Review by Choice Review
The study of pattern books and kit houses spiked in the 1980s, gaining national exposure in magazines such as the National Trust's Historic Preservation. An influx of specialized topics followed: books on mail-order catalogs or the men that designed and produced them. However, not until Reiff (SUNY College, Fredonia) arrived with his book has a full-scale study of the entire architectural phenomenon been found under one cover. Content selection stems from a 1980 review stating: "We would like to know more about the creators and users of such books and to have confirmed by visual and documentary evidence the fact that the models in their pages were actually imitated to a significant extent." Reiff provides an evolutionary history of architectural books, beginning in England in 1550; subsequent chapters are devoted to imported books, builders' manuals, architectural journals, and mail-order catalogs. The final chapter puts these various discussions into context by using the college town of Fredonia, New York, as a case study. The thrust of the book is enhanced by strategically placed illustrations of catalog plates, photographs, and lithographs, many positioned side by side to further support the author's goal. The single annoyance is the habitual use of "we." Numerous appendixes, notes, bibliography, and indexes. General readers; upper-division undergraduates through professionals. L. B. Sickels-Taves Eastern Michigan University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
