George Edmund Street (1824-1881), one of the most successful architects of the High Gothic Revival in England, sketched the medieval manors, cathedrals, and churches of southern England during his early years as an apprentice. The methodical manner in which Street selected and recorded details suggests that he followed the Cambridge Camden Society’s recommendations on how and what to sketch. The Society financed the restoration of many Gothic churches in England and was influential in reviving a medieval style in contemporary church design – both major facets of Street’s later career. The sketchbook (1844-1845) is an early example of Street’s lifelong habit of making careful records of medieval buildings. For Street these examples should not be strict models but instead should serve as inspiration to the architect, “the preface only to…pursuit of his own art.”

The CCA owns architects’ sketchbooks from the 18th through the 20th century, including from Francis Burrall Hoffman ( 1920s), Harry Mayerovitch (1930s), and Myron Goldsmith (1950s).