Why it matters

Halfpenny's Chinese-taste pattern books were among the cheap, practical manuals that carried chinoiserie out of aristocratic commissions and into English gardens, bridges, temples and interiors in the 1750s, feeding the vogue that Chambers and the Kew pagoda later monumentalized. As working builders' handbooks their plates were used, cut up and discarded, so complete four-part copies with the full plate sequence in a period binding are the exception rather than the rule.

Why we're looking

A four-parts-in-one copy in full contemporary calf with a stated 64 plates, offered by a long-established antiquarian firm at roughly $2,165 USD, is the kind of intact 18th-century design pattern book that rarely appears on eBay rather than in specialist architecture catalogues. The candid condition report and matching collation raise confidence that this is the Sayer 1755 issue it claims to be.

Watch out for

Ask for a plate-by-plate collation against the standard census (engraved general title plus the four sectional titles, the four folding plates, and specifically the four additional quarto roof plates that define the third edition), since the description gives a total but no leaf-level check. Confirm the extent and reversibility of the archival tape at the inner and outer hinges — tape repairs can discolor and cost more to correct than they saved — and clarify whether the spotting touches any image areas, whether any plates are trimmed, washed or supplied from another copy, and whether the eBay listing is still live; also confirm the exact CAD asking price and current FX conversion, plus cross-border shipping, duty and import handling for a fragile calf binding.