Publication - 27th February 2023
A facsimile edition of Nikolaus Pevsner's 1945 King Penguin book with a new introduction by architectural writer Gillian Darley.
For Nikolaus Pevsner the leaf capitals of Southwell Minster were, quite simply, ‘unforgettable’. That sudden personal note in the introduction to his 1951
Nottinghamshire volume, the second Buildings of England to be published, jumps out on the page. Pevsner’s The Leaves of Southwell, an early King Penguin illuminated with over fifty compelling black and white photographs by Frederick Attenborough, has long been
unavailable.
Sir Nikolaus Pevsner (1902-1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, The Buildings of England. Born in Leipzig, he emigrated to England in 1933. Alongside writing and editing many influential texts, Pevsner held teaching posts at Birkbeck College and Cambridge University.
Frederick Attenborough (1887-1973) was principal of University College Leicester from 1932 to 1951. He was also an accomplished photographer.
Gillian Darley is a journalist, lecturer, and writer on architecture and the history of English architecture and land use.