Built from fortunes amassed through the cultivation of cotton, tobacco and sugarcane, the Southern plantation reached its zenith in size and splendor in the period between 1820 and the Civil War. Admired for their elegance and beauty, many magnificent plantation houses lined the banks of the Mississippi River for some 200 miles north of New Orleans.

A number of these superb estates-distinguished by tall, pillared houses and flanked by numerous outbuildingsserve as the inspiration for the latest cut-and-assemble book by artist, photographer and paper engineer Edmund V. Gillon, Jr. His full-color H-0 scale model of a Southern plantation includes a beautiful main house, featuring a portico with great Corinthian columns, two colonnades connecting the main house to its two wings, plus other plantation structures: carriage house, garconniere (guest house), privy, slave cabin and fence.

In addition to a historical introduction, Gillon provides modelers of all ages with easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions for creating this architectural masterpiece. A few inexpensive desk tools (X-Acto knife, scoring tool, scissors and glue), plus clearly detailed line drawings and three exploded diagrams facilitate the construction of this hallmark of a long-gone way of life.

Original Dover (1989) publication. 12 full-color plates. 9 line drawings, including 3 exploded diagrams. Color illustrations on covers. Introduction. Assembly instructions. 40pp. 9 1/4 x 12 1/4. Paperbound.