Matthew Digby Wyatt by Robert Thorne
This latest monography in the Society’s Victorian Architects Series is the first full-length study of Victorian polymath Wyatt’s work.
Matthew Digby Wyatt (1820-77) was a Victorian figure with wide-ranging accomplishments as an architect, administrator, designer, artist, writer and connoisseur. He was a member of the distinguished Wyatt family of architects and artists. He worked with some of the leading figures of his day, including I. K. Brunel, George Gilbert Scott, Herbert Minton and Henry Cole, whilst Owen Jones was a lifelong friend.
From the crucial role he played in project managing the Great Exhibition of 1851 to advising the South Kensington Museum on its collections at the end of his career, Wyatt was at the heart of mid-Victorian developments in architecture, design and museum display.
Author Robert Thorne is a Historian and Consultant at Alan Baxter Ltd. He is an authority on Victorian architecture and construction, especially the building of the Crystal Palace and its influence.
"The author Robert Thorne, is not, of course, an ordinary 'architectural historian'; he is an authoritative researcher of building construction" Professor Timothy Brittain-Catlin, Construction History Vol 40, No 22 (2025)
"This beautiful, fluent, engaging little book, based on impeccable sources, nevertheless tells the story of Wyatt's career with great clarity, accompanied all the way through with excellent illustrations of all kinds" Professor Timothy Brittain-Catlin, Construction History Vol 40, No 22 (2025)
