The art of organ-building. A comprehensive historical, theoretical, and practical treatise on the tonal appointment and mechanical construction of concert-room, church, and chamber organs

New York: Dodd, Mead, and Company, 1905. Folio, special edition limited to 250 numbered and signed copies (this, no. 146); frontispiece portrait, 384 text illustrations (many detailed engravings of famous organs) and 15 plates; original quarter vellum over green cloth, gilt decorated spines, t.e.g., title page printed in red and black; corners bumped, gutter split in a few spots but textblock sound, one page with a pencil annotation, a near fine copy. The last word on organs, including a comprehensive history of the instrument, and sections on its tonal structure, compound stops, pedals, actions, bellows, pipes and their construction, pitch, tuning, and (truncated) a variety of pneumatic and acoustical matters. The best work on the subject. The author (1838-1925), a Scot, was a renown architect, artist, illustrator, decorator, and pipe organ designer, among other talents, who also wrote a number of important books on ornament and art, including The Keramic Art of Japan, (1875), one of the first and most important books on Japanese art to be produced in the English language; The Ornamental Arts of Japan (1882); and, The Practical Decorator and Ornamentist for the use of Architects, Practical Painters, Decorators, and Designers (1892). (Inventory #: 60648)