The majestic Eating Clubs lining Prospect Avenue have been the center of Princeton’s undergraduate social life for more than a century, and they continue to provide homes away from home for countless alumni. Now, for the first time, the origins, evolution, and architectural grandeur of the Eating Clubs are described in a captivating book with splendid archival images and new photographs. Researched and created by award-winning author and historic preservation expert Clifford Zink, The Princeton Eating Clubs is a beautiful gift and a must-have volume for every Princetonian. Who could have imagined that a small group of students banned from the college dining facility in 1877 would leave behind seeds to sprout in the gastronomic and social aspirations of the Princeton eating clubs? With due diligence, Clifford Zink has sorted through a complicated tangle of roots to explain exactly how the clubs grew into the distinctive architectural flowering we admire today. - John Hlafter FAIA, Princeton University Architect Emeritus The Princeton eating clubs comprise a uniquely beautiful and historically significant cultural landscape. Many of the clubhouses were designed by well-known architects and are landmarks on their own merits. Several are representative of the finest domestic architecture of their period, and the design relationships give the streetscape as much importance as the buildings themselves. Clifford Zink carefully and delightfully captures the essence of the Princeton eating clubs with rich historical context, architectural descriptions, and lush photographs, renderings, and drawings of each building. It is fascinating to learn how the dining clubs evolved, in spite of official discouragement, and how they flourished in the building of major social and dining clubhouses along Prospect Avenue. - Michael Mills FAIA, Historic Preservation Architect The author organizes the content in two sections - the first a narrative history starting with tales of 19th Century undergraduates searching for a good meal. This search culminates in the construction of 16 clubhouses on Prospect Avenue - "The Street" - and Washington Road between 1895 and 1928. Zink traces the evolution from boarding houses to clubhouses, and weaves together stories of the founders of the clubs; their role as alumni; clubhouse architects and their designs; university trustees and administrators - some supportive of eating clubs, others not; and the intersection with campus life in the university. The second section is a clubhouse-by-clubhouse portrait. For readers who have not been inside a clubhouse, Zink's photographs and the archival images he collected offer a glimpse of the museum-quality interiors. The craftsmanship and materials of decorative woodwork, stonework, plasterwork, metalwork, and colored leaded glass are simply astonishing. Zink also documents another important legacy from this period: the architectural plans, sections/elevations, perspectives, and details designed and drawn by eminent architects such as the Walter Cope and John Stewardson partnership; Charles Follen McKim of McKim, Mead, and White; Raleigh Gildersleeve; Henry Milliken '05; and Arthur Meigs '03 of the Philadelphia firm Mellor and Meigs. The author also meticulously documents and credits the architects of clubhouse renovations and expansions over the years. - Robert Spencer Barnett AIA, Author of Princeton University and Neighboring Institutions: An Architectural Tour (The Campus Guide) Well-illustrated with archival and contemporary photography along with architectural drawings, Zink's work reveals the social, academic, and artistic influences that have shaped Princeton University and the nation at large. Further, it provides testimony to the adaptability, durability, and relevance of the remarkable historic structures that form Prospect Avenue in Princeton. Simultaneously accessible and scholarly, The Princeton Eating Clubs is an invaluable guide and merits the highest recognition from New Jersey's historic preservation community. - George Knight AIA, Principal, Knight Architecture LLC The book is a meticulously researched documentation of bricks, mortar, and architectural history of the clubs. It is a glorious page turner for the images and trivia about buildings that I have looked at for 40 years, even written about extensively in the context of town/gown relations. Thanks to Zink, I now appreciate Prospect Avenue as a street museum of art, architecture, and history. - Pamela Hersh, The Princeton Packet Clifford Zink is an historian and historic preservation consultant specializing in architectural, industrial, engineering, and landscape history. In 2011 he received the John A. Roebling Award from the Society for Industrial Archaeology's New York-New Jersey Chapter for "an outstanding contribution to documenting or preserving the industrial heritage of the greater New York-New Jersey area." He has written seven books that have received six