THE DECORATION OF HOUSES

Book Description

New York: SCRIBNER'S. 1897. 8vo. F First Edition.. H Marbled Paper-Covered Boards. Near Fine.. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1897. 8vo, marbled paper-covered boards. Light rubbing to the extremities of this fragile binding, inner hinge cracked; spine faded. Still a very nice copy of the first edition. Illustrated. From the Introduction: "No study of house-decoration as a branch of architecture has for at least fifty years been published in England or America. The vulgarity of current decoration has its source in the indifference of the wealthy to architectural fitness." The authors stressed simplicity, harmony and classical symmetry in contrast to the overdone Victorian interiors of their youth. These principles guided Wharton’s decoration of The Mount in Lenox, Massachusetts in 1902 and influenced Elsie de Wolfe and other professional decorators who emerged at this time. She later wrote that the book taught her "whatever I know about the writing of clear, concise English.".

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