John's Books
Books on gothic and the soul by John James.
These are published by WEST GRINSTEAD PUBLISHING
All prices are in $AUD, and include postage within Australia. There is no
GST at this stage.
Chapter headings and a few selected quotes are including in the web pages for each book.
Notes to
Transformation, 1994
112 pages, cost $25, ISBN 0-646-16407-4.
A guide for the inner journey to the Self - a goal that John believes
can be achieved in this lifetime. This book should be a constant
reference for those who wish to clear their personal issues in the
search for spiritual transformation and inner truth. "May this
be a sounding board for for your own experiences and concepts
of the journey, and may it stimulate you to keep on exploring in
your own way." John James
The Template-Makers of the Paris Basin, 1989
248 pages, 283 illustrations, cost $100, ISBN 0731645200.
Toichological techniques for identifying the pioneers of the Gothic
movement with an examination of art-historical methodology. Toichology
means a 'standing wall' and is to standing structures what archaeology
is to below ground remains. This book describes medieval construction
methods around 1200, and that every church in the Paris area, without
exception, was constructed in many small and interrupted campaigns
with the master masons, or builder-architects, changing each time.
The
Ark of God - The Creation of Gothic Architecture, an Illustrated
Thesaurus , 2002
Part A, Volumes 1 and 2, The Evolution of Foliate Capitals 1170
to 1250.
1,632 pages, 10,000 photographs, cost $AUD.1,700, ISBN 0 9596005
8 2
THE ARK OF GOD is a comprehensive pictorial history of Early Gothic
churches in the limestone region of northern France known as the
Paris Basin. The first part, in volumes 1 and 2, presents over 10,000
illustration of the carved foliate capitals from 1170 to 1250.
The Paris Basin contains 1,420 churches with work from these years. Most have never
been published. The photographs will illustrate over half of these which significantly
contributed to the creation of the new architecture.
JUST PUBLISHED. ONLY 400 COPIES PRINTED, AND OF THESE
50 only will be numbered and signed BY THE AUTHOR on request.
The Master Masons of Chartres, 1985
200 pages, 116 illustrations, cost $55, ISBN 0646008056
Chartres is one of the most impressive and exciting buildings from the Middle Ages, and is
preserved almost intact. Yet we know nothing of the men who created it. In this
masterpiece of detection, James shows how he came to identify the master masons from the
stones themselves.
His meticulous "reading" of the cathedral tells us much about these men, how
they solved problems of engineering and design, how they raised two-ton stones 40 meters
into the air, how one mason without telephone or printer controlled over 300 men on this
gigantic workshop, He even extracts something of their artistic personalities.
The Contractors of Chartres, 1981
578 pages, 2 volumes, 802 illustrations, cost $200, ISBN 0959600531
The basic analysis of the cathedral, how it was built, the identification of the master
who did it, and over 30 full-page isometric drawings that who each stage of the
construction. Discusses the geometry in detail, and the symbolic meaning attached to many
of the construction processes.
THERE ARE ONLY 32 COPIES REMAINING !
Northern Hemisphere Distributor: Boydell and Brewer - contact: rbarber@boydell.co.uk
Southern Hemisphere Distributor: West Grinstead Publications
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