Louis Sullivan and His Mentor, John Herman Edelmann, Architect

Although the world famous architect Louis Sullivan praised John Edelmann at length as a friend, philosopher, gifted draftsman and above all as his "benefactor" in his The Autobiography of an Idea, he avoided any mention of having worked for two years as an apprentice in Edelmann's architectural office and the influence that experience obviously had on his future work. This book corrects that deficiency in Sullivan's narrative. Through a comparison of their buildings and ornamental designs, the differences in the approaches of these two men to architectural planning and the debt Sullivan owed to Edelmann's unique ornamental style in the development of his own world renowned ornament is demonstrated. Edelmann is also revealed as the young architect who not only took Sullivan on as an apprentice, but in time introduced him to his future partner Dankmar Adler, only to be betrayed in the end by Sullivan for having done so.