eishiya reviewed Victorian Comfort by John Edwards Gloag
The design of comfort
5 stars
This is the second book in John Gloag's trilogy, preceded by Georgian Grace, and succeeded by Victorian Taste. It can be enjoyed on its own.
Victorian Comfort, true to its title, describes the myriad ways in which Victorians made themselves comfortable at home and while travelling, and the effect this had on the design of homes, vehicles, and furnishings over the course of the period. Consequently, this book focuses on the small scale, the personal, the familiar. The grand architecture and ideas are left to its sequel.
This was the first of Gloag's books that I read, and I was surprised by how useful it was - it isn't what I normally look for in reference books for art, but it is what I needed. It is full of anecdotes and descriptions from contemporary sources that illustrate various articles of furniture, gadgets, and interior spaces and how they were used …
This is the second book in John Gloag's trilogy, preceded by Georgian Grace, and succeeded by Victorian Taste. It can be enjoyed on its own.
Victorian Comfort, true to its title, describes the myriad ways in which Victorians made themselves comfortable at home and while travelling, and the effect this had on the design of homes, vehicles, and furnishings over the course of the period. Consequently, this book focuses on the small scale, the personal, the familiar. The grand architecture and ideas are left to its sequel.
This was the first of Gloag's books that I read, and I was surprised by how useful it was - it isn't what I normally look for in reference books for art, but it is what I needed. It is full of anecdotes and descriptions from contemporary sources that illustrate various articles of furniture, gadgets, and interior spaces and how they were used and thought of (at least by the middle and upper classes). I think my favourite bit was how a group staying warm by the fire was a captive audience, no matter how dull or annoying the speaker, and that this was enough of a Thing to be poked fun at in fiction. And of course, it has many illustrations as well, both in the text (there are barely any spreads without an illustration!) and in 16 plates at the back.
Writing in the 1950s and 60s, when the Victorian era was seen as a nostalgic counterpoint to the minimalism and brutalism common at the time, Gloag makes a point to highlight the ways in which Victorian design was a a tasteless mess driven by mindless copying and disregard for good taste, rather than as a high point of design. To a modern reader, this may seem unnecessary. Still, Gloag clearly writes with love, and nostalgia of his own, and his jabs feel similar to the snark of Victorian writers.
Victorian Comfort is the first book I flip through when I'm curious about some detail, or just need a reminder of the feel of a home in this period.