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Hardback. 1949, Condition: Very good. Dust Jacket Condition: Good. 8th edition. When the Swiss architect and historian and critic of architecture Sigfried Giedion (who usually used only his first initial instead of spelling out his first name) first published his history of modern architecture, "Space, Time and Architecture: The Growth of a New Tradition" in 1941, it was met with near-universal praise. A critic in the journal "Parnassus," which now goes by the title "Art Journal," called it, "[E]xtraordinary the most important collection of critical and historical studies of the antecedents of contemporary architecture which has yet appeared.We can only conclude somewhat lamely by remarking that this is a book which every scholar and student of architecture in America should own and master in detail." Another academic journal, "Isis," which focuses more on the history of science, said, "As a combination of the fruits of a sensitive and observant mind, and the offspring of a mind which is at once mystical, intuitive, technological and artistic, this work is full of stimulating insights." In a review to mark the 2009 release, the "Guardian" said the book, "has been essential reading for anyone who wanted to understand modern architecture." Interestingly, , Giedion reaches all the way back to the Renaissance and the baroque reworking of Rome, and does not limit his observations to buildings, but includes public spaces and city planning. Even better, in his review of the fourth edition in 1962, in which he reflects on the pluses and minuses of "Space, Time and Architecture" that have been revealed in the 21 years since the thrill of its first discovery, the critic for the "Journal of Architectural Education" suggested that one of the book's most important virtues is that, "It is the book that students will read," italicizing the last six words for emphasis. Our copy is of the second edition, published in 1949. (Officially, what it says on the dust jacket is, "8th printing, enlarged," but it is that "enlarged" that makes it a new edition instead of a mere printing, which seems to be universally recognized.) The second edition was enlarged when Giedion included a chapter on Finnish architect and designer Alvar Aalto, whom he had barely mentioned eight years earlier, despite being familiar with his work. In 1949, This Edition, though, Giedion ranked Aalto alongside Wright, Gropius, and Le Corbusier in importance and devoted more pages to him than to any other architect. Combined with other changes, the book grew by 64 pages between the first and second edition. It absolutely abounds with illustrations, 321 in all, most of them about quarter-page size, some with more than one to a page, with a few full-page, and all black and white. As befits Giedion's scope, the subject matters range from the obviously architectural and the obviously modern to copies of Impressionist paintings of ballerinas and pictures of automaton dolls. Our copy is in Very Good condition. The only marking within the book is the name of a previous owner and a date written on the front pastedown. The binding is tight and square. There is some soiling at the bottom corner of the textblock. It appears as if the binder or printer used two different paper stocks, judging from the neat demarcation of color that appears along all the edges of the text block. This change of color does not seem noticeable on the pages themselves, though there are some signs of very light age tanning that does not in the least bit interfere with the legibility of the text or images. The book is bound in black cloth, with only very slight shelf wear along the top and bottom edges, though with some sun damage to the top and bottom of the spine. The gold stamped name of the author and title are still quite bright on the front cover and spine. The dust jacket is protected by a a cover, applied by the Harvard Library,. all in very good condition, Enlarged Editon.
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