Polychromatic Decoration as Applied to Buildings in the Medieval Styles. Thirty-Six Plates in Colours and Gold, with General Introduction and Descriptive Text

London: Henry Sotheran & Co., 1882

vi; [ii]; 32 pp.; 36 beautiful coloured and gold chromolithographic plates (printed by Firmin-Didot of Paris who was the best colour printer at the time) of medieval patterns, motifs, and general designs for architectural use (each with a descriptive page of text). Text in English; original brown bevelled cloth lettered on gilt on the leather spine and upper cover with top edge gilt.

Each plate measures approximately 40.5 x 27.8 cm. At the bottom of each plate is printed “W & G. AUDSLEY, INVEN. ET. DEL, Imp. Firmin-Didot & Cie. Paris”
16.4 x 11.8 x 0.8 in (41.2 x 29.5 x 2 cm)

This is the first work that was devoted to the Gothic Revival where the authors wrote the book to meet the growing interest in this style. Many of these designs were copied to wallpaper and stencils and were key reference sources not only for the artists, designers, and architects of the Aesthetic Movement but also for amateur decorators. It was more of a Victorian pattern book of the type made popular by Owen Jones with his Grammar of Ornament. .

The Audsley Brothers (George Ashdown and William James) were trained as architects in Scotland and moved to Liverpool where they established a practice in 1860. They produced many picture books on the various aspects of their profession till the end of their collaboration in 1884. By 1890, both brothers were settled in the United States where their combination of scholarship and practice were just as successful.

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