LE CORBUSIER
OEUVRE COMPLETE

Le Corbusier, Willy Boesiger, Max Bill, Oscar Stonorov

Collected set from the library of F. Frederick Bruck, A. I. A. (1921-1997), Harvard-trained under Gropius and later a professor at the GSD under Sert. Bruck acquired this set through the years at various Boston Book Shops. The set is in generally very good condition, with all volumes showing wear from light handling. Dust jackets on the earlier volumes are rough, but generally complete and all protected with contemporary archival mylar.

Le Corbusier, Willy Boesiger: LE CORBUSIER UND PIERRE JEANNERET OEUVRE COMPLETE DE 1910 -1929. Zurich: Les Editions d'Architecture, 1946. Fourth edition. Text in French, with articles only in German and English. Oblong quarto. Photographically printed dust jacket. Tan cloth embossed and stamped in brown. 216 pp. 600 black and white photographs, sketches, drawings, and floor plans. A very good copy in a fair dust jacket: jacket heavily chipped with loss and structural edgewear, book lightly handled.

Le Corbusier, Willy Boesiger: LE CORBUSIER UND PIERRE JEANNERET OEUVRE COMPLETE DE 1929 -1934. Zurich: Les Editions d'Architecture, 1946. Third edition. Text in French, with articles only in German and English. Oblong quarto. Photographically printed dust jacket. Tan cloth embossed and stamped in green. 208 pp. 550 black and white photographs, sketches, drawings, and floor plans. A very good copy in a good dust jacket: jacket lightly soiled and worn with a large closed tear on the front panel, book lightly handled.

Le Corbusier, Max Bill [editor and designer]: LE CORBUSIER & P. JEANNERET OEUVRE COMPLETE 1934 -1938. Zurich: Les Editions d'Architecture, 1947. Third printing. Text in French, with articles only in German and English. Oblong quarto. Photographically printed dust jacket. Tan cloth embossed and stamped in red. 208 pp. 550 black and white photographs, sketches, drawings, and floor plans. Book design by Max Bill. A very good copy in a very good dust jacket: jacket lightly soiled and chipped, book lightly handled.

Willy Boesigner, Le Corbusier: LE CORBUSIER OEUVRE COMPLETE 1938-1946. Zurich: Les Editions d' Architecture, 1946. First edition. Text in French, with articles only in German and English. Oblong quarto. Photographically printed dust jacket. Tan cloth embossed and stamped in gray. 208 pp. 550 black and white photographs, sketches, drawings, and floor plans. A very good copy in a very good dust jacket: jacket lightly soiled and chipped, previous owner has made drawn a total of three Japanese figures on the front free endpaper and half-title page in brown pencil with kanji characters in red pencil. Actually quite charming and unobtrusive.

Le Corbusier, Willy Boesiger: LE CORBUSIER OEUVRE COMPLETE 1946-1952. Zurich: Editions Girsberger, 1955. Second edition, revised. Text in English, German and French. Oblong quarto. Photographically printed dust jacket. Tan cloth embossed and stamped in red. 252 pp. 700 color, black and white photographs, sketches, drawings, and floor plans. A very good or better copy in a very good or better dust jacket: light wear to book and jacket overall, front endpapers mildly shadowed, former owner studio stamp on front free endpaper.

Willy Boesigner, Le Corbusier: LE CORBUSIER OEUVRE COMPLETE DE 1952-57 [et son atelier rue de Sevres 35]. New York: George Wittenborn, Inc., 1957. First edition. Text in English, German and French. Oblong quarto. Photographically printed dust jacket. Tan cloth embossed and stamped in red. 224 pp. 700 color, black and white photographs, sketches, drawings, and floor plans. A very good or better copy in a very good or better dust jacket: light wear to book and jacket overall, former owner inked gift date on front free endpaper.

Willy Boesigner, Le Corbusier: LE CORBUSIER OEUVRE COMPLETE 1957-1965 [et son atelier rue de Sevres 35]. New York: George Wittenborn, Inc., 1965. First edition. Text in English, German and French. Oblong quarto. Photographically printed dust jacket. Tan cloth embossed and stamped in red. 238 pp. 550 color, black and white photographs, sketches, drawings, and floor plans. A near fine copy in a near fine dust jacket: light wear to top edge.

Willy Boesiger: LE CORBUSIER LAST WORKS. New York: Praeger, 1970. First edition. Text in English, German and French. Oblong quarto. Photographically printed dust jacket. Tan cloth embossed and stamped in red. 208 pp. Color and black and white photographs, sketches, drawings, and floor plans. A near fine copy in a near fine dust jacket: mild wear to rear panel.

[8] 11 x 9 hardcover books with page counts between 208 to 252 pages, each volume filled with black and white photographs, sketches, drawings, floor plans, lithographs, paintings, sculpture, books, periodicals and more. Includes designs for the Maisons Domino, Maison Monol, Villa Meyer, Maison Citrohan, Pavillon de L'Esprit Nouveau, Villa La Roche/Villa Jeanneret, Paris, Villa Savoye, Poissy-sur-Seine, the Palace in Moscow, the Swiss Pavilion, Armée du Salut: City of Refuge (Paris), the Trouinade, the United Nations, the CIAM Grid, Ronchamp, some of his major buildings at Chandigarh, the Modular, Marseilles, and much more.

No disrespect to Birkhauser, but the contemporary reprints of this series cannot hold a candle to the sharp image engraving or the crisp feel of the type on the glossy pages. The stamped cloth covers also help make examining these volumes a very tactile experience.

"Almost 40 years ago, when the first volume in this series appeared, not one of us, neither Le Corbusier nor the editor and publisher thought that the "Oeuvre Complete" would eventually encompass seven volumes. That this was possible was due to two facts.

Firstly of course Le Corbusier himself. And secondly, chance had it that at that time a young architect enthusiastically tackled the task to introduce Le Corbusier's works to the world. In 1929, after a year of apprenticeship in Le Corbusier's office, Willy Boesiger together with his friend Oscar Stonorov undertook to collect the works of his then 42 year old honored master. The book appeared in my newly founded publishing house. To Willy Boesiger -- who would never dream of publicizing his own architectural works -- do the publishers extend their heartfelt thanks.

As these lines are about to go into print, news reaches me that today the 27th August 1965 Le Corbusier died of a heart attack while swimming in the sea off Cap Martin. Thus this seventh volume will inevitably be the last of his "Oeuvre Complete." -- Hans Girsberger [Volume 7]

out of stock