Le Dix Livres d'Architecture de Vitruve, Corrigez et Traduits nouvellement en François, avec des notes [et] figures (The Ten Books on Architecture by Vitruvius, Corrected at Newly Translated into Franch, with Notes and Illustrations)
Author: Vitruvius Pollio, Marcus; Charles Perrault (trans.)
Title: Le Dix Livres d'Architecture de Vitruve, Corrigez et Traduits nouvellement en François, avec des notes [et] figures (The Ten Books on Architecture by Vitruvius, Corrected at Newly Translated into Franch, with Notes and Illustrations)
Publication: Paris: Jean Baptiste Coignard, 1684
Edition: Second, revised edition
Description: Contemporary Calf. Folio (40.6 by 27.9 cm.) Collation: [pi]1 a2 e2 i2 o2 A-4Y2 4Z4 (-4Z4; = 194 leaves ). [18], 354, [16] pp; engraved hors texte half-title; 68 numbered engraved plates (some double-suite) in text; woodcut diagrams throughout. Contemporary marbled calf (lightly worn at extremities), spine with raised bands lettered and tooled in gilt, dentelles; marbled endleaves. Occasional light dampstain at top gutter, sometimes just encroaching beyond margin, else a fine, amply-margined copy.
Second, revised edition. "This edition contained few emendations, but many important additions, which, based on various opinions, prompted the author to reprint his version. He also changed three figures and added three plates, one in Book VI and two in Book X. Although this work could have been further refined, it nevertheless rightfully holds a prominent place among the Vitruvian versions and commentaries" (Cicognara). Claude Perrault (1613-1688) was a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences and a doctor of medicine and anatomist in the faculty at Paris; he designed the Paris Observatory and participated in the design of the east façade of the Louvre. His published works are evidence of a polymathic mind, encompassing architecture, physics, and natural history. Fowler ranks the present work among "the scholarly editions of Vitruvius (Fowler). With engravings signed by: Sébastien Leclerc, Jacques Grignon, Georges Tournier, Nicolas Pitau, Gérard Edelinck, Pieter Van Der Banck, Gérard Scotin, Jean Patigny, Pierre Lepautre, Etienne Gantrel.
The military and civil engineer Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (ca. 70-80 BCE - ca. 15 CE) is the author of the only surviving ancient treatise on architecture, arranged in ten books. By his own account, Vitruvius served in the Roman army under the command of Julius Caesar. Rediscovered by the Florentine humanist Poggio Bracciolini (1380-1459) in the library of Saint Gall Abbey, and publicized by Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472), Vitruvius’ De Architectura would later define the canon of classical architecture. His assertion that structures should exhibit the three qualities of stability (firmitatis), utility (utilitiatis), and beauty (venustatis) became a commonplace in architectural theory. The wide-ranging program of De Architectura deals with “principles of buildings in general, building materials, designs of theatres, temples and other public buildings, town and country houses, baths, interior decoration and wall paintings, clocks and dials, astronomy, mechanical and military engineering...” (PMM). Throughout the Renaissance, Vitruvius’ work provided inspiration for Michelangelo, Leon Battista Alberti, Donato Bramante, Lorenzo Ghiberti, Giacomo Vignola, Andrea Palladio and many others. The first printed edition of De Architectura appeared at Rome (ca. 1483-90); the first illustrated edition, at Venice (1511).
Provenance: Bookplate of Harold Douthit. Nearly fine.
Cf. Digital Cicognara Library 730; Cf. Fowler 418 (first ed. 1673).
Full title and imprint: Le Dix Livres d'Architecture de Vitruve, Corrigez et Traduits nouvellement en François, avec des notes & figures. Seconde edition reveue, corrigée, & augmentée par M. Perrault de l'Academie Royalle des Sciences, Docteur en Medecine de la Faculté de Paris. A Paris, chez Jean Baptiste Coignard, imprimeur ordinaire du roy, ruë S. Jacques, à la Bible d'or, M.DC.LXXXIV. [1684].
Seller ID: 55420
Subject: Architecture
