Howard Colvin

For the character on the HBO television series The Wire, see Howard "Bunny" Colvin.

Sir Howard Montagu Colvin CVO CBE (15 October 1919 – 27 December 2007) was a British architectural historian who produced two of the most outstanding works of scholarship in his field: A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600–1840 and The History of the King's Works.

Life and works

Born in Sidcup, he was educated at University College London. In 1948, he became a Fellow of St John's College, Oxford where he remained until his death in 2007. He was a member of the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England 1963–76, the Historic Buildings Council for England 1970–84, the Royal Fine Art Commission 1962–72, and other official bodies. He was knighted in 1995. He served as president of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain 1979–81 and a special issue of their journal Architectural History was produced in his honour in 1984. He married his wife Christina in 1943 and they had two sons.

Colvin is most notably the author of A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600–1840 which appeared in its original form in 1954. Yale University Press produced a third edition in 1995, and he had just completed his work on the fourth edition at the time of his death. On first publication this reference work of heroic scale immediately became the standard in its field: it "changed the face of English architectural history", according to David Watkin. In the revised edition, Colvin expanded the range to include Scottish and Welsh architects as well. The work includes every building within its time range with which the name of an architect can be associated, based on documentary evidence from extensive archival research, both by him and a growing network of correspondents. He was particularly an enemy of attributions based on style alone. This resulted in an index that is an architectural gazetteer, and which also gives a comprehensive listing of architectural books published in Britain, listed by author. The prefatory essay, "The Practice of Architecture, 1600–1840", is divided into two sections, covering the building trades and the architectural profession, both contributions to the broader social history of Britain.

Colvin also edited and largely wrote the official multi-volume study of all the buildings with which the Crown had been associated through history, The History of the King's Works.

Colvin's work in government parallels his academic achievement. Just as he rose to become the acknowledged authority within academia, he also rose via membership of the bodies listed above and others to be Chair of the committee of English Heritage that dealt with Britain's built environment.

Publications

The History of the King's Works

• London: HMSO, (1963) to (1982)
• ISBN 0-11-670571-X (v.1&2 & Plans 1–4)
• ISBN 0-11-670568-X (v.3)
• ISBN 0-11-670832-8 (v.4)
• ISBN 0-11-670571-X (v.5)
• ISBN 0-11-670286-9 (v.6)
• ISBN 0-11-671116-7 (Plans 5–7)

Other works

• A History of Deddington, Oxfordshire. London: SPCK. 1963.
• Unbuilt Oxford. Yale University Press. 1983. ISBN 0-300-03126-2.
• The Canterbury Quadrangle, St. John's College, Oxford. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1988. ISBN 0-19-920159-5.
• Architecture and the After-Life. New Haven: Yale University Press. 1991. ISBN 0-300-05098-4.
• A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600–1840 (4th ed.). New Haven: Yale University Press. 2008 [1954]. ISBN 978-0-300-12508-5.

Sources

• "Sir Howard Colvin". The Times (London). 2008-01-01. Retrieved 2008-01-02.

External links

• Obituary in The Independent
• Alumni of History Faculty Newsletter, Oxford
• Obituary in The Guardian
• Obituary in The Times
• Obituary in The Daily Telegraph
• May 2011 meeting of SAHGB in Oxford: "ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY AFTER COLVIN"