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First impression of the true first edition. Illustrated throughout with line drawings by the author. Dustwrapper with an abstract illustration by John Farleigh. ***Near fine in dark-green cloth-covered boards with white titles to the spine. The boards are clean and virtually unmarked. Head and tail of spine uncreased. Corners sharp. No bumps or tears to the cloth. No reading lean to the binding. Spine tight. Page block edges clean with no foxing. Top edge of page block darkened. Internally also near fine with no inscriptions. Pages clean. No creases or tears. Produced without a front free endpaper. ***In a very good colour-illustrated dustwrapper, which has not been price-clipped, retaining the original publisher's printed price of 6s. net. The dustwrapper is complete, with no chips or tears. just some very slight rubbing and loss at the extremities, mainly at the top of the spine and top corner tips. Edges of dustwrapper slightly rubbed, nicked and creased. Some browning to the spine of the dustwrapper, which is usual for this book. Dustwrapper otherwise bright. ***190mm x130mm. 209 pages including a three-page Index at the back of the book. ***Contents: Introduction, 1. Nature and Instruments of Design, 2. Taste and Fashion, 3. Common Utensils, 4. Furniture, 5. The House, 6. Vehicles and Travel, 7. The Countryside, 8. The City, 9. Artist and Machine, Conclusion, Index. ***'Noel Lewis Carrington (1895 - 11 April 1989) was an English book designer, editor, publisher, and the founder of Puffin Books. He was the author of books on design and on recreation and also worked for Oxford University Press and Penguin Books. In the 1920s he went out to India on behalf of OUP to establish a branch office there. He was the son of railway engineer Samuel Carrington and Charlotte (née Houghton), and brother of the artist Dora Carrington. Geoffrey Cumberlege and Noel Carrington replaced E. V. Rieu in the management of the Indian branches of Oxford University Press in 1920. Noel got Dora to illustrate his Stories Retold edition of Don Quixote for the Indian market. Their father, Samuel Carrington, had been a railway engineer in India in the nineteenth century. In 1925 Noel Carrington married Catharine Alexander (1904-2004), who had been a student at the Slade School of Fine Art. They had three children, Paul, Joanna and Jane, and lived in Hampstead until soon after 1945 when they moved to Lambourn, Berkshire, to farm at Long Acre. Some of Noel Carrington's correspondence with his sister Dora has been published. He died on 11 April 1989, aged 94.' (Wiki) ***'It had long seemed to me that while there were many books on design or particular aspects of design written for specialists or for collectors of old things, there were few to serve as an introduction to the subject for the much larger general public who should be interested participants as consumers or voters. --- I felt, therefore, that it was worth an effort to awaken a feeling for design amongst the many who happen to have their eyes shut owing to other preoccupations.' (Quote taken from the author's introduction) ***A first impression of the true first edition, complete in its original dustwrapper, profusely illustrated, and in lovely collectable condition. Scarce in this condition. Of interest to collectors and readers of the members of the Bloomsbury Group, and in particular Noel Carrington, who was the brother of Dora Carrington. ***For all our books, postage is charged at cost, allowing for packaging: any shipping rates indicated on ABE are an average only: we will reduce the P & P charge where appropriate - please contact us for postal rates for heavier books and sets etc.
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