lamdha books -
Catalogue of books on Australian architecture

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212150 Belogolovsky, Vladimir Harry Seidler: Lifework Rizzoli, New York, 2014. Square quarto hardcover; 300pp. Binding slightly cocked and mild edgewear to dustwrapper. Remainder. New. A comprehensive survey of the work of a master of mid- to late-Twentieth-Century modernist design. Over the course of a career spanning more than five decades, Australian architect Harry Seidler embarked upon a long series of dramatically innovative and sculptural houses with a rare sensitivity to site, space, and structure. And while these soaring, inspiring houses have been the source of Seidler's fame within architectural circles, this book gives a complete view of this modern master's body of work for the first time. Seidler is now widely acknowledged as a leading member of the postwar generation of modernists and one of the most influential architects of the Twentieth Century in the southern hemisphere. With commissions not only in Australia but also in Austria, France, Israel, Italy, Mexico, and Hong Kong since establishing his own practice in Sydney in 1948, his work has influenced the course of modernist design into the Twenty-first Century. Click here to order $50

98816 Birrell, James Walter Burley Griffin University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia Qld., 1964. Quarto; hardcover, full bonded leather with gilt spine titles and upper board decoration and decorative endpapers; 203pp., with a monochrome portrait frontispiece and many illustrations likewise. Mild wear; text block top edge lightly toned; mild offset to the endpapers; presentation bookplate tipped-in to the verso of the flyleaf. Dustwrapper rubbed with some marks; a small tear along the upper hinge from the spine head; some chipping to the upper flap turn; now backed by archival-quality white paper and professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good. Although he is most often remembered today for his work in Canberra, Griffin's contribution to Australian architecture is far greater than his design for that city. In spite of his American heritage, Griffin fell in love with the rugged beauty of Australia. And the intensity of this passion drove him to create buildings which combined his knowledge of the modern movement in the United States with a style so essentially Australian that they have continued to have a profound influence on Australian architects even today. It is paradoxical that a man who gave so much to the culture of his adopted country was in turn reviled and persecuted by his adopted countrymen. Hounded from his job in Canberra, he turned only to face criticisms from all sides over his building designs in Melbourne and Sydney. Sadly, towards the end of his stay in the country he was reduced to designing public incinerators! Click here to order $60

209093 Blake, Peter Architecture for the New World - signed The Work of Harry Seidler Horwitz Australia, Sydney NSW, 1973. Quarto; hardcover, with upper board titling; 264pp., with many colour and monochrome illustrations. Mild wear; scraping to board corners and edges; lightly toned and spotted text block and page edges; offsetting to preliminaries; inscribed in ink to the previous owner by Harry Seidler to the half-title page. Dustwrapper rubbed and edgeworn with tiny losses at spine panel extremities; spotting to rear and spine panels; a few small scrapes; now backed with archival-quality white paper and professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good. Click here to order $200

94474 Casey, Maie, Joan Lindsay, D.A. Casey, John R. Freeman, Tom D. Freeman & Allan R. Henderson Early Melbourne Architecture 1840 to 1888 A Photographic Record Oxford University Press, Melbourne Vic., 1975. Octavo; hardcover, with gilt spine titling; 184pp., with many monochrome illustrations. Mild wear; rubbing to the board edges; mild offset to the endpapers; faint spotting to the upper text block edge; previous owner's ink inscription. Slight wear to dustwrapper edges; now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good to near fine. The preparation of this book was undertaken by a group of distinguished Melbourne people with the object of recording by photography a representative selection of Melbourne's earliest buildings while these still remain in their original state. The importance of such a record has been shown by the fact that since this book was first published a number of the buildings included in its photographs have been demolished or altered. Click here to order $30

207563 Cox, Philip (David Moore, illus.) The Australian Functional Tradition The Five Mile Press, Fitzroy Vic., 1988. Square quarto; hardcover; 228pp., with a monochrome frontispiece and many illustrations likewise. Mild wear; text block top edge lightly dusted; flyleaf creased lightly; spotting to the preliminaries. Dustwrapper lightly rubbed and edgeworn; now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good. This book represents a collection of buildings of utilitarian origin with fine aesthetic qualities. These are not the grand public buildings designed by notable architects, but the shearing sheds and oast houses, the warehouses and bond stores, the bridges and wharves, the lighthouses and gaols that were and indeed still are part of the economic lifeblood of Australia. Functional tradition describes those buildings arising from necessity and practicability rather than aesthetic stirring. Yet they achieve an unconscious beauty of form in their simplicity and honesty of construction, in their strength of purpose and visual impact. Click here to order $45

215612 Cox, Philip with Janet Hawley (photos. Patrick Bingham-Hall) A Place on the Coast: signed copy Five Mile Press, Noble Park, 1997. Large quarto hardcover; blue boards with white spine titling and blue endpapers; 124pp., colour illustrations. Inscribed to owner by Philip Cox. Small bump and three tiny associated tears on lower board edge, chipping at corners; faint spotting and tiny mark on upper text block edge. Illustrated dustwrapper with tiny chip on lower front edge, now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good. Newspaper clipping laid in. Click here to order $30

202067 Crow, Vincent Haberfield Distinctly Australian V. Crow, Haberfield NSW, 1997. Quarto; paperback; 77pp., with many monochrome illustrations. Very minor wear. Near fine. This copiously illustrated history of the Sydney suburb of Haberfield emphasises its 'Federation' character, its 'garden suburb' aspect, and the reflection of nationalism in the street names and house ornamentation. Discusses community organisations, public buildings and changes that have occurred since the 1950s. Includes a chronology, references, a bibliography and an index. Click here to order $45

86225 Drew, Philip Leaves of Iron - Glenn Murcutt Pioneer of an Australian Architectural Form The Law Book Company Ltd., Perth WA, 1985. Square quarto; hardcover, with gilt spine titling; 148pp., with many colour and monochrome illustrations. Minor wear; minor scuffing and wear to board edges and corners; mild spotting and a few small marks to the upper text block edge. Dustwrapper lightly rubbed with a small scrape on the upper panel; now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good to near fine. Glenn Murcutt is a stark contrast to most of the highly visible architects of the day - his works are not large scale; the materials he works with, such as corrugated iron, are quite ordinary, certainly not luxurious; and he works alone. He acknowledges that his modernist inspiration has its roots in the work of Mies van der Rohe, but the Nordic tradition of Aalto, the Australian wool shed, and many other architects and designers such as Chareau have been important to him as well. Add in the fact that all his designs are tempered by the land and climate of his native Australia, and you have the uniqueness that signify his work. In this book Philip Drew makes a detailed examination of Murcutt's planned and built work and its importance to Australian architecture. Click here to order $70

73974 Drew, Philip Veranda Embracing Place Angus & Robertson/HarperCollins Publishers, Pymble NSW, 1992. Quarto; hardcover; 246pp., with colour and monochrome illustrations. Minor wear. Dustwrapper now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Near fine. Beginning in the fifteenth century the author explores the Portuguese origins of the word veranda; first found in Vasco da Gama's account of his meeting with the Rajah of Calicut, called the Samuri. From Moorish courtyards, Mughal tents and the verandas and porches of North America the architectural and social history of the veranda is explored as both a physical and cultural construction. In literature, theatre, art and mind the veranda in Australia is discussed as an icon and a source of cultural identity. Click here to order $35

201101 Dupain, Max (illus.); Morton Herman (ed,) with Marjorie Barnard & Daniel Thomas Georgian Architecture in Australia - signed by Daniel Thomas Ure Smith, Sydney NSW, 1963. First edition: quarto; hardcover, with upper board titling and decorative endpapers; 147p., with many monochrome illustrations. Mild wear; previous owner's name and inscription by one author; mild rubbing to board bottom edges; light spotting to the text block edges. Illustrated dustwrapper with small tear to the top edge of the upper panel; slight edgewear; now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good. This book contains over one hundred photographs by Max Dupain of the best surviving Georgian buildings in New South Wales and Tasmania, the two States old enough to have architecture of the period. These houses, churches and bridges, the work of architects like Francis Greenway, John Verge, James Blackburn and John Lee Archer, are shown here. Morton Herman has written a commentary on Australian Georgian architecture, and notes on the individual buildings illustrated; and Marjorie Barnard and Daniel Thomas have contributed brief social histories of New South Wales and Tasmania. Click here to order $60

67075 Dupain, Max (Introduction by J.M. Freeland) Francis Greenway Cassell, Sydney NSW, 1980. Quarto; hardcover, with silver-gilt upper board and spine titling and illustrated endpapers; 135pp., with monochrome illustrations. Mild wear; toning and spotting to text block edges; spine faded. Dustwrapper now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good to near fine. This book presents the story of the turbulent life and times of the controversial architect Francis Greenway. It is at the same time an inspiring and tragic story, for the man who could design buildings of such breathtaking harmony and near-perfection was deeply divided within himself. Photographs by Max Dupain capture the beauty of the buildings. Click here to order $50

94455 Dyster, Barrie Servant & Master Building and Running the Grand Houses of Sydney 1788-1850 University of New South Wales Press, Kensington NSW, 1989. Quarto; hardcover; 189pp., with many colour and monochrome illustrations. Minor wear; very mild rubbing to the board bottom edges; faint spotting to the top text block edge. Dustwrapper now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Near fine. Servants and Masters is about ordinary people who worked on and in the great mansions of Sydney. It is about the labourers and craftsmen who hammered the nails, laid the stone and plastered the walls of these marvellous homes. It is also about the women in the nurseries, those who cooked the huge meals in the boiling kitchens, and those that cleaned the stairs and the halls; it is about the men who looked after the horses and those who maintained and created the elaborate and formal gardens. While few who dispute the pivotal role of the Macarthurs, the Wentworths and other landed gentry in Australian history, the houses they built also serve as monuments to the generally unchronicled lives of those who made it all work - the labourers the clerks, the servants, the small merchants and the like. Dr Barrie Dyster with the help of his researchers has produced a fascinating insight into the lives and livelihoods of these ordinary people. Unique documents have been unearthed and reveal not only social and commercial relationships, aesthetic concerns, and worries about workmanship, but also more mundane information about the price of bricks or the daily rate for carpenters. This book is a celebration of the everyday. It is an exciting and evocative journey into the past, and tells us how the forebears of the vast majority of Australians struggled and lived to establish the nucleus of what is now urban Australia. Click here to order $30

11974 Edwards, Zeny William Hardy Wilson Artist Architect Orientalist Visionary Watermark Press, Sydney NSW, 2001. Quarto; hardcover; 260pp., many monochrome and colour illustrations. Minor wear; lower board edges and corners slightly worn. One or two tiny marks on dustwrapper; now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Near fine. William Hardy Wilson was a remarkable man: an architect, artist, author, and a leading figure in the Australian cultural scene. He was also a visionary (both literally and metaphorically), fearlessly offering solutions to the world's problems. In this colourful book his life is traced from childhood to grave with many hitherto unpublished photographs and previously untapped material from his estate. Click here to order $75

62034 Evans, Ian The Australian Home Flannel Flower Press, Sydney NSW, 1983. Reprint: quarto; hardcover, with decorated endpapers; 144pp., with many colour and monochrome illustrations. Minor wear; scraping to board corners and one or two spots on preliminaries. Dustwrapper sunned along the spine panel. Very good to near fine. This is the story of the home during the first 150 years of European settlement in Australia. It examines everything that was needed to make a home: bricks and mortar, timber and iron, furniture, furnishings, hardware, wallpaper, paint, lights, bric-a-brac - even the kitchen stove. The way in which all of the rooms were used is discussed and explained, throwing new light on life in our early houses and answering many intriguing questions. The book shows how important building designs and techniques were given a local flavour to produce a uniquely Australian style. Every type of home is discussed, from the settler's slab hut to the rich man's mansion, the weatherboard cottage in the country to the inner-city terrace with its cast-iron decoration Click here to order $25

91648 Evans, Ian Restoring Old Houses Macmillan, South Melbourne Vic., 1979. First edition. Quarto hardcover; brown boards with white spine titling, yellow endpapers; 144pp., monochrome illustrations. Minor wear; rubbed and slightly scraped board corners; mild spotting to text block edges and a few random scattered spots to half-title page. Illustrated brown dustwrapper now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good to near fine. Click here to order $25

210060 Evans, Ian & The National Trust of Queensland The Queensland House History and Conservation The Flannel Flower Press, Mullumbimby, 2001. Quarto hardcover; green boards with white spine titling, illustrated endpapers; 148pp., monochrome illustrations. Minor wear; binding slightly rolled; rubbed board edges and corners; a few scattered spots on text block edges; mild spotting to half-title page. Illustrated dustwrapper, rubbed with small tear on upper front corner; now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good. The author of numerous books on the history and conservation of old Australian houses, Evans contributed to the growth of the heritage movement that spread throughout Australia in the 1980s. His first book, "Restoring Old Houses" (MacMillan, 1979) is credited with having stimulated the movement that continues to the present day. Click here to order $45

87897 Evans, Ian, with the NSW Department of Planning Getting the Details Right Restoring Australian Houses, 1890s-1920s The Flannel Flower Press Pty. Ltd., Yeronga Qld., 1989. Quarto; hardcover; 160pp., with many plans and schematics and monochrome photographic illustrations. Minor wear. Dustwrapper mildly rubbed and edgeworn; now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good to near fine. Click here to order $35

81318 Forge, Suzanne (Irvine Green, illus.) Victorian Splendour Australian Interior Decoration 1837-1901 Oxford University Press, Melbourne Vic., 1982. Quarto; hardcover, with gold upper board and spine titling and illustrated endpapers; 160pp., with many colour and monochrome illustrations. Minor wear; scuffing to board edges and corners; faint spotting to text block edges. Minimal edgewear to dustwrapper; now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good to near fine. "In the Victorian era, a decorative style distinctive for its abundance of ornament was established. The Victorians had a passion for ornament, which they thought was natural, necessary, civilized, enjoyable and positively elevating." This book describes rare examples of surviving Victorian interiors in Australia, ranging from the millionaire's mansion to the cottage. The book also deals with the Victorian approach to decorating the various rooms. Click here to order $45

203985 Franklin, Adrian The Making of MONA Viking/Penguin Books (Aust.) Pty. Ltd., Melbourne Vic., 2014. Quarto; hardcover, illustrated boards with upper board titles, decorative endpapers and an electric-pink ribbon; 354pp. (all edges dyed electric-pink), with many full-colour illustrations. Mild wear; covers quite rubbed. No dustwrapper as issued. Very good. Adrian Franklin's The Making of MONA collects anecdotes and images about the making of the Museum of Old and New Art. It dismantles the dismissive view of David Walsh as an eccentric millionaire-genius and of MONA as a representation of his weird mind. The early chapters situate Walsh as collector and MONA as a private museum in larger historical contexts. The phenomenon of collecting is considered through the frame of modern consumerist society, while the history of the Western museum and concepts of museology such as the Wunderkammer and the white cube are used to explain MONA's ideology. Franklin emphasises the importance of collaboration at MONA. This is represented through the many voices that tell the stories of MONA: from the architects and designers, to curators and collectors, marketing managers, reviewers and of course Walsh himself. The tale of the ridding of wall labels in MONA is one example of this collaborative process, responding to Walsh's distaste for labels at his earlier Moorilla Museum of Antiquities, leading to the creation of the O device. The book builds a reading of MONA through the carnival trope. While this is at times stretched, it does allow Franklin to undermine the view of MONA as self-indulgent contemporary consumerism and present it as a place of generosity, tolerance and inclusiveness, traits that are too often overlooked. The book looks sleek and hip, recalling Monanisms. The colour scheme of hot pink on black is straight from 'Brand MONA', something Franklin discusses at length. Many high-quality images ranging across the collection of MONA, its architecture, construction and other miscellanea." - Kelli Rowe Click here to order $50

32552 Freeland, J.M. (Max Dupain, illus.) Old Colonial Buildings of Australia Methuen Australia Pty. Ltd., Sydney NSW, 1980. First edition: quarto; hardcover; dark green boards with silver-gilt spine and upper board titles and illustrated endpapers; 176pp., with many monochrome and full-colour illustrations. Mild wear; some offset to the preliminaries and mild spotting to text block edges. Dustwrapper lightly rubbed; now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Near fine. Australia has only recently discovered the richness and depth of her early architectural history. Until about 20 years ago, we wantonly destroyed many unique and irreplaceable buildings; luckily, many examples of the best work still stand. In this book, expert architectural photographer Max Dupain illustrates the golden thread of originality which interweaves our heritage. In both full colour and black-and-white, the cameraman sees with the artist's eye the diverse features of the great and small buildings of our past. He shows us the neat symmetry of Experiment Farm Cottage at Parramatta; he leads us in and around Queens Square in Sydney and points out the strength and dignity of Francis Greenway's simple harmonies; he takes us up the noble staircase of Elizabeth Bay House where we can glimpse the grand style of another age; he introduces us to the stables, bridges, farmhouses, churches and government buildings that are the endowment of every Australian. Through Dupain's magic eye we can visit and relive the past, now restored to enhance the present. In his accompanying text, Professor J.M. Freeland provides a brief but illuminating history of the evolution of architecture, Australian style, from the first great strides taken by the early giant, Francis Greenway, to the less dramatic but nevertheless distinctive contributions made by those who followed him. Click here to order $50

32555 [Hale & Iremonger] The History of the Sydney GPO The City's Centrepiece Hale & Iremonger, Sydney NSW, 1988. Quarto; hardcover, with gilt spine titling and illustrated endpapers; 114pp., with many monochrome and colour illustrations. Minor wear; spotting to text block edges. Mild wear to the edges and corners of the dustwrapper; now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good. The General Post Office was constructed in stages from 1866-91. It is the most notable work in the city by colonial architect James Barnet. The realistic carvings facing Pitt Street and Martin Place, carved by sculptor Thomas Sani, caused a public scandal. They were viciously attacked by the press and Parliament as being "hideous in form and expression" and attempts were made to force Barnet to remove them. This absorbing work covers this and all other aspects of the construction of this landmark building. Click here to order $20

39646 Herman, Morton The Blackets An Era of Australian Architecture Angus & Robertson (Publishers) Pty. Ltd., Sydney NSW, 1963. Quarto; hardcover, with gilt spine titles on a black label and gilt rules, a gilt upper board decoration on a black label with gilt rules and decorative endpapers; 222pp., with a monochrome frontispiece, many maps and monochrome illustrations and 30pp. of monochrome plates. Mild wear; mild softening to the spine extremities; text block edges lightly toned; retailer's bookplate to the front pastedown; previous owner's name in ink to the flyleaf. Dustwrapper lightly rubbed; now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good. Edmund Blacket picked up the thread of Australian architecture six years after Greenway dropped it. During exactly forty years of active professional life Blacket designed and built the greatest buildings of the University of Sydney; a residential college at the University of Melbourne; four cathedrals, the most distant of which was 2000 miles from his office; over fifty churches spread across thousands of square miles; and scores of houses great and small; factories, shops, clubs, stores, hotels, hospitals and banks. Moreover, representative examples of his designs of almost all these types of building still exist. Most of his buildings, especially the ecclesiastical ones are in well-preserved condition, so that we can walk about and through them to appreciate the excellence of his architecture. Edmund Blacket's personality was so even-tempered and charming that there is no cacophony about his name and his quiet gentle, manly character has tended to be pushed aside - and with it his work. History, however comes to his rescue. Documents, letters and plans bring Blacket into focus as a man and an architect. A quiet, well-mannered hard-working man of delicate constitution but tremendous talent, he lived in a stimulating time of progress and change, and in a wealthy nation. Click here to order $70

200563 Herman, Morton The Early Australian Architects and Their Work Angus & Robertson Pty. Ltd., Sydney NSW, 1970. Revised edition: quarto; hardcover, with upper board titles, gilt spine titling and decorations and decorated endpapers; 248pp., with many colour and monochrome plates and illustrations. Minor wear; text block edges lightly spotted; mild spotting to the preliminaries; previous owner's name in ink to the flyleaf. Worn illustrated dustwrapper with faded spine; scraping and wear to edges and corners; a small tear and creasing; light chipping and a tiny missing segment to the head of the spine panel; now backed by archival-quality white paper and professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Good to very good. Between 1788 and 1845 Australia developed from a small settlement whose habitations were a few wattle-and-daub huts to a country set on the road to nationhood with richly endowed buildings many of them of great beauty, all interesting. Drawings not photographs illustrate the architects work here, to more exactly honour the actual design. Plans, sections, details and technical data are included also both to give scope to their architectural ideas and to illuminate buildings no longer extant. Morton Herman explains that in some instances the documents consulted have almost always been 'charmingly' vague about present or past locations of buildings 'Not infrequently one is instructed to turn across the paddocks at the third tree past Mr Moyne's farm'; Mr Moyne, his farm and paddocks long since gone. Characters, idiosyncrasies, triumphs and setbacks are sympathetically woven into the story of the Early Australian Architects along with background ideas and conditions of the age that gave birth to this colonial architecture. Click here to order $60

94081 Hunter, Catherine Glenn Murcutt: DVD Spirit of Place Catherine Hunter. New. Region 4. Described as a modernist, a naturalist, an environmentalist, an economist, a humanist and ecologist. His extraordinary reputation rests on the beauty and integrity of his work. Yet he is an enigma. By choice he has never built outside his own country. He has no staff, and prefers to use pen or pencil and paper to produce his designs rather than a computer. Glenn Murcutt allowed filmmaker Catherine Hunter to follow him for nearly a decade as he undertook a rare public commission, a new mosque for an Islamic community in Melbourne. It is a strikingly contemporary building without minarets or domes, designed to be physically and psychologically inclusive. Hunter documents the growing acceptance of the design, weaving into the narrative the stories behind his most famous houses, interviews with those involved, as well as an intimate portrait of his life and a personal tragedy that almost brought his career to a premature end. Click here to order $25

84143 Ingpen, Robert Marking Time - signed Australia's Abandoned Buildings Rigby Ltd., Adelaide SA, 1979. First edition: quarto; hardcover, half-bound in tan leather with gilt spine-titling on a brown label in compartments between five raised and blind-stamped bands with gilt rules; 128pp. on laid paper with many full-colour illustrations on lacquered stock. Mild wear; some scuffing to the leather at the head of the spine; signed and numbered by the author in ink on the half-title page. Near fine in a lightly scuffed slipcase with a brown ribbon. Number 32 of a signed and slipcased limited edition of only 100 copies. Robert Ingpen's sixty paintings cover domestic, public, agricultural and industrial buildings in a way which gives a remarkable cross-section of our heritage and an insight into the trends which formed an Australian lifestyle. His text for each section of the book, and captions to illustrations, further illuminate the strange human reasons why such buildings were constructed only to be abandoned. Click here to order $150

61615 Irving, Robert (ed.) The History and Design of the Australian House Oxford University Press, 1985. Large quarto hardcover; pale green boards and paler green spine with white spine titling, green endpapers; 328pp., colour & monochrome illustrations. Minor wear; well-rubbed board edges, corners slightly frayed; mild offsetting to endpapers. Very good in like dustwrapper now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Looks at the influence of environment - the distinctive Australian landscape and climate, which have tended to make design less formal than that of Europe or America. And a country the size of Australia shows considerable regional differences in house types - from the dugouts of the Red Centre, the stilt houses of the tropical north and the cyclone-resistant structures of Darwin, to the sprawling verandahed homesteads of the inland and the dainty, lace decorated terraces of the cities. Click here to order $80

63766 Irving, Robert, John Kinstler & Max Dupain Fine Houses of Sydney Methuen Pty. Ltd., Sydney NSW, 1982. Quarto; hardcover; 197pp., many monochrome and colour illustrations. Minor wear; text block edges mildly toned with some spotting. Dustwrapper spine panel faded. Near fine. This book features twenty-one houses from Sydney; from the Gothic dignity of Vaucluse House; the mysterious tradition expressed in the elaborate decoration of The Abbey at Annandale; the classic Georgian simplicity and grace of The Judge's House in the city; the Organic approach taken by Walter Burley Griffin at the Duncan House in Castlecrag; the formal and purposeful presence of Harry Seidler's own house; to the Post-Modern complexity of Ken Woolley's award-winning house at Paddington, completed in 1980. The text informs the reader about the owners and architects with photography by Max Dupain. Click here to order $60

89303 Keating, John D. Bells in Australia Melbourne University Press, Carlton Vic., 1979. Landscape octavo; hardcover, with silver-gilt spine-titling; 150pp., with many monochrome illustrations. Mild wear; some mild insect damage to the board edges; faint scattered spotting throughout, mainly to the preliminaries; some mild spotting of the text block edges. Dustwrapper is mildly rubbed with some edgewear; now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good. The manufacture, accommodation and use of bells within Australia is a relatively obscure topic, but this book successfully covers all bases. Accompanied by beautiful photography, this is an overview of the subject covering all instances of bells - both secular and sacred - within the country from the earliest days. From campaniles to carillons and all things campanological, this is the sine qua non of Australian bells. Click here to order $22

42331 Latta, David Lost Glories A Memorial to Forgotten Australian Buildings Angus & Robertson, North Ryde NSW, 1986. Landscape quarto; hardcover, with an upper board decoration and decorated endpapers; 176pp., with many monochrome illustrations. Minor wear. Dustwrapper faded along spine with mild edgewear; now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good to near fine. The twenty buildings in this book range from the handsome but workmanlike Adelaide Observatory, which owed its existence to the enthusiasm of Sir Charles Todd, Builder of the Overland Telegraph, to mansions such as Melbourne's Norwood, a three-storey fever dream of red brick and stucco that reflected the extravagances of the 1890 boom years; hotels such as the stately South Australian and the more opulent Menzies, where Mark Twain once stoked the boilers; and public buildings such as Sydney's "temple to the industrial arts", the Garden Palace. The history of each building has been reconstructed from newspaper reports and books of the period, diaries, rate books and letters, skilfully interwoven with contemporary events and characters to present an entertaining picture of life in the colonies. Click here to order $25

89124 McGregor, Alasdair A Forger's Progress The Life of Francis Greenway Newsouth, Sydney NSW, 2014. First edition: octavo; hardcover, with illustrated endpapers; 369pp., colour and monochrome plates. Minor wear; tiny scrape to the top hinge. Dustwrapper now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Otherwise near fine. Talented, well trained and confident in his own abilities and worth, Australia's first government architect was also hot-headed and tactless. Sentenced to death for forgery, then granted a last-minute reprieve, Francis Greenway was transported to New South Wales in 1814. Within a single eventful decade, Greenway's and Governor Lachlan Macquarie's transformation of Sydney from a ramshackle convict garrison into an elegant city was well under way with buildings like the Hyde Park Barracks, St James' Church, Supreme Court and Windsor courthouse. Author Alasdair McGregor scrutinises the life and work of a man beset by contradictions and demons. He profiles Greenway's landmark buildings, his meteoric rise and his complex and fraught relationship with Governor Macquarie, along with his thwarted ambitions and self-destruction. All played out in a fledgling colony in the throes of change from far-flung gaol to a society of free settlers. Click here to order $35

42197 Martin, Megan, & Scott Carlin Augusto Lorenzini Italian Artist Decorator in Victorian Sydney Historic Houses Trust, Glebe NSW, 2001. Quarto; hardcover; 71pp., many colour illustrations. Minor wear only. No dustwrapper as issued. Very good. Augusto Lorenzini had arrived in Sydney in 1884 under the banner 'Italian Artist Decorator', one of a wave of Italian migrants who came to Australia in the 1870s and 80s. Among them were painters, sculptors and musicians. They followed an earlier group of Italian artisans - carvers and gilders, picture-frame makers, modellers, a gunsmith and a scientific instrument maker - who settled in Sydney in the 1840s and 1850s. Their impact on Sydney's cultural life was out of all proportion to their numbers. Sadly, Lorenzini's legacy, in the form of intact decorative schemes has been almost entirely lost, either through being painted over or through demolition. There is however an archive of working drawings and designs as testimony to Lorenzini's place in Sydney's history. Megan Martin's research into the life of Augusto Lorenzini is accompanied by an analysis of high Victorian decorative taste in New South Wales by Scott Carlin. The book was published in conjunction with an exhibition of the same name held at Elizabeth Bay House in mid-2001. Click here to order $20

73659 Moore, Robert, Sheridan Burke & Ray Joyce Australian Cottages Hamlyn Australia / Octopus Publishing Group, Port Melbourne, Vic., Australia, 1989. Quarto; hardcover; orange boards with white spine titling and decorated endpapers; 128pp., with many full-colour illustrations. Slight wear and discolouration to board edges and corners; lightly toned and spotted text block edges. Dustwrapper sunned along the spine panel and three or four perforations on rear spine edge. Very good with wrapper now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Not sufficient in stature for description as a house, cottages are often victims of their own quintessential pragmatism. Many have been lost due to the decay of their rude components, or gradually improved and renovated with little consideration for their original form and detail. The image of the detached cottage in its private garden setting dominates our national lifestyle to a remarkable degree. In this book cottage life, gardens and interiors are examined with emphasis on the Australian adaptation of old world traditions. Click here to order $30

64810 Oldham, Ray and John (Tish Phillips, illus.) George Temple-Poole Architect of the Golden Years, 1885-1897 University of Western Australia Press, Crawley WA, 1980. Quarto; hardcover, with gilt spine titling and endpaper maps; 227pp., with many monochrome illustrations. Minor wear; faint spotting to text block edges. Small missing segment to the head of the dustwrapper spine panel; lightly worn edges with minor chipping at corners and sunning to the rear hinge; now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good. This book tells the story of Australia's most prolific colonial architect, George Temple-Poole, who designed and built more than 200 buildings in Western Australia. It is also the story of the Gold Rush, the exciting turning-point in the history of WA, when dozens of new towns sprang up throughout the State, and daring adventurers from all over the world were attracted to the West by the lure of gold. Click here to order $40

63842 Robertson, E. Graeme Decorative Cast Iron in Australia Currey O'Neil, South Yarra Vic., 1984. Quarto; hardcover; 238pp., with monochrome illustrations. Mild wear; previous owner's bookplate to the front pastedown; faint spotting to the text block edges; rubbing to the bottom edges of the boards; foxed preliminaries. Light wear to dustwrapper; now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good. The Victorian craftsman had an unerring eye for detail and nothing escaped embellishment. Even such humble objects as cast iron pillar boxes, drinking fountains and gas meters were ornamented to look like tiny temples. Most of Australia's towns and cities sprang up at the height of the cast iron era - their development also coinciding with Australia's lavish gold boom period. The verandah - so suited to cast iron decoration was the perfect architectural solution to the sunny Antipodean climate, and many beautiful cast iron-decorated terraces, villas and hotels bear testimony to this golden era of Australian history. This book contains a selection of the author's photographs from around Australia's capital cities in one volume. The book also contains a glossary, bibliography and index. Click here to order $50

11965 Robertson, E Graeme Victorian Heritage Ornamental Cast Iron in Architecture Georgian House, Melbourne Vic., 1960. Quarto; hardcover, with gilt spine-titling on a green label and endpaper maps; 229pp., top edges dyed green, with many monochrome illustrations. Minor wear; browned text block and page edges. Protective glassine wrap. Very good. Lavish ornamentation, the hallmark of the Victorian era, spilled over to the external details of Victorian houses, notably in cast iron decoration which was often of such delicacy that it has been popularly likened to lace. Here, for the first time, a selection of masterly photographs by Graeme Robertson - one of Australia's leading authorities on cast iron ornamentation - are brought together in one volume. Taken over many years of travelling through Australia, the text is backed up by a glossary, bibliography and index, making this the definitive book on Australia's cast iron. Click here to order $40

209603 Spearritt, Peter The Sydney Harbour Bridge: A Life Newsouth, Sydney, 2011. Square quarto paperback; 175pp., colour & b&w illustrations. Mild edge and corner wear to covers. Near fine otherwise. The revised edition of the classic biography of the bridge, celebrating its rich history and its life as a working structure. It tells the extraordinary story of its design and construction, the unexpected drama of its official opening, and the way it has taken a central place in Sydney's celebrations and become a much-loved symbol of the city. Click here to order $25

91570 Stube, Katarina, & Jan Utzon A Tribute to Jorn Utzon Sydney Opera House Reveal Books/C-Publishing, np., 2009. Quarto; hardcover, with gilt upper board and spine titling; 183pp., with many colour illustrations. Minor wear only. Dustwrapper. Fine. "Every time I return to Sydney, I make my way to the Opera House. I bring my camera and it seems there are always new angles to be discovered. I never tire of wandering around the plateau, feeling the place and listening to its stories. For this is a story that hasn't yet reached its end and never fails to charm. Nothing has changed, yet it seems like the Opera House is never quite the same... This truly magnificent sculpture in the middle of Sydney Harbour welcomes everybody with open arms. It embraces all those who chance upon it with the warmth and embodiment that has come to represent the true spirit of Sydney and the Australian people." - Katarina Stube Click here to order $75

201264 Timms, Peter Private Lives Australians at Home since Federation Miegunyah Press, Melbourne Vic., 2008. Quarto; gatefold paperback with decorated endpapers; 259pp., with colour and monochrome illustrations. Minor wear. Very good to near fine. 'Private Lives is a room-by-room tour of the Australian way of living since 1900. Here the suburbs are seen, not as desolate, lifeless and clusters of little boxes but something far richer and more rewarding.' - Courier Mail Click here to order $23

42910 Various William Hardy Wilson - A 20th Century Colonial 1881-1955 National Trust of Australia, Observatory Hill NSW, 1980. Quarto; paperback, with decorated endpapers; 95pp., with many monochrome illustrations. Minor wear: some light spotting to the text block edges; minor edge and corner wear to covers, with sunning along the spine. Very good. Wilson designed mainly homes and small commercial buildings. Having been impressed by the Colonial Revival style in the US, he sought to do something similar in Australia. Nowadays he is particularly remembered for three of his homes, all of them on Sydney's North Shore and all of them now heritage-listed. He is regarded as a key practitioner of the Inter-War Georgian Revival style. Click here to order $30

81265 Weston, David A. (ed.) with Laurel Burge and Joan Sigrist (illus.) The Sleeping City: The Story of Rookwood Necropolis Society of Genealogists with Hale & Iremonger, Sydney, 1989. Quarto hardcover; red cloth boards with gilt spine titling and illustrated front endpapers map on rear; 160pp., colour and monochrome illustrations. Owner's name. Spotting on upper text block edges. Mild wear to dustwrapper edges (now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film); otherwise very good to near fine. Rookwood Cemetery the Necropolis was established in 1867 and assumed all the characteristics of the period in which it was created - a period of moral rectitude and religious fervour. Today, it is the largest Victorian cemetery in the world, and continues to reflect 19th century attitudes to death and mourning. This book tells the story of the events leading up to its establishment; its original design and continued development; the Rookwood Branch Railway Line and construction of the associated mortuary stations; the people involved with the cemetery throughout its history. Click here to order $30

56164 Wilson, W. Hardy Old Colonial Architecture in New South Wales and Tasmania Ure Smith, Sydney NSW, 1975. Quarto; paperback; 9pp., with 49 half-tone plates. Mild wear; covers a little rubbed; text block edges and preliminaries lightly toned and spotted. Very good. Hardy Wilson recorded the beauty of the old buildings of NSW not only with the pen of the architect, but also the eye of the painter. In his introduction to this collection of drawings, first published in 1924, he describes some of the journeys he made in his search for the early buildings of the colonial era and discusses the influence of Georgian architecture on that of Australia. Fifty plates illustrate the area explored, which extended in NSW from the vicinity of Port Macquarie on the north coast to Nowra and thence to the Bathurst and Goulburn districts as well as Tasmania. Click here to order $20