Specification of Masons' Work and Specifications for Carpenters' Work.
Champaign, IL: Small Homes Council, 1989. Facsimile of 1869 edition. Perfect Bound. Octavo, pp. xvi, 28, illustrated with b/w photographs and drawings. Very Good. Item #22213
The specifications for the Jarvis Williams House, built in 1869 at 152 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, provide an unusually early example of detailed master specifications. Produced by one of the country's leading architectural firms, Ware & Van Brunt, they were found in draft form in the papers of their author, Henry Richards, a young architect from Gardiner, Maine, who was then in the employ of Ware & Van Brunt. These documents are important both for their detail and organization, as well as for their printed format. That they were prepared for a typical upper middle class residence, rather than for a major architectural monument, adds to their significance, because their preparation demonstrates that leading architects were concerned with gaining more control over the execution of their designs. From the Old House Journal reference library.
Price: $35.00