Presents selected writings from the original two volumes of the dictionary one of the earliest encyclopedic works to delineate the activities of the building trades, and the most comprehensive text on building and craft subjects for its period. The first chapter examines the intellectual influence of Francis Bacon and discusses Joseph Moxon's Mechanick Exercises which may have been motivated by a desire to lift the veil of secrecy from the activities of the guilds. The dictionary's original preface and title page are included. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.
