Langley Builders' Guide

LANGLEY, Batty.  THE CITY AND COUNTRY BUILDER'S AND WORKMAN'S TREASURY OF DESIGNS.

London: S. Harding, 1756. 4to. Later quarter-calf. (ii), 24 pages, 186, 14 plates. [Park, 42; Harris, 449].

First published in 1740, the 1756 edition contains fourteen additional plates not in the first.  Park cites nine Langley titles as being in American colonial libraries.  In Virginia, The City and Country Builder's was owned by William Buckland, John Mercer, and Robert Carter.  Thomas Dawes and James Logan of Philadelphia also owned copies as did Peter Harrison of Newport, who used Langley's designs in his own work.  Langley provides over four hundred designs for items as diverse as piers, gates, altar-pieces, ceilings, and iron works.  A very good copy in a sympathetic later quarter-calf binding.

$3,500.00