If you think you already know what there is to know about Harvey Ellis, think again!This very thorough treatment of Harvey Ellis, the artist, architect and designer, the product of many years of scholarly research, was first published in 2004 but received little publicity at the time and has been virtually unobtainable until very recently. The author, an emeritus professor at the University of St. Thomas and one of Minnesota’s most eminent architectural historians, began this work as a master’s thesis in 1953! Over the years Professor Michels collected information about Harvey Ellis from many libraries, museums, and family archives around the country, among numerous other sources, all meticulously documented. The resulting large-format, hardcover book is a highly readable, comprehensive biography of one of the most talented and brilliant yet enigmatic characters of the American Arts and Crafts Movement. The book covers Harvey Ellis’s early years (including a brief stint as a cadet at West Point), his years as an architect in St. Joseph, Minneapolis, St. Louis and Rochester 1887-1903), his mature years as a painter and teacher in Rochester (1893-1903), and his final years as an architectural designer working for Gustav Stickley’s The Craftsman magazine in Syracuse (1903-04). Many of the chapters are illustrated with beautiful drawings and architectural renderings of buildings designed by Ellis. The chapter on Ellis’s career as a painter and teacher includes color renditions of several of his hitherto little-known paintings. Who knew? The author also devotes two chapters to Ellis’s work for Gustav Stickley, including one chapter that questions the orthodox view that Harvey Ellis’s principal legacy is his role as a furniture designer for Gustav Stickley. This book is must reading for all serious students of the American Arts and Crafts Movement.Hardcover, 364 pp.