An Encyclopaedia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture; containing Numerous Designs for Dwelling...Each Design accompanied by Analytical and Critical Remarks..

2039 woodcuts in the text. xx, 1138 pp. Thick 8vo, green half-morocco & marbled boards (joints a bit worn), spine gilt. London: Longman et al., 1834. Second edition (1st ed.: 1833) of the work "which was to influence residential building around the world for years to come. With typical Loudon thoroughness, the book includes 50 designs for cottages (including a portable prefabricated one 'for the use of emigrants and others'), 65 designs for farmhouses and related buildings, designs for country inns, pubs, and schools, and 23 designs for villas of varying degrees of grandeur. Loudon includes appropriate furnishings, and many are complete with gardens. As usual, he enlisted specialist contributors, including architects, engineers, surveyors, builders, hardware merchants, furnishers and upholsterers, a stove builder and a fountain maker."-B. Weinreb, Cat. 54. Garden Architecture and Landscape, 295. Loudon's involvement with architecture arose from his interest in landscape. He made himself a specialist in rural vernacular building types by writing the present book. This work was unprecedented in that it was consciously addressed to the middle class rather than to an aristocratic audience. Loudon (1783-1843), has been called the "most distinguished gardening author of the age" (by A.J. Downing). He was "a designer of parks and gardens but the chief reason for Loudon's historical importance is undoubtedly the quality and volume of his literary output...this immensely energetic Scotsman published approximately 60 million words on gardening, horticulture, architecture, agriculture, and other related topics. His books, encyclopaedias, and magazines were essential reference books in their day and remain an indispensable source for historians of the period."-The Oxford Companion to Gardens, p. 344. A very good copy. Armorial bookplate of Thomas Munro. ❧ Fussell, III, pp. 88-98.