Table of Contents

pt. 1. Gothic vision in Newark
pt. 2. Interludes
pt. 3. Sacred Heart Cathedral
pt. 4. Completing Sacred Heart

About the Author

BRIAN REGAN, deputy director of the Morgan Library & Museum, is coauthor of The Making of the Morgan from Charles McKim to Renzo Piano. He is a graduate of Wesleyan University and Harvard  and held a Watson  Fellowship.

Reviews

"In Gothic Pride, Brian Regan offers a comprehensive presentation of the motivation, characters, and development of this remarkable edifice. Regan's text has brought to life the cathedral's stone and artistry—and revived the spirit of the churchmen, architects, and craftsmen who contributed to Newark's Gothic Pride."
*Sacred Architecture*

"The Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart never fails to excite the attention of auto, rail and air travelers, no matter how many times they’ve gazed at its magnificent Gothic Revival silhouette. Dominating a slight rise in Newark’s North Ward and fringed to the west by Branch Brook Park, the edifice stands as testament to the perseverance (and sometimes hubris) of nearly a century of church leaders who were determined to flex the growing power of the state’s new archdiocese and better serve its multicultural parishioners. The cathedral’s intriguing back story, imaginatively and coolly captured by Brian Regan, deputy director of the Morgan Library Museum, certainly validates the truism that the glory may be to God, but the devil is in the details. Gothic Pride is ecumenical in its historic, artistic and spiritual appeal and will resonate with any New Jersey homeowner who has dealt with design changes, fired builders or busted
the budget to get their own 'cathedral' just right."
*Star-Ledger*

"A fascinating story—the first comprehensive study of the cathedral."
*Jersey Journal*

"Constructed between 1898 and 1954, Newark's Cathedral of the Sacred Heart stands as a monument to the ambitions and triumphalism of American Catholicism of that era. A well-written and engagingly-written book."
*American Catholic Studies*

"In his study of the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, NJ, Mr. Regan has created a work that traces the origins of an often overlooked, but prime example of gothic revival architecture and a symbol of religious adherence to generations of Catholics through the course of state history."
*New Jersey Studies*

"Gothic cathedrals are about light, the shadow of God—a parallel spiritual universe, a retreat from the mundane, a vision of heaven on earth. These 'sermons in stone' proclaim society's spiritual and civic aspirations. In crystalline and evocative prose, Regan illuminates a little-known American treasure. His landmark of scholarship and social history is as luminous as stained glass."
*author of Bernini and Rubens*

"Newark’s early planners toured England and Ireland in search of the 'elder Pugin’s' genius. Their keen hopes were to be realized in fascinating ways. Sacred Heart Cathedral represents a remarkable episode in the international Gothic Revival."
*FSA, London, in L'Osservatore Romano*

"Brian Regan brings his unique talents and exceptional knowledge of art, architecture, and history to tell the story of a 'hidden jewel' of the Northeast, Newark’s Sacred Heart Cathedral. He weaves a tapestry that includes architects, artisans, prelates, politicians, and the people of New Jersey as he recounts the story of this magnificent building."
*Chair, Newark Archdiocesan Commission for the Ecclesiastical Patrimony*