The Pendleton Collection. Author's Copy.

(Providence, R.I.): Rhode Island School of Design, 1904. Pre-First edition. Folio (11 x 13 1/2 inches). Working copy with title, text and plates mounted, forming a mock-up of the intended "finished" work: photogravure frontispiece, 102 photogravure plates, numerous smaller illustrations. (A few images or text loosely inserted). Contemporary cloth-covered boards, titled on spine (rubbed, repair to lower inner hinge). The plates in the copy appear to be collotypes. Contemporary brown cloth with morocco gilt lettering label. Some rubbing to binding and a bit puffed out due to the numerous insertions and this has also caused a weakening of the joints (although they remain firm and strong) but a very clean copy and fascinating in its ms. corrections.This unique working copy of an important American collection catalog written by Lockwood, the 'pioneering furniture scholar' in America. The published work, with 102 full-page photogravure plates, is limited to just 160 copies. It is almost undoubtable that this is Lockwood's own copy, as he was on the only person knowledgeable to make the corrections seen within the book. These are corrections of facts, not of grammar. Charles L. Pendleton (1846-1904) "was an early proponent of collecting American works at the time when interest in national heritage was just beginning to flourish, and he traveled widely in search of the best examples to fill his home. Recognized by American furniture scholar Luke Vincent Lockwood as the "father of art as applied to furniture," Pendleton contributed greatly to the study of American decorative arts and inspired a generation of collectors." (RISD Museum. Charles Pendleton House).