THE SEVEN LAMPS OF ARCHITECTURE

NY: John Wiley, 1854. First American Edition. Hardcover. Good. First US edition, variant or old custom binding. Plain paper-backed boards with vague impression of front cover design found in first edition cloth bindings. Spine with title and author in printed hand and private library label head of spine. Ownership copy of American architect Henry Augustus Sims (1832 - 1875) with his bookplate on front pastedown and signature dated Phildelphia 185 on the title page. Raised in Philadelphia, in 1851, Sims moved to Canada to work for the Bytown and Prescott Railway during the initial construction of the railroad, which was completed in 1854. In 1856, he changed his profession to architecture. By 1858, he had established a successful architectural business in Ottawa, Canada. He returned to Philadelphia in 1866 and continued to have a successful architectural business. He was joined by his younger brother, James Peacock Sims, and together they established the H. A. & J. P. Sims firm, which flourished until the elder Sims' death.Sims mentored architects T. Roney Williamson and James Peacock Sims. He was a member of the American Institute of Architects, the Philadelphia chapter of the AIA, and the Philadelphia Sketch Club. Front hinge tape repaired, ffe lacking. All 14 plates in original folds intact.