Research on Wren Home Wren Biography Career Links   Martin Centre   Email		Wren Bibliography As Surveyor of the King's Works, architect of St Paul's cathedral and President of the Royal Society, Wren left behind a bewildering quantity of drawings, letters, and documents concerning his professional activities, but he never kept a diary. Details of his childhood and personal life thus have to be patched together from other sources. Understandably England's most famous architect has attracted his fair share of attention from architectural historians. As the list below shows, the quantity of writing on him is substantial and continues to be added to at an impressive rate. At the time that this bibliography was being first compiled in December 2000 at least three new biographies of Wren were in preparation, progress was being made on publishing revised catalogues of his drawings at the Soane Museum and All Soul's College, Oxford and a massive volume was being written on the history of St Paul's Cathedral. The following list is thus a work in progress. There are undoubtedly many omissions but I shall do my best to keep it relatively up to date. All suggestions will be gratefully received. Useful contributions will be acknowledged in the Acknowledgements and Sources section. General works on the period Recommmended John Summerson, Architecture in Britain 1530-1830 Penguin: without doubt the best general introduction to English architecture of the period. Thoroughly readable. Sir Howard Colvin A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840 Yale University Press: Colvin's single volume dictionary lists every known architect of the period. Entries are clearly set out and provide the most reliable attributions to date. Essential reference, listing manuscript sources. Selected Others G.Worsley, Classical Architecture in Britain: the Heroic Age, , Yale, London 1995 K.Downes, English Baroque Architecture, Zwemmer, 1966 Ralph Dutton, The age of Wren, Batsford, London, 1951 Essential works on Wren H.M.Colvin, J.Morduant Crook, Kerry Downes and John Newman, The History of the King's Works, Volume 5, 1976 Wren Society, 20 vols, 1924-43 Reprints many of the original manuscript sources and most of Wren's drawings. Paul Waterhouse, et al.The Bicentenary Volume: Sir Christopher Wren 1632-1723, London, 1923 Biographies Michael St John Parker, Sir Christopher Wren, , Wessex Books, 1998 James Chambers, Christopher Wren, Phoenix Mill, Sutton, 1998 Kerry Downes, The Architecture of Wren, 1982 G.Beard, The Work of Christopher Wren, Nicholson, 1982 Kerry Downes, Sir Christopher Wren, catalogue of an exhibition at Whitechapel Art Gallery, 1982 Harold F. Hutchinson, Christopher Wren: A Biography, New York, 1976 B. Little, Sir Christopher Wren, London, 1975 A.Cobban, 250 years after Sir Christopher Wren, Melksham, 1974 Kerry Downes, Christopher Wren, 1971 Margaret Whinney, Wren, Thames and Hudson, 1971 H.Gould, Sir Christopher Wren, London, 1970 Victor Furst, The Architecture of Sir Christopher Wren, 1956 G.Bolton, Sir Christopher Wren, London, 1956 E.F.Sekler, Wren and his place in European Architecture, 1956 John Summerson, Sir Christopher Wren, London, 1953 Martin S.Briggs, Wren the Incomparable, London,1951 John Lindsey, Wren and his Time, London, 1951 Geoffrey Webb, Sir Christopher Wren, 1937 C. Whitaker-Wilson, Sir Christopher Wren, London, 1932 R.J.E. Hanson, A Brief tribute to Sir Christopher Wren, 1931 Sir Lawrence Weaver, Sir Christopher Wren, London, 1932 Martin S. Briggs, Christopher Wren, 1913 Lena Milman, Sir Christopher Wren, New York, 1908 Arthur Stratton, The Life and Works of Sir Christopher Wren, Liverpool, 1897 W.J.Loftie, Inigo Jones and Wren, London 1893 Lucy Phillimore, Sir Christopher Wren: his Family and Times, London, 1881 C.H.B. Ker, Sir Christopher Wren, London 1828 James Elmes, Memoirs of the Life and Works of Sir Christopher Wren, London, 1823 Stephen Wren, Parentalia or Memoirs of the family of the Wrens, 1750 J.Ward, Lives of the Gresham Professors, London 1740 Biographical articles Harold Donaldson Eberlain, 'Sir Christopher Wren, 1632-1723', Architectural Forum, New York, Feb. 1923, vol. XXXVIII, no.2 R.Clipston Sturgis, ' Sir Christopher Wren', Journal of the American Institute of Architects, New York, 1923, vol.XI, no.3 W.T.Law, 'Notes on the Wren Pedigree,', Genealogist, N.S., vi, 1889, 168-71 H.S.Smith, 'Pedigree of Wren', Genealogist, NS I, 1884, 262-6 Contemporary Accounts John Aubrey, Brief Lives, printed edition in London, 1949 Evelyn Hooke J.W.Ryland, Records of Wroxhall Abbey and Manor, 1903 Writing on specific Aspects of his life and work Parentalia One of the earliest biographies of Wren and certainly the most important, Parentalia was published by his grandson from manuscripts by his son. Three manuscripts survive. The earliest, dated 1719, is in the British Library. A second one, dated 1728, survives in All Souls College Oxford. A third, dated 1741, is held at the Royal Society. The 'heirloom' copy (owned by the RIBA) of the printed book with manuscript additions was reprinted by Gregg Press in 1965 and it is this facsimile version that is most frequently cited today. Stephen Wren, Parentalia or Memoirs of the family of the Wrens, 1750, reprinted by Gregg Press, 1965 Articles on the various versions of Parentalia: J.A.Bennett, 'A Study of Parentalia, with two unpublished letters of Sir Christopher Wren', Annals of Science, xxx, 1973 Eileen Harris, British Architectural Books and Writers, 1556-1785, 1990, pp.503-8 Freemasonry The first constitutions of the Freemasons cited Wren as having been a Grand Master of the Craft. Wren's son certainly seems to have been actively involved in Freemasonry and Parentalia even contains a Freemasonic illustration. There is , however, little by way of evidence for Wren's membership of the organisation. The case for and against is summarised in: Francis de P. Castells, Was Sir Christopher Wren a Mason?, 1917 Drawings Most of Wren's drawings are reprinted in the twenty volumes of the Wren Society. There have, however, been a number of discoveries since its completion that are important to note. The most important work in this field is currently being carried out by Dr Anthony Geraghty (on the drawings at All Soul's and St Paul's) and Dr Gordon Higgot (on the drawngs at the Soane Museum and St Paul's). Articles earlier than 1940 are provided for reference only and may be presumed to have been superseded by the Wren Society. Anthony Geraghty,'Nicholas Hawksmoor and the Wren City Church Steeples', Georgian Group Journal, 10 (2000), pp.1-14 (attributes many so-called Wren drawings to Hawksmoor) Anthony Geraghty,'Introducing Thomas Laine, draughtsman to Sir Christopher Wren', Architectural History, 42 (1999), pp.240-45 (attributes many so-called Wren drawings to Laine) Paul Jeffery,' Where are they now? Wren drawings from the Bute Collection', Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain Newsletter, 50 (1993), pp.4-5 Kerry Downes, Sir Christopher Wren: The Design of St Paul's Cathedral, (a catalogue of all the St Paul's drawings), London 1988 Kerry Downes, Sir Christopher Wren, catalogue of an exhibition at Whitechapel Art Gallery, 1982 (includes previously unpublished drawings) J. S. G. Simmons, The Wren Drawings at All Souls, Oxford, 1977 John Summerson, 'Drawings of London Churches in the Bute Collection: a catalogue', Architectural History, xiii, 1970 P.D.Harvey, 'A signed plan by Sir Christopher Wren', British Museum Quarterly, xxv, 1963 Sotheby and Co., Catalogue of Architectural Drawings...by Sir Christopher Wren E.Beresford Chancellor, 'Wren's Restoration of Westminster Abbey; the drawings', Connoisseur, 1927, vol.LXXVII Science & Engineering The standard work is: J.A.Bennett, The Mathematical science of Christopher Wren, Cambridge University Press, 1982 See also in reverse chronological order: Lisa Jardine, Ingenious Pursuits,Little Brown and Company, 1999 H.W.Jones, Sir Christopher Wren and Natural Philosophy: a checklist of his scientific activities', Notes and Records of the Royal Society, xiii, 1958 John Summerson 'Sir Christopher Wren P.R.S,' Notes and Records of the Royal Society, xv, 1960 S.B.Hamilton, ' The Place of Sir Christopher Wren in the History of Structural Engineering', Transactions of the Newcomen Society, xiv, 1933-4 Library Wren's library was passed to his son Christopher the compiler of the Parentalia, on his death. The younger Wren died in 1747 and his library was sold in October 1748 . Sir Christopher also left a number of books to other places. The library as sold was of course that of both the younger and older Wren. There are tantalisingly few works in the collection and a number of books Wren is known to have owned are missing. Both the lists in the Wren Society and Furst are unreliable and highly edited. Work on Wren's library is currently being carried out by Robert Ferguson which will hopefully lead to a more complete catalogue in the near future. J. A. Bennett, Studies in the life and work of Sir Christopher Wren. PhD, Cambridge, 1974. Sale Catalogues of the Libraries of Eminent Persons, vol. Iv, Architects, ed. D.J.Watkin, 1972, 1-43 Travel The extent of Wren's travel abroad is uncertain. The only documentary evidence we have is for a long trip to Northern France, It has been speculated that Wren also travelled in Holland and his knowledge of Italian architecture was impressive but it is likely that he drew on engravings (of which he and his friend Hooke owned many) for his knowledge of these places. The trip to France is commented on in the Wren Society and in: Lydia Soo, Wren's Tracts on architecture and other writings, Cambridge University Press, 1997 Margaret Whinney, 'Sir Christopher Wren's Visit to Paris', Gazette des Beaux Arts, 6th ser. 51, 1958 Information on Dutch influences on Wren's work can be found in: W.Kuyper, Dutch Classicist Architecture: a survey of Dutch Architectrure , Gardens and Anglo-Dutch Architectural Relations from 1625-1700, Delft University Press, 1980 Architectural Theory Wren wrote little on architectural theory leaving the way open to a great deal of speculation. All his writings on the subject have now been collected and carefully analysed in: Lydia Soo, Wren's Tracts on architecture and other writings, Cambridge University Press, 1997 See also in reverse chronological order: J.A.Bennett, The Mathematical science of Christopher Wren, Cambridge University Press, 1982 J.A.Bennett, 'Christopher Wren: the natural causes of beauty', Architectural History, 15, 1972 John Summerson, 'The Mind of Wren', in Heavenly Mansions and Other Essays on Architecture, 1949 F.Kimball, 'Wren: some of his sources', Architectural Review, 1v, 1924 Architectural Projects It would be impossible to present here full bibliographies for all the buildings which Wren worked on in his lifetime. Reference should be made to the Wren Society and Colvin's Dictionary (cited above) for sources for individual buildings. I have tried to provide a feel for development of the subject in the chronological lists below: Royal Works Kerry Downes, 'Wren and Whitehall in 1664', Burlington Magazine, Feb. 1971 H.M.Colvin, J.Morduant Crook, Kerry Downes and John Newman, The History of the King's Works Volume 5, 1976 City Churches (general) Standard work: Paul Jeffery, The City Churches of Sir Christopher Wren, Hambledon Press, 1996 Other works in reverse chronological order: Derek Kendall, The City of London Churches, Collins and Brown, 1998 Nikolaus Pevsner and Simon Bradley, London: the City Churches, Penguin, 1998 Lord Templeman, City Churches Commission: Report to the Bishop, London 1994 Stephen Wheatley, The real Wren churches, London, c1992 C.Hibbert, London's Churches, Macdonald, London 1988 Colin Amery, Wren's London. Luton, Beds., 1988 Elizabeth and Wayland Young, London's Churches, 1986 Nicholas Redman (ed.) of revised edition of Cobb (below), London City Churches, London, 1977 John Betjeman, The City of London Churches, London 1974 B.F.L.Clarke, Parish Churches of London, London, 1966 Elizabeth and Wayland Young, Old London Churches, 1956 Lord Merriman, The City Churches: Report of the Bishop of Lonodn's Commission, London 1946 Gerald Cobb, The Old Churches of London, London 1941 E.Jeffries Davis, 'The Parish Churches of the City of London', Jnl of the Royal Society of Arts, lxxxiii, 9 August 1935 Philip Norman, The London City Churches, 2nd edn 1929 T.F.Bumpus, Ancient London Churches, London 1923 (a revised edition of London Churches below) Herbert Reynolds, The Churches of the City of London, London 1922 Lord Phillimore, City of London Churches Commission, London 1919 T.F.Bumpus, London Churches ancient and modern, 2 vols. London 1908 Ralph Cleveland, 'Sir Christopher Wren's City Churches', New England Magazine, Boston, Sept 1901-Feb.1902; vol XXV, pp.478-96 J.G.White, Churches and Chapels of Old London, London 1901 George Birch, London Churches of the 17th and 18th centuries, London, 1896 A.E.Daniell, London City Churches, London 1895 W.Niven, London Churches destroyed since AD 1800 or now threatened, London 1887 A.H.Mackmurdo, Wren's City Churches, Orpington 1883 A.T.Taylor, The Towers and Steeples designed by Sir Christopher Wren, London, 1881 John Clayton, the Parochiall Churches of Sir Christopher Wren, London, 1848-9 George Godwin and John Britton, The Churches of London, 2 vols London, 1838-9 C.Clarke, Architecture Ecclesiastica Londini, London, 1811-21 City Churches (specific) Paul Jeffery, 'Wren's St Mary, and other projects for Lincoln's Inn Fields', Architectural History, 31, 1988 John Deacon, 'The Story of St Christopher-le-Stocks', The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street, 52 (1982) 76-78 Howard Colvin, The Church if St Mary Aldermary and its Rebuilding after the Great Fire of London' Architectural History, 24 (1981), pp.24-31 Robert H.Harrison, St Edmund King and Martyr, Eccesiological Society, London 1960 Walter Godfrey, St Bride Fleet Street, Survey of London Monograph, 15, London 1944 S.Buss, Sir Christopher's Church of St Anne and St Agnes, 1909 Edwin Freshfield [published parochial records of ]St Stephen Coleman Street, London 1887 Edwin Freshfield [published parochial records of ] St Margaret Lothbury with St Christopher-le-Stocks and Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange , London 1876 William Herbet, The History of St Michael Crooked Lane, London 1831 St Paul's Cathedral Much of Wren's reputation relies on his masterpiece, the rebuilding of St Paul's. The Wren Society reprints many of the original accounts and provides the best single source. The most important works on the subject are: Vaughan Hart, St Paul's Cathedral: Sir Christopher Wren, Phaidon, London, 1995 Kerry Downes, Sir Christopher Wren: The Design of St Paul's Cathedral, London 1988 Jane Lang, Rebuilding St Paul's after the Great Fire of London, 1956 Arthur F.E. Poley, St Paul's Cathedral...measured drawn, and described, London, 1927 Works in reverse chronological order: Vaughan Hart, St Paul's Cathedral: Sir Christopher Wren, Phaidon, London, 1995 Kerry Downes, 'Sir Christopher Wren, Edward Woodroffe, J.H. Mansart and Architectural History', Architectural History, 37, 1994, 37-67 Terry Friedman, '"Behold the proud stupendous pile": 18th century reflections on St Paul's Cathedral', in English Architecture public and private, ed. J.Bold and E.Chaney, Hambledon Press, London, 1993, pp.134-46 Kerry Downes (ed.), Sir Christopher Wren and the Making of St Pauls, Royal Academy, London, 1991 American Architectural Foundation, Sir Christopher Wren and the legacy of St Paul's Cathedral, Washington, 1990 Kerry Downes, Sir Christopher Wren: The Design of St Paul's Cathedral, London 1988 Peter Burman, St Paul's Cathedral, Bell and Hyman, London, 1987 John Illsley, 'Admiral Lord Edward Russell and the building of St Paul's cathedral', Mariners Mirror, LXVIII, (1982), 305-16 Janet Jarvis, Christopher Wren's Cotswold Masons, Thornhill Press, Cheltenham, 1980 Ronald Gray, Christopher Wren and St. Paul's Cathedral, Cambridge, 1979 George Francis Tull, The heritage of centuries: cathedrals and other churches of London, Manor Press, Ashford, Kent, 1976 Joseph Harold Bettey, 'The supply of stone for rebuilding St Paul's Cathedral', Archaeological Journal, CXXVIII (1971), 176-85 Paul Paget, 'St Paul's Cathedral yesterday and today', London Society Journal, no.368 (1964) 58-68 Sir John Summerson, 'The penultimate design for St Paul's cathedral', Burlington Magazine, CIII (1961), 83-9 Walter Robert Matthews and William Maynard Atkins, A History of St Paul's Cathedral and the men associated with it, Phoenix House, London, 1957 C.L.R. Nicolai, The story of St Paul's Cathedral, Watford, London, 1959 Jane Lang, Rebuilding St Paul's after the Great Fire of London, 1956 Glorney Bolton, The Dome of Devotion, Davies, London 1938 Arthur Edward Henderson, St Paul's Cathedral, London, then and now, S.P.C.K., London, 1937 Maurice Frederic Foxell, Wren's craftsmen at St Paul's cathedral, Muller, London, 1934 Arthur F.E. Poley, St Paul's Cathedral...measured drawn, and described, London, 1927 S.A.Warner, St Paul's Cathedral, S.P.C.K., London, 1926 Edwin Beresord Chancellor, St Paul's Cathedral, Dent, London, 1925 Arthur Dimock, The Cathedral church of St Paul's, 5th edn, revised, Bell, London 1915 Geraldine Edith Mitton, St Paul's Cathedral, Black, London, 1914 Mervyn Macartney, 'Some investigations into the soil in and around St Paul's cathedral, and comparison with data in Parentalia', Society of Antiquaries of London Proceedings, 2nd ser. XXVI (1913-14) 218-28 J.S.Bumpus, St Paul's Cathedral, London 1913 Somers Clarke, 'St Paul's Cathedral', Architectural Review, XXII (1907), 143-55 George Clinch, St Paul's Cathedral, London 1906 J.W.Horsley, 'An account of rebuilding the cathedral church of St Paul's, London', Ars Quatuor Coronatum, XVII (1904), 101-25 Lewis Gilbertson, Some notes chiefly on the fabric of the cathedral church of St Paul in London, 5th edn, Innes, London, 1897 William Newbolt, St Paul's Cathedral, Ibister, London, 1897 Anon.,St Paul's Cathedral: its history and architecture, Amott, London, 1892 William Sparrow Simpson, Documents illustrating the history of St Paul's Cathedral, Camden Soc. Publns. N.s.26) London, 1880 F.C.Penrose, 'Notes on St Paul's Cathedral', RIBA Transactions, XIX (1879), 93-104 William Longman, A history of the three cathedrals dedicated to St Paul in London, Longmans, London 1873 Henry Hart Milman, Annals of St Paul's Cathedral, 2nd edn., Murray, London 1869 Arthur Ashpitel, 'The Original drawings of Sir Christopher Wren for St Paul's Cathedral', London and Middlesex Archaeological Society Transactions, III (1866), 39-51 James Sykes, Historical Sketch of St Paul's cathedral, 8th edn, Willoughby, London, 1848 Robert Collier Packman, Spiritualities and temporalities of St Paul's Cathedral, 2nd edn, Edwards, London, 1839 G.L.Smyth, The Monuments and Genii of St Paul's Cathedral, and of Westminster Abbey, Williams, London, 1826 Misc. Buildings R.A.Beddard, 'Wren's Mausoleum for Charles I', Architectural History, 27, 1984, W.D.Caroe, Tom Tower, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1923 Biography Links Acknowledgements and Sources James Campbell Revised March 2001