Architecture of the Renaissance in England; Illustrated by a series of views and details from buildings erected between the years 1560-1635, with historical and critical text

Two volume set. The format is approximately 14 inches by 18.5 inches. With One Hundred Forty-Five Plates, and One Hundred Eighty Illustrations in the Text. Footnotes. Chronological list of subjects illustrated. Index to illustrations and descriptive text. Ink notation on half-title page of Volume I. This copy has sustained some moisture impacts at the bottom. All pages are separate and there has only been limited impact on the pages (text or illustrations). The Preface is dated 1890. There appears to have been an issuance of this material in 1891 in six portfolios, but not in this bound volume form. This work was apparently initially sold via Subscription. Folio, [two volumes], xxii, 52pp, [66 plates]; 64pp, [79 plates]. Books measure 14 x 18.5 . Publisher’s very worn and soiled binding is three quarter brown morocco, raised bands, title in gilt on spines. Top edge gilt. Text blocks solid. A complete set with 145 photogravure plates. Among the subject of illustrations are Exeter Cathedral, Burghley House, Merton College, and Kenilworth Castle. One of the most important considerations in the undertaking was the qualify of the photographic illustrations. The art of fitly illustrating architecture by means of the camera has not been wildly acquired, and we hold ourselves fortunate in having secured the services of Mr. Charles Latham. Charles Latham (15 May 1847 – 27 October 1912) was staff photographer of the magazine Country Life in the early years of the 20th century. His first work for Batsford was with the architect John Alfred Gotch on his book Architecture of the Renaissance in England. John Alfred Gotch (28 September 1852, Kettering, Northamptonshire – 17 January 1942, Kettering, Northamptonshire was a noted English architect and architectural historian. John Gotch attended Kettering Grammar School and later studied at the University of Zürich and at King's College London. In 1879 Gotch set up a private architectural practice in Kettering which developed into Gotch & Saunders by entering into partnership with Charles Saunders in 1887. They were later joined by Henry Ralph Surridge and they jointly retired in 1938. The practice still exists as Gotch, Saunders & Surridge LLP, or GSSArchitecture. In Kettering, Gotch was responsible for the design and construction of shoe factories, warehouses, houses, shops, offices, banks, hospitals, schools, public houses, sports venues, entertainment venues and a temperance hall. The Practice was also responsible for the design of several First World War memorials, and the alteration and expansion of numerous historic country houses, for example, Madingley Hall, now the Institute of Continuing Education, part of the University of Cambridge. Following the end of the War, Gotch's practice designed and built over 140 branches of Midland Bank and, in association with Edwin Lutyens, Gotch designed the interior of the Bank's former headquarters in Poultry, London which is considered an Art Deco icon. As well as designing many buildings Gotch had an interest in Elizabethan and Jacobean architecture. He was the author of nine books in this field, as well as editor of a book on the history of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). Apart from his renown as an architectural historian, he also achieved eminence as a public figure and representative of the architectural profession. He was president of the Architectural Association in 1886-1887, vice-president of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in 1914-1919, and president of RIBA in 1923-1925: the first provincial architect to be appointed president since the formation of the institute in 1834. In addition, he was vice-president of the Society of Antiquaries, a founder member of the Royal Fine Art Commission, a Trustee of the Soane Museum, and president of the Northamptonshire Association of Architects in 1911-1922. In 1924 he received an honorary M.A. degree from the University of Oxford. John Alfred Gotch was appointed the.…