with some adorable illustrations and sketches. The language is at times hard to follow. You def need to be an architecture enthusiast to get through this I’d reckon. I expected it to be a lighter read for some reason, but I still enjoyed it for sure.
April 28, 2015
Very nearly a combined reprint of Pillar to Post: English Architecture without Tears and Homes Sweet Homes, with some expanded panels on American architecture. Entirely delightful.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews