The Builder's Guide, Illustrated by Sixty-Six Engravings, Which Exhibit the Orders of Architecture and Other Elements of the Art. Designed for the Use of Builders, Particularly Carpenters and Joiners. By Asher Benjamin, Architect. Author of "The American Builder's Companion," "The Rudiments of Architecture," "The Practical House Carpenter," and "Practice of Architecture." Boston: Published by Perkins & Marvin, 1839. First Edition. Fine contemporary half-leather marbled binding, 66 plates, 83 pp, 11 x 9", 4to. In fair condition. Marled paper covers boards scuffed at edges and worn at corners. Head and tail of leather spine rubbed. Title label intact; gilt lettering bright and clean. Light foxing around edges of front and rear boards. Bottom edge of fresh front end-page exhibits pencil marginalia: Rebound - Fred Shihadeh. Normal age-related toning throughout text-block; mostly to edges of leaves. Light water dampness staining to fore-edge on title page through ~ Plate XXVII. Some instances of age-staining on some plates. Finger-soiling found on some bottom corners throughout text-block. Modern binding tight and intact. All 66 plates included. Please see photos and ask questions, if any, before purchasing. Asher Benjamin (1773-1845) was an American architect and author whose work transitioned between Federal architecture and the later Greek Revival architecture. His seven handbooks on design deeply influenced the look of cities and towns throughout New England until the Civil War. Benjamin exhibited an aptitude for architect by carving Ionic capitals for the 1794 modifications to the Oliver Phelps House at Suffield, Connecticut. Upon leaving Connecticut, Benjamin settled in Greenfield, Massachusetts. There, he built two large houses, including the Leavitt House for Judge Johnathan Leavitt. Benjamin's greatest influence is derived form his pattern books. The first written by an American architect, they introduced architectural history, style and geometry to ordinary builders in the field. He adapted many designs by James Gibbs and Colen Campbell. These handbooks provided superb drawings and practical advice for full house plans, including such details as circular staircases, doorways, fireplace mantels, dormer windows pilasters, balusters, and fences. He sketched proposals for dwellings and church, even a courthouse. The archeological sources of his designs were scrupulously cited, from the Temple of Hephaestus in Athens to the Arch of Titus in Rome. Bound by, according to pencil marginalia, 20th-century bookbinder Fred Shihadeh of Historic Sugartown in Malvern, PA. Shihadeh studied bookbinder in Bremerhaven, Germany, following WWII, and plied his crafts for decades in an atelier in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. He repaired, approximately, 200 - 300 rare books a year for collectors, antiquarian booksellers, and libraries. Among his most notable accomplishments were bindings he repaired for a collection of prints by John Audubon, an original edition of the Federalist Papers, and broadsides announcing the Declaration of Independence. Shihadek and his wife, Elka, amassed one of the largest collections of the tools of their trade, which are now displayed in Historic Sugartown. A first edition work, with fine binding. Gift quality! RAREA1839LQRX 04/24 - HK1477
