Studies in Design (The Studio Library of Decorative Art)

Facsimile reprint of the 1876 original edition.  180pp, including 60 full colour plate illustration.  Red cloth-covered boards with gilt-stamped lettering on the spine.  Red endpapers.  4to.  Cloth slightly pushed in at the base of the spine else neat. clean, bright and tight.  Glossy dust wrapper, very slightly bumped at extreme edges.  

A handsome and imposing volume.  Studies in Design, first published in 1876, is one of the most important and influential of Victorian manuals on the decorative arts.  A scholarly work, its writing was prompted by Dr Dresser’s desire to promote an understanding of decoration as a unique discipline.  He was strongly influenced by designer Owen Jones and by oriental, particularly Japanese art.  A justly famous landmark in aesthetics and a landmark in Victorian taste and style – and an invaluable source book for fine artists and graphic designers working today.