Matthew Digby Wyatt (1820-77) was a Victorian figure with wide-ranging accomplishments as an architect, administrator, designer, artist, writer and connoisseur. He was a member of the distinguished Wyatt family of architects and artists. He worked with some of the leading figures of his day, including I. K. Brunel, George Gilbert Scott, Herbert Minton and Henry Cole, whilst Owen Jones was a lifelong friend.

From the crucial role he played in project managing the Great Exhibition of 1851 to  advising the South Kensington Museum on its collections at the end of his career, Wyatt was at the heart of mid-Victorian developments in architecture, design and museum display.

Author Robert Thorne is a Historian and Consultant at Alan Baxter Ltd. He is an authority on Victorian architecture and construction, especially the building of the Crystal Palace and its influence.

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‘Those who have followed Edmund Harris’s progress over recent years – notably his learned blog Less Eminent Victorians – will cheer to discover that some of his knowledge has now crystallised into a book.’ Hugh Pearman, The Victorian

‘Harris is a meticulous scholar and it is obvious that a good part of what is presented here has been unearthed from years of archive riffling.’ Robert Bevan, The Times Literary Supplement

‘Harris illuminates the spectacle of Roguery as vividly as if he were Keeling’s ceiling.’ Hugh Pearman, The Victorian

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Profusely illustrated throughout with stunning new photography by Robin Forster, and by Rickards’ own sketches and drawings, this book portrays his meteoric rise that ended with his early death and his close friendship with the novelist Arnold Bennett who described him, along with H.G Wells, as one of “the two most interesting, provocative, and stimulating men I have yet encountered”.

“a superb tribute to a great architect. And it has fine new photography by Robin Forster. Buy it, read it. Wallow. Enjoy.”  Andy Foster, Building Design

‘Brittain-Catlin has done a fine job, erudite and entertaining, informative and perceptive, with a splendid choice of visual matter.’  James Stevens Curl, The Critic

‘Simply titled Edwin Rickards, Brittain-Catlin’s book is a concise architectural biography of an important but widely underappreciated British architect. Beautifully written and engaging throughout, it aims to show that Rickards (1872–1920) was both a and one of British history’s great artist-architects.’
G. A. Bremner, The Burlington Magazine

‘Timothy Brittain-Catlin’s new monograph in The Victorian Society series, published by Liverpool University Press, is a welcome and incisive introduction to the work of this extraordinary figure. Brittain-Catlin deftly deals with the complexity of his character and with the structural and artistic qualities of his architecture, and the book benefits from excellent new photography by Robin Forster which conveys the sheer bravado of these buildings’
Jeremy Musson, The Victorian

‘In this well-illustrated book (the latest in the Victorian Society’s invaluable series on Victorian and Edwardian architects), which includes many high-quality contemporary photographs of Rickards’ buildings, and reproductions of his architectural drawings, caricatures and accomplished watercolours, the author presents an engaging and lively review of Rickards’ professional life; and the book is enhanced by numerous references to his personal interests and friendships, notably his long and enduring one with the novelist, Arnold Bennett… This is a splendid book, with a comprehensive bibliography and a list of all Rickards’ executed works.’
Nicholas Doggett, Context

‘delightful and beautifully illustrated book’  James Stevens Curl, The Critic

‘the photographs by Robin Forster are stupendous’ James Stevens Curl, The Critic

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Geoff Brandwood, who died suddenly in November 2021, was the author of monographs on Sharpe, Paley & Austin and on Temple Moore. He was a former chairman of the The Victorian Society.

Co-author Peter Howell is Honorary Research Fellow at Royal Holloway, University of London and a former chairman of the The Victorian Society. The late Peter Taylor, co-author, was a researcher and photographer of architectural history as well as a member of the The Victorian Society.

“very welcome, well-informed, and beautifully illustrated.” The Church Times

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Peter Howell is a former chairman of the The Victorian Society.

The price includes UK postage. To buy the book, create or login to an account on our website then click on add to basket on the right handside of this page. Please note that there will be a delay in postage due to COVID-19.

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The house he designed for himself at Ramsgate transformed the Victorian Gothic villa, demonstrating the ways a thoroughly modern house could draw integral lessons from the Middle Ages.

Although his whole ideal was woven around a conception of English identity, his influence was international. Architects in the United States, northern Europe, and across the British Empire followed his lead, drawing from elements of his aesthetic and ideals, and in doing so, altered the look and feel of the nineteenth-century city.

Author Information

David Frazer Lewis is Assistant Professor, School of Architecture, University of Notre Dame.

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