Contrasts and The True Principles of Pointed or Christian Architecture are the two key texts of the Gothic Revival. The young architect and designer A.W.N. Pugin completed his original edition of Contrasts in 1836 shortly after hearing that the scheme he had drawn up for Charles Barry had won the competition for the design of the new Houses of Parliament. At the time he was known mainly as a prodigy, a brilliant designer and draughtsman of Gothic architecture and ornament, but the publication of his book quickly transformed him into the figurehead of the Revival. Five years later he published his True Principles, which converted the dry humour and polemics of his earlier book into a series of accessible and persuasive instructions for architects who wanted to work in the revived style. This facsimile edition of the familiar 1841 versions of both books is presented in association with The Pugin Society.

Timothy Brittain-Catlin is the editor of the journal of The Pugin Society. He is Senior Lecturer at the Kent School of Architecture, University of Kent, and his book The English Parsonage in the Early Nineteenth Century was published to great acclaim by Spire Books in 2008.