First point, classic "form and function".

Secondly, thanks for the tip, Balbuz, I'll try and get my hands on a copy.

"The future is already here -- it's just not very evenly distributed" William Gibson

Yeah, those big brass levers are a bit tacky.  But getting nickel plating (our first choice) for the hardware was a special order.  But more important to this discussion is the mass involved.  This lockset must have weighed two kilos--it requires a big spring to hold the levers level.  So my point is that I got WAY more mass than I would have under "normal" economic circumstances.

"Remember the I35W bridge--who needs terrorists when there are Republicans"