Part of a series of technically informative monographs embracing a broad spectrum of internationally renowned buildings. This work deals with Melsetter House, and includes a comprehensive set of technical drawings and working details.

In the most comprehensive investigation of the Los Angeles Public Library’s early history and architectural genesis ever undertaken, Kenneth Breisch chronicles the institution’s first six decades, from its founding as a private library association in 1872 through the completion of the iconic Central Library building in 1933. During this time, the library evolved from an elite organization ensconced in two rooms in downtown LA into one of the largest public library systems in the United States—with architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue’s building, a beloved LA landmark, as its centerpiece. Goodhue developed a new style, fully integrating the building’s sculptural and epigraphic program with its architectural forms to express a complex iconography. Working closely with sculptor Lee Oskar Lawrie and philosopher Hartley Burr Alexander, he created a great civic monument that, combined with the library’s murals, embodies an overarching theme: the light of learning. “A building should read like a book, from its title entrance to its alley colophon,” wrote Alexander—a narrative approach to design that serves as a key to understanding Goodhue’s architectural gem. Breisch draws on a wealth of primary source material to tell the story of one of the most important American buildings of the twentieth century and illuminates the formation of an indispensible modern public institution: the American public library.

William Richard Lethaby: His Life and Work 1857-1931 focuses on the masterpieces, achievements, and legacy of Lethaby in architecture. The book first underscores the early life of Lethaby and his humble beginnings in the field of architecture. The text then ponders on the craftsmanship and architectural genius of Lethaby as shown in the design of the Stanmore Hall, Avon Tyrrell, The Hurst, Melsetter House, Rysa Lodge, Eagle Insurance Buildings, and High Coxlease. The publication highlights the creative mind of Lethaby through the artistic presentation of SS Colm and Margaret, All Saints' Church, Liverpool Cathedral Competition, and the Central School of Arts and Crafts. The text also takes a look at the works of Lethaby for the London County Council, his early architectural education and training, and his legacy as a theorist and writer. The book is a fine reference for historians, architects, and researchers interested in the works, contributions, and influence of Lethaby on architecture.

Reproduction of the original: Leadwork Old and Ornamental and for the most part English by W.R Lethaby

A postmodern masterpiece about fraud and forgery by one of the most distinctive, accomplished novelists of the last century. The Recognitions is a sweeping depiction of a world in which everything that anyone recognizes as beautiful or true or good emerges as anything but: our world. The book is a masquerade, moving from New England to New York to Madrid, from the art world to the underworld, but it centers on the story of Wyatt Gwyon, the son of a New England minister, who forsakes religion to devote himself to painting, only to despair of his inspiration. In expiation, he will paint nothing but flawless copies of his revered old masters—copies, however, that find their way into the hands of a sinister financial wizard by the name of Recktall Brown, who of course sells them as the real thing. Dismissed uncomprehendingly by reviewers on publication in 1955 and ignored by the literary world for decades after, The Recognitions is now established as one of the great American novels, immensely ambitious and entirely unique, a book of wild, Boschian inspiration and outrageous comedy that is also profoundly serious and sad.

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