Richardsonian

English

Etymology

From Richardson +‎ -ian.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -əʊniən

Adjective

Richardsonian (comparative more Richardsonian, superlative most Richardsonian)

1. Of or relating to Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886), American architect, or the Romanesque style that he popularised.
   • 1993, Jay C. Henry, Architecture in Texas: 1895-1945:

     A. O. Watson of Austin and Eugene T. Heiner of Houston collaborated to produce a very credible Richardsonian court house for DeWitt County in Cuero (1894 - 1896; Fig. 2.06), perhaps modeled on Richardson's Allegheny County Courthouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

   • 2001, Oliver P. Williams, County Courthouses of Pennsylvania: A Guide, page 95:

     The Richardsonian model in nearby Pittsburgh is reflected in the building's surface texture, the 188-foot square tower, arcaded windows, arched entryways, ans stone foliage carvings.

   • 2009, Robert Winter, An Arch Guidebook to Los Angeles, page 16:

     Most Richardsonian buildings in Los Angeles have disappeared.

2. Of or relating to Samuel Richardson (1689–1761), English writer known for his epistolary novels.
   • 1967, Philip Stevick, Theory of the Novel, page 382:

     In fact, Fielding's inability to understand Richardson is mainly the result of his inability to understand Richardsonian complexity of characterization.

   • 2006, Brean Hammond, Shaun Regan, Making the Novel: Fiction and Society in Britain, 1660-1789:

     Sexually frank and verbally inventive, Cleland's text constitutes an intriguing response to the dual claims of Richardsonian and Fieldingesque fiction.

   • 2011, James Fowler, New Essays on Diderot, page 6:

     La Religieuse has often been called a 'Richardsonian' novel.