Three volumes (29 cm), I (13-25 April 1891): (4) xv (1), 448 pp. 2004 lots. II (20-31 May 1895): xxviii, 420 pp., [1] plate (portrait), text illustrations. 1753 lots. II (19-23 May 1896): viii, 150 pp., illustrations. Includes a Supplément (one leaf, describing lot 805 bis). Two volumes uniformly bound in contemporary red cloth, black skiver lettering-pieces; one volume bound in contemporary half-morocco (original wrappers retained in each volume). - Three (of eight?) auction sale catalogues dispersing the “second” library assembled by the architect Hippolyte-Alexandre-Gabriel-Walter Destailleur (1822-1893); his first library had been sold in 1879, becoming the foundation for the Kunstbibliothek in Berlin (Cédric Destailleur, “Hippolyte Destailleur: architecte-collectionneur” in L’artiste collectionneur de dessin: De Giorgio Vasari à aujourd’hui, edited by Catherine Monbeig-Goguel, Paris 2006, pp.147-162). Offered here are the catalogues of Destailleur’s most valuable books (sold 13-25 April 1891, realising 467,327 Fr.), his collection of ornament books and prints (sold 20-31 May 1895, realising 333,270 Fr.), and some of his drawings (sold 19-23 May 1896, realising 267,266 Fr.). Blogie II, 199 (April 1891); Blogie II, 217 (May 1895). ¶ Bindings fatigued. Two entries clipped from one leaf (1891 sale, pp.141-142), neatly replaced with typescript facsimiles.
(29 cm), xvi, 383 (1) pp., 30 plates, 1 folding chart. Publisher’s cloth binding. - 448 items, 210 of them by just ten favoured authors. The collection was given to Johns Hopkins University in 1945 by the architect Laurence Hall Fowler (1876-1971), and is now housed in the John Work Garrett Library, a building Fowler himself designed. According to a prospectus, “The edition is limited to 500 copies”, although no limitation statement appears in the book. Donald C. Dickinson, Dictionary of American Book Collectors (New York 1986), pp.124-125. ¶ Slight shelf wear; otherwise a very fine copy.
(30.5 cm), 183 (1) pp., with 43 text illustrations. Publisher’s cloth (no dust jacket issued). - The first instalment of a new catalogue of books and prints in the Kunstbibliothek, Berlin, intended to (eventually) replace the old “Berlin Katalog” (1936-1936, reprinted 1958, 1986). The section “Architecture England” was totally lost in 1939-1945 and was the first to be actively collected thereafter. “[Dr Fischer] has produced an exemplary curatorial catalogue of the 119 copies of English architectural and topographical books (including three single prints) in the Berlin Kunstbibliothek, ranging in date from Dugdale’s Monasticon Anglicum of 1661-82 to P.F. Robinson’s Designs for Gate Cottages of 1837… All the information provided by Dr Fischer is comprehensible, accurate and absolutely trustworthy, which are the prime requirements of any bibliography” (from a review by Eileen Harris, in The Book Collector, Winter 1984, pp.529-531). ¶ Very good, unmarked copy.
McGinniss (Lawrence R.), born 1941; Mitchell (Herbert), 1924-2008; Parks (Janet)
Columbia University (New York), Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library
(28 cm), 42 (2) pp., [19] p. of plates. 77 catalogue entries. Publisher’s printed wrappers. - Catalogue for exhibition honouring Adolf Placzek (1913-2000), on the occasion of his retirement as Director of the Avery Architectural Library, recording a selection of the books and drawings acquired during his tenure. Catalogue illustrations by the Meriden Gravure Company. ¶ Good, unmarked copy.
[Chicago], Architectural Publications, Inc. / University of Chicago Press, 1983
(21.5 × 25.5 cm), [128] pp., profusely illustrated in black & white. Publisher’s pictorial wrappers. - A concise guide to architectural books from the 15th through the 18th century. The 211 entries (by 49 contributors) are organised in three main parts: the Renaissance discovery of Vitruvius; architects and amateurs of the 17th and 18th centuries; and the elements of architecture (this last part further divided into four sections: the Orders, geometry and perspective, technology, and public and private architecture). Each entry provides a brief biography of the author and a summary of the book’s contents and importance; about half the entries are accompanied by illustrations. ¶ Very good, unmarked copy.
Paris / Monte Carlo, Ader, Picard, Tajan, 1985-1986
Two volumes (22 × 27 cm), I (Paris, 3 May 1985): [88] pp., text illustrations (2 in colour). 150 lots. II (Monte Carlo, 1 July 1986): [160] pp., text illustrations (some in colour). 232 lots. Publisher’s printed wrappers. - A selection from the library of the architect Fernand Pouillon (1912-1986), including books which had been utilised for facsimile reproductions issued by Jardin de Flore, a publishing house established by the collector in 1974 in association with the bookseller Fernand de Nobele. A sale in Paris on 2-3 February 1961 had disposed of a previous collection (267 lots). ¶ Annotated copies.
(27 cm), 507 (1) pp., illustrations. Publisher’s printed wrappers. - Forty essays (in French, Italian, English, and German), including John Bury’s “Renaissance architectural treatises and architectural books: a bibliography” (pp.485-504). Other contributors writing in English are Joseph Rykwert, Dora Wiebenson, Gustina Scaglia, Maria A. Phillips, John Onians, Howard Burns, Nigel Llewellyn, Maurice Howard, John Newman, Catherine Wilkinson. ¶ Light shelf wear; otherwise a very good copy.
Washington, DC & New York, National Gallery of Art / George Braziller, 1993-2000
Four volumes (31 cm), I (1993): xxv, 512 pp., profusely illustrated. II (1998): xv (1), 392 pp., profusely illustrated. III (1998): xii, 415 pp., profusely illustrated. IV (2000): xxiii (1), 545 pp., profusely illustrated. Publisher’s cloth bindings, pictorial dust jackets. - Four-volume catalogue of the library of European architectural and topographical books (approximately 560 titles, in 760 volumes), assembled Mark J. Millard (1908-1985), passing by donation and purchase in the 1980s to the National Gallery of Art. Cf. Andrew Robison, in Grolier 2000: a further Grolier Club biographical retrospective (New York 2000), pp.242-245. ¶ Excellent, unmarked set.
(30.5 cm), 731 (5) pp., 700 colour plates and numerous black & white illustrations. 421 catalogue entries. Publisher’s cloth, pictorial dust jacket. - Encyclopaedic exhibition on the representation of architecture in art, and architecture’s relationship with other arts, featuring a spectacular group of 30 period wooden scale models for architectural projects, also paintings, drawings, manuscripts, books, prints, sculptures, foundation medals, and other objects. The catalogue contains over four hundred pages of introductory essays - by Henry A. Millon, Kathleen Weil-Garris Brandt, Christoph Luitpold Frommel, Arnaldo Bruschi, Nicholas Adams and Laurie Nussdorfer, Richard Krautheimer, Hubertus Günther, Oswald Mathias Ungers, James Ackerman, Cesare de Seta, and Carlo Bertelli - and another 300 pages containing 421 individual entries written by some fifty-six authors. ¶ Very good, unmarked copy.
Five volumes (30.5 cm), I (1994): xlviii, 538 pp., including frontispiece and 16 p. of plates. II (1995): xxii, pp.539-1039 (1), plus frontispiece and 16 p. of plates. III (1999): xxvi, pp.1041-1715 (1), plus frontispiece and 16 p. of plates. IV (2001): xxviii, pp.1717-2479 (1), plus frontispiece and 16 p. of plates. V (2003): xxxv (1), pp.2481-3267 (1), plus frontispiece and 16 p. of plates. 4202 catalogue entries. Uniform publisher’s green cloth (no dust jackets issued). - Analytical catalogue of the Royal Institute of British Architects’ rare book holdings. ¶ Fine set with minimal traces of use and no marks of ownership.
(29.5 cm), [152] pp., [4] pp. colour plates, text illustrations. 413 lots. (Estimates printed in catalogue.) Publisher’s printed wrappers. - Library of books on the sciences, art and architecture (including fortification), and Savonaroliana, assembled by Max Favia del Core (1927-1994), or from the ancestral library of his wife, Maria Ludovica Borromeo Arese. “In the science section, the most remarkable group was that of six Galileo first editions, including his privately printed pamphlet on the ‘operazione del compasso geometrico’ 1606 (sixty copies only) which fetched Sw.fr 130,000. Il Saggiatore and Dialogo also made twice their estimate… The afternoon ‘art and architecture’ session was particularly lively… Some albums of original drawings did well, with institutions like the Getty showing discreet interest… The remarkable Savonarola section opened with a manuscript of Pico della Mirandola’s Life of Savonarola [lot 338] and included an amazing number of Florentine incunables… The ‘Predica dell’ arte del ben morire’ of 1496 fetched Sw.fr 23,000, the 1500 version by another printer made 16,000, and its complement, the ‘Regole del ben vivere’ [1498] went for Sw.fr 11,000, all well above estimate” (from a saleroom report in The Book Collector, Autumn 1995, pp.386-388). ¶ Annotated copy. No Price list.
(29.5 cm), [152] pp., [4] pp. colour plates, text illustrations. 413 lots. (Estimates printed in catalogue.) List of prices realised loosely inserted. Publisher’s printed wrappers. - Library of books on the sciences, art and architecture (including fortification), and Savonaroliana, assembled by Max Favia del Core (1927-1994), or from the ancestral library of his wife, Maria Ludovica Borromeo Arese. “In the science section, the most remarkable group was that of six Galileo first editions, including his privately printed pamphlet on the ‘operazione del compasso geometrico’ 1606 (sixty copies only) which fetched Sw.fr 130,000. Il Saggiatore and Dialogo also made twice their estimate… The afternoon ‘art and architecture’ session was particularly lively… Some albums of original drawings did well, with institutions like the Getty showing discreet interest… The remarkable Savonarola section opened with a manuscript of Pico della Mirandola’s Life of Savonarola [lot 338] and included an amazing number of Florentine incunables… The ‘Predica dell’ arte del ben morire’ of 1496 fetched Sw.fr 23,000, the 1500 version by another printer made 16,000, and its complement, the ‘Regole del ben vivere’ [1498] went for Sw.fr 11,000, all well above estimate” (from a saleroom report in The Book Collector, Autumn 1995, pp.386-388). ¶ Annotated copy. One corner of wrapper bent; otherwise a very good, unmarked copy.
(25.5 cm), 845 (3) pp., over 850 illustrations (publisher’s count). Publisher’s laminated pictorial wrappers. - The 89 essays discuss “the most important treatises on architecture from the Renaissance to today” grouped by origin and date: Italy (entries by Veronica Biermann et al.), France (by Christian Freigang and Jarl Kremeier), Spain (by Barbara Borngässer Klein), England (by Carsten Ruhl), Germany (by Bernd Evers and Jürgen Zimmer), 20th century (by Gilbert Lupfer, Jürgen Paul, and Paul Sigel). Translated from the German by Gregory Fauria, Jeremy Gaines, and Michael Shuttleworth. ¶ Very good, unmarked copy.
(27 cm), [136] pp., illustrations (some in colour). 573 lots. Publisher’s printed wrappers. - Léonce Laget served his apprenticeship with Gaston Colas and commenced bookselling on his own account in 1952, specialising in old books on architecture, the fine and decorative arts, of which he published more than 150 catalogues. Laget guided important private collectors, notably Arnaud de Vitry and Serge Letellier, and participated energetically in the development of the Avery Library, Canadian Centre for Architecture, Getty Center, and other institutional collections; he is perhaps better-known for introducing onto the market the collections of architectural books formed by Charles Charles-Frédéric Mewès (1860-1914). Laget’s first shop was situated at 54 rue Bonaparte; he later traded from 75 rue de Rennes (1972-1990), 76 rue de Seine (1991-1997), and 88 de la rue Bonaparte (1997-2005). After 1986, the firm was managed by his long-time collaborator, Véronique Delvaux. ¶ Occasional pencil annotation. Laser print of prices realised loosely inserted.