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First edition of the second original American architectural book. Hitchcock notes: “A native born American, like Asher Benjamin [who wrote the first original American architectural book in 1797], Biddle emphasizes in his title that his book is especially suited for American use, and that there is by this time ‘a style of building in the United States’ distinguishable from that of England. Benjamin imitated this title the next year in that of the first edition of The American builders’ companion.” (American Architectural Books, 176). Quite scarce, only 2 copies have appeared at auction in the last 40 years, the Streeter copy in 1970 and another copy in 1998.