Description
The gentleman and cabinet-maker's Director. London: by J. Haberkorn, for the author, 1755. Second edition, folio, title printed in red and black, engraved dedication, list of subscribers, [title, x, 27], 160 engraved plates (including 2 different plates both numbered XXV), lacks plate 160, a few marginal repairs, some spotting and slight dust-soiling, occasional staining (mostly marginal), plates 67 and 159 frayed and repaired, first 4 leaves frayed and silked, list of subscribers leaves repaired in margins, p.27 with note by John Gowanlock of Highcheister Mill, Roberton, dated 1826 directing everyone in possession of the volume to take good care it, modern brown morocco, raised bands, blind tooled in compartments, red morocco lettering piece
Footnote
Note: Thomas Chippendale, (1718-79) set up as a cabinet maker in London in 1748 and in 1754 he published The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director, a pattern book that was to secure his position as one of the most eminent cabinet-makers of the 18th century. From his workshop on St Martins Lane he undertook many large-scale furnishing projects for grand houses throughout Britain.
In the 18th century there was an increasing demand for luxury goods, and Chippendale’s Director provided this market with 160 engravings of fashionable furniture designs. Published by subscription, The Director was an instant success. It was reissued in 1755, and again in 1762 with additional plates in the new Neo-classical style. Subscribers included aristocrats and cabinet-makers. So influential were his designs, in Britain and throughout Europe and America, that ‘Chippendale’ became a shorthand description for any furniture similar to his Director designs.
Furniture designs had been occasionally published before 1754, but Chippendale’s Director was the first publication on such a large scale. It included designs in the ‘Gothic, Chinese and Modern Taste’ – the last meaning French Rococo style.