Street, George Edmund
The cathedral of the Holy Trinity, commonly called Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. An account of the restoration of the fabric … with an historical sketch of the cathedral … and a dedication, by Sir Theodore Martin.
London, Sutton Sharpe & Co. 1882.
Full Description
Large folio. xii + 173 + (1)pp, 10 steel-engraved plates (7 on india paper), 9 wood-engraved plates (on india paper), and 5 chromolitho plates, also 4 wood-engraved text ills (on india paper), with separate 4 page printed prospectus loosely inserted. Publisher’s full vellum, richly decorated in red and gold (binding designed by Street), centre of lower cover slightly rubbed, a little bumped at head and foot of spine. Inner hinge weakening, some light foxing. Contemporary ink presentation inscription from the volume’s publisher, Sutton Sharpe, to the Duke of Teck, with the Duke’s engraved bookplate. Roderick Gradidge’s copy.
A very substantial volume in which Street describes his “restoration” of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, carried out between 1871 and 1878. It could more accurately be described as a rebuilding, for Street demolished the existing choir and the adjacent remains of a lady chapel, as well as tampering with the nave, and Street was thus able to give the cathedral an overall architectural character which it had previously lacked. The account of the restoration was Street’s last piece of writing, completed a few days before his death, and the book is an impressive record of one of his most prestigious architectural commissions. Publisher’s presentation copy to His Serene Highness the Duke of Teck (1837-1900), the father of Queen Mary, consort of King George V.