Barns

The first in the Norton/Library of Congress Visual Sourcebooks series, presents a broad, fresh, and newly informed visual analysis of one of America's fundamental building types. In a nation founded upon agrarian principles, with a cultural and physical landscape as vast as it is diverse, the barn has long been recognized as an American icon. Drawn from the vast holdings of the Library of Congress, nearly 1,000 illustrations provide a tour of barns across the United States, from New England to the Great Lakes to the South, Midwest, and Far West. traces geographical and chronological continuities of type, design, and construction, and Dutch, German, French and Spanish influence. Captions identify each document and building, and all images are included on a CD-ROM with a link to the Library's high-resolution files. is the first comprehensive visual resource of its kind, an invaluable tool for architects, historians, students, and all those who love barns.

"A work that exceeds the expectations of the most demanding historians of American rural studies...throughly researched from an impeccable list of sources and interpreted in a lively style that engages both the academic and the casual reader." Bright Eastman

"Impressive...well arranged...These rich images provide fascinating glimpses into the character of the American landscape...through its great breadth there is no doubt that will play a very important role in helping to provide for better public recognition and appreciation of one of America's most threatened cultural resources." TDSR

"A treasury of fabulous photographs...being a comprehensive and unique visual resource, will be invaluable to students, educators, researchers, historians, and lovers of barns." TDSR

"....is the first (one hopes of many) in the Norton/Library of Congress Visual Sourcebook Series. Vlach (George Washington Univ.) presents a captivating visual perspective on American history through one if its cultural and architectural landmarks. Tapping into the holdings of the Library of Congress, the book contains more than 800 illustrations. The book offers a treasury of fabulous photographs as well as plans and elevations, with captions that furnish relevant information about each building. The accompanying CD-ROM contains high-quality, downloadable versions of all the illustrations, including a direct link to the Library's online searchable catalogs and image files, which compromise the hundreds of thousands of high-resolution photographs, measured drawings, and data files in the Historic American Buildings Survey, Historic American Engineering Record, and other collections. Being a comprehensive and unique visual resource, Barns will be invaluable to students, educators, researchers, historians, and lovers of barns." R. P. Meden Choice

"It's not that I don't treasure my urban roots or the convenience of technology . . . It's that I carry with me, as I suspect we all do, some nostalgia not only for my own childhood but also the childhood of the country.  That's what Vlach has collected in .  And even if the ladders in our childhood memories grow smaller as the years go by, his book is a reminder of just how tall they once were." Choice

"Any barn enthusiast will be fascinated by its depth and breadth." Alicia Anstead Bangor Daily News

"[A] tour de force...History and architecture buffs and scholars alike will valuable information in this book." This Old House

Barns traces geographical and chronological continuities of type, design, and construction, and Dutch, German, French and Spanish influence. Captions identify each document and building, and all images are included on a CD-ROM with a link to the Library s high-resolution files. Barns is the first comprehensive visual resource of its kind, an invaluable tool for architects, historians, students, and all those who love barns. "

A far-reaching visual survey of farm buildings across the United States, tracing their historical and regional influences.

John Michael Vlach is professor of American Studies at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.