THOMAS, William.

by William Thomas

£17,500 · Offered by Sokol Books

.Fine copy of the first and only edition of this most attractive collection of original designs by William Thomas, with plans, elevations, ceilings, sections and various architectural ornaments for country villas and own houses. Two ceiling designs are handsomely hand-coloured, and the subscribers list includes major architects such as Robert Adam, who inspired Thomas work, George Dance, to whom Soane was apprenticed, Henry Holland, James Stuart and James Wyatt, among others. William Thomas (d.1800), from Pembroke, was one of the very few Welsh architects to publish works on architectural designs (Hilling, p.9). In 1785, he presented this volume to the Society of Arts (Fitton, p.196). The most approved taste mentioned on the titlepage was the Neo-Classical style. As the Introduction acknowledges, the night of Gothic Ignorance [having] being happily dispelled by the bright sun of Science , it left room to the development of classical architecture in the Renaissance. Thomas based his designs on Convenience, Beauty and Stability , the Extent, Soil, Form and Situation of each location, and the Foundation, Solidity, and relative Dimensions (i.e., the rules of proportion). In the explanations of the designs, Thomas illuminates the reasons behind them, e.g., preventing disagreeable effects , the creation of stairs to conceal the Servants Offices , making a building look larger, a display of grandeur , etc. The design for a villa on pl.3 accommodates also warming machines to be fixed

• Binding: Hardcover

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