Measured Drawings Of French, Italian & Swiss Buildings

I have to do some guessing with regard to the origins of this book. I wasn't able to find another copy for sale anywhere on the Internet. Nor was I able to find any reference to the title. So, I'm going to guess that it was self-published. It's possible that it is the Only copy that was created. I purchased it from a home near mine. The family were probably descendants of the architect/publisher. The title is on the spine in gilt. The book has marbled inside covers and end papers. The second front end paper has a stamped 'Samuel Lewis Malkind, Architect, 93 Court St., Brooklyn, N.Y.' Two end papers forward you'll find penciled the words 'To be lettered' and underneath that in a penciled square the title on the spine. After that the measured drawings begin and go all the way through to the end of the book, but for a few blank rear end papers, one of which bears the same stamp. There are no other markings, stampings or writing to be found anywhere else in the book. There are nearly 100 drawings, perhaps a third or more are double-page. Most of them, perhaps all of them, are dated from the 1870s and 1880s. I turned over all the pages counting, but got a little distracted looking at the drawings. I'm pretty sure the actual total is in the low to mid 90s. That number counts the double-page drawings as one drawing. There is also one large fold-out drawing. Most of the drawings were 'Photo-Lithographed & Printed by James Akerman, 51 Grays Inn Road, W.C.', and were originally published in the 'American Architect and Building News.' Some of his original lithographs are in the British Museum. The pages and drawings are in very good condition. There's very little soiling, what there is of it is mainly limited to the white margins. I saw two pages with a thin water stain off their bottom edge. It didn't reach the drawing. There doesn't seem to be much, if any, creasing. I didn't see any turned-down corners or placeholder corner creases. I noted one tiny tear off the outer edge of one page, not near the drawing. I don't think there any other tears. I could have missed something that was very inconspicuous. The binding is quite good. There is a three page gathering that is very cleanly (perfectly cleanly) detached, but the way the book is structured you can slip the gathering right back into place, so you could actually turn the pages and not notice that it was detached. Nor does it stick out. The condition of the covers does not match the condition of the interior of the book. A fairly violent bump created a very rough tear off the bottom edge of the front. There's another smaller rough tear near to that. The rear cover has scuffing that has removed the leather. So, aesthetically not so good. Structurally, quite good. The covers are very solidly bound. Still I would imagine one might want to either repair them or replace them. I'm not sure when this book was created. When I googled Samuel Lewis Malkind I was only able to come up with limited information. Most dates from the 1920s and 1930s (If I had to guess, I'd say the book was produced around that time). Mr. Malkind built two movie theaters, the Argo Theater in Elmont, NY, and the Parsons Theater in Flushing, NY. He built the Manhattan Beach Apartments on Shore Boulevard in Brooklyn, and The Plaza at Plaza Street, also in Brooklyn. He was the architect on all of these projects. I randomly typed into the Keyword section some of the titles of the drawings: The Podestat Palace at Florence; Hotel Bourgtheroude at Rouen; Nesle Church, France; Château De Pau; Eglise De Vetheuil; Château De Blois, Batiment De Gaston, Hotel Decoville, Caen, Notre Dame, Paris; The Château De Boulpgne; Lisieux Cathedral; Someries Castle; Palace Foscarini at Venice; Gate of the School of S. Mark at Venice; Loge De La Seigneurie at Florence; Milan Cathedral Competition; Self Elevation of the Duomo; Timber House at Rueti. If you would like to see more photos, you can contact me.…