Architectura Ecclesiastica Londini,

£2,000 · Offered by Shapero Rare Books · No longer available

"The first artistically competent and exhaustive illustration of the golden age of London church building and, as it turned out, the last possible one before the demolitions of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the destruction wrought by the second World War and the overshadowings, dwarfings and obliterations by office blocks since then... No fewer than 52 Wren churches, apparently still in good fettle, are represented, with four by Hawksmoor, three by Gibbbs... Moreover they are not depicted in the traditional way by an approximate outline quite divorced from its neighbourhood as in Maitland's History, but they stand three-dimensinal and four-square in their streets, or churchyards, sometimes even animated with staffage of Regency Londoners." (Adams). The book was issued in various sizes of which this is the largest, and with two diffrent title pages, one dated 1819, and one 1820 as in the present copy. First edition, second issue, ONE OF A FEW PROOF COPIES PRINTED ON AN EXTRA LARGE SIZE ON IMPERIAL PAPER, folio, 57.5 x 39cm, 36, 8 pp., one hundred and twenty-three plates from original drawings by John Coney, George Shepherd c. etched by J. Skelton, W. Wise c., uncut, contemporary half calf, marbled boards, original paper label to upper cover, rebacked and recornered to style, red morocco lettering piece, a very good copy. Adams, Londo Illustrated, 129.

• Binding: Hardcover

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