In the nineteenth century, the Shakers were famous as the most successful utopian communal society in America. Social reformers from Emerson to Tolstoy hailed their progressiveness in issues including equality of the sexes, care of children and the aged, and pacifism.
The Shakers loved God and each other and worked devotedly to build a physical and spiritual haven apart from the complications and competitions of "the World." With astonishing energy and simple goodness, they created a network of eighteen principal villages from Maine to Kentucky and established America's only truly national utopian effort.
Today, the Shakers are nearly gone. Only a few members remain in a single community at Sabbathday Lake, Maine. But their buildings and villages survive to reveal their dedication to their founder's instruction, "Put your hands to work and your hearts to God and a blessing will attend you." They shunned what they judged wasteful and unnecessary, including ornament, devoting their creativity instead to what was useful and well made.
Within the discipline of simplicity, Shaker artisans expressed genius in proportion, line, pattern, form, and color. In stone and wood and brick, Shaker buildings embody an amazing grace and are one of America's design treasures. Today, Shaker design is a source of inspiration in America, Europe, and Japan.
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Paul Rocheleau has photographed Shaker places and things for more than twenty years. He brings his special sensitivity to Shaker Built, the first book on Shaker architecture in many years and the only book on the subject in full color. Together with writer and Shaker authority June Sprigg, Rocheleau has explored what remains of the Shakers' quietly magnificent "cities of peace, love, and union" to present a visually stunning portrait of Shaker meeting houses, dwellings, workshops, and barns.
Sprigg's lyrical essays and informative captions combine with David Larkin's masterful design to produce a photographic book as elegantly simple as Shaker buildings themselves.
