Osbert Lancaster's Cartoons, Columns and Curlicues

A beautiful boxed-set containing three long out-of-print and influential books by the great British humorist, Sir Osbert Lancaster. Pillar to Post. , the story of architecture through the ages, takes us in words and pictures from the Egypt of the pyramids to Twentieth Century Functional (by way of Stockbroker's Tudor and By-Pass Variegated). First published in 1938, it was described by Gavin Stamp as "One of the most influential books on architecture ever published. " Homes Sweet Homes. , first published in 1939, is a history of architectural interiors, and a sequel to Pillar to Pos. t. It gives full scope to Lancaster's genius for showing people in their settings: the carousing Normans in the communal hall; the cocktail-drinking couple in Curzon Street Baroque; the First Russian Ballet lady outstretched on her day bed; the Cultured Cottage couple in their Arts & Crafts Interior. First published in 1949, Drayneflete Revealed. traces the development of one particularly typical (invented) English town. Starting from its muddy Saxon origins-the Fleet River is the ancient river that runs in sewers under the City of London-it follows the changing fortunes of the architectural development from village to small city and the foibles and fashions of the inhabitants.