London Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co. nd 1870-1873

Publication in parts begun in 1870 - 104 parts issued, completed 1872. Four volumes, each with chromolithographic frontis. Vol. 1: iv + 412 pp; Vol. 2: iv + 412 pp; Vol. 3: iv + 412pp; and Vol. 4: iv + 428 pp. Small 4to. Publisher's quarter calf with gilt lettering. Vg. Collection of Dresser's series of 31 articles, including the first printing of his article "Principles of Design" within these volumes. The articles formed the basis of the 1876 book, 'Studies in Design'. Dresser's designs include the first appearance of his aesthetic teapot. Other articles include 'Chemistry Applied to the Arts', 'Material on Colour Pigments', 'Civil Engineering', 'Colour Theory' (by A H Church) 'The Lathe', 'Optical Instruments', 'Museums: Their Construction, Arrangement and Management', 'Photography, 'Ship Building', etc. Bright set. A brilliant example of journals at the time demonstrating the whole range of interests the Victorians held in design matters. Cassell's Technical Educator was the most successful of the Victorian self-help part-works. It was a companion to Cassell's New Popular Educator. It appears to have come out in fortnightly issues over a period of 2 years - although most surviving copies seem to have been sold as two or four volume sets. The intended readership was evidently the upwardly mobile class of skilled artisans and mechanics.

London: Astolat Press c.1900

Second edition. Half title, photogravure frontis with tissue guard, and title + 28pp with 6 numbered sepia photogravures and 22 b/w drawings. Square 4to in open weave cloth with stamped decoration and title on spine. Rubbed and bumped on edges, especially spine. Overall a good copy of the second edition of this scarce text. The b/w illustrations are taken from pen drawings by Louis R. Deuchars and Mary herself, and the sepia photogravures from negatives by George Andrews. The Watts Chapel (Compton Chapel) was designed and built by Mary Watts, the wife of the artist G F Watts. It is an intricately ornate building: a mixture of art nouveau, Romanesque and Celtic with the unmistakable influence of the Arts and Crafts movement, of which Mary Watts was a pioneer. Bookplate of Gavin Stamp on front paste down. Previous owner inscription on the half title. Loosely inserted clippings on matters related to the book and Watts.

Ross printed and sold by W Farror 1818

First edition. viii + 154pp illustrated with portrait frontis, tipped in plates of Goodrich Castle unnumbered and naively drawn map with key at page x. Further illustration of Tintern Abbey. Guide book to the key sites of interest to tourists of the Wye Tour. Small 8vo. Full calf, contemporary binding. Marbled end papers. Small split at head of spine and spine slightly rubbed. Minor foxing to prelims. Interesting local printing from Ross on Wye. Some contemporary annotations on the verso of the dedication leaf concerning the frontis of John Kyle. One or two other minor supplementary notes in the same neat hand on elements mentioned in the guide. Gilpin's 'Observations on the River Wye and Several Parts of South Wales etc., relative chiefly to Picturesque Beauty' was made in the summer of the year 1770 was published in 1782 and became a resounding success. This guide was a one of a number produced in response to the development of the tourist trail in this part of Wales which remains popular today.

London IPC no date 1934

19pp, 235x166mm. Black and white and colour illustrations. Stapled pamphlet with upper design featuring the home elected by the Magazine editors as their Model Home called "Sunshine House". The house was designed by Evelyn Simmons and Cecil Grellier and built by Messrs G T Crouch who named it the Sunway Home. A single page descibes the house, the plans of which are also given opposite. Most of the publication is given over to furnishings. Centre fold has 8pp of room settings. Covers orange and black two tone art deco design. The Sunway house was featured at the Ideal Homes Exhibition in 1934 and a version of it constructed with the name Sunway at Bay Walk, Aldwick in Bognor Regis in the same year to the designs of Simmons and Grelllier. Project cited in C20 Journal 2 p124 ( J. Gould).