Book dossier

The Decoration of Houses

by Edith Wharton, Ogden Codman

The wave of recent attention to Edith Wharton as an arbiter of taste and correct usage in the making of domestic interior rooms and to Ogden Codman, Jr., as a revivalist architect of the first rank has made their reputations in those fields seem more secure than ever. Yet the original text of The Decoration of Houses continues without revision as an authentic classic; it can be argued that this book is the most important of its kind ever published. Its carefully reasoned chapters on such aspects of house interiors as fireplaces, ceilings and floors, halls and stairs, are of greatest value to professionals and serious amateurs concerned with interiors. This revised edition of "Wharton-Codman" includes several new features appended to the original text which indicate that the ideals of the authors have a lively continuing tradition - not only in private homes but in important new public interiors. In his introduction, Henry Hope Reed assays the current importance of The Decoration of Houses. And in a revealing and useful adaptation of a classroom lecture, the architect Alvin Holm carefully advises students (and others who may use this book) as to the best employment of The Decoration of Houses as a textbook.