The American Builder's Companion; or, a System of Architecture Particularly Adapted to the Present Style of Building .

BENJAMIN, Asher [& Daniel RAYNERD]

Published by R.P. & C. Williams, Boston, 1816

About this Item

4to. 59 engraved plates. iv, [5]-104 pp. Contemporary sheep, rebacked, original red morocco spine label; typical foxing and browning of plates, minor worming in blank top margin and bottom fore-margin The third edition of Asher Benjamin's second book, with provenance from a Martha's Vineyard builder. The American Builder s Companion "became the principal source for the Federal style for carpenters across the eastern half of the United States. Technically the plates were far superior to those in [Benjamin s first book] The Country Builder s Assistant, and the work was much broader in scope, including Roman versions of the five orders but also novel variants of capitals and bases. Plans and elevations included town houses, country houses, a courthouse, and a meetinghouse similar to Benjamin s Old West" (ANB). The 1816 edition is largely as revised and expanded for the second edition (1811), with some few additional revisions to the text and one plate; sixteen plates from the first edition were removed and 29 new plates added, and the quality of the remaining plates was improved. This copy with the 1820 ownership inscription of Jared Coffin (1790-1874) of Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard. In 1828 Coffin built the Timothy Coffin, Jr, House at 30 South Water Street in Edgartown. Coffin was married to Sarah Baylies, whose brother Frederick Baylies, Jr. (1797-1884), was responsible for much of Edgartown's civic architecture, including the Old Whaling Church, designed in 1842. The book evidently was passed down by descent in the Coffin family; a later inscription from 1934 presents the book from Arthur B. Coffin to George W. Coffin, "on acct of his interest and work in designing the little Cottage on the Hill at Green Harbor, Edgartown Mass."PROVENANCE: Jared Coffin, 1820 (ownership inscription on ffep); George W. Coffin (gift inscription from Arthur B. Coffin, Edgartown, MA [Martha's Vineyard], 7 Sept. 1934); William Reese (book-label)REFERENCE: Hitchcock 101 (wrongly calling for 61 plates).

Seller Inventory # 100811

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The American Builder's Companion; or, a System of Architecture Particularly Adapted to the Present Style of Building .
• Publisher: R.P. & C. Williams, Boston
• Publication Date: 1816
• Edition: Third edition.
• Seller catalogs:
  • Architecture