A handsome first edition copy of one of the classic contemporary accounts of the skyscraper age, written by master builder W. A. Starrett at the height of the American building boom. Equal parts engineering history, memoir, and celebration of modern construction, the work remains an essential primary source on the development of the steel-frame skyscraper. 8vo (6” x 8.25”), hardcover with photographic dust jacket, 347 pages, Illustrated throughout with b/w photographs documenting the construction of America's great early skyscrapers. Ownership signature of Harold V. Maurer, partner in the South Bend, Indiana architectural firm Maurer & Maurer, known for numerous civic and institutional projects during the interwar and Public Works Administration era. Binding shaken and leaned. Blue pictorial cloth very good or better with light bumping and rubbing to extremities. Light bumping and rubbing to price-clipped dj (which retains the striking photographic front panel) with open tears to spine head and edges of front cover. Rear cover missing, but rear flap preserved. Six lines underlined on pages 11-12 by p.o. Housed in a protective mylar sleeve. A desirable association copy of a cornerstone work of American architectural and construction history, uncommon in any jacket, and increasingly elusive as a first edition.
A handsome first edition copy of one of the classic contemporary accounts of the skyscraper age, written by master builder W. A. Starrett at the height of the American building boom. Equal parts engineering history, memoir, and celebration of modern construction, the work remains an essential primary source on the development of the steel-frame skyscraper. 8vo (6” x 8.25”), hardcover with photographic dust jacket, 347 pages, Illustrated throughout with b/w photographs documenting the construction of America's great early skyscrapers. Ownership signature of Harold V. Maurer, partner in the South Bend, Indiana architectural firm Maurer & Maurer, known for numerous civic and institutional projects during the interwar and Public Works Administration era. Binding shaken and leaned. Blue pictorial cloth very good or better with light bumping and rubbing to extremities. Light bumping and rubbing to price-clipped dj (which retains the striking photographic front panel) with open tears to spine head and edges of front cover. Rear cover missing, but rear flap preserved. Six lines underlined on pages 11-12 by p.o. Housed in a protective mylar sleeve. A desirable association copy of a cornerstone work of American architectural and construction history, uncommon in any jacket, and increasingly elusive as a first edition.
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