[Rarebooks] FS: 1835 Greek-Revival Cabinetmaker's Guide

[Joslin Hall Rare Books]

>From our new catalog-
'To Furnish a Fine House' -Books on Furniture,
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Brown, Richard. "The Rudiments of Drawing Cabinet and Upholstery
Furniture: comprising Instructions for designing and delineating the
different articles of those branches geometrically and perspectively;
thereby producing the effect each piece will have when executed: and
shewing by a scale the real measures for the workman. Illustrated by
Appropriate Diagrams and Designs, Proportioned upon Architectural
Principles, After the Manner of the Antique, on Twenty-five Plates, each
accompanied with explanatory remarks"

London; printed for M. Taylor: 1835.

First published in 1820, this is one of the most singular and outspoken
cabinetmaking books of the 19th century, and was also the first devoted in
large part to the new Greek Revival style in furniture. Brown subscribed
to the belief that the study of earlier times held the key to tasteful
decoration. He tolerated the Egyptians (whose designs were "more to be
admired for their sublimity than true elegance"), despised the Romans
("pompous... covered every part of their works with ornaments in wanton
profusion...and render their productions one indistinguishable mass") and
admired the Greeks above all others, "who have displayed a taste hitherto
unequaled, and that fills the enlightened world with admiration."

When dealing with ornament, Brown truly reached his stride. He laid down
the law, stating "All ornaments introduced into furniture should be rich,
graceful and consistent, and not of the vulgar kind: the passionflower,
for instance, is extremely rich, the sun-flower vulgar, although we
frequently see it introduced, with dolphins, shells, and other incongruous
appendages, on the poles of window curtains." He further advises against
use of "serpents and other obnoxious reptiles, to which we have a natural
antipathy." His imagination was unlimited- a dressing table should have
the decorations of plants which produce perfume; sofas need decoration
denoting comfort, for instance couch flower and heartsease; for a table
for playing cards "perhaps the mask of Comus, the god of festivals and
mirth, will be found to accord.".

Since Brown comments in this vein on every piece of furniture, the book is
quite entertaining reading. The designs include a wide variety of tables
as well as chests, bookcases, seats, sofas, beds and other pieces, and
also several room designs; the pieces are interesting, often very
dramatic. Needless to say, the perspective is perfect. Bound at the back,
but paginated within the sequence of the main book, is "An Elucidation on
the Principles of Drawing Ornaments, Exemplified on Seven Plates", first
published in 1822.

Hardcover. 10"x11.5", xvi + 87 pages, plus 25 + 7 plates. Bound in the
publisher's original printed boards, covers somewhat scuffed and soiled.
Rebacked, with a new, sympathetic spine, and new endpapers. Some light
internal spotting and a little soil. Ex-institutional, with a number on
the margin of the frontispiece and several numbers written on the
copyright page. Overall a nice copy in the original pasteboard covers.
[31026] $3,000.00

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