From Tavern to Courthouse
Subtitle: Architecture and Ritual in American Law, 1658-1860 (Creating the North American Landscape)
Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press
Published: July 2, 2004
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 182
ISBN-13: 9780801873959
Subjects: Laws of Other Jurisdictions & General Law; Public buildings: civic, commercial, industrial, etc; Massachusetts; General; Architecture; USA; Public, Commercial, or Industrial Buildings; United States - General; Architecture / Landscape; Courts - General; Courthouses; History; Judicial process
First sentence: Samuel Shrimpton could not contain his anger.
Description: "During the formative years of the American republic, lawyers and architects, both eager to secure public affirmation of their professional status, worked together to create specialized, purpose-built courthouses to replace the informal judicial settings in which trials took place during the colonial era. In From Tavern to Courthouse, Martha J. McNamara addresses this fundamental redefinition of civic space in Massachusetts. Professional collaboration, she argues, benefited both lawyers and architects, as it reinforced their desire to be perceived as trained specialists solely concerned with promoting the public good. These courthouses, now reserved exclusively for legal proceedings and occupying specialized locations in the town plans, represented a new vision for the design, organization, and function of civic space."--BOOK JACKET.