original c. 1931 first edition book, titled modern architecture: being the kahn lectures for 1930 (held at princeton university). the book cover, containing a wonderful geometric graphic design supplied by frank lloyd wright, was signed by the architect shortly before his death (provenance provided upon request). the kahn lectures were series of lectures that took place from 1929 to 1931 at the department of art and archaeology of princeton university, sponsored by the new york banker otto hermann kahn (18671934). kahn had funded visits by european scholars to princeton since 1925, and the new lectures were announced as a continuation of the earlier ones. frank lloyd wright was invited by baldwin smith, who was the acting chair of the department of art and archaeology. according to the original donation by otto kahn, each series was to consist of eight lectures, but wright proposed that he would instead hold six lectures and arrange an exhibition of his own recent work "illustrating the ideas and principles involved in the "course." wright's kahn lectures gave him a new and important experience and even "opened a new career path" for the architect, who continued to lecture extensively at universities and other institutions for the next year. his exhibition toured america in 1930 and europe for six months in 1931. wright's lectures were originally published in 1931 in the princeton monograph series for art and archaeology. they were reprinted in 1987, and a new edition, with an introduction by harvard professor neil levine, was published in 2008. in a contemporary review of the first edition of wright's lectures, the critic catherine bauer described the book as "the very best book on modern architecture that exists".