Books and Manuscripts

The Mrs. J. Insley Blair Copy of Thomas Chippendale's Classic Book of Furniture Designs

London: Printed for the Author, (1754). First edition. Tall folio, 18 x 11 1/2 in. (457 x 292 mm). x, 27 pp. Illustrated with an engraved dedication to the Earl of Northumberland and 161 engraved plates. Contemporary full paneled and speckled brown calf, stamped in blind and in gilt, red morocco spine label, joints rubbed, small splitting at top and bottom of same, spine ends rubbed and chipped, rubbing to extremities; all edges stained yellow; marbled endpapers; foxing and scattered offsetting to prelims, scattered dampstaining in gutter and along edges of same; light to moderate foxing to plates, scattered thumb-soiling in margins of same; scattered light dampstaining in edges of some plates; soiling to plate CLI; with the armorial book-plate of James de Teissier, 1st Baron de Teissier (1794-1868) on front paste-down, black morocco Blairhame book-plate of noted Americana collector, Mrs. Natalie Knowlton Blair, on same; illustrated book-plate of Dr. William Stephen Serri, Sr. (1911-95), of Swedesboro, New Jersey, at top of half-title; in cloth slip case. Rothschild 614

An important first edition of Thomas Chippendale's highly influential furniture design book, from the library of an early and pioneering collector of Americana in the United States, Natalie Knowlton Blair (1887-1951).

Chippendale established his firm in London in the mid-eighteenth century, and this pattern book, comprising domestic furniture designs in the Rococo, Gothic, and Chinese styles, functioned as a catalogue for his work. Upon publication, the Director was an instant success, and its breadth of designs was unmatched at the time and set the standard for the period. As a result, Chippendale's firm became incredibly popular in Great Britain, and later, in North America, as his work was adapted by numerous designers. The Director went through two other editions in Chippendale's lifetime: a virtually identical edition in 1755, and a revised and enlarged edition in 1762.

Natalie Knowlton Blair is considered one of the earliest collectors of Americana in the United States. Her mansion in Tuxedo, New York, Blairhame, that she shared with her husband, John Insley Blair, Jr. (1876-1939) was known for its museum-quality period rooms that housed significant works of Americana, including furniture in the Chippendale, as well as Queen Anne, styles. The sale of her furniture and paintings in 2006 included many important Chippendale-style pieces created in the United States in the mid-to-late 18th-century, and at the time, the auction set the record for the highest grossing single-owner sale of Americana ever.