(ARCHITECTURE.) Gibbs, James. A Book of Architecture Containing Designs of Buildings and Ornaments.The Second Edition. 150 engraved plates of plans, elevations, and sculptural details, including 5 folding. Folio, full contemporary calf, sensitively rebacked and cornered with decorative period gilt stamping and title label on crimson calf, front lower corner with small archival tape repair to creased board; scattered foxing and toning to preliminaries, clean repair to first folding plate, plate 26 repaired and with some wrinkling and edge toning, scattered light foxing to some images. London: Printed for W. Innys and R. Manby, 1739
The second edition of Gibbs's famous folio of his building designs both executed and not, as well as numerous designs for ornaments. It was intended to be a pattern book for both architects and clients, and became "probably the most widely-used architecture book of the century, not only throughout Britain, but in the American colonies and the West Indies" (where St. Martin's Church, London, was used as a prototype for numerous churches)--Summerson, John, Architecture in the United Kingdom, 1530-1830. 9th edition. Yale University Press, 1993. This edition was published before the creation of Radcliffe Camera at Oxford University, his last and among his most famous works. Millard II, #22; Fowler 138 (both referencing the first edition).
