Villas and Cottages. A Series of Designs Prepared for Execution in the United States. by Vaux, Calvert

New York: Harper & Brothers, 1857. First edition (i- xii; 13- 318, advert); illustrated by 300 engravings (some full-page, others in-text) showing designs in generic Gothic  manner together with floor-plans, details of door and window treatment, etc. Large octavo in brown publisher’s cloth, gilt decorations and titles, perished spine skilfully replaced (colour advert on card for encaustic tiles, some damp staining, bound in at rear), new endpapers. Vaux was an associate of Andrew Downing during the last few years of Downing’s life which ended in a tragic steamboat accident on the Hudson (The book is dedicated to the Downings). Vaux went on to work with Frederick Law Olmsted on, among other projects, the design for Central Park, NYC. The ‘villas and cottages’ of the title are in reality quite ambitious houses, suggestive of English country houses a growing  upper middle class might fancy for themselves. General wear to cover edges, only minor light foxing. A very good copy of an important book on American architecture.