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Lethaby, W. R.
Architecture Mysticism and Myth.
Publisher: Percival & Co.; London;
Date of Publication: 1892
Stock Code: 12422
First edition. Octavo. pp. [4], x, 272, [2]. Illustrations by the author including frontispiece of Ziggurat of Belus at Babylon, with tissue guard, and 30 further monochrome illustrations within text. All edges uncut. Publishers’ oatmeal cloth and paper title label to spine. Cover cloth very lightly soiled, with a hint of rubbing to board edges and slight bruising to corners. Attractive Arts and Crafts bookplate of David Chisholm Simpson to front paste-down. A significant book on architectural theory by English architect and historian William Lethaby (1857- 1931), exploring the emerging concept of architecture as a series of symbols with philosophical meaning. Lethaby was a major influence on the Arts and Crafts and early Modern movements, and the first Professor of Design at the Royal Academy of Arts. As an apprentice Lethaby worked with Richard Norman Shaw on Lord Armstrong’s country house Cragside, and went on to a distinguished career that was recognised with a RIBA Gold Medal, which he refused to accept. The rare first printing of Lethaby’s first published work. £250.00