On the Edge of the World: Four Architects in San Francisco At the Turn of the Century

New York; Cambridge, Mass.: Architectural History Foundation ; MIT Press, New York, Cambridge, 1983. First Edition (presumed; no prior editions or printings cited). Small quarto with grey cloth boards and green spine title; pictorial grey and blue DJ; xiv, 455 pages: illustrations; 27 cm. A near fine(-) copy with clean pages and solid binding; small dent to top edge of front board; in a near fine jacket with light sunning to spine. In mylar. Hardcover. ISBN: 026212100X

Contains a postcard. This book covers the early careers of four architects--Bernard Maybeck, Willis Polk, Ernest Coxhead, and A.C. Schweinfurth--who had a decisive impact on the course of design in the San Francisco Bay Area and who stand as significant contributors to American architecture.

Contents: Academic eclecticism: the question of style. Training: London, New York, Paris. San Francisco: the modern cosmopolis. Transition: a few young men. Coxhead and Polk: the rustic city house. Coxhead and Polk: rustic suburban and country houses. Coxhead and Polk: large city and country houses. Coxhead and Polk: civic projects. Schweinfurth: the cause of regional expression. At the turn of the century: the new San Francisco. Maybeck: the struggle for brief moments of eternal conciliation.