The 18th and 19th Centuries in England saw an intense and sustained interest in Gothic architecture, marked by the publication of many books of a very high quality. These books, which were to provide the academic research necessary for the later architectural Gothic Revival, are a valuable historical resource. In many cases they provide some of the most detailed and accurate studies of Gothic architecture available. They also represent a view of architecture in an earlier age, often illustrating the buildings before they were subjected to sometimes overenthusiastic restoration in the 19th Century, and always showing them in a more sympathetic context than their current surroundings.
The Gothic Library is a collection of the best and most significant of these books. Our project is to make them available through this website. So far, though, it's just Canterbury Cathedral - The Library is a display of all the images of the cathedral in the Gothic Library collection, and the Canterbury Guide is an online cathedral guide using many of the images.