citings louis h. suliivan The Documents of Modern Art Director, Robert MotherweU Kindergarten Chats revised 1918 and other writings Louis H. Sullivan George Wittenborn, Inc., New York 22 N. Y. Acknowledgments The publishers and editor wish to acknowledge their indebtedness, for material, assistance and advice, to the following persons Mr. George Grant Eimslie, executor of Sullivans literary estate, whose - wholehearted cooperation made this publication possible Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Morrison, of Hanover, N. H. the staff of the Burnham Library of Architecture, The Art Institute of Chicago, especially Miss Etheldred Abbot and Mrs. T. M. Hofmeester, Jr. particular thanks are due for generous loan of manuscripts the staff of the Avery Library, Columbia University, especially Mr. Talbot Hamlin and Mrs. Corinne Spencer all other persons who have kindly aided in obtaining documents and illustrative material. Publishers Note During the last days of the war the publishers determined upon the reprinting of the complete text of the following works, an undertaking which was warmly seconded by Mr. Eimslie. Our thoughts then turned to someone capable of handling all the literary and technical details involved. Our gratitude and admiration go to Isabella Athey who, in spite of many obstacles, successfully collated all available material in order that the contemporary reader should have the benefit of meeting a great American thinker and architect. Without Miss A they s unfailing endeavors as - well as valuable assistance from other sources this publication might never have reached the public which we believe Sullivans writings deserve. Copyright, 1947, by George Wittenborn, Inc. 1018 Madison Ave., NewYork 21, N. Y. Manufactured in the United States of America by The Gallery Press, New York, N. Y. Offset reprint, 1955 Manufactured by Halliday Lithograph Corp., West Hanover, Mass. Cover design and typography by Paul Rand 4. Editorial Note The printing of the unpublished revision of Kindergarten Chats in this volume carries out at last Louis Sullivans wish that his work be issued in book form his Foreword., written in July 1918, is our authority. That no publisher was found during the six remaining years of Ms life., and that a good deal of vagueness and misunderstanding arose concerning Sullivans attitude to this work as well as with regard to the existence and condition of a revised manuscript reflects the com monplace that human nature and scholarship are inextricably bound together. Sullivan believed that a building represented an act, and that such an act re vealed the man behind it, the mind and ethics of the architect, more conclusively and unerringly than any statement. In this sense, the fifty-two consecutive essays entitled Kindergarten Chats are an act, requiring no officious introduction or inter pretation. Nevertheless, a few general remarks should be made to suggest the nature and significance of Sullivans editing of 1918, particularly since the first version published serially in 1901 is available only in a few obscure files, and that edited by Claude Bragdon in 1 934 is out of print. From June to October 1918, Sullivan worked over the manuscript and produced the text which follows, and which therefore represents its definitive form. The actual manuscript gives the impression that Sullivan revised in the exact meaning of the word, that he gave attention to everysentence and paragraph, that his alterations of word and phrase, his cutting and rewriting, were the product of genuine reconsid eration and a desire for greater clarity. The redundant or unprecise adjective was discarded the specific term was substituted for the more general or the vague one repetitive passages were deleted. Throughout this revision and the text here pub lished was prepared directly from the original manuscript it may be said that the secondary has been sacrificed to the primary...

2014 Reprint of 1947 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Louis Henry Sullivan was one of the foremost American architects, and has been called the "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism." He is considered by many as the creator of the modern skyscraper, was an influential architect and critic of the Chicago School, was a mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright, and an inspiration to the Chicago group of architects who have come to be known as the Prairie School. Along with Henry Hobson Richardson and Wright, Sullivan is one of "the recognized trinity of American architecture." This collection of his writings includes other essays in additional to the book length "Kindergarten Chats." The are: Characteristics and Tendencies of American Architecture What is the Just Subordination, in Architectural Design, of Details to Mass? Ornament in Architecture Emotional Architecture as Compared to Intellectual The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered The Young Man in Architecture Education What is Architecture: A Study in the American People of Today

citings louis h. suliivan The Documents of Modern Art Director, Robert MotherweU Kindergarten Chats revised 1918 and other writings Louis H. Sullivan George Wittenborn, Inc., New York 22 N. Y. Acknowledgments The publishers and editor wish to acknowledge their indebtedness, for material, assistance and advice, to the following persons Mr. George Grant Eimslie, executor of Sullivans literary estate, whose - wholehearted cooperation made this publication possible Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Morrison, of Hanover, N. H. the staff of the Burnham Library of Architecture, The Art Institute of Chicago, especially Miss Etheldred Abbot and Mrs. T. M. Hofmeester, Jr. particular thanks are due for generous loan of manuscripts the staff of the Avery Library, Columbia University, especially Mr. Talbot Hamlin and Mrs. Corinne Spencer all other persons who have kindly aided in obtaining documents and illustrative material. Publishers Note During the last days of the war the publishers determined upon the reprinting of the complete text of the following works, an undertaking which was warmly seconded by Mr. Eimslie. Our thoughts then turned to someone capable of handling all the literary and technical details involved. Our gratitude and admiration go to Isabella Athey who, in spite of many obstacles, successfully collated all available material in order that the contemporary reader should have the benefit of meeting a great American thinker and architect. Without Miss A they s unfailing endeavors as - well as valuable assistance from other sources this publication might never have reached the public which we believe Sullivans writings deserve. Copyright, 1947, by George Wittenborn, Inc. 1018 Madison Ave., NewYork 21, N. Y. Manufactured in the United States of America by The Gallery Press, New York, N. Y. Offset reprint, 1955 Manufactured by Halliday Lithograph Corp., West Hanover, Mass. Cover design and typography by Paul Rand 4. Editorial Note The printing of the unpublished revision of Kindergarten Chats in this volume carries out at last Louis Sullivans wish that his work be issued in book form his Foreword., written in July 1918, is our authority. That no publisher was found during the six remaining years of Ms life., and that a good deal of vagueness and misunderstanding arose concerning Sullivans attitude to this work as well as with regard to the existence and condition of a revised manuscript reflects the com monplace that human nature and scholarship are inextricably bound together. Sullivan believed that a building represented an act, and that such an act re vealed the man behind it, the mind and ethics of the architect, more conclusively and unerringly than any statement. In this sense, the fifty-two consecutive essays entitled Kindergarten Chats are an act, requiring no officious introduction or inter pretation. Nevertheless, a few general remarks should be made to suggest the nature and significance of Sullivans editing of 1918, particularly since the first version published serially in 1901 is available only in a few obscure files, and that edited by Claude Bragdon in 1 934 is out of print. From June to October 1918, Sullivan worked over the manuscript and produced the text which follows, and which therefore represents its definitive form. The actual manuscript gives the impression that Sullivan revised in the exact meaning of the word, that he gave attention to everysentence and paragraph, that his alterations of word and phrase, his cutting and rewriting, were the product of genuine reconsid eration and a desire for greater clarity. The redundant or unprecise adjective was discarded the specific term was substituted for the more general or the vague one repetitive passages were deleted. Throughout this revision and the text here pub lished was prepared directly from the original manuscript it may be said that the secondary has been sacrificed to the primary...

2014 Reprint of 1926 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. "The Autobiography of an Idea" is an account of Sullivan's career and his architectural theories. Sullivan was a spokesman for the reform of architecture, an opponent of historical eclecticism, and did much to remake the image of the architect as a creative personality. His own designs are characterized by richness of ornament. His importance lies in his writings as well as in his architectural achievements. These writings, which are subjective and metaphorical, suggest directions for architecture, rather than explicit doctrines or programs. Sullivan himself warned of the danger of mechanical theories of art.