Sweden: Ekestroms, 1998. Quarto in white boards, gilt titles; dust jacket; 271 pp: Illustrations, map; 29 cm Fine in Very Good dust jacket; boards are smooth and clean, interior tight; edgewear to jacket, closed tear to back. A nice clean copy. Now in archival mylar. Hardcover. ISBN: 9789187688355
A large-format photographic homage to the vernacular architecture of Hälsingland, focusing on the exuberant porches, gables, doorways, and entrances that articulate its historic farmsteads. Drawing on his lifelong work as a photographer of the region, Hilding Mickelsson presents richly colored images and captions that document the astonishing variety of forms, carvings, and paintwork that rural builders devised, while Erik Nordin’s accompanying text (in English translation by Anne Cabling) situates these details within the broader building traditions and social history of the province. The volume functions both as an aesthetic feast and as an important record underpinning later recognition of Hälsingland’s decorated farmhouses as a cultural treasure, preserving evidence of a craft culture in which pride of place was literally framed in wood and color around the thresholds of everyday life.
