Cast-Iron Architecture in America: The Significance of James Bogardus

Margot Gayle and Carol Gayle

Overview

The first book on the life and work of the pioneer of American cast-iron architecture.

Nineteenth-century American inventor and entrepreneur James Bogardus was known for his unique grinding mill and other patented devices, but his enduring claim to fame is his cast-iron structures, forerunners of the modern skyscraper. A passionate advocate for iron's strength, economy, suitability for ornamentation, and fire resistance, he invented several new methods of construction; his buildings rose from New York to San Francisco and Havana. Modern interest in Bogardus stems from the historic preservation movement; his four surviving buildings, in New York, are recognized landmarks.

Acclaim

"Margot Gayle has long been the leading figure in the worldonce very nearly the lost world of cast-iron architecture. . . . No one is better fitted than she to explore the life and work of James Bogardus."

--Brendan Gill

About the Author

Margot Gayle, a nationally known authority on cast-iron architecture, lives in New York City. Carol Gayle teaches history at Lake Forest College, Illinois

ISBN: 0-393-73015-8
1997
192 pages, Illustrated