John Gloag (10 August 1896 – 17 July 1981) was an English writer in the fields of furniture design and architecture, as well as science and speculative fiction.[1][2] Gloag served with the Welsh Guards during the First World War, and was invalided home after suffering gas poisoning.[2]
Writings on design edit
Artifex, or the Future of Craftsmanship (1926), part of the To-day and To-morrow series, was a pamphlet by Gloag that discussed the relationship between artistic craftmanship and mass production.[3]
Gloag's A Short Dictionary of Furniture (2nd ed. 1969) was a reference book covering the history and types of furniture from the tenth century to the 1960s.[4]
Novels edit
Gloag's first science fiction novel, Tomorrow's Yesterday, (1932) was inspired by the work of H.G. Wells and Gloag's friend Olaf Stapledon.[1][2] [5] Tomorrow's Yesterday is a satire that depicts a race of cat people from the distant future observing human society.[2] [6] In The New Pleasure (1933) a powder that greatly increases the sense of smell causes a social upheaval.[2] Winter's Youth (1934) revolves around a longevity technology, which falls into the hands of a corrupt politician, with disastrous social consequences.[2][7] In Manna (1940) a journalist discovers a plan to develop a fungus that could end world hunger.[2] 99% (1944) is about an experiment to give humans access to their race memory.[2]
Later in his career Gloag wrote historical fantasy novels; Caesar of the Narrow Seas (1969), The Eagles Depart (1973) and Artorius Rex (1977).[1][2]Artorius Rex focuses on King Arthur and Sir Kay.[8]
Fiction publications edit
Novels edit
- Tomorrow's Yesterday (1932)
- The New Pleasure (1933)
- Winter's Youth (1934)
- Sweet Racket (1936)
- Ripe for Development (1936)
- Sacred Edifice (1937, revised 1954)
- Documents Marked Secret (1938)
- Unwilling Adventurer (1940)
- Manna (1940)
- I Want An Audience (1941)
- Mr. Buckby is Not at Home (1942)
- 99% (1944)
- In Camera (1945)
- Kind Uncle Buckby (1946)
- All England At Home (1949)
- Not in the Newspapers (1953)
- Slow (1954)
- Unlawful Justice (1962)
- Rising Suns (1964)
- Caesar of the Narrow Seas (1969)
- The Eagles Depart (1973)
- Artorius Rex (1977)
Short stories edit
- It Makes a Nice Change (1938)
- First One and Twenty (1946)
- Take One a Week: An Omnibus of Volume of 52 Short Stories (1950)
Non-fiction publications edit
- Colour & Comfort in Decoration (1924) OL 1189719W
- Time, Taste and Furniture (1925; 3rd ed. 1949)
- Artifex, or the Future of Craftsmanship (1926) OL 1189705W
- Home Life in History: Social Life and Manners in Britain, 200 BC-AD 1926 (1927) co-authored with C. Thompson Walker
- Modern Home Furnishing (1929) from "Macmillan's Sixpenny Self-Help Library" series
- Men and Buildings (1931; 2nd revised ed. 1950)
- Industrial Art Explained (1934; revised & enlarged ed. 1946) OL 10417107W
- Design in Modern Life (1934) editor
- The American Nation: A Short History of the United States (1942; revised ed. 1955)
- The Place of Glass in Building (1943) editor
- The Englishman's Castle: A History of Houses, Large and Small, in Town and Country from AD 1000 to the Present Day (1944; 2nd revised ed. 1949) OL 10417106W
- The Missing Technician in Industrial Production (1944)
- Plastics and Industrial Design (1945)
- British Furniture Makers (1945) from the "Britain in Pictures" series
- Industrial Art Explained (1946)
- Self Training for Industrial Designers (1947)
- The English Tradition in Design (1947) from the "King Penguin" series
- A History of Cast Iron in Architecture (1948) co-authored with Derek Bridgwater
- How to Write Technical Books (1950)
- 2,000 Years of England (1952)
- A Short Dictionary of Furniture (1952; 2nd ed. 1969) OL 1189727W
- revised and expanded as John Gloag's Dictionary of Furniture (1990)
- Georgian Grace: A Social History of Design 1660-1830 (1956) OL 1189725W
- Guide to Western Architecture (1958) OL 1189728W
- The English Tradition in Design (1959)
- Advertising in Modern Life (1959)
- Victorian Comfort: A Social History of Design from 1830-1900 (1961) OL 1189724W
- Victorian Taste: Some Social Aspects of Architecture and Industrial Design from 1820-1900 (1962)
- The English Tradition in Architecture (1963)
- Architecture (1963) "The Arts of Man" series
- The Englishman's Chair: Origins, Design, and Social History of Seat Furniture in England (1964)
- Enjoying Architecture (1965) "Oriel Guide" series
- Mr Loudon's England: The Life and Work of John Claudius Loudon, and his Influence on Architecture and Furniture Design (1970)
- Guide to Furniture Styles: English and French, 1450 to 1850 (1972) ISBN 0713612673
- The Architectural Interpretation of History (1975) OL 1189718W
References edit
- ^ a b c Eggeling, John (1994). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. London: Orbit. p. 499. ISBN 1-85723-124-4.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Stableford, Brian (1995). "The Future Between the Wars: The Speculative Fiction of John Gloag". Algebraic Fantasies and Realistic Romances: More Masters of Science Fiction. Borgo Press. pp. 7–24. ISBN 0893702838.
- ^ Julian Holder, Design in Everyday Things:Promoting Modernism in Britain, in Paul Greenhalgh, Modernism in design. Reaktion Books, 1990 ISBN 0948462116 (pp. 129-130)
- ^ Hazel Conway, Design History: A Student's Handbook. Routledge, 1987 ISBN 0415084733 (p. 61).
- ^ Nicholas Ruddick, "Science Fiction", in Brian W. Shaffer, John Clement Ball, Patrick O’Donnell, David W. Madden and Justus Nieland, The Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Fiction. John Wiley & Sons, 2010 ISBN 1405192445,(p. 333).
- ^ Chris Morgan, The Shape of Futures Past: the Story of Prediction . Webb & Bower, 1980. ISBN 0906671159, (pp. 167-168).
- ^ Angus McLaren, Reproduction by Design: Sex, Robots, Trees, and Test-Tube Babies in Interwar Britain. University of Chicago Press, 2012 ISBN 0226560694, (p. 96-97).
- ^ Raymond Henry Thompson, The Return from Avalon: a study of the Arthurian legend in modern fiction Greenwood Press, 1985. ISBN 0313232911 (p. 39).