Adam, Robert and James.

First edition, 2 volumes bound in one, each volume containing 5 parts, folio (660 x 490mm.), title-pages to each volume and part, text in English and French, engraved allegorical frontispiece by Bartolozzi after Zucchi, 80 engraved plates by G.B. Piranesi, D. Cunego, B. Pastorini and others after Robert and James Adam, contemporary half calf, binding somewhat worn and repaired, one corner bumped

BAL RIBA 28; Berlin Katalog 1977

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The Adam brothers delayed publishing these designs for fear of copying by their rivals. It was only due to a financial crisis that they were forced to publish, as well as to sell their private collection of Old Master paintings. By limiting the number of plates used to illustrate each part, the brothers hoped to ensure prompt and substantial return on only a moderate outlay. Paradoxically, this method also afforded them the freedom of unlimited extravagance. Employing the finest artists and engravers - Piranesi, Cunego, Pastorini, Zucchi, Bartolozzi - they lavished every extra penny on producing the most brilliant display of commissioned architectural work ever published.

Ironically, while contemporary critics praised the "air of grandeur" of the work, it was the grandiosity of the project that was to be its undoing. In publishing the Works, the Adam brothers were not seeking to cater for the layman. The volumes were not intended as a pattern book, but rather as a demonstration of the "novelty and variety" of their designs. While the result was an aesthetic triumph, builders and their patrons needed more practical interpretations of the Adam creed. This was soon provided by works such as William Paine's Practical Builder (1774), John Carter's Builder's Magazine (from 1774), and George Richardson's Book of Ceilings (from 1774). Threatened by the success of these works, and in an effort to revive sales, in 1778 the Adam brothers decided to bring the whole enterprise to a suitably swift marketable conclusion by issuing an entire second volume to match the first, in order to encourage lapsed purchasers of previous numbers to complete their copies without delay.

Whatever the commercial outcome of the project, the Works is without doubt the finest and most novel architectural work of its time. The idea of taking the reader on a journey, through gardens, ruins and rooms - while allowing them only tantalizing and incomplete glimpses of the spaces through which they pass - is beautifully executed.