Tuesday, January 10, 2017

ACROPOLIS , HIGH SCHOOL AND CHANNEL ISLANDS HELD TOGETHER BY STICKY TAPE .

While not in  mint condition when  bought   in  Adelaide some years ago , the book  from  which   this   view   of  the  Acropolis   comes   has  been carted about   parts  of  Australia  and  is  currently   in   bad   shape  in  the tropics , now  discovered   to   have  been  severely   munched   by  accursed   bookworms .

Published  in 1949 by  Batsford  ( London, New York ,Toronto , Sydney ) ,  entitled  The  Drawings  of  W. Curtis Green , it  contains  148 of his pen and ink drawings and  watercolours  of the  world's  architectural  masterpieces .   An English architect , Green (1875-1960) , did  reviews  of   architecture   books for  The Athenaeum  and  while connected  with  The Builder   toured far and wide  writing and  illustrating  articles , many of  the  drawings  included  in  this book .  A  book collecting   friend in  Adelaide   once  picked up some nice volumes  of  The  Builder  while  travelling through  Victoria .    

President of the  Architectural  Association , 1912-13 , Green  was  also  chairman of the   Board  of  Architectural Education ,  1920-24.   Over  the years  he  designed  power stations , banks , the  Dorchester  Hotel  and  Cambridge University  Press  in  1938. 

The book , from the Adelaide Kelvin Grove State High  School Library ,  contains  a  handwritten  inscription : In  memory of  our son . Mr and Mrs  T. N. Mitchell , Guernsey , Channel Islands .

The   view   of  the Acropolis ,  from  the missing  cover  jacket ,  is    taped    inside  as   are   portions  of   the  blurb  and  other   illustrations .