The British Architect: Or, The Builder's Treasury of Stair-Cases.
by SWAN, Abraham
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
London, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London.: Printed for the Author., 1750.. Full reverse calf, front and rear boards ruled in blind and with pattern decoration in blind, banded spine in seven compartments. (Binding worn and rubbed, corners bumped, joints cracking, head and foot of spine worn).. Folio. (414 x 270 mm).. Printed title, 3 leaves with Swan's introduction, 10 leaves with text and 60 engraved plates, all printed recto only and numbered I - LX, the five plates depicting the 'Orders' printed half-page vertically at right with explanatory text at left. [PROVENANCE: Unidentified armorial bookplate to front pastedown with the motto 'rapido contrarius orbi']. A good, unsophisticated copy of the second edition of Swan's building manual with the explanation of the 'Orders'.Swan's comprehensive work includes the following: 'The work contains: 'I. An easier, more intelligible, and expeditious Method of drawing the Five Orders, than has been hitherto been published, by a Scale of Twelve equal Parts, free from those troublesome Divisions call'd Aliqu(o)t Parts. Shewing also how to glue up their Columns and Capitals.II. Likewise Stair-Cases, (those most useful, ornamental, and necessary Parts of a Building, though never before sufficiently described in any Book, Ancient or Modern); shewing their most convenient Situation, and the Form of their Ascending in the most grand Manner: With a great Variety of curious Ornaments, whereby any Gentleman may fix on what will suit him best, there being Examples of all Kinds; and necessary Directions for such Persons as are unacquainted with the Branch.III. Designs of Arches, Doors, and Windows.IV. A great Variety of New and Curious Chimney-Pieces, in the most elegant and modern Taste.V. Corbels, Shields, and other beautiful Decorations.VI. Several useful and necessary Rules of Carpentry; with the Manner of Truss'd Roofs, and the Nature of a splay'd circular Soffit, both in a streight and circular Wall, never published before. Together with Raking Cornices, Groins, and Angle Brackets, described.' (From the title-page).'This is one of the books that had great influence on the builders and architects of eighteenth-century America.' (Fowler).[Park 79 (first edition, 1745, but citing other eds. including the present); Fowler 341 (second American edition, 1794);
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Details
- Bookseller
- Sims Reed Rare Books (GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 43277
- Title
- The British Architect: Or, The Builder's Treasury of Stair-Cases.
- Author
- SWAN, Abraham
- Format/Binding
- Full reverse calf, front and rear boards ruled in blind and with pattern decoration in blind, banded spine in seven compartments
- Book Condition
- Used
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- Printed for the Author.
- Place of Publication
- London.
- Date Published
- 1750.
- Pages
- pp. viii, 20.
- Size
- Folio. (414 x 270 mm).
Terms of Sale
Sims Reed Rare Books
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged. Postage will be charged at cost and the buyer will be notified of the exact amount.
About the Seller
Sims Reed Rare Books
Biblio member since 2021
London
About Sims Reed Rare Books
Sims Reed Ltd. (Est. 1978, St James's London) specialises in rare books related to art and architecture and stocks a wide range of material in the following categories: Antiquarian, Illustrated Books, Contemporary Artists' Books & Multiples, Periodicals, Architecture, Photography, Applied Arts, Manuscripts and Ephemera.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- New
- A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"...
- Calf
- Calf or calf hide is a common form of leather binding. Calf binding is naturally a light brown but there are ways to treat the...
- Recto
- The page on the right side of a book, with the term Verso used to describe the page on the left side.
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Bookplate
- Highly sought after by some collectors, a book plate is an inscribed or decorative device that identifies the owner, or former...
- Folio
- A folio usually indicates a large book size of 15" in height or larger when used in the context of a book description. Further,...
- Leaves
- Very generally, "leaves" refers to the pages of a book, as in the common phrase, "loose-leaf pages." A leaf is a single sheet...