4to. Original black cloth, the upper board gilt-blocked with Wren’s coat of arms, the spine gilt-lettered, buff paper dust jacket with some loss to the rear panel and the head of the spine panel; xii, 127, [1]pp., errata slip present at p. v, 28 finely printed b/w photo plates, measured drawings, (1 folding), reproductions of engravings, and facsimiles of the letters, 8 b/w illustrations within the text; some age-toning to the fore-edges, otherwise a very good copy.

Author’s gifted copy, inscribed to the recto of the ffep by the recipient, the 'Rector of St. Alphage, London Wall, with St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury. E.C. The kind gift of W.D. Caröe ... Author of the Volume. & Architect.', dated 'Tuesday 13th May, 1930', which the rector notes is the 298th Anniversary of the founding of Sion College, the London training college for Anglican priests.

A fascinating account by the architect W.D. Caröe of the design and construction of ‘Tom Tower’, enhanced with transcriptions and an analysis of letters from Wren to John Fell, the then Bishop of Oxford that had recently come to light in the Treasury of Christ Church College. There are chapters on the contract for the tower, the builder Christopher Kempster, the bell itself, ‘Great Tom’ and much else besides.

Stock number: 1175