Beckett, Sir Edmund
A book on building civil and ecclesiastical: including church restoration; with the theory of domes and the Great Pyramid (etc.)… second edition, enlarged.
London, Crosby Lockwood & Co. 1880.
Full Description
8vo. xiv+391+(1)pp, and 16 + 32pp publisher’s adverts, text ills. Publisher’s embossed cloth boards, a little weak at hinges and some small paint spots on lower cover. Gavin Stamp’s copy, with his bookplate.
A highly personal view of current English architecture and architectural practice by Sir Edmund Beckett, (better known as Lord Grimthorpe). His text is a curious mixture of practical guidance on the ways of architects and builders, and advice on the construction of such features as mouldings and sash windows, with partisan remarks about matters of architectural controversy. He rates his own architectural talents very highly, is ambivalent about Scott, and consistently hostile to Street. Chapter V, on church building and restoration, shows Beckett at his most characteristic, but his egotism is pervasive and this gives a vividness to every part of the book. This is an enlarged edition of a book first published in 1876.