Paris and Her Cathedrals - Hardcover

Bloch, R. Howard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1631493922 ISBN 13: 9781631493928

Publisher: Liveright Publishing Corporation, 2022

Synopsis

Eminent French literature professor R. Howard Bloch has become renowned for his insider tours of Paris, given to college students abroad. Long sought after for his encyclopedic knowledge of French cathedrals, Bloch has at last decided to share his intimate knowledge with a wider audience. Here, six cathedrals―Saint-Denis, Chartres, Sainte-Chapelle, Reims, Amiens and Notre-Dame―are illumined in magnificent detail as Bloch, taking us from the High Middle Ages to the devastating fire that set Notre-Dame ablaze in 2019, traces the evolution of each in turn. Contextualizing the cathedrals within the annals of French history, Bloch animates the past with lush evocations of architectural splendor―high-flying buttresses and jewel-encrusted shrines, hidden burial grounds and secret chambers―and thrilling tales of kingly intrigue, audacious architects and the meeting of aristocratic and everyday life. Complete with the author’s own photographs, Paris and Her Cathedrals vitally enhances our understanding of the history of Paris and its environs.

About this title

About the Author

R. Howard Bloch is the Sterling Professor of French and Humanities at Yale University. The author of numerous award-winning books on French literature and art, he lives in New York.

From the Back Cover

"R. Howard Bloch has written a guidebook with a difference. . . . He allows us to enter the minds of the builders and the worshippers, both saints and sinners, and to appreciate their faith, miracles, and stupendous artistic abilities. A must-read for all Francophiles and history buffs."
--Ross King, author of Brunelleschi's Dome

"When my wife and I went to Chartres, Henry Adams was our guide. . . . Now I learn from R. Howard Bloch how little we and Adams knew. Paris and Her Cathedrals tells us the source of the different stones used in the building and how they got there, how they were carved and paid for, and what all the figures mean, as well as how the windows were made and what they mean. For the other cathedrals we visited, we had to bump along with lesser guides, along with our own hunches and ignorance. Now all that is blessedly buried in darkness."
--Garry Wills, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Henry Adams and the Making of America

"Paris and Her Cathedrals will vastly enrich the traveler's experience with a full-tilt trip into twelfth-century France's breakthrough architecture as well as royal intrigue, crusades, art, legends, and lifestyles of each tier of society. My next visit to France will be much richer thanks to this delightful read."
--Antonia Felix, New York Times best-selling author of Notre-Dame de Paris

"R. Howard Bloch magically interweaves descriptions of complicated architectural, sculptural, and stained-glass elements with a vivid portrayal of medieval life. . . . A riveting as well as magnificently informative book."
--Paul Freedman, author of American Cuisine

"R. Howard Bloch wears his great learning with elegance and grace. Whether he writes about theology or architecture his authority is impeccable. At every stage he has a vivid tale to tell, a striking anecdote to relate. . . . One can imagine no more precious vade mecum, no more engaging companion. This is the best guide we now have to the cathedrals of Paris and its orbit."
--David A. Freedberg, author of The Power of Images

Edition details

• Publisher: Liveright Publishing Corporation
• Publication date: 2022
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1631493922
• ISBN 13: 9781631493928
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 368