Lighthouses: A Norton/Library of Congress Visual Sourcebook

Sara E. Wermiel

Praise for Lighthouses:

“[A]ttractively presented. . . . For those interested in these iconic structures, this is a must.”—Newcomen Society Transactions

“[B]eautifully-produced. . . . Lavishly illustrated. . . . It's a marvellous book—historically and technically fascinating.”—Nautilus UK Telegraph

“[F]ull of fascinating examples of how a functional building type can be turned into something more ambitious. . . . [E]xhaustive compendium.”—Building Design

“[F]or readers who want to study lighthouses as much as admire them, perhaps sensing that the more one studies these navigational aids, the more admirable they become.”—The Wall Street Journal

“Few buildings are as iconic as the lighthouses. . . and no book to come along so far does as good a job as Sara E. Wermiel's Lighthouses. . . . If you are not familiar with the sheer variety of American lighthouse building materials and locations, Lighthouses is the place to begin.”—O Scale Trains Magazine

Overview — Index

The fourth title in the Norton/Library of Congress series, this abundantly illustrated book conveys the romance and beauty of lighthouses and beacons while explaining the development of the forms, materials, architecture, and engineering of their structure: wood, masonry, cast-iron plate, on- and off-shore skeletal, caisson, and reinforced concrete. It covers lighthouses from all parts of the United States from the late eighteenth century to the 1940s, when control of the lighthouses was transferred to the Coast Guard and after which few new ones were constructed. Images of lighthouses from coast to coast provide examples of striking design and setting as well as celebrating technological achievement and the work of important engineers include associated structures such as keepers’ quarters, fog signal buildings, boathouses and boat railroads, cistern buildings, barns, and workshops, as well as interiors and working details of the light mechanisms.

About the Author –

Sara Wermiel, an independent scholar, lives in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts.

ISBN 10: 0-393-73166-9
ISBN 13: 978-0-393-73166-8

December 2006, 336 pages,
600 b/w illustrations, cloth w/CD-ROM