WHITTINGTON (G. D.). An Historical Survey of the Ecclesiastical Antiquities of France: with a view to illustrate the Rise and Progress of Gothic Architecture in Europe.1809

London: Printed by T. Bensley, Bolt Court, Fleet Street; for J. Taylor, at the Architectural Library, First edition, 4to, xv, [3], 188, [8]pp., large paper copy, half-title, engraved frontispiece, bound in at end an 8pp. "A List of Books on the various branches of Architecture and Building, published by J. Taylor, at the Architectural Library." original boards, rubbed, upper cover detached, uncut. 'Whittington's lucid, fresh and readable book is remarkable as the first history of French mediaeval architecture and also as the first statement that the Gothic was invented in France in the first half of the twelfth century. Whittington is important as perhaps the earliest example of a recognisably modern architectural historian conducting a detached and scholarly investigation into a past style in a country other than his own.' - D. Watkin, The Rise of Architectural History, 1983, pp. 57-58.