Designs for Cottages

BARBER, William.  FARM BUILDINGS; CONTAINING DESIGNS FOR COTTAGES, FARM-HOUSES, LODGES....

London: J. Harding, (circa 1805). 4to. Publisher's wrappers. (iv), 12 pages, 6 engraved aquatint plates, 8 pages of advertisements. Second edition. [Archer, 12.2; Abbey, Life, 5].

First published in 1802, Barber's designs for Irish workman's cottages, a popular theme at the turn of the eighteenth to nineteenth centuries, emphasized simplicity, economy, and compactness.  He was an adherent of using Pisé, a compacted earth process popular in France, for the exterior walls, giving his designs a clean, stucco-like look, reminiscent of much early twentieth century architecture.  The plates, by Barber, were printed in aquatint.  They show elevations and floor plans for three plain worker's cottages, another in a gothic style, a Neoclassic hunting lodge, and a lodge for a small family.  Barber estimates the designs could be built for between thirty-four to three hundred and fifty pounds. A final plate illustrates his design for Sir Francis Hopkinson's Irish farmyard.  An eight page catalogue of books on agriculture and rural affairs by Harding is bound in the rear.  Rare.  Only printed in the 1802 and 1805 editions, the title is rare.  We could find only two copies for sale at auction during the past thirty years, the last in 1987.  Some soiling to the publisher's wrappers and light foxing to the text leaves only, else a very nice copy of a rare book.

$2,500.00