Christopher Hussey: a bibliographical tribute

Extract

Christopher Hussey CBE MA FSA HONARIBA, who died on 20 March 1970, was the doyen of English architectural historians. By any standards, he was an extraordinarily prolific writer. The high points of his literary career were undoubtedly The Picturesque (1927) - a brilliant ‘essay on a way of seeing’ which opened the eyes of a whole generation; English Country Houses: Early, Mid and Late Georgian (3 vols, 1955-58) - the product of forty years’ research; and The Life of Sir Edwin Lutyens (1950) - a biographical classic written with all the wit and sympathy which its subject deserved. But it was week by week in the pages of Country Life that Hussey built up his reputation. Landscapes, country houses, town houses; medieval cottages, Georgian seats and Victorian public buildings, as well as the new-built classics of the Modern Movement, Hussey described them all. His range was remarkable, and his expository power unfailing. More than anyone it was Hussey who made Country Life, in Lord Runciman's words, ‘the keeper of the architectural conscience of the nation'. Of course he travelled a royal road: Scotney Castle, Eton and Christ Church. But he put these inherited advantages to excellent use, delighting in the appreciation of architecture by a wider and wider audience. His whole life was really a triumphant vindication of the English amateur tradition. During his lifetime architectural history was transformed from a species of belles lettres into a serious academic discipline. Almost accidentally, Hussey played a crucial part in this process. Rather more consciously, he helped to turn preservation from a minority cult into a major national concern.

(J.M.C., RIBA Jnl., June 1970)