1897 Organ Building for Amateurs: A Practical Guide for Home-Workers

Collectible first edition, first printing of Mark Wicks' Organ Building for Amateurs: A Practical Guide for Home-Workers, a breakout DIY guide to building organs. Sub-title: Containing Specifications, designs and full instructions for making every portion of the instrument. Published near the end of the 19th century, it remains one of the most definitive and comprehensive how-to's for constructing a pipe organ at home ever written. In a stroke of design genius Wicks revolutionized amateur organ building by demonstrating how to construct working organ pipes out of paper instead of wood or metal, hugely reducing costs for hobbyists. Includes stunning full-color frontis of six suggested pipe decorations, 15 3-panel folding plates with professional level details and plans (all present), and hundreds of additional in-text illustrations. Bound in brown cloth. 287 pp. 7 3/4" x 5 1/4". Tight, unmarked copy with moderate shelf wear and minimal chipping to extremities, fading to gilt lettering and decorations on front and spine panels, and light age toning to text. A presentable copy of a remarkable and historic achievement, now difficult to find in its original state. Photographs of or additional information about this item are available on request. All inquiries answered promptly.…