Customer Reviews

Secrets of Piano Construction - [ISBN 0 911572 15 5]

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Messrs. Seaxton and Betts, editors of the AMERICAN ARCHITECT magazine in 1927-30, compiled this originally two volume display of photographs, drawings, plans, and renderings of some 100 then new theatres. It is a somewhat technical gallery of how architects met the challenge of designing theatres for the multiple use concept then becoming commonplace, but its multitude of photos will delight anyone interested in the physical nature of theatres. This one-volume reprint contains an added Index to the theatres therein, but the non-glossy paper is not as faithful to the photos as is the glossy paper of the first edition, still to be seen in some libraries. Still, the first edition is absolutely unobtainable, and this edition is more than adequate! The 342 pages of this handsome hardbound book should please anyone who loves beautiful theatres as well as the somewhat technically oriented text. There are, of course, a few typos such as the caption being wrong for the lower left photo on page 58 of "book 1" (section) which is identified correctly on page 15, and the photo on page 28 of "book 2" (section) is really the MIDLAND THEATER, Kansas City, MO. The accuracy of these and other details can be verified by the Theatre Historical Soc. of America in Elmhurst, IL. Especially for would-be architects, this will take one into a dreamland of fantastic architecture which is now seeing some of the theatres pictured herein restored to usefulness, and this volume will generate a longing for the delightful aura of lavish (and not so lavish) movie palaces and theatres from the recent past. Had color photos been available at that time, this book would deserve 5 stars! This volume's worthy successor is the title: "BEST REMAINING SEATS: The Story of the Golden Age of the Movie Palace" (1961), or its later reprint edition: "The Best Remaining Seats: The Golden Age of the Movie Palace"(1987), both available here at Amazon.com. While not an architect's book per se, it is the seminal historic work in the field and not to be missed.