Description
WINNER OF THE FLORIDA HISTORICAL SOCIETY'S 2024 CHARLTON TEBEAU AWARD • An award-winning work that weaves together architectural, church and Florida history, this sumptuous hard-bound volume features engrossing storytelling, an abundance of vibrant color photographs, and rare black-and-white images from the past.
"Richly satisfying... a sterling act of preservation in its own right."
-- The Right Reverend Samuel Johnson Howard, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Florida
"A wonderful contribution not only to our state's history but to those who prize handsome books. Elegantly written, beautifully designed and splendidly illustrated."
-- Maurice "Socky" O'Sullivan, Kenneth Curry Professor of Literature Emeritus, Rollins College
"Unusually angled, passionate and discerning."
-- John H. Rogers, Architect, FAIA
"Visually arresting... lovingly rendered."
--Alan Bliss, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer, Jacksonville Historical Society & Jacksonville History Center
In Spires in the Sun: The Carpenter Gothic Episcopal Churches of Florida, writer Jonathan Rich and photographer Phil Eschbach offer the stories behind the oldest surviving wood-frame Episcopal churches in Florida. Constructed in the 1800s when Florida was the nation's raw southeastern frontier, these churches breathed the romantic sensibilities of England's stone parish churches into a new medium: wood. With their counterparts built in the Carpenter Gothic style in other states, they elevated the American wooden church to new heights of historicity, imagination, and beauty.
Captivating enough as exemplars of vernacular architecture, Florida's Carpenter Gothic Episcopal churches also serve as time portals through which we meet the men and women who built them. Readers may be surprised to learn that more than half the profiled churches were built under the leadership of women, one of whom was abolitionist-novelist Harriet Beecher Stowe. They will discover, for example, that one of the churches was sponsored by a Civil War widow whose youthful romance with her husband has been called Florida's Romeo and Juliet. Another church was constructed to serve crowds arriving by train to attend the nationally celebrated Florida Chautauqua series. And one, raised by an African American master carpenter, is now Florida's oldest Episcopal sanctuary historically led and attended by African Americans.
A cri de coeur for architectural preservation, Spires in the Sun fulfills the dictum of conservationist Baba Dioum: "We will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand; and we will understand only what we are taught." Fresh, comprehensive, and authoritative, this book will be considered the definitive work on these churches. From its pages, both newcomers and those who already cherish these architectural gems will gain fascinating insights and come to love them as never before.
Retail price of $75, our special price discounted to $65.
For more info on Spires in the Sun author events, visit our Upcoming Events section on the website here. Upcoming Events – St. John's Cathedral Bookstore & Gift Shop
Spires in the Sun: The Carpenter Gothic Episcopal Churches of Florida by J. Rich and P. Eschbach
$65.00