Overview

With Selling the Dwelling: The Books That Built America's Houses, Richard W. Cheek has assembled more than 200 rare books, periodicals, drawings, and printed ephemera documenting the history of the American dream of home ownership. Beginning in 1775, with George Bell's reproduction of Abraham Swan's The British Architect, the catalogue, which supported the eponymous Grolier Club exhibition, proceeds chronologically, covering such developments as the post-Civil War explosion of architectural book publishing, the growing importance of magazines like House Beautiful in the 1880s, the precut homes produced by Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Ward, the post-World War II home-building boom, the rapid changes to the literature of house building after 1970, and the significance of the Internet, which offered CD-ROMS in place of printed catalogues. Throughout, Cheek highlights the more visually arresting and socially compelling examples of this genre, focusing on books that reveal the character of our country as much as they do the style of our houses.

Full Product Details

Author:   Richard Cheek
Publisher:   Grolier Club of New York
Imprint:   Grolier Club of New York
Dimensions:   Width: 22.90cm , Height: 3.00cm , Length: 30.50cm
Weight:   1.987kg
ISBN:  

9781605830506

ISBN 10:   160583050
Pages:   288
Publication Date:   15 July 2013
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Collector's Perspective and Acknowledgements Introduction The First American Architectural Books: Builders Guides in the New Republic Honoring the Democratic Ideal: The Heyday of the Greek Revival Popular Taste Making: Pattern Books and Gothic Fantasies Optimism and Mid-Century: Every Man Can Build His House Big Firms, Big Sales: Marketing House Plans to the Nation Passion for the Past: The Colonial Revival Begins Mansions for Millionaires: Beaux Arts Country Houses, 1890-1930 Smaller Homes for the Millions: Plans by Mail or Houses by Rail Bungalows: Artful Houses for the Common Man The Homes We Fought For: Modern or Traditional? More Developments, Fewer Designs: The Demise of the House Plan Book Illustration Sources, Additional Resources, and Bibliography

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Author Information

Richard Cheek is an architectural photographer and a visual history editor.

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