The Decoration of Houses (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780815604730)

Edith Wharton's The Decoration of Houses (1897), co-written with the architect Ogden Codman Jr., brought transatlantic fame to a writer best known as a chronicler of Gilded Age New York. In their decorating guidebook, Wharton and Codman, who collaborated on the design of the author's Massachusetts home, The Mount, advocated for simple but classically informed choices that resonate profoundly today. The book crystallizes what Wharton found to be troubling in Americans' enthusiasm for ostentation at the turn of the twentieth century--the late Victorian equivalent of the modern "McMansion."

This annotated edition includes a comprehensive introduction that provides relevant biographical information on Wharton, as well as her literary work and how her perspectives on homeownership and d馗or informed her writing. The reproduction of the book's original illustrations alongside new annotations allows readers to visualize how Wharton's aesthetic preferences informed her writing, life, and charitable works. Valuable to Wharton scholars as well as students of design, The Decoration of Houses presents a definitive look at the tastes of a literary icon.

Author: Emily J. Orlando, Edith Wharton, Ogden Codman
ISBN-10: 0815604734
ISBN-13: 9780815604730
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
Language: English
Published: 10/18/2024
Pages: 302
Format: Paperback