Mosque was published by Houghton Mifflin in 2003, and its timing was not accidental: in the aftermath of 9/11, Macaulay chose to create a book that would present Islamic architecture and culture with the same respect, attention, and admiration he had devoted to Gothic cathedrals and Roman cities. The book is both a continuation of his architectural series and a statement about the shared human impulse to build beautifully.
The fictional mosque is set in sixteenth-century Ottoman Turkey and is based on the great imperial mosques of Istanbul, particularly those designed by the architect Sinan (Süleymaniye, Selimiye). Macaulay traces the construction of not merely the mosque itself but the entire complex (külliye) that accompanies it: the madrasa (school), the hammam (bathhouse), the imaret (soup kitchen), the fountain, and the surrounding gardens.
Macaulay renders Islamic geometric decoration with particular care: the mathematical precision of arabesque patterns, the calligraphic inscriptions, the play of light through pierced stone screens. His watercolor and ink illustrations (in contrast to the black-and-white of his earlier books) capture the luminosity of the interior spaces — the way Ottoman mosques are designed to fill with light, to make the worshipper feel that they stand within a cosmos of ordered beauty.
Collecting Mosque
First edition (Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 2003): Oversize hardcover with dust jacket, full-color watercolor illustrations.
Market values:
- First edition, fine/fine: $20–$50
- Very good: $10–$20