Sacred Edifice

London: Cassell & Company Ltd., 1954. Very Good condition but for browning to the endpapers and small chip (1/8th inch) at the head of the spine. Otherwise a bright, clean, square, tight copy. NO owner's name or bookplate. NOT a remainder. Pages are creamy white and unmarked. Hardcover. John Gloag (1896-1981), best known as a writer and critic on architecture, also wrote more than twenty works of fiction. SACRED EDIFICE is a novel about an ancient Cathedral destroyed during a Zeppelin bombing raid. A wealthy American motor-car manufacturer steps in to help with the rebuilding. The new Foreword to this edition is by the architect, Basil Spence, O. B. E. At the time he wrote, Spence was working to replace Coventry Cathedral which in reality had been destroyed by WWII bombing. Spence remarks about how astonishingly Gloag's novel, written 20 years before, predicts the real life reactions of the public, of the technical Press, and of the clergy. "What is even more intriguing is the description of the processes of thought in the architect's mind. I am certain architects, and creative artists generally, will find this a most absorbing book." -- John Spence. Bound in the original black boards, stamped in shiny silver on the spine.. 1954 reprint of the 1937 original. Hardcover. Very Good condition/No jacket. 287pp.