Catalogue of the Andrew Alpern Collection of Drawing Instruments at the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library

This elegant volume documents three hundred years of exquisite drawing tools, richly photographed and described, for architects, draftsmen, and engineers.

Crafted in silver, ivory, steel, and brass, the instrument sets catalogued here range from small silver-mounted tortoiseshell pocket étuis to multitiered mahogany cases housing every professional aid imaginable. Computers have supplanted their manufacture and use, yet these exquisite traditional instruments are still fully functional. 225 color photographs

Andrew Alpern is an architectural historian, an architect, and an attorney who is a native New Yorker with a life-long habit of walking the city and documenting its architectural oddities. He is an expert on historic apartment houses in New York, and his credentials include nine published books and scores of published articles about historical architecture and particular buildings.He practices law as in-house counsel to a small financial asset management firm.
James F. O'Gorman, professor emeritus Wellesley College Department of Art, is widely acclaimed as a prolific author, lecturer, editor, consultant, and historian. He is best known for his works on H.H. Richardson and the recent monograph on Henry Austin. O'Gorman has written extensively about architectural drawings for exhibitions in Portland, Wellesley, Philadelphia, and Boston.
Carole Ann Fabian is the director of the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library. For many years as an architectural design professional, she became intimately familiar with drawing instruments such as those in this catalogue, and used them as extensions of her hands, just as she now uses a mouse.