Practice of Architecture: The Builder's Guide

Asher Benjamin (1773-1845) published the first American builder's guide, and his architectural books played an invaluable role in disseminating the new language of the Greek Revival. When originally published, they were remarkably popular, and were among the most influential of all Greek Revival handbooks. Throughout the American South, Midwest, and New England, one still comes across houses built in the 1830s, 1840s, and 1850s patterned directly after Benjamin's designs.The two books incorporated here,Practice of Architecture(1833) andThe Builders Guide(1839), are his most accomplished Grecian pattern books. With the growing number of contemporary architects who are designing buildings based on the forms on nineteenth century Grecian architecture, Benjamin's books should prove an invaluable resource for all lovers of the Greek Revival - builders, owners, preservationists, historians, and architects alike.Thomas Gordon Smithis chairman of the school of Architecture at the University of Notre Dame. His books includeClassical Architecture: Rule and Inventionand a newly illustrated edition of Vitruvius'sTen Books on Architecture/Benjamin, Asher is the author of 'Practice of Architecture: The Builder's Guide', published 1994 under ISBN 9780306805721 and ISBN 0306805723.