Like Nikolaus Pevsner, Hitchcock was one of the most influential historians of his generation. It was not only what he wrote but how he thought that was so important to students. Certainly one of Hitchcock’s finest attributes was his catholic taste: he had the discerning ability to see what was equally significant in “conservative” as well as “avant-garde” work, an important lesson aptly illustrated for a young designer or historian in this early publication.