Unseen Drawings by H. H. Richardson, Architectural Genius
Henry Hobson Richardson, the greatest American architect of the nineteenth century, became so famous for his distinct style that it earned its own name: "Richardsonian Romanesque." Richardson's wildly successful career was cut short when he died at the age of 47, and he and his firm left behind a vast collection of exquisitely detailed architectural drawings which have been largely unpublished - until now.
On January 27, 2025, the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art (ICAA) was proud to host an author presentation and celebration of "Henry Hobson Richardson: Drawings from the Collection of Houghton Library, Harvard University" (Monacelli Press / Phaidon), by Jay Wickersham, Chris Milford, and Hope Mayo. Selected by the ICAA for the Classical America Series in Art and Architecture, this is the first in-depth publication of drawings that reveal the creative genius of H. H. Richardson, the greatest American architect of the nineteenth century. The trove of 4,000 drawings, preserved since Richardson’s death, have been largely unpublished until now. This new book encompasses such masterpieces as Boston’s Trinity Church— voted the “most beautiful building in America” in 1885— the Allegheny County Courthouse and Jail in Pittsburgh; the Ames Gate Lodge; and the Marshall Field Store and Glessner House in Chicago.
With its curated selection of 450 drawings, meticulously reproduced to reveal the design process and hand of the architect, this book is a revelatory exploration of Richardson’s work, which set American architecture on a new course and exerted a global influence on the birth of modernism. Martin Filler, writing in the New York Review of Books, called this “An instructive, handsomely produced volume . . . Aided by a wide range of beautifully reproduced renderings, from Richardson’s lightning-bolt conceptual sketches to seductive presentation drawings by his talented assistants . . . we are led, project by project and step by step, through the prolific master’s output.”
About the Speakers:
Jay Wickersham, an architect and lawyer, taught for fifteen years at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where he was a professor of architecture in practice. He has written widely on architecture and architectural history. Wickersham is a founding partner in the law firm Noble, Wickersham & Heart, which represents architects around the country and globally. He received a B.A. from Yale, an M.Arch. from the Harvard GSD, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Chris Milford is a partner in the architectural firm of Milford & Ford Associates, specializing in historic preservation and restoration. He and Wickersham spearheaded civic efforts to save and reuse the Ames Shovel Works buildings, a nineteenth-century industrial complex in North Easton, MA adjacent to five Richardson buildings. Milford holds a B.Arch. and an M.Arch. from Cornell University.
Hope Mayo, a renowned expert in rare books, drawings, prints, and manuscripts, was the former Philip Hofer Curator of Printing and Graphic Arts (retired) at Houghton Library, where she oversaw the Richardson drawings collection. She earned a Ph.D. in Medieval History from Harvard University and a Master’s degree in Library Science from the University of Chicago and studied paleography at the University of Munich.