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{{Short description|German-British historian (1902–1983)}}
{{use British English|date=July 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix = Sir
| name          = Nikolaus Pevsner
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CBE|FBA|size=100%}}
| image         = Nikolaus Pevsner.jpg
| birth_name    = Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|df=yes|1902|01|30}}
| birth_place   = [[Leipzig]], Kingdom of Saxony<!-- DO NOT LINK, see [[MOS:GEOLINK]] -->, German Empire<!-- DO NOT LINK, see [[MOS:GEOLINK]] -->
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1983|08|18|1902|01|30}}
| death_place   = [[London]], England
| resting_place = [[Church of St Peter, Clyffe Pypard]], Wiltshire<!-- DO NOT LINK, see [[MOS:GEOLINK]] -->, England
| nationality   = British
| education     =
| alma_mater    = {{plainlist|
* [[Leipzig University]] (PhD)
* [[Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich]]
* [[Humboldt University of Berlin]]
* [[Goethe University Frankfurt]]
}}
| occupation    = [[Art historian|Art]] and [[architectural historian]]
| notable_works = ''[[The Buildings of England]]''
| children      = 3, including [[Tom Pevsner]]
| awards        = [[Albert Medal (Royal Society of Arts)|Albert Medal]] (1975)
| spouse        = {{marriage|Lola Kurlbaum|1923|1963|reason=died}}
}}

'''Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CBE|FBA}} (30{{efn|[[Susie Harries]], Pevsner’s most recent biographer, gives his day of birth as 31 January. Other sources give 30 January.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.nytimes.com/1983/08/20/obituaries/nikolaus-pevsner-dead-at-81-european-architecture-critic.html |first=John|last=Russell|title=Nikolaus Pevsner dead at 81|work=[[New York Times]]|date=20 August 1983|access-date=15 August 2024}}</ref>}} January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British [[art historian]] and [[architectural historian]] best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''[[The Buildings of England]]'' (1951–74).

==Life==

Nikolaus Pevsner was born in [[Leipzig]], [[Kingdom of Saxony|Saxony]], the son of Anna and her husband Hugo Pevsner, a Russian-Jewish fur merchant. He attended [[St. Thomas School, Leipzig]], and went on to study at several universities, [[Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich|Munich]], [[Humboldt University of Berlin|Berlin]], and [[Goethe University Frankfurt|Frankfurt am Main]], before being awarded a [[doctorate]] by [[Leipzig University|Leipzig]] in 1924 for a thesis on the [[Architecture of Leipzig#Leipzig bourgeois town houses and oriel windows of the Baroque era|Baroque architecture of Leipzig]].{{sfn|Engel|2004|p=}} In 1923, he married Carola ("Lola") Kurlbaum, the daughter of distinguished Leipzig lawyer Alfred Kurlbaum.{{sfn|Games|2010|p=}} He worked as an assistant keeper at the [[Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister|Dresden Gallery]] between 1924 and 1928. He converted from [[Judaism]] to [[Lutheranism]] early in his life.

During this period he became interested in establishing the supremacy of German modernist architecture after becoming aware of [[Le Corbusier]]'s Pavillon de l'Esprit Nouveau at the [[Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes|Paris Exhibition of 1925]]. In 1928, he contributed the volume on [[Italian baroque]] painting to the ''Handbuch der Kunstwissenschaft'', a multi-volume series providing an overview of the history of European art. He taught at the [[University of Göttingen]] between 1929 and 1933, offering a specialist course on [[English art]] and [[English architecture|architecture]]. According to biographers Stephen Games and Susie Harries, Pevsner welcomed many of the economic and cultural policies of the early [[Nazi Germany|Hitler regime]]. However, due to [[Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service|Nazi race laws]] he was forced to resign his lectureship at Göttingen in 1933.

His first intention was to move to Italy, but after failing to find an academic post there, Pevsner moved to England in 1933, settling in [[Hampstead]] at [[2, Wildwood Terrace]], where poet [[Geoffrey Grigson]] was his next-door neighbour at No. 3.<ref>Orbach, Julian, [https://www.mychippenham.org.uk/latest/73-nikolaus-pevsner-and-clyffe-pypard-by-julian-orbach "Nikolaus Pevsner and Clyffe Pypard"], ''My Chippenham''.</ref><ref>Games, Stephen, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Wpm1CwAAQBAJ&dq=pevsner%2Bgeoffrey+grigson%2Bwildwood+terrace&pg=PA17 "3: Geoffrey Grigson"], ''Pevsner: The BBC Years: Listening to the Visual Arts'', Routledge, 2016, p. 17.</ref><ref>T. F. T. Baker, Diane K. Bolton and Patricia E. C. Croot, [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol9/pp66-71 "Hampstead: North End, Littleworth, and Spaniard's End"], in C. R. Elrington (ed.),''A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 9, Hampstead, Paddington'', ed. (London, 1989), pp. 66–71. British History Online. Retrieved 29 November 2018.</ref> Pevsner's first post was an 18-month research fellowship at the [[University of Birmingham]], found for him by friends in Birmingham and partly funded by the [[Council for Assisting Refugee Academics|Academic Assistance Council]].<ref name="bham">{{cite news |year=2005 |title=A landlady in a million? Snapshots of days gone by |page=10 |newspaper=Birmingham University online newspaper |issue=57 |url=http://www.download.bham.ac.uk/buzz/Buzz_57.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325164229/https://www.download.bham.ac.uk/buzz/Buzz_57.pdf |archive-date=25 March 2009}}</ref> A study of the role of the designer in the industrial process, the research produced a generally critical account of design standards in Britain which he published as ''An Enquiry into Industrial Art in England'' (Cambridge University Press, 1937). He was subsequently employed as a buyer of modern textiles, glass and ceramics for the [[Sydney Gordon Russell|Gordon Russell]] furniture showrooms in London.

By this time Pevsner had also completed ''Pioneers of the Modern Movement: from William Morris to Walter Gropius'', his influential pre-history of what he saw as [[Walter Gropius]]' dominance of contemporary design. ''Pioneers'' ardently championed Gropius's first two buildings (both pre–First World War) on the grounds that they summed up all the essential goals of 20th-century architecture; in England, however, it was widely taken to be the history of England's contribution to international modernism, and a manifesto for [[Bauhaus]] modernism, which it was not.{{citation needed|date=April 2016}} In spite of that, the book remains an important point of reference in the teaching of the history of modern design, and helped lay the foundation of Pevsner's career in England as an architectural historian. Since its first publication by [[Faber & Faber]] in 1936, it has gone through several editions and been translated into many languages.{{sfn|Amory|2009|pp=617–618}} The second edition, published by the [[Museum of Modern Art]] in 1949, was renamed ''Pioneers of Modern Design''.{{sfn|Amory|2009|p=618}}

== Second World War ==
Pevsner was "[[more German than the Germans]]" to the extent that he supported "[[Goebbels]] in his drive for 'pure' non-decadent German art".<ref name="Pearman">{{cite news |url = http://hughpearman.com/pevsner-and-the-nazis-round-two-who-and-what-did-the-great-architectural-historian-want-to-be/ |newspaper = The Sunday Times |date = 28 March 2010 |title = Prepare to be Outraged |quote = Review of ''Pevsner – the Early Life'', by Stephen Games |via = hughpearman.com |access-date = 14 May 2014 |archive-date = 22 March 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160322175854/http://hughpearman.com/pevsner-and-the-nazis-round-two-who-and-what-did-the-great-architectural-historian-want-to-be/ |url-status = dead }}</ref> He was reported as saying of the [[Nazis]] (in 1933): "I want this movement to succeed. There is no alternative but chaos... There are things worse than [[Hitlerism]]."{{sfn|Games|2010|p=}} Pevsner's political leanings following Hitler's appointment as Chancellor in January 1933 are clearly revealed in several extracts from his diaries and letters that Suzie Harries includes in her 2011 book ''Nikolaus Pevsner: The Life''. For example, the following observation is made by Pevsner on the boat to [[Dover]] in October 1933: "The second-class is almost entirely occupied by non-[[Aryan race|Aryans]]. Dreadful, dreadful – to think that's where I belong."<ref>Harries, Susie, ''Nikolaus Pevsner: The Life'' (London: Chatto & Windus, 2011), p. 133.</ref> Nonetheless, he was included in the Nazi [[The Black Book (list)|Black Book]] as someone hostile to the Hitler regime.

In 1940, Pevsner was taken to the [[internment camp]] at [[Huyton#Second World War|Huyton]], [[Liverpool]] as an [[enemy alien]]. Geoffrey Grigson later wrote in his ''Recollections'' (1984): "When at last two hard-faced [[Bow Street Runners|Bow Street runners]] arrived in the early hours of the morning to take [him] ... I managed, clutching my pyjama trousers, to catch them up with the best parting present I could quickly think of, which was an elegant little edition, a new edition, of [[Shakespeare's Sonnets]]."<ref>Grigson, Geoffrey, ''Recollections, Mainly of Writers and Artists'' (Hogarth Press, 1984), quoted in Harries 2011, [https://books.google.com/books?id=FjSKfNcjGUsC&dq=pevsner%2Bgeoffrey+grigson%2BShakespeare+Sonnets&pg=PA273 p. 273].</ref> Pevsner was released after three months on the intervention of, among others, [[Frank Pick]], then Director-General of the [[Ministry of Information (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Information]]. He spent some time in the months after [[the Blitz]] clearing bomb debris, and wrote reviews and art criticism for the Ministry of Information's {{lang|de|[[Die Zeitung]]}}, an anti-Nazi publication for Germans living in England. He also completed for [[Penguin Books]] the [[Pelican Books|Pelican]] paperback ''An Outline of European Architecture'', which he had begun to develop while in internment. ''Outline'' would eventually go into seven editions, be translated into 16 languages, and sell more than half a million copies.{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}}
[[File:Allen Lane.jpg|thumb|right|Pevsner's 30-year partnership with [[Allen Lane]] (above) was central to the success of the ''Buildings of England'']]
In 1942 Pevsner finally secured two regular positions. From 1936 onwards he had been a frequent contributor to the ''[[Architectural Review]]'' and from 1943 to 1945 he stood in as its acting editor while the regular editor [[James Maude Richards|J. M. Richards]] was on active service. Under the ''AR''{{'}}s influence, Pevsner's approach to modern architecture became more complex and more moderate.{{sfn|Pevsner|2010|p=}} Early signs of a lifelong interest in Victorian architecture, also influenced by the ''[[Architectural Review]]'', appeared in a series written under the pseudonym of "Peter F. R. Donner": Pevsner's "Treasure Hunts" guided readers down selected London streets, pointing out architectural treasures of the 19th century. He was also closely involved with the ''Review''{{'}}s proprietor, [[H. de C. Hastings]], in evolving the magazine's theories on [[picturesque]] planning.{{sfn|Erten|2004|p=}} In the same year Pevsner was appointed a part-time lecturer at [[Birkbeck, University of London|Birkbeck College]], London; he would eventually retire from the college in 1969 as its first Professor of Art History. He lectured at [[Cambridge University]] for almost 30 years, having been [[Slade Professor of Fine Art]] there for a record six years from 1949 to 1955, and was also the [[Slade Professor of Fine Art|Slade Professor]] at [[University of Oxford|Oxford]] in 1968.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://arthistorians.info/pevsnern/ |first=Leo|last=Sorensen|title=Sir Nikolaus Bernard Leon Pevsner: Obituary|publisher=Dictionary of Art Historians|access-date=15 August 2024}}</ref>

Framing all this was his career as a writer and editor. After moving to England, Pevsner had found that the study of architectural history had little status in academic circles, and the amount of information available, especially to travellers wanting to inform themselves about the architecture of a particular district, was limited. Invited by [[Allen Lane]], founder of [[Penguin Books]], for whom he had written his ''Outline'' and also edited the [[King Penguin Books|King Penguin series]],<ref>[http://www.booksandwriters.co.uk/writer/K/king-penguins.asp King Penguin], Books and Writers {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100102070523/http://www.booksandwriters.co.uk/writer/K/king-penguins.asp |date=2 January 2010 }}</ref> to suggest ideas for future publications, he proposed a series of comprehensive county guides to rectify this shortcoming.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/apr/21/a-day-with-nikolaus-pevsner-1960 |first=Geoffrey|last=Moorhouse|author-link=Geoffrey Moorhouse|title=A day with Nikolaus Pevsner - It always pays to go the wrong way|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=21 April 1960|access-date=15 August 2024}}</ref>

== ''Buildings of England'' ==
{{main|Pevsner Architectural Guides}}
{{quote box|width=25em|bgcolor=#c6dbf7|align=right|quote="The volumes of the Buildings of England—and now Scotland, Wales and Ireland as well—will be written by, revised and expanded by others, but they will always be known as 'Pevsners'. They are his memorial"|source=—[[Gavin Stamp]] in [[The Spectator]]'s obituary of Pevsner<ref>{{cite news|url=https://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/3rd-september-1983/13/sir-nikolaus-pevsner|first=Gavin|last=Stamp|author-link=Gavin Stamp|title=Sir Nikolaus Pevsner: Obituary|work=[[The Spectator]]|date=3 September 1983|access-date=15 August 2024}}</ref>}}
Work on the ''[[Buildings of England]]'' series began in 1945, and the first volume was published in 1951. Pevsner wrote 32 of the books himself and 10 with collaborators, with a further four of the original series written by others. Since his death, work has continued on the series, which has been extended to cover the rest of the United Kingdom, under the title [[Pevsner Architectural Guides]], now published by [[Yale University Press]].{{sfn|Cherry|1998|p=}} 

After updating and correcting ''London 1: The Cities of London and Westminster'' for its reissue in 1962, Pevsner delegated the revision and expansion of further volumes to others, beginning with Enid Radcliffe for ''Essex'' (1965).{{sfn|Harries|2011|p=}} The gazetteer descriptions of revised volumes do not routinely distinguish between Pevsner's original text and any new writing, but more recent books sometimes supply his words in quotation when the revising author's judgement differs, where a building has since been altered, or where the old text is no longer topical.

Although Pevsner oversaw the publication of the initial volumes of the Scottish, Welsh and Irish counterparts of ''The Buildings of England'' (and in each was credited as "Editor-in-Chief", "Founding Editor" and "Editorial Adviser" respectively) he did not write any of them. As with the revisions of his earlier works, many of these volumes were the work of several contributors. Coverage of the whole of Great Britain was completed in 2023, with the Irish series still in progress.

== Other postwar work ==
[[File:Euston Arch.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|right|The scandalous demolition of the [[Euston Arch]] in 1962 drove Pevsner and others to redouble their efforts to save [[Victorian architecture|Victorian buildings]]]]
As well as ''The Buildings of England'', Pevsner proposed the ''Pelican History of Art'' series (which began in 1953), a multi-volume survey on the model of the German ''Handbuch der Kunstwissenschaft'' (English: "Handbook of the Science of Art"), which he would himself edit. Many individual volumes are regarded as classics.

In 1946, Pevsner made the first of several broadcasts on the [[BBC Third Programme]], presenting nine talks in all up to 1950, examining painters and European art eras. By 1977 he had presented 78 talks for the BBC, including the [[Reith Lectures]] in 1955 – a series of six broadcasts, entitled ''The Englishness of English Art'',<ref name="Reith">{{Cite web | title = The Englishness of English Art: 1955 | last = Pevsner | first = Nikolaus | work = The Reith Lectures – BBC Radio 4 | access-date = 6 December 2017 | url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00h9llv }}</ref> for which he explored the qualities of art which he regarded as particularly English, and what they said about the English national character.{{sfn|Games|Pevsner|2002|p=}} His [[A. W. Mellon lectures]] in Fine Art at the [[National Gallery of Art]], Washington, D.C., were published in 1976 as ''A History of Building Types''.{{sfn|Harries|2011|p=715}}

Pevsner was a founding member in 1957 of the [[Victorian Society]], the national charity for the study and protection of [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]] and [[Edwardian architecture]] and other arts.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://hbap.pdfsrv.co.uk/customers/HBAP/CQ56694/Vol%2028%201984/14/‘Obituary%20Sir%20Nikolaus%20Pevsner’%20by%20Matthew%20Saunders.pdf|first=Matthew|last=Saunders|title=Sir Nikolaus Pevsner: Obituary|publisher=[[Ancient Monuments Society]]|access-date=15 August 2024}}</ref> In 1964 he was invited to become its chairman, and steered it through its formative years, fighting alongside [[John Betjeman]], [[Hugh Casson]] and others to save houses, churches, railway stations and other monuments of the Victorian age. He served for ten years (1960–70) as a member of the National Advisory Council on Art Education (or Coldstream Committee), campaigning for art history to be a compulsory element in the curriculum of art schools. He was elected a Fellow of the [[British Academy]] in 1965 and awarded the Gold Medal of the [[Royal Institute of British Architects]] in 1967.{{sfn|Harries|2011|pp=672–3}}

Having assumed British citizenship in 1946, Pevsner was appointed a [[Order of the British Empire|CBE]] in 1953 and was [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] in 1969 "for services to art and architecture". Pevsner also received an [[Honorary degree|Honorary Doctorate]] from [[Heriot-Watt University]] in 1975.<ref name="HW">{{Cite web|url=http://www1.hw.ac.uk/graduation/honorary-graduates.htm|title=Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh: Honorary Graduates|website=hw.ac.uk|access-date=2016-04-07|archive-date=18 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418163907/http://www1.hw.ac.uk/graduation/honorary-graduates.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Death and legacy ==
[[File:Sir Nikolaus Pevsner 1902-1983 Architectural Historian lived here from 1936 until his death.jpg|thumb|right|[[English Heritage]] [[Blue plaque]] commemorating Pevsner's [[Hampstead]] home]]
Pevsner died at his home [[2, Wildwood Terrace]], in August 1983.<ref name="Telegraph">{{cite news|title=Wildwood Terrace|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/periodproperty/9821880/Homes-for-sale-with-blue-plaques.html?frame=2460166|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130130065451/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/periodproperty/9821880/Homes-for-sale-with-blue-plaques.html?frame=2460166|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 January 2013|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|date=25 January 2013}}</ref><ref name="AJ">{{cite web|first=Richard |last=Waite|title=Pevsner honoured with blue plaque|date=6 November 2007|work=Architects' Journal|url=http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/pevsner-honoured-with-blue-plaque/219615.article}}</ref> His wife, Lola, predeceased him by 20 years.

His memorial service was held at the [[Church of Christ the King, Bloomsbury]], the following December, with the memorial address being given by [[Alec Clifton-Taylor]], a friend of 50 years. He is buried in the churchyard of the [[Church of St Peter, Clyffe Pypard]], in [[Wiltshire]], where he and Lola had a cottage. His elder son, Dieter, was an editor at [[Penguin Books]] and co-founder with Oliver Caldecott of the publishing company [[Wildwood House (publisher)|Wildwood House]] in the 1970s.<ref>[https://www.moyracaldecott.co.uk/wdp/oliver-caldecott-1925-1989/ "Oliver Caldecott 1925–1989"], Moyra Caldecott website, 29 January 2009.</ref> His younger son, [[Tom Pevsner|Tom]], was a film producer and director who went on to work on several [[James Bond films]]. Pevsner had many notable students including [[Phoebe Stanton]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Stanton, Phoebe|url=https://arthistorians.info/stantonp|website=The Dictionary of Art Historians|date=21 February 2018}}</ref>

In 2007, a [[blue plaque]] was erected by [[English Heritage]] at Wildwood Terrace, Pevsner's home since 1936.<ref>[https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/nikolaus-pevsner/ "Pevsner, Sir Nikolaus (1902–1983)"], Blue Plaques, English Heritage.</ref><ref name="AJ" />

==Notable ideas and theories==
* "A bicycle shed is a building; [[Lincoln Cathedral]] is a piece of architecture. Nearly everything that encloses space on a scale sufficient for a human being to move in is a building; the term architecture applies only to buildings designed with a view to aesthetic appeal." From ''An Outline of European Architecture'', 1943.
* Pevsner also described in his ''An Outline of European Architecture'' the three ways aesthetic appeal could manifest itself in architecture: in a building's façade, the material volumes, or the interior.

==Archive==
In 1984, the [[Getty Research Institute]] in [[Los Angeles]] acquired the Nikolaus Pevsner Papers,<ref name="Nikolaus Pevsner Papers">{{cite web |title = Nikolaus Pevsner Papers |url = http://archives2.getty.edu:8082/xtf/view?docId=ead/840209/840209.xml;query=;brand=default |publisher = [[Getty Research Institute]] |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230128130830/http://archives2.getty.edu:8082/xtf/view?docId=ead/840209/840209.xml;query=;brand=default |archive-date= Jan 28, 2023 }}</ref> an archive that includes 143 boxes of typed and handwritten notes, clippings, photographs, books, lecture notes, and manuscripts.

Research notes by Pevsner (and other editors) for the ''Buildings of England'' series are held in the [[Historic England Archive]] in [[Swindon]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Buildings of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales (BOE01) Archive Collection |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/photos/collection/BOE01 |access-date=2022-06-30 |website=Historic England |language=en |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220630153544/https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/photos/collection/BOE01|archive-date=2022-06-30 }}</ref>

== Publications ==

*''Pioneers of the Modern Movement'' (Faber, 1936)
*''An Enquiry into Industrial Art in England'' (1937)
*''Academies of Art, Past and Present'' (1940)
*''An Outline of European Architecture'' (1943)
*''The Leaves of [[Southwell Minster|Southwell]]'' (King Penguin series), Penguin, 1945
*''Pioneers of Modern Design'' (originally published as ''Pioneers of the Modern Movement'' in 1936; 2nd edition, New York: [[Museum of Modern Art]], 1949; revised and partly rewritten, [[Penguin Books]], 1960)
*''[[The Buildings of England]]'' series (1951–74) <!--see that article for list of books-->
*''The Englishness of English Art'' (1956, print edition)
*''Christopher Wren, 1632–1723'' (1960; issued as part of the Universe Architecture Series)
*''The Sources of Modern Architecture and Design'' (1968)
*''A History of Building Types'' (1976)
*''Pevsner: The Complete Broadcast Talks'' (Ashgate, 2014; published posthumously)

== See also ==
{{Portal|Architecture|Biography}}
* [[Pevsner Architectural Guides]]

== References ==
===Footnotes===
{{noteslist}}

=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
{{refbegin|35em|indent=y}}
*{{cite magazine|last= Amory|first= Colin |date=2009 |title=Art History Reviewed IV: Nikolaus Pevsner's 'Pioneers of the Modern Movement' |magazine=The Burlington Magazine |volume=151 |number=1278 (September 2009) |pages=617–619 |jstor=40480475}}
*{{cite book|last= Cherry|first= Bridget |date=1998|title=The Buildings of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales: a short history and bibliography|quote=includes "An appreciation of Sir Nikolaus Pevsner", by John Newman)|publisher=[[Penguin Collectors Society]]}}
*{{cite book|last=Engel|first=Ute|chapter=The Formation of Pevsner's art history: Nikolaus Pevsner in Germany 1902–33|editor-last=Draper|editor-first=Peter|title=Reassessing Nikolaus Pevsner| year=2004 |publisher=Ashgate |isbn =978-0-7546-3582-6|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iVFgAHbesnMC}}
*{{cite thesis|first=Erdem|last= Erten|hdl=1721.1/17662|title=Shaping "The Second Half Century", The Architectural Review, 1947–1971|type= PhD. thesis|publisher=[[MIT]]|date=2004}}
*{{cite book|last1=Games|first1=Stephen |last2=Pevsner|first2=Nikolaus |title=Pevsner on art and architecture: the radio talks|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-fI3AQAAIAAJ|year=2002|publisher=Methuen|isbn=9780413712202}}
*{{cite book|last=Games|first=Stephen |title=Pevsner: The Early Life: Germany and Art|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A7hOnJMqEAsC|year=2010|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-1-4411-4386-0}}
* {{cite book| last1=Harries| first1=Susie|author-link=Susie Harries| year=2011| title=Nikolaus Pevsner – The Life| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A8Q6ks2TME0C&pg=PR4| publisher=Chatto & Windus| location= London| isbn= 9780701168391}}
*{{cite ODNB|last=Harrison|first=Brian|author-link=Brian Harrison (historian)|title=Pevsner, Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon (1902–1983)|id=31543|year=2004}}
*{{cite book|editor-last=Aitchison|editor-first=Mathew|last=Pevsner|first=Nikolaus|title=Visual Planning and the Picturesque|year=2010|publisher=[[Getty Research Institute]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S9UzG_UtEQIC|isbn=978-1-60606-001-8}}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
* Cherry, Bridget, & Bradley, Simon (eds.), ''The Buildings of England: a Celebration'' ([[Penguin Collectors Society]], 2001).
* {{cite book |editor-last=Draper |editor-first=Peter |title = Reassessing Nikolaus Pevsner |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=iVFgAHbesnMC |year=2004 |publisher=Ashgate |isbn = 978-0-7546-3582-6 }}
* Prodger, Michael (9 September 2011), [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/sep/09/nikolaus-pevsner-life-harries-review "Nikolaus Pevsner: The Life by Susie Harries – review"],''The Guardian''. A definitive biography with new material, "the size of a breeze block" according to the reviewer.

=== Papers ===
*Papers relating to Pevsner's departure from Germany and efforts to obtain work in England are contained within the archives of the Society for the Protection of Science and Learning (now the [[Council for At-Risk Academics]]) in the [[Bodleian Library]]. [http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/scwmss/wmss/online/modern/spsl/spsl.html Index to the Catalogue of the SPSL.]
*A substantial collection of his papers is held at the Pevsner archive in the [[Getty Research Institute]], Los Angeles. [https://archive.today/20121214182313/http://library.getty.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=76714 Nikolaus Pevsner papers, 1919–1979]. Research Library at the Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, California.
*Documents relating to his various projects for Penguin, including the King Penguin series, the ''Pelican History of Art'' and the ''Buildings of England'', are held by the [https://web.archive.org/web/20100517093139/http://www.bristol.ac.uk/is/library/collections/specialcollections/archives/penguin/ Penguin Archive] at the [[University of Bristol]].
*Papers relating to the work of the Victorian Society during his years as chairman are held by the Victorian Society themselves and the London Metropolitan Archives. ([https://web.archive.org/web/20091203112854/http://www.victoriansociety.org.uk/about/our-archives/ Victorian Society archives])

== External links ==
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{Official website|https://yalebooks.co.uk/pevsner-architectural-guides/|Pevsner Architectural Guides – official website}}
* [http://arthistorians.info/pevsnern Pevsner biography – Dictionary of Art Historians] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180324162501/http://arthistorians.info/pevsnern |date=24 March 2018 }}
* [http://www.uea.ac.uk/is/archives#Pevsner Pevsner Art Catalogue Collection – University of East Anglia]
* [https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/pevsner-buildings ‘Is it in Pevsner?’: A Short History of the ‘Buildings of  …' Series, Gresham College Lecture by Charles O'Brien]

{{Wolfson History Prize Winners}}

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[[Category:1902 births]]
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