An Inscribed Copy
THE SECOND GENERATION
Esther McCoy, Cesar Pelli [introduction]
Esther McCoy, Cesar Pelli [introduction]: THE SECOND GENERATION. Salt Lake City: Gibbs M. Smith, Inc. 1984. First edition. Square quarto. Orange cloth stamped in silver. Photo illustrated dustjacket. 192 pp. Black and white photographs, illustration, diagrams and floorplans. Cover photograph by Julius Shulman. Ink INSCRIPTION by Ester McCoy to front free endpaper. Laid in ephemera includes a lengthy full-page handwritten memorial note from the books’ recipient, three dated newspaper clippings, three pages of photocopies and an unmailed postcard. Previous owners’ penciled notation to colophon and multiple examples of orange pencil underlining to textblock and minor marginalia throughout. Price clipped jacket with the usual sun faded spine, light edge wear including trivial chipping and a couple of short closed tears, and wear to both spine heel and crown. Overall a very good copy in a very good dust jacket significantly enhanced via inscription.
9.5 x 9.5 hardcover book with 192 pages profusely illustrated with black and white photos, illustration, diagrams and floorplans. Primary photography by Julius Shulman. This is the Guggenheim-funded sequel to Esther McCoy's first book of California Architects titled Five California Architects, and a companion volume to her legendary Modern California Houses: Case Study Houses 1945-1962.
Contents:
- Los Angeles Architects -- Cesar Pelli
- J. R. Davidson
- Harwell Hamilton Harris
- Gregory Ain
- Raphael Soriano
- Important Buildings and Projects by the Architects
- General Bibliography
- Important Buildings and Projects by the Architects
- Periodicals and Journal Writings about the Architects
- Index
“California's Design is a marriage between Walden Pond and Douglas Aircraft.” — Esther McCoy
As a contributing editor to Arts & Architecture magazine, Esther McCoy (1904 – 1989) was in a unique position to chronicle the brilliant trajectory of the modern movement in California, particularly the Case Study House program. Her insider status gave her unparalleled access to the key figures in the movement.
From the 1989 New York Times Obituary; “Esther McCoy, an architectural historian and critic . . . was a specialist in West Coast architecture and the author of many books and hundreds of articles in leading architectural publications.
“It was she, almost single-handedly, who awakened serious scholars to the extraordinary richness of California architecture,'' wrote Paul Goldberger, architecture critic for The New York Times, when a new edition of Ms. McCoy's 1960 work, ''Five California Architects,'' appeared in 1975. Her book, he added, was largely responsible for rescuing the five almost-forgotten architects - Bernard Maybeck, Irving Gill, R. M. Schindler and Charles and Henry Greene - from obscurity.
“Calling Ms. McCoy ''the pre-eminent writer of California architecture,'' Cesar Pelli, a former dean of the Yale School of Architecture, told The Times in an interview five years ago, ''Our knowledge of Southern California architecture has been primarily formed by her research, her first-hand knowledge and her writing, which is so precise and passionate.''
“She was born in Coffeyville, Kan., and was an undergraduate at the University of Michigan. She began her career in New York writing architecture reviews for a number of publishers.
“She worked as a draftsman in the Hollywood office of R. M. Schindler from 1944 to 1947 and began writing about the architects she had come to know. In 1985, she was given the American Institute of Architects' national honor award for excellence.”