P-61 -  Domenico AMICI Raccolta delle principali vedute di Roma, disegnate dal vero ed incise da Domenico Amici romano. Roma 1835. Bound with: Raccolta di trenta vedute degli obelischi, scelte fontane e chiostri di Roma disegnate dal vero ed incise in rame da Domenico Amici romano. In Roma presso l'autore. Anno 1839. And with: Raccolta delle vedute dei contorni di Roma disegnate dal vero ed incise in rame da Domenico Amici romano. In Roma presso l'autore. Anno 1847.

€ 5000

The Roman engraver Domenico Amici, lived in the XIX century (see Bénézit), produced many collections of nice engravings, which mainly reproduce the monuments of the ancient and modern Rome. Even though Amici was not an accomplished architect as Piranesi was, he could reproduce the monuments of the ancient and modern Rome in their reality, making a very clever use of chiaro-scuro and perspective, which differentiates him from the usual "engravers-for-tourists" and make his works possibly one of the best architectural documentation about Rome as it was perceived in the XIX century. These three collections are usually found together, even though they were published separately (see Kissner).

& Bénézit I, 144; Kissner 496; Kat. Berl. 1920 mentions another collection of the engravings of Amici.

A-6 - Bernardino AMICO Trattato delle Piante et Immagini de Sacri Edifizi di Terra Santa disegnate in Jerusalemme secondo le regole della prospettiva, & vera misura della lor grandezza. In Fiorenza, appresso Pietro Cecconcelli, alle Stelle Medicee, 1620.

€ 5500

Second Edition, but first edition with plates engraved by Callot. The first edition was published in 1609 with engravings of A. Tempesta and contained nine plates less than the present edition. Callot (1592-1635), for some time a collaborator of Tempesta, was commissioned the plates for this edition by the dedicatee of this work, i. e. Cosimo II de'Medici. He reworked some of the original plates and added nine new ones. They can be considered unique in the career of Callot, as he seldom depicted purely architectural subjects, and are "gravées d'une maniére trés ferme et le peu de figures qui s'y rencontrent sont parmi les meilleurs qu'ait fait Callot" (Lieure). Among the plates there are two bird-eye views representing Jerusalem. The Franciscan Bernardino Amico, born in Gallipoli, was Prior of his Congregation and lived in Jerusalem from 1596 to 1601. Some buildings now destroyed appear as they were at the beginning of the XVII century. This book is known in two variants, one of which has a typographic title in place of the usual engraved title.

& Lieure (J. Callot) II, 306-52, cited in Blackmer 31; Fowler 19 (with illustration); Kat. Berl. 2782; Kissner 14; Tobler page 87; Laor 940-41; Cicognara 3932: "Il libro ha un pregio per le 47 tavole oltre al frontespizio, assai ben disegnate ed intagliate dal Callot".

P-51 - ANON Album.

€ 1300

The pictures were probably designed by an unidentifiable designer as theater sceneries. In fact they have some “air de famille” with known models designed e. g. by Sanquirico. The hand of the artist is surely educated and appropriate models have been chosen, as e. g. Piranesi (Carceri d’Invenzione) for plates 5 and 9 and Bibbiena for most of the remaining plates. The treatment of shadows is masterly and suggests that the scenes have not been drawn in a studio but rather “en plein air”. The views of towns remind with certainty some towns of Northern Italy, the first being probably Verona.

P-29 - Enea Arnaldi Idea di un teatro nelle principali sue parti simile a’ teatri antichi all’uso moderno accomodato ... In Vicenza 1762, appresso Antonio Veronese.

€ 2200

First edition, the editions 1733 cited by Cicognara are ghosts as Arnaldi was 17 in that year. Count Enea Arnaldi (1716-1794), born in Vicenza, was a renowned architect, who carried out the restoration of the Vicentine town hall, which had been erected by Palladio, and enriched his native town by a “Cavallerizza” (turf for horse races) in 1779. This book includes two different parts, the second of which is often absent due to its late insertion in the book. The first part concerns a project to rebuild the Teatro Filarmonico at Verona, erected by Francesco Galli Bibiena and recently destroyed. In it Arnaldi closely follows Vitruvius, with several innovations in the modern taste, as projecting the façades with porticoes. The second part discusses the manner to complete the ceiling of the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza; in it Arnaldi discusses the original project of Palladio and makes known his predilection for a coffered ceiling. The engravings refer all to the first part and show the inner and the exterior of a theater built according to the project of Arnaldi.

& Cicognara 749-750 (erroneously dated, but the collation of the number 749 is identical to this edition); Wolffheim II, 909; Kat. Berl. 2790; Olschki 10726; not in Fowler.

P-26 - Filippo Baldinucci Raccolta di alcuni opuscoli sopra varie materie di pittura, scultura ed architettura ... In Firenze, appresso Andrea Bonducci, 1755.

€ 1100

First joint edition of this collection of essays, appeared previously in different dates. Filippo Baldinucci (Florence 1624 - 1696) was one of the foremost art writers in Italy, to whom a basic biography of Bernini and other biographies of painters are due. The first essay of this volume is the letter to Marquis Capponi on some questions relating to painting. Appeared for the first time in 1681 and again in 1687, it concerns different problems, i. e. whether art criticism should be exerted only by artists or also by knowledgeable amateurs, if there is a sure rule to distinguish an original painting from a copy, how to attribute paintings and whether it should be allowed to copy famous paintings and the consideration in which these copies should be held. The second piece is the dialogue “La veglia” (The vigil) in which Baldinucci takes a stand in defense of his work “Notizie dei professori del disegno ...” (On the life of famous painters) against the polemist Cinelli. It appeared first in 1684 and was reissued in 1690. The third essay is entitled simply “Lezione” (Lesson) and is an erudite discussion on the differences between ancient and modern painting. The first edition appeared in 1692. The fourth essay was entitled “Lettera sopra i pittori del XVI secolo” (Lecture on the XVI century painters) and this is its first independent edition, having appeared previously in 1751 in the Xth volume of the Symbolae literariae by Gori. To these essays of Baldinucci is joined the essay on the statue of St. George made by Donatello and erected on the façade of the Orsanmichele church in Florence, written by Francesco Bocchi (1548 - 1618), a polymath born in Florence, author i. a. of essays on military art and on the monuments of Florence. “Bella e splendida edizione, la quale contiene dilettevoli ragionamenti utili assai, in particolare a chi vuol conoscere e gustare le tre arti suddette...” (Comolli).

& Comolli I, 313-315; Gamba 1764; Schlosser page 623; Vinciana 4333; this edition not in Cicognara, who notes that the opuscules included in this book are extremely rare to be found in their original edition.

P-2 - Cosimo BARTOLI Modo di misurare le distanze, le superficie, i corpi, le piante, le province, le prospettive, & tutte le altre cose terrene ... In Venetia, per Francesco Franceschi senese, 1564.

€ 3600

First edition, reprinted in 1589 and 1614 with a slightly different collation. An earlier edition is not documented. Cosimo Bartoli (1503-1572) had been Florentine envoy to Venice from 1568 to 1571 and from then to his death abbot of the Church of Saint John the Baptist in Florence. He wrote a series of historical and literary works and translated into Italian the scientific opuscules of Leon Battista Alberti and the works of Oronce Finé. This is his only original scientific work, which enjoyed high reputation during the second part of the XVI century and the first of the following one. Bartoli was largely influenced by Leon Battista Alberti, but his work is no mere adaptation as he kept into account most available sources and dedicated attention to little described instruments. E. g. leaves 93-100 of the fourth book describe the manner to manufacture and use a compass, in a simple and a compound form. “The basic techniques of surveying lengths, breadths and height were based on simple concepts of triangulation. Their ultimate foundation lay in Euclid’s trigonometry, but the abacus books required no more than the simple skills of addition, subtraction, division and multiplication in the context of similar triangles ... Other techniques made use of small mirrors, either placed on the ground or hung on vertical measuring rods. The aim in each case was the same: to establish similar triangles, one small and one large, optically, so that the proportional calculation of an unknown dimension could be completed. A testimony to the continuity and utility of these methods is that they are described in essentially their mediaeval form in Cosimo Bartoli’s late XVI-century textbook Modo di misurare ... An involvement with the basic techniques and instruments of mensuration is perhaps the most widespread of the common factors among the most prominent of the early perspectivists ... Two prominent theorists in the Quattrocento, Francesco di Giorgio and Filarete, confirm that anyone involved in architecture would be expected to master the basic methods ...”. (Kemp). “During the same period (XVI-XVII centuries) various attempts were made on the continent to produce ‘universal instruments’, a title usually applied to instruments by which horizontal and vertical angles could be measured simultaneously. After the polymetrum of Waldseemüller the next to appear was the instrument of Walter Ryff. It differs mainly from the polymetrum in the employment of a full vertical circle and the absence of a horizontal geometric square. A compass was used in an auxiliary role for orientation. In 1564 Bartoli produced an instrument of radically different design, but containing essentially the same elements. The compass is here an integral part of the instrument, used in the determination of bearing angles after the manner described by Tartaglia ...” (Kiely). “The libro sesto is upon square and cube root. The galley method is used and the common XVI century device of annexing 2n ciphers in square root and dividing the root by 10ⁿ (and similarly for cube root) is employed. Bartoli also gives a table of squares to 662². The chapter on roots is followed by one on the “Regola delle tre cose, overo quattro proporzionali” (Smith, Rara Arithmetica).

& Martin Kemp (The science of art) page 168-170, with two illustrations; Kiely (Surveying instruments) page 190, with illustration; Smith, (Rara arithmetica) page 315; Riccardi I/1, 90: “Raro”; Honeyman 228: “Rare”; Cicognara 421; Kat. Berl. 1701; Mortimer Italian 58; Gamba 1248; Smith (History of mathematics) page 303; Boffito (Gli strumenti della scienza) page 58; not in Adams and in the bibliographies of magnetism.

P-39 - (Ludovico BOLOGNINI) Il muratore reggiano operetta pratica divisa in quattro parti nelle quali si tratta di alcune definizioni geometriche, della misura, de’materiali … ed in fine delle massime elementari dell’architettura. In Reggio, 1778, per Giuseppe Davolio.

€ 1200

First edition, reprinted in 1807 and 1825. These late reprints witness the usefulness of this work for stonemasons and local builders in smaller towns of central Italy. The author, Ludovico Bolognini (Bologna 1739 – Parma 1816), studied in Bologna under G. Casati and E. Zanotti. He practiced as an architect and a hydraulic engineer in the service of the Este family in Modena. During this period he was invited to supervise the draining of marshes in the Po plain near Reggio, and contributed also to the restoration of Reggio’s theater and hospital. He erected also several bridges and was also active outside the Duchy of Modena. His career developed suddenly when the newborn Napoleonic Cisalpine Republic made him a supervisor for hydraulic works. He kept working also after the Restoration. His name is linked to the project for the Town hall of Reggio, where the tricolor was first chosen as the Italian flag. He published several works on architecture and engineering, among which the present work is the most famous. It is a textbook aimed at the worker and the builder rather than at the audience of architects, divided in four parts. The first part is an excursus on measurements, the second on geometrical principles. In this second part a large section is dedicated to the measure of the volume of solids, including barrels. The transformation of the different measure units of liquids are also provided, in order to enable the reader to calculate the amount of wine which can be contained in a barrel of given volume. The third part is a concise manual on the materials to be used in building, with the prices to be asked for the different works by stonemasons, carpenters and blacksmiths. Instructions concerning the different materials for use in the different parts of the buildings are explained in detail, with emphasis on “poor” material, so e. g. brickwork covered with plaster for making columns, and on the manners to correctly restore dilapidated buildings. The fourth part is a concise elucidation of basic norms in architecture.

& DBI IX, pages 354-355; M. Pigozzi (ed.) (Gli Architetti del pubblico a Reggio Emilia dal Bolognini ai Marchelli : architettura e urbanistica lungo la via Emilia, Reggio Emilia, Grafis, 1990), passim; otherwise unknown to all architectural bibliographies.

P-22 - Giovan Battista Borra Trattato della cognizione pratica delle resistenze … ad uso di ogni sorta di edifizi. Coll’aggiunta delle Armature di varie maniere di coperti, volte, ed altre cose di tal genere. In Torino, 1748, nella Stamperia Reale.

€ 1700

Only edition. Giovan Battista Borra (San Giorgio Canavese near Turin 1712 – Turin 1786) studied with the architect B. A. Vittone, for whom he engraved some plates for his textbook “Istruzioni elementari per l’architettura”. During the year 1749 he was in Rome and he met there R. Wood, who invited him to take part as a designer to the archeological expedition he was organizing together with J. Dawkins and J. Brouverie. The expedition left from Naples in 1750 and returned to London in the autumn of 1751. The product of this expedition were the two magnificent books on Palmyra and Baalbek, appeared in 1753 and 1757 respectively and immediately translated into French, for both of which Borra designed all plates, which were engraved by Foudrinier and others. Borra came back to Turin in the late 1752 and resided there until the rest of his life, building several edifices in Turin and other localities of the Kingdom. Beyond this textbook also a series of 12 views of Turin appeared with his name in 1749. The book is divided in four parts and discusses subjects as  the constructions of arches, vaults and domes, the resistence of the materials more commonly used for building and that of the walls and other constructive elements to an applied pressure. The fourth section is a complete overview of the preparations necessary to building, and contains a discussion of the different types of woods used in architecture, the manner and time of the year to cut the trees providing them, how to make bricks of good quality, how to choose the best sand and lime, the choice of the most appropriate grounds and instructions how to build on every site. This textbook on practical architecture was reputed among the best ones written in Italy during the XVIII century; its strict mathematical treatment prevented however its widespread adoption.

& Comolli III, pages 256-257; Riccardi I/1, 169. 1: “Buona edizione”; Cicognara 887: “Trattato utile in ogni pratica scuola d’arti e mestieri”; DBI XII, pages 807-809; not in Fowler, Millard Collection, Kat. Berl. and Roberts/Trent.

A-36 - Lorenzo Capponi Pianta e spaccato del nuovo teatro di Bologna… In Bologna per Lelio della Volpe, 1771.

€ 2200

Only edition, reprinted in facsimile in 1973. Lorenzo Capponi (Bologna 1733 - ?) was an engraver active in his native town. This is his main claim to fame. A smaller publication with only two plates, signed by the architect Galli Bibiena, had seen the light in 1763. The theater of Bologna had been built between 1756 and 1763 by Antonio Galli Bibiena, a scion of the famous dynasty of architects. Galli Bibiena (Parma 1700 – Milan or Mantua 1773) collaborated with his uncle Ferdinando Maria in the construction of the Teatro Alibert in Roma and projected several theaters in Austria and Hungary. The theater of Bologna counts as his most ambitious project; built as an isolated edifice and with a circle-horseshoe shape following a pattern widespread during the first half of the XVIII century. However, defects in the acoustics of the theater were remarked immediately. In fact Galli Bibiena had relied, as his uncle, on the glittering grandeur of the building and its scenographies paying no attention to sound acoustical studies. “Antonio Bibiena … began the Teatro Comunale in Bologna in 1756 with a ground-plan almost identical with that of the Cuvilliès-theater in Munich and of stone and brick throughout. While this certainly made the building fire-resistant, and while the seats were nicely arranged for viewing the elaborate scenery favored by the architect, it was a disastrous acoustical misfit.” (D. Mullin). The plates are signed by the same Galli Bibiena and by Capponi as engraver and represent plans and views of the theater.

 & D. Mullin, (The development of the playhouse, 1970) page 88; Kat. Berl. 2809; Cicognara 752 (in a convolute); Comolli III, 38-41.

P-47 - (Vincenzo CHIARUGI and Marco COVONI GIROLAMI) Regolamento degli regi spedali di Santa Maria Nuova e di Bonifazio. Firenze 1789, per Gaetano Cambiagi stampatore granducale.

€ 5500

Second and best edition. The first, written by Count Covoni-Girolami and containing the administrative regulations of the Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova only, had appeared in 1783; it contained only five plates and about 150 pages less. The famous hospital building of Santa Maria Nova had been founded in the XII century and rebuilt during the XVI century by the architect Bernardo Buontalenti (1535 –1608). The hospital was associated with a school of surgery and a rich library. “In 1774, under the enlightened rule of the Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo of Tuscany, the first law in Europe authorizing hospital care for the insane was enacted. The following year Vincenzo Chiarugi (1759 – 1820), then senior physician at the Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova, recommended to the Duke that the insane be relocated to the old Bonifazio hospital, which would be renovated for the purpose; in 1788, the new Bonifazio Hospital was officially opened. Chiarugi was named physician-in-chief of the new hospital, which was dedicated to the care of the insane, incurable, invalid and dermatological patients; his humane administration with regard to the insane marked the first application of the principles of treatment that form the basis of modern psychiatry. Chiarugi required a physical examination and clinical assessment of every patient admitted, hygienic rooms with segregation of the sexes, no restraint beyond strait jackets and cotton strips, a firm but kindly attitude on the part of the staff, and no work assignment for the patients except those that would benefit from the situation. When it came time to reprint the regulations of the Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova (which had been issued a few years before by Count Covoni-Girolami) the Grand Duke encouraged Chiarugi to add a section on the rules and regulation of the Bonifazio Hospital. Chiarugi’s addition to this administrative manual constitute the first appearance in print of his reforms in the care of the mentally ill, preceding by four years their fuller exposition in his ‘Della pazzia in genere, e specie’ ”. (Norman). This copy contains the leaf T. IIU, which contains all figures listed in its explanation; the Norman copy had another version, labeled T. IIB, which did not contain all figures.

& Norman 474; Garrison & Morton 4020.2; Wellcome II, page 33; Blake page 18; G. Mora (“Chiarugi and the psychiatric reform” in J. Hist. Med. and allied sci. 14, pages 424-433, 1959); A. Lucarella (Storia dell’arcispedale di Santa Maria Nuova (Laterza, Bari, 1986); A. Fara (Bernardo Buontalenti: l’architettura, la guerra e l’elemento geometrico. Genova 1988).

P-14 - A. C. DAVILER Cours d’Architecture qui comprend les ordres de Vignole. Avec des Commentaires, les Figures & Descriptions de ses plus beaux Bâtimens, & de ceux de Michel-Ange, plusieurs nouveaux desseins, ... & tout ce qui regarde l’art de Bâtir; avec une ample explication par ordre Alphabétique de tous les Termes. Première partie (-Suite du cours d’Architecture). A Paris, chez Nicolas Langlois, 1691.

€ 2700

First edition of a manual which met with a widespread success, being reprinted not less than 15 times until the end of the following century and constantly improved by later architects; the first improved version was printed in 1710 by Mariette, keeping into account the improvements proposed by the same D’Aviler before his death as well as by Le Blond and Mariette. The plates of this edition are due mostly to Pierre Le Pautre, a few were engraved by Dolivar. “Augustin-Charles D’Aviler (1653-1700) was one of the first students to enter the Académie Royale d’Architecture, under the direction of François Blondel. In 1674 he left Paris to be a pensionnaire of the French Academy in Rome ... He returned to Paris in 1681 to enter the office of Jules Hardouin Mansart. He stayed from 1684 to 1689. Mansart’s office, with his fashionable point of view, was not a good environment for D’Aviler, with his rigorous, rationalistic and academic background ... Believing that he had no future in Paris D’Aviler went to Montpellier to supervise the erection of a triumphal arch to Louis XIV, designed by D’Orbay. His success with this project led to his appointment as architect of the province of Languedoc. D’Aviler’s interests were always focused on contemporary design and practice. His first project, in 1685, was a translation of Scamozzi’s Book 6 on the orders, in which he produced an interpretation of the complexities of architectural proportions comprehensible to modern builders. At the same time he began a commentary on Vignola and read a preface from his work-in-progress to the Academy in 1683. The work would develop into his Cours d’Architecture, first printed in 1691. In the original form the Cours consisted of several parts: a life of Vignola; a small section on simple geometric figures: a main section on Vignola’s order of architecture, with D’Aviler’s commentary at the foot of each page; sections on the application of the proportions of the orders and ornament to architecture; and a discussion of materials of construction  A second volume, an encyclopedic dictionary of over five thousands architectural terms, was included ... D’Aviler’s point is pragmatic and catholic. More than any other cours d’Architecture, his is designed for the layman and the artisan, and contains all that would aid the client, builder, and student. In this work D. chose Vignola’s interpretation for his main section on the orders, because he felt it to be in the most agreement with other sources, and the least confusing of any of the treatises on the orders. For the French architect in general Vignola’s book was the manual and one which workers constantly consulted. D. was aware of the practical significance of his work and was concerned that it be thoroughly current and accurate ... Because of his purpose to serve the amateur and the builder, D. introduced plans and elevations for a typical house, along with designs of all the architectural details, including the garden. The material on domestic architecture is a new and important introduction in the comprehensive architectural treatise ... Beside four major French editions, it had 13 French printings and a German edition with four printings ...” (Millard Collection); this collection possesses, however, only a copy of the 1738 edition).

& Millard Collection I, 14; Cicognara 406 (edition 1756): “La migliore opera che in questa materia uscisse in Francia a quel tempo”; Fowler 32: “... it was the best work of its kind yet issued and soon superseded F. Blondel’s Cours d’architecture”; Kat. Berl. 2388.

P-56 - Paolo DONATI Descrizione del Gran Teatro Farnesiano di Parma e notizie storiche sul medesimo, Parma, Dalla Stamperia Blanchon, 1817.

€ 1200

First edition. Paolo Donati (Parma 1770 - 1831) was theatre architect and teacher at the Royal Academy in Florence. This is his first work, and it was intended more for the learned traveller than for a specialist in architecture. Thorough in the architectonical description, it is somewhat less precise in the report of the feasts performed in the theatre since its establishement. The theatre, built by the architect Giovanni Battista Aleotti, was intended only for celebrations of the Farnese family. "Built 1617-1618 by Giovanni Battista Aleotti for Ranuccio II. Farnese, Duke of Parma and Piacenza, into the former armoury of the ducal residence. First European theatre with a permanent proscenium and the first theatre to be designed for movable scenery. Originally built for a festivity during a visit of Cosimo II. de' Medici in 1618 which was cancelled. Opened 21 December 1628 with Monteverdi's opera "Mercurio e Marte" during the festivities on the occasion of Ranuccio's son Odoardo and Margherita de' Medici. Subsequently used for court festivities like ambassadorial receptions, proclamations of state, and princely extravaganzas, as well as for theatrical performances of an immense variety: drama, opera, ballet, equestrian acts, and balls. The arena between stage and seating could be flooded and used for performances of naval battle scenes. After a festivity in October 1732 the theatre was left to decay. Completely destroyed by bombs in 1944, except the entrance portal. Rebuilt from 1952, but not to the original colours. Hence, the originally intended effect of a trompe l'oeuil open-air theatre could not be achieved again. Occasionally used for drama performances and concerts. Ca. 3000 seats." (www.andreas-praefcke.de). An exhaustive history and description (with several illustrations) of the theatre is given in Ricci.

& DBI XLI, pp. 53-55; Macmillian Encyclopedia of Architects, vol. I, p. 62; Berlin Kat. 2816; Lozzi 3359; not in Millard Italian, Fowler, Vagnetti and Comolli; Giuliana Ricci (Teatri d'Italia, Milano, Bramante Editrice, 1971) pp. 105-112 (this work is cited on p. 112 among the bibliography); http://www.andreas-praefcke.de/carthalia/italy/i_parma_teatrofarnese.htm

P-5 - Jean Errard-de-Bar-le-Duc Fortificatio, das ist künstliche und wohlgegründte Demonstration un(d) Erweisung wie und welcher Gestalt gute Festungen anzuordnen un(d) wider den Feind so sie mit Heers krafft nach allen Vortheile möchte angreiffen… Frankfurt am Main, bey Wolfgang Richtern, 1604.

€ 7000

First German edition, reprinted in 1620 in Oppenheim. The French original had appeared in 1600 in a limited issue and counts as the oldest French tract on fortification. Other French editions and one bilingual French-German edition followed during the XVII century. Jean Errard-de-Bar-le-Duc (Bar-le-Duc 1554 – Sedan 1610) was one of the most important military engineers of the second half of the XVI century, and the inventor of an improved geometrical quadrant (called by him ‘télémetre) for the measurement of long distances. He built the citadels of Amiens and Verdun, and collaborated to the erection of that of Sedan. The book is divided in four sections, concerning respectively the geometrical principles of fortification, the disposition of polygonal (until 24 sides) fortresses, the irregular fortification and the fortification of emplacements surmounted by mountains, cliffs and other high places. This last chapter counted for a long time as the only authoritative source on the subject. The system of Errard is based on a duplex set of bastions, where the flanks form an acute angle with the upper level of the walls. This system, already proposed by Cataneo in a book of 1554, was applied by Errard for the first time in the fortress of Verdun. A defect of his system was that it foresaw a larger ditch than usual before the walls, permitting thus the besiegers to set his artillery there and storm easily the walls. This was, in the opinion of Errard, counterbalanced by the disposition of the flanks, which permitted to gain a better control of the ditch. These innovations gained little followers, but the largest part of the principles laid out in the book were considered to be sound and were followed by many French engineers until Vauban, and also in Germany. “Although it was intended to bring to light all practices related to fortification, Errard’s stated purpose was to give the nobility knowledge of defense for their families, and to record the fortifications of the King. Errard’s concern was to demonstrate the theory and practice of the art of fortification and to bring the design of the instruments of war to a science. The emphasis in the treatise is on the theoretical field of mathematics – on geometry and drawing – rather than on the pragmatic field of mechanics.” (Millard). The title-page exhibits a singular disposition, where gun barrels and mortars are used as columnar elements in the border framing the title; this motif reproduces closely the title-page of the French original. The illustrations, which were inserted in the text in the French original, have been made independent and enlarged to permit an improved view.

& Cockle 802 (note); HAB, Architekt und Ingenieur, 306; Millard (French) 68 (note); Marini pages 46-48; Kruft (A history of architectural theory) pages 116-117; Jordan 1067; Bury & Breman page 39; Jähns pages 832 ff.; S. Gaber (Jean Errard de Bar-le-Duc, Ingénieur des fortifications du roi de France Henri IV) pages 105-118; VD17, 23:295477H.

P-27 - Jacob Faggot Förbättring på kornhus byggnad uti kopparstycken förestald. Stockholm, Royal Printing Office, 1758.

€ 1000

Only edition. Jacob Faggot (1669-1777) was a prominent scientist, director of the Surveyor’s association and of the Swedish statistical office, member and later secretary of the Swedish Academy. He was involved in several projects of agrarian reform. This book contains the description of a new storehouse for cereals, which is also provided of an elevator. The section of the building was a square one, with several cylindric locals to keep cereals and a staircase in the middle to reach the upper floor where the elevator was located. The material of which the storehouse was built was chosen from stone or bricks, in contrast to the general habit to build these agricultural commodities in wood. Faggot recognizes his indebtedness to German and Swedish models, among which that designed by Baron Hårleman. The last section discusses the economical advantages which could be obtained with the use of the new storehouse.

& Poggendorff I, 714-715; Bohman II, 471; not in the architectural bibliographies.

P-31 - Girolamo FONDA Elementi di architettura civile, e militare ad uso del Collegio Nazareno, esposti da Girolamo Fonda delle scuole Pie nel detto collegio profesore di filosofia e matematica. Divisi in due parti Parte prima dell'architettura civile. Parte seconda dell'architettura militare. Roma, Nella Stamperia Mainardi, 1764.

€ 2500

First edition. The Venetian Father Hieronymo Maria Fonda, of the order of S. Apollonio (according to the imprimatur) was teacher of philosophy and mathematics in the Collegio Nazareno in Rome and teacher of physics in the University "La Sapienza"in Rome. "Girolamo Fonda, Veneto dell'Ordine delle scule Pie. Essendo Lettore di Filosofia, e di Matematica nel Collegio Nazareno, diè in luce gli Elementi di Architettura Civile, e Militare. Quest'opera, sebbene composta da un mero Teoretico; pure fu ben'accolta da quelli, che l'una, e l'altra Architettura esercitavano in pratica" (Renazzi). This work was written as a textbook for the school where the author was teaching; "Architectural textbooks, most of them of a Vitruvian-cum-Classical character, were very common in eighteenth century Italy. They were often adapted to regional requirements or to the teaching programmes of religious school. Thus in 1764 Girolamo Fonda published a textbook of civil and military architecture, set out in paragraphs, that was intended for the use of the 'Collegio Nazareno' in Rome" (Kruft).

& Cicognara n. 403; Comolli IV, pp. 19-22, and p. 88-89; Manzi n. 169 and 170; Marini p. 294; Riccardi I, pag. 465; Jordan n. 1223; D'Ayala p. 99; Rumpf n. 5094; Guarnieri p. 49; Hanno-Walter Kruft (A history of Architectural Theory from Vitruvius to the present. Princeton Architectural Press, 1994) p 195; Filippo Maria Renazzi (Storia dell' Università degli studj di Roma, detta comunemente la Sapienza, che contiene anche un saggio storico della letteratura romana, dal principio del secolo xiii sino al declinare del secolo xviii, Roma 1806) p. 268; Andrea Memmo (Elementi dell' architettura Lodoliana, o sia, L'arte del fabbricare con solidità scientifica e con eleganza. Zara, fratelli Battara e Milano, società editrice dei classici italiani d'architettura, 1834) p. 11.

P-38 - Ferdinando GALLI BIBIENA Direzioni a’ giovani studenti nel disegno dell’ Architettura civile … Tomo primo (-secondo). In Bologna, nella stamperia di Lelio Della Volpe, 1777-1783.

€ 2400

A Mischauflage of the fourth (first volume) and third (second volume) edition of the little Bibiena. The two volumes had been published in 1731 and 1732 respectively. Due to their divulgative character and to their reduced size and moderate price, they found favor in a broader audience in regard of the 1711 folio edition and were reprinted several times. Fedinando Galli Bibiena (Bologna 1657-1743), the most famous member of the Galli Bibiena family, which contributed several known architects and scenographers, was first active in the service of the Duke of Parma, afterwards he entered the service of the Archduke Carl of Habsburg in Barcellona and followed him in Vienna when he was appointed Emperor of Austria. The first volume is an extended primer on architecture, containing matters as practical geometry, the orders according to Vitruvius, Serlio and Palladio, Galli’s own principles and the theory of architecture according to Vignola. The second volume is a concise manual on drawing and designing using the rules of perspective. “The pocketbook edition of Architettura civile, Direzioni ai giovani studenti, is dedicated to St, Catherine, the patron saint of the Accademia Clementina in Bologna. In his dedication, Ferdinando seeks to present architecture as a charitable activity of the wealthy, who can thus employ large numbers of craftsmen in virtuous work. His motives for this smaller-format publication are to remedy two shoals upon which students founder: lack of knowledge of geometry and lack of books. The chapters on geometry are almost identical to those in Architettura civile. In the Direzioni there are more elementary explanations; for instance, rather than explaining the pentagon as the first polygon, Ferdinando also discusses the triangle and the square … The chapters for the orders were rewritten for the Direzioni, describing first the order according to Vitruvius and Serlio, with a separate section on Palladio’s columns. The second volume, on the theory of perspective, is dedicated to the patron saint of Bologna, Petronio. The illustrations correspond to those in the Architettura civile, but they are reduced in size and reversed. Both the Direzioni and the Architettura civile seem sober in comparison with the orgiastically elaborate architecture illustrated in the plates of the earlier Disegni delle Scene.” (Millard). The importance of Bibiena’s books in the history of perspective lies in the invention of the ‘scena per angolo’, i. e. “a form of design setting buildings at sharp angles to the audience so that diagonal vistas were opened up. These effects were remarkably created by perspective illusions on a series of flats which were more naturally adapted to the standard form of illusion. The advantage of the new technique was twofold: it lent itself to the creation of dramatic effects of monumental architecture with varied recessions; and it was rather less vulnerable to distortion from different points in the auditorium. The use of diagonally disposed forms was not, of course, a new idea … but Ferdinando was the first to exploit the ‘scena per angolo’ in a dominant and compelling manner.” (Kemp). This copy contains two additional plates with respect to the collation provided by Riccardi and Canterzani.

& Vagnetti EivB36; Canterzani page 293; Riccardi I/1, 135: Kat. Berl. 2630; Comolli III, 40; Millard Italian 46; M. Kemp (The science of art), pages 140-141.

A-33 - Mario GIOFFREDO. Dell'Architettura parte prima (unica). Nella quale si tratta degli Ordini dell'Architettura de' Greci e degli Italiani, e si danno le regole pi spedite per disegnarli. Naples 1768, no publisher.

€ 8000

First edition, all published. A reprint has been issued in 2002. Mario Gioffredo (Naples 1718 - 1785) studied with Solimena and Niccolò Di Martino; he became a renowned architect, who projected some of the most impressive buildings erected during the XVIII century in Naples. He remained however a local glory, whose fame could not expand to Rome and the rest of Italy because of the enmity of Vanvitelli. He enjoyed, however, some favor in the court circles, and received from the King the task to write a complete architectural textbook for the university students and practitioners of the Kingdom. This first part, concerning building orders, is all what remains of the ambitious project, which should have covered three parts; the second was to be dedicated to religious architecture and the third one to civil architecture. The King withdrew his support after the printing of this first part, possibly because he had been frightened by the huge price of the edition. The engraver was the famous Francesco Gemignani, who collaborated in the same period to the impressive book on the antiquities of Pozzuoli written by Paoli. The appearance of this first volume procured Gioffredo an invitation to become court architect of Portugal, which he declined. His style is more inclined to classicism than that of Vanvitelli, and anticipates by some years the principles of the neoclassic and rationalistic architecture heralded by Milizia in his Trattato di Architettura Civile (1781).

& Cicognara 517: "Quest'autore aveva una felice naturale disposizione per l'architettura e nell'opera sua travedesi il buon gusto … Le tavole sono di nitido e bell'intaglio in grandiosa dimensione …"; Comolli II, pages 341-344; Kat. Berlin 2637; A. Blunt (Caratteri dell'architettura napoletana dal tardo barocco al classicismo in: Civiltà del '700 a Napoli 1734-1799, Napoli 1979-1980) vol. I, page 71; not in Fowler, Millard and Cat. Royal Institution of British Architects.

A-49 - Felice Giorgi Descrizione istorica del teatro di Tor di Nona … In Roma 1795, nelle stampe del Cannetti.

€ 1600

First edition. Felice Giorgi was a famous architect in Papal service, who restored i. a. the Borrominian church of Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza. He performed the final reconstruction of the theater of Tor di Nona, the most famous Roman Baroque playhouse. Built in 1666 by Carlo Fontana by order of Queen Christina of Sweden, it underwent several interventions until 1781, when it was destroyed by fire. Rebuilt in 1784-1785 by Carlo Tarquini, it was significantly modified in 1795 by Giorgi and took the name Teatro Apollo. Giorgi provides in the present book the architectural history of the theater with plans of every constructive phase and two plans illustrating the modifications brought forth by himself. “The form selected for the shape of the auditorium altered from the simple U popular in the XVIIth century to the shape of an egg. In such plans the geometry of the auditorium was related to that of the stage scene. Examples may be seen in plans of the Teatro di Tor di Nona after 1671, in which the extreme side boxes of the house are arranged to follow the same line as the diminishing perspective of the scene. The illusion of distance was accomplished by having each succeeding pair of wings placed a little further onstage, and by having the stage floor raked up from front to back …” (Mullin).

& D. Mullin (The development of the playhouse, 1970) page 56); Cicognara 758; Kat. Berl. 2814; Schudt 1158.

P-17 - (A. F. Gori) Descrizione della cappella di S. Antonino vescovo di Firenze ... Dedicata al medesimo Santo dalla famiglia De’Salviati patrizi fiorentini ... In Firenze l’anno 1728, nella stamperia di Bernardo Paperini.

€ 2000

Only edition. The text is due to the Florentine architect and antiquarian Anton Francesco Gori (1691-1757), who had just started to publish and was still to acquire the European fame decreed later to the author of “Museum Florentinum” and “Museum Cortonense”. The preface is due to Alamanno Salviati, a scion of the noble Florentine family in which the cult of the Bishop was practiced, who is sometimes mistaken for the author. The chapel of Saint Antonine is inbuilt in the church of San Marco, which belonged to the monastery of the same name, erected by Michelozzo in 1437. The decoration of the chapel is due to Jean de Boulogne (Giambologna), the famous Flemish sculptor active in Italy, for the statues and the high-reliefs; the frescos decorating the chapel are by Bronzino. Gori describes also the monastery’s rich library. The second part includes the description of the pageant which escorted the bodily remnants of the Saint to the Chapel in 1589, with the participation of several members of the Salviati family and of the Florentine nobility. The plates have been engraved by Bernardo Sgrilli, the author of the first monograph on the Florentine cathedral, and by Ferdinando Ruggieri (1691-1741).

& Cicognara 4020 and 4086 (with double attribution to Salviati and Gori, probably without noticing the identity of the two works); Moreni pages 449-450; Kat. Berl. 2692.

A-8 - Christoph Heidemann Architectura militaris, oder Anlaitung wie auff unterschiedliche Arten starcke Vöstungen zubauen, Denen nach itziger Kriegspractic gewöhnlichen Offensionen entgegen zu stellen. Sambt einem Bericht von Beläger, und Beschützung der Städte und Vöstungen. Getruckt zu München, durch Johann Jäcklin, 1664.

€ 3200

First edition, reprinted in 1673. Christoph Heidemann (fl. second half of the XVII century) was architect and engineer of the Duke of Bavaria. In this book he revives some ideas brought forth by Speckle in the end of the XVI century and mixes them with elements drawn from the Dutch school of fortification. In particular he suggested the construction of walls in perpendicular position with respect to the defensive positions. The book is divided in three parts. The first one discusses the elements of fortress building, among which the calculation of the angles and profiles of the walls take a prominent place; the last two chapter deal with fortifications built beside water (sea or river) and how to fortify mountain passes, which was essential for Bavaria. The second section concerns the preparations to be effected when assaulting a fortress, with much attention paid to the disposition of guns and several chapters on galleries and mines. The third part concerns instead the necessary measures to be taken when resisting a siege. Subjects as how to counter the mining galleries of the enemy, but also how to prepare retirement beyond a more secure entrenchment and how to organize resistance in case of famine and lack of provisions are discussed. Jähns: “H’s Construction hat Sturm in seiner “Architect milit.” deutlich wiedergegeben”; Marini: “Contiene quest’opera varii sistemi di fortificazione imaginati dall’autore degni di essere esaminati”.

& Jähns 1343; Marini pages 106-107; Kat. Berl. 3531.

P-16 - Paul HEINEKEN Lucidum Prospectivae Speculum, Das ist: Ein heller Spiegel der Perspective ... Augsburg, in Verlag Jerem. Wolffs seel. Erben, An. 1727.

€ 6000

Only edition. Paul Heineken (Rehna in Moravia, 1680 - Lübeck 1746) was the son of a painter with his same name, who had collaborated with Joachim Denker in Lübeck, but had moved to Rehna because he had not been accepted in the local guild of painters. The young Heineken learned from his father the basic elements of painting, then he moved to Rome for some years, to return to Lübeck, where he was accepted into the painter's guild and married. However, nothing is preserved of his activity as a painter with the exception of the present book, which he intended as a demonstration of technical competence and possibly with an eye to further and spread his fame throughout Germany. He acquired some fame as a miniaturist, and taught this technique to the painters Harper and Mengs (this last the father of the famous Anton Raphael Mengs, who was befriended with Winckelmann). However, his activity as a painter was not sufficient to sustain himself and his family and he moved to Hamburg, where he probably died. One of his sons, Carl Heinrich, became a writer on artistic matters and wrote i. a. an influential book on engraving collecting. The present book is a "new book which adopted standard approaches." (Kemp). The plates concern mainly architectural elements, including several ecclesiastical objects such as altars and pulpits, several very elaborate tombs and a series of ceilings reminiscent of the lessons of Pozzo, but  showing also some influx of Le Pautre.  The choice of the subjects give some credit to the idea that this book was intended as a form of advertisement for lay and religious customers.

& Cat. De Vitry 445; Vagnetti E IV b 19; M. Kemp (The science of art), page 227; Kat. Berl. 4730.

P-40 - C. C. L. Hirschfeld Theorie der Gartenkunst. Erster (-fünfter) Band. Leipzig, bey M. G. Weidmanns Erben und Reich, 1779-1785.

€ 8000

First edition, appeared contemporarily in French. The author, Christian Cay Lorenz Hirschfeld (1742-1792), a Danish subject, was contemporarily a professor of aesthetics at the University of Kiel and a Danish emissary. This book was his magnum opus and was preceded by another book of lesser scope on the same subject and followed by an almanac for gardeners which enjoyed widespread success. Hirschfeld wrote also other books on aesthetics. The first volume provides a history of garden art since antiquity and compares ancient and modern gardens. The second discusses the natural elements necessary to the composition of gardens, whereas the third deals with the architectural elements which form the structure of gardens. The fourth and fifth volumes concern aesthetics and taste in garden design and include the description of many famous gardens. “His (i. e. Hirschfeld’s) beliefs regarding the landscape were nearly antithetical to the Baroque garden typified by Le Notre and Le Blond – a type of garden he identified with political absolutism. He championed instead the informality and asymmetry of English picturesque examples as more suited to contemporary democratic tendencies ... He lauded the picturesque qualities of vivid contrast, variations, color, movement, charm and liveliness, novelty and unexpectedness – brought together by the designer in a sophisticated yet sensitive manner. The ‘old taste’ that he associated with French theory had been, in his view, superseded by the ‘new taste’ of the British – in particular the ideas and examples of William Chambers (his interest in China), Thomas Wately, and Horace Walpole. Supporting Hirschfeld’s aesthetics was both a denial of the absolute beauty that had been the underpinning of Renaissance thought and an associative psychology that played on the human emotions evoked by experience …” (Millard). “(In the view of Watelet) the architect’s task is to bring beauty to every aspect of a vertical plan. The garden designer’s talents are employed in bringing beauty to a horizontal scheme … This division between the two professions corresponds to the division that existed between the visual arts and aesthetics. This notion was elaborated by C. C. L. Hirschfeld … He maintained that this division accounted for the failure of the “geometric” garden which followed the strict rules of symmetry governing architecture.” (Mosser & Teyssot). “Son traité sur les jardins est donc tout à la fois l‘oeuvre d’un praticien et celle d’un théoricien soucieux de méditer sur la place qui s’était acquise un art jusque-là considéré comme mineur. Dans ses reflexions préliminaires H. reprend l’histoire des jardins dans des termes qui annoncent qu’il avait lu Walpole et même Bacon … Hirschfeld écarte l’origine chinoise du jardin paysager européen … Après avoir montré que le jardin paysager trouvait son origine dans l ‘histoire de l’art européen, Hirschfeld lui donne l’avantage sur la peinture … Il précise le domaine de l’art des jardins et montre qu’il agit sur nos sens et sur nos idées … Hirschfeld passe ensuite aux moyens par lesquels le jardin agit sur nos sens et notre sensibilité. Il se sert pour cela de l’athmosphère des scènes du jardin … Le livre de Hirschfeld marque la consecration d’un art devenu l’égal de la peinture et de la sculpture …” (Baridon). “Die wertvollste Gabe sind eine Reihe vorbildlicher Gartenschilderungen englischer, französischer und deutscher Gärten” (Gothein).

& Kat. Berl. 3553; RIBA (Early printed books) 1505; Springer page 65; Millard 42 (French edition) and pages 57-58; M. Mosser and G. Teyssot (eds.) (The history of garden design, Thames & Hudson, London, 1991) page 360 and passim; M. Baridon (Les jardins, Robert Laffont, Paris, 1998) pages 923-926 and passim; M. L. Gothein (Geschichte der Gartenkunst) II, page 392.

P-23 - L. Laurids De Thurah Hafnia Hodierna eller udførlig Beskrivelse om den Kongelige Residentz -og Hoved-Stad Kiøbenhavn ... Description circonstanciée de la résidence royale et capitale de Copenhague... Ausführliche Beschreibung ... Copenhagen, Emil Henrich Berling, Royal Printer, 1748.

€ 2800

Only edition. Beyond its importance as an architectural record, this book has important historical value as depicting many aspects of Copenhagen before the devastations inflicted by the British during the Napoleonic wars. This book appeared contemporarily to the most famous book of Thurah, “Danske Vitruvius”, which was however conceived on a grander scale. As the Vitruvius it was published in three languages, making it clear that the scope of the author was not to provide a simple topographic guide, but to give Copenhagen its place among the European cities where architectural progress was being made. The choice of French among the three languages is symptomatic; Danish architecture was then very much influenced by French models, as especially seen in the pictures of the Amalienborg gardens. Beyond the newly-built edifices, Thurah describes also gardens, gates, churches and also the astronomical observatory in which Longomontanus and Ole Römer worked. The book includes a description of the Royal Library and a long list of its most cherished treasures in books and drawings, and of the annexed chamber of rarities. Thurah describes i. a. the apparatuses necessary to fight fires (with appropriate illustrations), adding details on the obligations of the citizens to keep them functioning and participate to the extinction of fires. “Parallel to Dahlberg’ efforts in Sweden was the work of the Danish architect Lauritz Lauridsen de Thurah (1706-1759), the most significant representative of the late Baroque architecture in Denmark. Thurah began his project much later than Dahlberg. After cadet studies in Copenhagen, he received instruction as an officer and military engineer in 1725-1727, studies that also embraced architectural training. Travels to Germany, Italy, France, Holland, and England further broadened his horizons. Shortly after his return to Denmark he received the appointment of royal architect and went on to enjoy a distinguished and prolific architectural career ...” (Millard Collection). Thurah composed also several topographic books on the different regions of Denmark, which were mostly intended for the Danish reader and whose emphasis lies not so much on architecture as on topography and history of the different localities.

& Millard Collection III, pages 38-39, not mentioning this book; Kat. Berl. 2260.

P-24 - L. Laurids De Thurah Le Vitruve Danois contient les plans, les élévations et les profils des principaux batimens du Roiaume du Dannemark aussi bien que des provinces allemandes dépendentes du Roi, avec une courte description de chaque batiment en particulier ... Den Danske Vitruvius ... Der Dänische Vitruvius ... Copenhagen, Emil Henrich Berling, 1746-1749.

€ 8000

Only edition, all published. A third volume saw the light only in 1967. The plates (most unsigned, the other signed M. Keyl or C. L. Wüst) depict the most important buildings and gardens of whole Denmark. Beyond its importance as an architectural record of late Baroque in Northern Europe, this book has important historical value as depicting many aspects of Copenhagen before the devastations inflicted by the British during the Napoleonic wars. “Parallel to Dahlberg’ efforts in Sweden was the work of the Danish architect Lauritz Lauridsen de Thurah (1706-1759), the most significant representative of the late Baroque architecture in Denmark. Thurah began his project much later than Dahlberg. After cadet studies in Copenhagen, he received instruction as an officer and military engineer in 1725-1727, studies that also embraced architectural training. Travels to Germany, Italy, France, Holland, and England further broadened his horizons. Shortly after his return to Denmark he received the appointment of royal architect and went on to enjoy a distinguished and prolific architectural career. The first volume of the grand folio Den Danske Vitruvius, depicting in 120 plates the public and royal buildings of Copenhagen, appeared in 1746. The second volume, recording buildings in other parts of Denmark, followed three years later... The trilingual text (Danish, French and German), however, suggested higher ambition than a topological guide. Thurah noted in his preface that he wanted to present a comprehensive history of recent architecture in Denmark in order to demonstrate that this country too-like its larger European neighbors-possessed many examples of beauty and magnificence in the art of architecture. All works chosen by him are classical in style and various of his own designs are represented. It is again an admirable effort in its intention and level of pictorial detail” (Millard Collection). “Quest’opera eseguita con molto lusso attesta lo stato delle arti in quella parte Nordica dell’Europa nell’epoca in cui fu pubblicata. Ma da quel tempo in poi i progressi delle arti vengono spinti a un molto maggiore incremento e grandi speranze puó concepire quel regno felice per la molta protezione che a’nobili studi accordasi dagli attuali Principi Reali, ai quali hanno incessantemente diretto l’ingegno ed il cuore” (Cicognara).

& Millard Collection III, pages 38-39 and number 131; Cicognara 4115; Kat. Berl. 2259.

P-12 - Charles Le Brun Divers desseins de décorations de pavillons. Le Brun invenit cum privilegio regis. Se vendent chez Edelinck Rue S. Jacques au Séraphin (Paris, about 1686).

€ 4800

First edition of one of the less known works of Charles Le Brun (Paris 1619-1690). Le Brun studied under François Perrier and Simon Vouet, and became in 1638 Peintre du Roi. He travelled to Rome with Poussin in 1642 and got acquainted with Classicity and Baroque style. In 1645 he came back to Paris and obtained a little later the direction of the tapestry workshops in Mancy and founded later on the manufacture of the Gobelins. The ascent to power of Louvois and his protégé Mignard caused the eclipse of Le Brun, who died a few years later. He was defined by later art historian as “the grand peintre du grand siècle”. His activity was not confined to painting, as he designed several de luxe objects, as a coach destined to Grand Moghul, a tabernacle in silver for the church of the Carmelites in Paris and other silver manufacts. This suite depicts the thirteen pavillions erected by Jules Hardouin-Mansart for Marly-le-Roy, a royal residence constructed in an excentric manner. In fact Louis XIV, tired of official receptions and court etiquette, decided to erect a countryside manor, where he could rest and hunt. Mansart conceived an ingenious plan; instead of building a unique huge edifice, he built thirteen pavillions, one of which (Pavilion du Roi) was found on a higher terrace, where the others were aligned on the two sides of a water perspective. The disposition of the pavillions alluded to the twelve signs of the Zodiac which the Sun crosses during his yearly traject. In order to save on the huge costs the stone-made ornaments were replaced by trompe-l’oeil frescoes. The palace was ready in 1686 and saw the death of Mansart in 1708. An invitation to Marly-le-Roi was one of the highest distinctions one could aspire to under Louis XIV. The magnificent park contained several technical wonders. as the Grande Cascade, replaced in 1728 with a lawn, and the machine which took water from the Seine to feed the large basin of the park, which was the model for later machines as that in Nymphenburg gardens in Munich. Marly was sold to a private entrepreneur at the Revolution, who destroyed the buildings and sold the park to Napoleon. This suite is the first and one of the best representation of the splendor of Marly in its golden period.

& Kat. Berl. 2477; UCBA II, 1131; Guilmard 76-78; not in Cicognara, Fowler, Cat. RIBA Library and Millard.

P-9 - Giuseppe LEONCINI Instruttioni architettoniche pratiche concernenti le parti principali degli edificij delle case, secondo la dottrina di Vetruvio (!), e d'altri classici autori, Roma, appresso Matteo Gregorio Rossi in Navona, 1679.

€ 3400

First edition, reprinted in 1681 and 1983. Giuseppe Leoncini (Florence XVII century) was an architect and painter. He wrote only the present work and a mathematical addition to a book on military art by the diplomat Galeazzo Gualdo Priorato (Vicenza 1606 – 1678). This is one of the first practical manuals for use by architects, preceded by that by Branca (Ascoli 1629) which was however only reprinted during the XVIII century. The book is dedicated to the President of the Accademia Medicea in Rome, Francesco Maria de’Medici. The Accademia Medicea, founded in 1673 by the Grand Duke of Tuscany Cosimo III, was a learned body grouping Roman and Florentine artists (especially architect) who entertained close contacts with Florence or erected buildings there. Until its closure in 1686 the Accademia represented an important step in the training of Florentine artists. The book is divided in 40 short chapters, dealing with the rudiments of mathematics necessary to an architect, how to draw plans and to survey, instructions for every room of the house, including stables for animals, libraries, the difference between estival and invernal quarters, and the usual history and difference of the five orders. The final chapters, directed especially to the construction of country houses, deal with levelling, the building of cisterns and the search for water sources. The manual of Leoncini is much more synthetic than that by Branca, but is well-written and provides in a nutshell what later authors will develop in detail.

& Riccardi I/1, 635: “Rarissimo libretto” and V, 89 (with collation); Comolli IV, 203-205: “Preferibile a molti altri consimili libretti architettonici, e rarissimi poi ne sono gli esemplari ... ”; Cicognara 547 “Libretto curioso e non comune ... ”: Vinciana 4377: “Interessante trattatello. Rara edizione originale”; Kat. Berl. 2623; C. Nocentini (Le ‘Instruttioni Architettoniche’ di Giuseppe Leoncini; un manuale dell’Accademia Medicea a Roma, 1991) passim.

P-42 - Victor Louis Salle de spectacle de Bordeaux. Aux dépens de l’auteur, et se trouve à Paris, chez Esprit, libraire, au Palais-Royal, 1782.

€ 8000

Only edition, printed at the expense of the author. Victor (properly Louis-Nicolas) Louis (1731 – 1800) gained the Prix de Rome after seven attempts and was made a resident architect at the French Academy in Rome from 1756 to 1759. Beyond several other buildings, he built several theaters in Paris, i. a. at the Palais-Royal and at Place Louvois, and in Bordeaux. Those in Paris burned during the XIX century, thus only the theater in Bordeaux survives. This is the oldest wooden frame opera house in Europe which has not required substantial adulteration or extensive restorations. The construction of the theater lasted from 1773 to 1780. The importance of the design of Louis for the Bordeaux theater was immediately understood and it was copied in France and abroad. “A revolutionary playhouse design … Louis‘s playhouse certainly was grand, and was designed with some unusual architectural features. The accepted style of Italian opera house design was based upon succeeding tiers of columns, each supporting the ones above and the beams for the gallery floors. The columns also dictated the locations for the box divisions, so to keep the post as small as possible the divisions were numerous and the boxes consequently small. At Bordeaux Louis supported the galleries with fewer and heavier posts in a monumental order reaching from pit to cornice. The columns were tied together by horizontal beams at each gallery level, and the gallery fronts were cantilevered out beyond the line of columns. This made the individual boxes more commodious and gave a monumental appearance to the house chamber. The top gallery seats were placed between the pendentives of the domed ceiling, with a post-free view. The house plan was based upon a circle, one quarter truncated at the line of the orchestra pit. The weight of the ceiling pendentives was borne on four columns, one at either side of the apron and two in the back of the house … Louis’s plan was … the first to incorporate in one design a large number of of the new ideas about effective large-scale playhouse construction. This grand and magnificently appointed playhouse was designed with the idea of providing every comfort and convenience ...” (Mullin). “The Grand Théatre at Bordeaux is his masterpiece and a  significant influence in XIX century theater architecture. The elegant great staircase and vestibule were models for Charles Garnier’s Opéra. The horseshoe-shaped auditorium became an exemplar for many XIX century auditoriums and the giant Corinthian colonnade running the full length of the façade was also influential … This well-produced folio is dedicated to the Duc de Richelieu, who was associated with the project … The discours préliminaire, which gives a history of the construction of the theater, was written for the education of the young architects. Its defense of the cost of the project and its many anecdotes concerning progress of the building are interesting reading.” (Millard). The plates, designed by the same Louis with two exceptions, provide plans of all levels, side and front elevations, sections, interior views, a perspective view of the theater with the surrounding buildings, a bird’s eye view onto the roof, a location map and a comparison plate with other theaters throughout Europe.

& D. Mullin (The development of the playhouse, 1970) pages 97-98 and passim; Millard French 108; Kat. Berl 2812; RIBA 1966; H. and P. Guadet (Les salles de spectacle construites par Victor Louis à Bordeaux, au Palais-Royal and à la place Louvois. Paris, Librairie de Construction moderne, 1903) passim.

P-3 - Antonio LUPICINI Architettura militare con altri avvertimenti appartenenti alla guerra. In Fiorenza 1584 appresso Giorgio Marescotti.

€ 2000

First edition, reprinted in Florence in 1587 and in Venice in 1601. Antonio Lupicini (Florence, about 1530 - 1598) participated as early as 1552 to the sieges of Montalcino and Monticchiello. In 1578 he entered the service of Rudolph II of Habsburg at the instigation of Francesco de’ Medici, but returned early to Italy some years later and was involved from 1584 to 1589 in the drainage of the marshes near Venice. He invented an instrument (astronomical rod) to measure distances, supervised the rebuilding of the fortifications of Mantua and wrote two books on hydraulics, dealing with the control of Arno streams. Lupicini proposes a system of fortification of hexagonal form. The innovation proposed by Lupicini reside in the presence of two levels of ramparts, one closed, from which artillery fire can be shot on the enemy, the other open to permit gunfire. These two levels are connected by a short bridge surmounting a moat. Lupicini “emphasizes the importance of planning for specific sites and of making the flanks as strong as possible. Lupicini (a skilled artillerist himself) also stresses the necessity of adequate firepower: he recommended ten cannons per flank, instead of the more usual six, arranged in three levels” (Breman). The last part of the book contains two military discourses, one on the use of artillery, the other on the usefulness of moats in fortifications. The folding woodcut represent the plan of an “ideal” fortress according to Lupicini.

& Riccardi I/2, 59. 3: “Raro e pregevole”; Cockle 787; Marini pages 32-34; Bury & Breman page 62; Breman (Military architecture printed in Venice) pages 212-213; Jordan 2233; Kat. Berlin 3515.

P-18 - Scipione MAFFEI Galliae Antiquitates quaedam selectae atque in plures epistolas distributae. Ad Parisinum exemplar iterum editae. Accedunt epistulae duea altera Sorbonicorum Doctorum ad Auctorem huius operis altera March. Joannis Polenii De Olympico Theatro. Veronae, Ramanzini, 1734.

€ 1800

Second and best edition, enriched by two letters, the first written by some professor of Sorbonne and regarding the conclusions reached by Maffei during his French tour, the other written by Giovanni Poleni on the architecture of the Olympic Theater in Vicenza, a masterwork of Palladio. Marquis Scipione Maffei (Verona 1675 - 1755) was one of the last polymaths; he wrote on archeology, science, architecture, history and authored one of the best Italian plays of the XVIII century. This book draws its origins from a series of observations made by Maffei in France, where he stayed from 1732 to 1736. The interest of the book is twofold; Maffei discloses and interprets several recently discovered inscriptions, both in Latin and Greek, thus providing a meaningful contribution to the archeology of France. However, the book is extremely valuable as an exposition of the researches carried out by Maffei on the manner old theaters and amphiteaters were built. The discussion of Maffei does not only concern the constructivistic features of the buildings; on the contrary his ideas exerted an impact on the opinions of Venetian architects on the best manner to reproduce the ancient theaters in the modern world. It is not far-fetched to see this book, alongside the tract on amphiteathers written by the same author, as one of the main sources for the treatise of Arnaldi, appeared in 1762, which fixed the rules of neo-classical theatre construction in Italy.

& Cicognara 4035: “L’edizione di Parigi contiene molte memorie di meno, e questa è da preferirsi ...”; not in Fowler and Kat. Berl.

P-13 - Daniel Marot Nouveau livre de berseaux et de trilliages … No date, place and printer (Holland or England, about 1690).

€ 600

First edition or Northern European (Dutch or English) pirate reprints contemporary to the originals, reissued by Jeremias Wolff in Augsburg and reprinted in folio size in The Hague in about 1702 and Amsterdam in 1712 in the collected works of the author. The subjects of the suite are different details of garden architecture. “Daniel Marot (Paris 1661 – The Hague 1752) was the central figure in the creation and dissemination of the William and Mary style. Early in his career Marot probably worked in the office of Menus plaisirs under Jean Bérain anf certainly the designs of King Louis XIV’s had a lasting effect on his work. Along with thousands of other Huguenots Marot decided to leave Paris when the Revocation of the Edit of Nantes endangered the position of the Protestants. He went to the Netherlands, bringing with him the latest ideas on unifying architecture and landscape developed at the French court. Very quickly he was appointed by William II of Orange-Nassau to be principal designer of interiors and gardens and decorator at festivities and banquets. After William and Mary were offered the British throne in 1688 Marot travelled between England and Holland to work on the modernisation of Hampton Court and the renovation of Het Loo in Apeldoorn, which was extended to become the Dutch royal summer residence. Marot’s greatest achievement was the coordination of a complete interior scheme unified down to the smallest details of delftware, tassels and textiles. His designs for vases, doors, chimney pieces, clocks, panelling, upholstery and parterres were published in a series of suites and later as collected Oeuvres …” (Designs of desire). “Marot was the first architect to produce engravings for every conceivable class of decoration so there was no excuse for sub-contractors to get it wrong when asked to contribute to an integrate Maurotesque element.” (Thornton, Form and decoration).

& Kat. Berl. 355/8; Guilmard pages 103-106 (mentions this suite on page 104); Designs of desire, Architectural and ornament prints and drawings (catalogue of the exhibition held in Glasgow, 1999-2000) no. 64; P. Thornton (Form and decoration. Innovation in the decorative arts, 1470 – 1870, Harry N. Abrams, New York, 1998) pages 126-127 and passim; Millard III, pages 40-41 and no. 66.

P-54 - Pietro MARQUEZ Illustrazioni della Villa di Mecenate in Tivoli. Dedicate all'Accademia Romana di Archeologia. Roma, Nella Stamperia De Romanis, 1812.

€ 700

First edition. Pietro (Pedro José) Marquez (Rincon de Leon, Mexico, 1741 - Mexico, 1820), was a Mexican Jesuit and professor of Latin. When the Order was banned from Mexico he moved to Italy, where he studied Astronomy, Archeology and Architecture. Later he went back to Mexico where he eventually died. Marquez describes Mecenate's villa, actually the ruins of a temple dedicated to Hercules Victor, built in the II^nd century b.c. on the top of the hill of Tivoli. "Questo dotto Messicano sparse una copiosissima erudizione in tutte le sue opere, che meritano di stare fra le più utili e istruttive in queste materie" (Cicognara). The plates were engraved by G.B. Cipriani, V. Feoli and P. Ruga, on drawings by Silvetre Pérez (1767-1825) and Evaristo del Castillo (1769-1798), both working in Rome from 1791 to 1796. For an exhaustive report about this work see Sánchez.

& Cicognara pp. 99-100; Borroni 1954: volume II/4-IV, n. 9.756 (erroneously 24 pp. and with no mention of the four plates); Jorge García Sánchez (Planos de Arquitectos españoles publicados en Roma (S. XIX): el teatro de Marcelo y el santuario de Hércules Vencedor. In: Archivio Español de Arquelogia, 2008 n. 81, pp. 177-200); http://www.sanfrancisco.gob.mx/hombre9.htm.

P-52 - Vincenzo MARULLI Sull’architettura e su la nettezza delle città … Firenze, presso Molini, Landi, e comp., 1808 (colophon: impresso in Pisa co’caratteri de’fratelli Amoretti).

€ 4500

First edition, reprinted in 1975. Vincenzo Marulli (Naples 1770 – 1808), from the family of the Dukes of Ascoli, left Naples after the revolution of 1799, cruelly repressed by the King, and traveled throughout Europe, especially Germany and England. He issued a book on gardens in 1805, where he extols the English garden over the French and Italian ones. This book, issued the year of his death in a small issue, has only recently obtained the attention it deserved. He was among the first urbanists to propose limitations of the rights of private property in order to avoid uncontrolled development and avoid deterioration of public hygiene and social degradation. His observations on the different European towns reflect his illuministic formation; the new suburbs of Modena and Trieste, built according to a rational chessboard-like scheme, find his favor, in contrast to the medieval Swiss and German towns. He extols Bath as a model of modern urbanistics. In his opinion the insertion of the whole urban organism into the natural environment should not take place spontaneously as in the Middle Ages, but as the consequence of a rational planning which kept the orographic and geomorphologic situation into account. In this design he stressed the importance of panoramic views as enjoyed from Bath’s Crescents. Marulli is the first architectural writer who, after Renaissance, proposes “ideal towns”, adapted to different geomorphological situations, joining usefulness to beauty. The book is divided in eight chapters, dealing with subjects as the projecting of squares, which should be surrounded by porches and colonnades, the different features of cities as pavements, fountains, bridges and cemeteries, his ideas on the public hygiene and the way to maintain it. The last two chapters deal respectively with the solidity of buildings, with interesting observations on different materials, and on the design of rational houses.

& CLIO (Catalogo Letteratura Italiana dell’Ottocento) 1993, pag. 2.891 (calling the author Gennaro); Graesse IV, 435 (calling the author Gennaro); P. Zucker (Entwicklung des Stadtbildes, Berlin-München, around 1929), page 51; M. Zocca (Sommario di storia urbanistica delle città italiane dalle origini al 1860, Naples 1961) passim; A. Rigillo (La città e la cultura urbanistica nel Settecento, Naples 1964) passim.

P-35 - Ferdinando MOROZZI Delle case dei contadini trattato architettonico. In Firenze l’anno 1770, nella stamperia di S. A. R. per Gaetano Cambiagi.

€ 2000

First edition, reprinted two more times until 1807 and reproduced recently. Ferdinando Morozzi, born in Siena in 1723, became a surveyor in his native town and was instrumental in the preparation of the general map of the Dukedom of Tuscany. He published, beyond several maps and a book on the control of the swampings of Arno, several tracts with agricultural interest. He was a member of the Accademia dei Georgofili around Ubaldo Montelatici, who was instrumental in improving the Tuscan agriculture and to bring it to an European standard. The present one is the second published by Morozzi, preceded by a book on the improvement of the crops. This is the first book specifically written to address the construction of appropriate rural housing and animal stables and kept its value for some decades; foreign architects as e. g. Lasteyrie and Heine published contributions to rural architecture based on this tract about thirty years later. Rural architecture has been dealt with since Columella and Vitruvius in the first century, but this treatment never formed more than a short section of the general agricultural treatises. Morozzi provides different plans for farmhouses set in different landscapes, e. g. on the slope of a mountain or a hill or in a plain. He gives instructions for the excavation of wells, the construction of cisterns (drought was a recurrent problem in Italy and a famine ravaged Tuscany in 1774) and consequently how to find water and how to determine its hygienicity. Other constructions which are dealt with are stables for different sorts of livestock, pigeon cages, and cellars for the manufacture and preservation of wine, a typical manufacture of Tuscany.

& Niccoli pages 266-267: "Norme saggissime e assai rispondenti agli attuali concetti architettonici trovansi nell’opera di Ferdinando Morozzi …": Cicognara 944; Pazzini (Bibliografia Bacchica) page 496.

P-25 - Giovan Battista NELLI Discorsi di architettura … In Firenze 1753, presso gli eredi Paperini.

€ 2000

Only edition, issued posthumously. Giovan Battista Nelli (Florence 1661 - 1725), born in a noble Florentine family, studied with Alessandro Marchetti in Pisa and later with Vincenzo Viviani. He was an architect of repute, who restored several monuments in Florence and Rome, and formed himself several architects among the most important in Italy during the XVIII century. Though he did not author any book under his name, it is known and acknowledged in the preface that he made essential contributions to the book of Sgrilli on the Cathedral of Florence. He left several unpublished tracts, among which one on perspective. The list of these unpublished works is provided at the end of the foreword. Two of these tracts were edited in this book by his grandson, Giovanni Clemente (1735-1793), an erudite writer who composed one of the best biographies of Galileo. They deal respectively with the erection of domes and  the manufacture of bridges. To them an essay of Alessandro Cecchini, a Florentine architect, on the dome of the Florentine cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore is added. The tract of Cecchini and the one of Nelli are written in response to the same problem. About 1640 the architect in charge of the maintain of the Florentine cathedral reported the presence of cracks on the inner and outer surfaces of the dome and started a conservative intervention. However, he was not successful and a new intervention became necessary. In 1691 the problem had become so significant that the Grand Duke of Tuscany asked Vincenzo Viviani, the famous mathematician and pupil of Galileo, Cecchini and Nelli to intervene. Cecchini located the cause of the damages in the subsiding of the foundations and proposed a means to redress the inconvenience. Nelli and Viviani agreed with the diagnosis of Cecchini. In the tract of Nelli an interesting method to erect and restore domes without the use of supports is described; this method had been elaborated in opposition to that of Carlo Fontana, who proposed the use of iron circles to improve the stability of domes, and was used during the restoration of Santa Maria del Fiore.  The other tract of Nelli discusses the construction of bridges on the rivers of Tuscany. Tuscany is a mountainous territory with impetuous rivers, therefore it is necessary to adopt some precautions in building bridges. Nelli advises to build bridges in locations where the course of rivers is less violent and to impart extra strength to bridges by building large section piles and reinforcing them with iron bars. The problem of building bridges on Tuscan rivers had been dealt with by previous writers among whom Viviani, but the solutions to this problem were not always satisfactory, as demonstrated by the collapse of the bridge at Pisa a few years before the compilation of this tract.

& Riccardi I/2, 194; Cicognara 579: “Discorsi pieni di dottrina …”; Fowler 204; Kat. Berl. 2756; Gamba 2366; Moreni II, 215; not in Millard and (surprisingly) in Comolli.

P-32 - Andrea PALLADIO I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura ... Venice, Domenico de Franceschi, 1570 (Venice, Giambattista Pasquali, alla felicità delle belle lettere, 1766).

€ 10000

Only edition of a famous facsimile. The true year of publication of the book had remained a mistery until recently, when a copy containing on the colophon the imprint of the typographer Pasquali and the year 1766 has been detected. The book began to circulate at the earliest from 1767; the book had not yet been generally distributed at the end of 1768 according to a letter sent by Francesco Milizia to Tommaso Temanza in December 1768. The present edition was commissioned in 1759 to Pasquali by the English consul in Venice Joseph Smith (1682 -1770), a noted collector and patron of artists, in order to commemorate the third centenary of the appearance of the original edition, and probably to secure a larger diffusion of the text on the British market, where the style of Palladio was widely appreciated. The association of Smith with Lord Burlington, a significant proponent of Palladian architecture, may also have played a role. This edition was to include a life of Palladio by Tommaso Temanza; however, this biography appeared independently in 1762. The layout of the book was a close copy of the 1570 original edition, with two differences, i. e. the lack of woodcut initials and the replacement of woodcut illustrations with engravings. The engravings were the work of Pietro Monaco (Venice 1707 -1775), probably with the assistance of  the architect Antonio Visentini (the famous author of the Osservazioni sopra gli errori degli architetti). "Palladio's lasting influence on architectural style in many parts of the world was exercised less through his actual buildings than through his textbook. This is divided into four sections; orders and elementary problems, domestic building, public building and town planning ... His book exerted a powerful influence on contemporary architecture and classical ideals until the end of the XVIII century. In England this was due in the first place to his enthusiastic follower Inigo Jones ... Lord Burlington, Kent, Campbell, Chambers, Adam and others followed. 'Palladianism' became a party label in the world of connoisseurship and England blossomed with buildings 'in the Palladian style' two centuries after Palladio had created it. From England the style made its way into Scotland, Ireland and America." (PMM).

& Fowler 212; Kat. Berl. 2593; G. E. Ferrari (La raccolta Palladiana e collaterale di Guglielmo Cappelletti, in 'Bollettino del centro internazionale di studi di architettura Andrea Palladio', XXII (1980), pages 231-416) passim; compare PMM 92.

P-34 - Pierre Patte Mémoires sur les objets les plus important de l’architecture ... A Paris, chez Rozet, 1769.

€ 3000

First edition. Pierre Patte (1723-1814) studied with Boffrand and was renowned as an architect and urbanist among the best of France. “In his dedication to the Marquis de Marigny, Patte declares the need for books of architecture that are not concerned with proportion but with construction and that his purpose in publishing the Mémoires is to bring to light the underlying principles of construction that are based on reason and science rather than empirical observation and chance ... Patte states that ... good books on architecture, especially on the neglected study of construction, are needed. Patte stresses the need for an understanding of hygienic reforms in urban planning, for the well-being of the inhabitants of the city. The main part of the Mémoires is composed of a collection of essays on specific architectural problems ... Patte’s is not a comprehensive architectural treatise on construction, although it does embrace problems in many different areas of architecture. But it is the first publication to be concerned with the construction of monumental structures and urban planning schemes ... In chapter I Patte continues the work he first developed in the section of Monuments on human hygiene, with a discussion of the reforms needed to alleviate the “vicious distribution” of the majority of the buildings of Paris. Chapter 2 is Patte’s sole acknowledgment of the aesthetics of architectural design, the general proportion of architectural orders. Chapter 3 contains instruction for the young architects on the construction of buildings, including information on both building materials and problem in the design of masonry and wood structures ... Chapter 4-8 are concerned with specific structural problems; the foundation of ancient, medieval and modern buildings; the construction of quays; the foundation of bridges; a comparison of the best method of constructing flat vaults and the ceilings of the colonnades such as the east front of the Louvre; and a historical description of the Louvre colonnade. These chapters are followed by two mémoires on the portal of Saint-Sulpice ... They are of much value as documents of this structure ...” (Millard). “Questo architetto fu scrittore di molto accorgimento” (Cicognara).

& Millard French 131; Cicognara 601; Fowler 242; Kat. Berl. 2426.

P-60 - Pierre PATTE, Giulio FERRARIO and Paolo LANDRIANI Storia e descrizione de’ principali teatri antichi e moderni corredata di tavole col saggio di Mr. Patte illustrato con erudite oservazioni del chiarissimo architetto e pittore scenico Paolo Landriani. Per cura del dottore Giulio Ferrario. Milano, dalla tipografia del Dottor Giulio Ferrario, 1830.

€ 2000

First Italian edition. This work is mainly based on the ‘Essai sur l’Architecture Théatrale, ou de l’ordonnance la plus advantageuse à une salle de spectacle, relativement aux principes de l’optique, et de l’acoustique. …’ by Pierre Patte, originally published in Paris in 1782. The complete translation of Patte’s essay takes pages 87 – 255, the other chapters of this book are instead original contributions, mainly by Paolo Landriani (Milan 1755 – Milan 1839), a theatre architect and decorator in Milan. The work by Patte originated when Louis XV, wishing to build a theatre at Versailles, sent him to Italy to study theatres which could be possibly used as models. In his essay Patte “comments upon 12 theatres, including the Teatro Regio Ducale of Milan, which burned down in February 1776. … Patte criticises each plan in some detail, … An Italian translation appeared in Giulio Ferrario’s ‘Storia e descrizione de’principali teatri antichi e moderni …’ (Milano, 1830). The translation is followed by ‘Osservazione dell’Architetto … Signor Paolo Landriani su l’imp. R. Teatro allla Scala in Milano e sopra alcuni articoli del Saggio di M. Patte’ on pages 257-291.” (R.I.B.A. 2463). The contribution by Ferrario is mainly the introduction, where he gives some information about the history of theatre in general and about some theatre in particular. He discusses also theatrical events as inscenated in other cultures, as for instance Chinese theater, illustrated by Plate 1. The present edition, despite its important additions, seems to be less known than the French original. The R.I.B.A. catalogue only describes it at length and acknowledges the importance of the new additions: “Altough the translation of Pierre Patte‘s Essay sur l’architecture théatrale occupies a central place in this work, the essays by Ferrario, Robustiano Gironi and most importantly Paolo Landriani, add considerably to its size and scope. Much of the new material is on theatres built after Patte’s essy appeared, on stage settings and scenery.”. The plates, only 3 in Patte’s work, are here 12. The first one is a beautiful sepia-printed aquatinta engraving signed V. Raineri and depicting Chinese players (copied from an edition of Sir Staunton’s ‘An authentic account of the Earl of Macartney’s embassy from the king of Grat Britain to the Emperor of China’); the third one, signed Castellini, is an aquatint interior view of an imaginary ancient Greek odeon; the other ones are more architectonical in kind and depict plans and elevations of different theatres. They are a representation of several theaters changed or demolished afterwards, and thus constitute an important historical document. These illustrations mirror faithfully the changes in theatrical architecture which had taken place between the appearance of the French original and its Italian modification. In particular the differences between the French and the Italian models consisted in the fact that in the French model the first boxes did not take the whole vertical wall, but only its lower orders, the plan of the scene is less broad and less space is dedicated to non-theatrical functions. These changes reflect the change happened in the nature of theater, from a commodity for the rich and noble to commodity for the all people.

& R.I.B.A. n. 1055; G. Ricci (Teatri d’Italia, Bramante editrice, Milan 1971) pages 194-196 and passim; compare Thieme-Becker XXII, 301-302 (Landriani); compare R.I.B.A. n. 2463, Cicognara 771 and Fowler 243 for the French original.

P-45 - James Peacock (alias Jose MacPACKE) Oikidia (graece) or nutshells: being ichnographic distributions for small villas; chiefly upon oeconomical principles. In seven classes. With occasional remarks. Part the first (all published). London, printed for the author, and sold by C. Dilly, 1785.

€ 1000

Only edition, all published. James Peacock (about 1738 –1814) was a surveyor-assistant clerk of the works of the City of London, who authored several books and contributions to learned journals. His occupation was probably a determining factor in his mathematical approach to architecture, already evident in the present book and more extensive in his “Subordinates in architecture”, appeared in 1814.. “In 1785, when asymmetry was the growing fashion in rural architecture, when design for such picturesque buildings were featured in landscape and when proportion was a subject with which few architects were much concerned, James Peacock deliberately published a contrary little book containing strictly symmetrical plans for small villas, without any elevations but with tables of proportions for rooms, passages, doors, windows, chimney pieces, even for the treads and risers of stairs. These are nushells, ‘the first and elementary principles of design’. The ‘less fixed’ parts may be supplied by builders in the style and material of their choice. Gentlemen who have decided to hazard  ‘the journey through bricks and mortar’ are guided, in an appendix, through the various steps they must take from acquiring plain designs and ‘thorough’ scale models complete with furniture, gaining the advice and approval of the ladies, to making detailed estimates and contracts and supervising their execution. Directions are also given (with appropriate citations from Sir Francis Bacon and Thomas Fuller) concerning the fundamental requirements of architecture: strength, convenience, and beauty – the latter consisting of propriety, regularity or uniformity, proportion of which ‘the eye will make the proper judgment’ and decoration respectful of the plan … Peacock was a devoted disciple of the ‘grey beards of antiquity’ and an enemy of the filigree, effeminate ‘nicknackery’ popularized by the Adams. He wrote … in a discursive and occasionally satirical style which makes it difficult to know how seriously to take some of his comments …” (Harris).

& E. Harris (British Architectural Books and Writers 1556-1785, Cambridge 1994) no. 694; Kat. Berl. 2295; not in Cicognara, Fowler and Millard Collection.

P-4 - Jacques PERRET Architectura et perspectiva etlicher Festungen Städt Kirchen Schlösser un(d) Häuser die auffs stärckeste zierlichste und bequembste können gebawet und aufgerichtet worden … Frankfurt, Wolfgang Richter (for Théodore De Bry), 1602.

€ 7500

First German edition, followed by two more, appeared at Oppenheim in 1613 and in Frankfurt in 1621. The first edition had possibly appeared in 1601 in Paris, with engravings of Thomas De Leu. An edition of 1594 is not documented; however, this date has been attributed to an undated edition on the basis of the date of the capture of Paris by Henry IV, the protector of Perret. This date is reproduced in the arch framing the title of the 1601 edition. The engraver of the present edition, Théodore De Bry, has reversed the direction of the plates of the original and added some plates with respect to the De Leu edition, which counted only 22 engravings. The Protestant nobleman Jacques Perret, born in Savoy (d. before 1601), was architect and engineer to Henry IV. He seems to have produced this only book, which however enjoyed widespread favor. “His fortifications includes a series of models for cities and citadels that are designed on a mathematical basis and generally are represented in bird’s-eye views. The book also contains designs for a war machine and for individual buildings, including both urban and rural dwellings … Perret’s interest here in urban planning suggests a connection with the planning schemes of Henri IV, just beginning to be formulated, annd the combination of Gothic and Renaissance styles in his architectural designs … Perret is concerned mainly with the abstract, geometric, and ornamental quality of the architectural designs … Perret’s text is descriptive, concerned with the dimensions and utilitarian planning of each project … Perret still develops plans for the building that include … scenographiae … One extraordinary pavilion would seem to have its ultimate source in the XIV-century Temple of Virtue and Vice designed by Filarete. It is eleven stories in height, with huge expanses of glazed openings. Its site plan … is a beautifully ornamental geometrical design in the manner of Du Cerceau, composed of such elements as gardens, moats, and fortification that frame the square, towering pavilion … “ (Millard). This singular building is the first model of sky-scraper ever appeared in an architectural book. “Perret’s thinking in geometric patterns and grids is revealed even more clearly in a twenty-three-sided fortification with citadel within which he lays out a radially arranged city composed of eight large segments. The design of the city, reminiscent of a textile pattern, interests him more than its practical functions. In the centre of the octagonal main square stands a rectangular ‘grand Pavillion Royal’, a curious utopian multi-storey block which, according to Perret, could house 500 people … The purpose of the building is not clear. Perret does mention a central kitchen and communal areas, but says nothing about the social composition of the five hundred inhabitants he envisages. The ground plan, with its absence of load-bearing internal walls, clearly shows that his project had not been thought out at all with a view to construction. Perret is more interested in the view and in the fireworks which can be set off from the roof terrace. Perret’s plans and illustrations are not genuine utopian cities embodying a particular view of the society” (Kruft). Beyond plans and elevations of buildings also some war machines are represented and discussed. The term “perspective” as used by Perret refers only to his technique of assonometric representation.

& HAB, Architect und Ingenieur, no. 304: “Der baukünstlerische Gehalt der Blätter ist bedeutend für die Architecturgeschichte”; Jähns page 837; Cockle 799; Jordan (Bibliographie zur Geschichte des Festungsbaues von den Anfangen bis 1914, Marburg 2003) 2851; Millard French 139; Vagnetti EIIIb1; Marini pages 37-38; Kat. Berl. 2368 (French edition of Frankfurt 1621); Hanno Walter Kruft (A history of architectural theory, Princeton Architectural Press, 1994) page 117; no issue in Cicognara and Fowler.

P-53 - Léon de Perthuis De Laillevault Traité d’architecture rurale... A Paris, de l’Imprimerie de Crapelet, 1810.

€ 1000

First edition, a smaller version had appeared in 1805 following the revival of interest in the subject caused by the conference of the Société Actuelle d’Agriculture. Léon de Perthuis (Auxerre 1768- Paris 1818) was a prominent agronomist and collaborated with Lavoisier in the redaction of a book on artificial composts. This book was considered by the same author as the first general attempt to write a general text on rural architecture. Previous attempt to deal with the construction of appropriate rural housing and animal stables had been made by the Italian architect Ferdinando Morozzi, by the French architect Lasteyrie and by the German architect Heine a few years before. These attempts were found to be unsatisfactory by Perthuis, who found the architectures of these authors too decorated and little functional, and the general organization of a farm not sufficiently detailed. Perthuis does not mention, however, the treatise of Menjot on the subject, appeared in 1808 and which he perused according to Musset-Pathay. The book is divided in four parts, dealing respectively with the general principles underlying rural architecture, their application to the different sorts of rural constructions, the third, more practical, providing instructions on how to build rural edifices, the fourth on problems of wider agrarian concern as land drainage and improvement of the natural herbal productions.

& Kat. Berl. 2451; Musset-Pathay 281 (note).

P-46 - Francesco PIRANESI Monumenti degli Scipioni pubblicati dal caualiere Francesco Piranesi architetto Romano nell'anno MDCCLXXXV. No place, date and publisher (Generoso Salomoni for Francesco Piranesi, Rome 1785).

€ 5500

First edition, reprinted in the first decades of the XIX century in Paris, though in a different form, comprising the plates only with some text added to the engravings. “Although he lacked the imaginative genius and technical brilliance of his father, Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Francesco Piranesi (Rome 1758 – Paris 1810) fulfilled a crucial role in completing his father's late work and continuing the family business into the nineteenth century. He was born in Rome, the eldest son of six surviving children, and received his initial traininig from his father. He lated studied at the French Academy in Rome. Francesco seems to have begun his main contributions to his father's printmaking from 1775, when he was seventeen years old ... After his father's death in 1778, Francesco finished several archeological works including a six-plate map of Hadrian's Villa, Tivoli (1781), and a double-plate illustrating aspects of the Emissarium of Lake Fucino (1791). ... Other new works included "Il Teatro di Ercolano" (1783), "Monumenti degli Scipioni" (1785), and a group of vedute fron the Naples region etched from drawings by Desprez. ... The following year, (the King of Sweden) appointed Francesco royal agent for the fine arts in Italy, and in 1794, Francesco became Swedish consul in Naples. In the meantime, Francesco had become involved in revolutionary politics and while in Naples conducted counterspionage for the French. In 1798, he returned to Rome where he became … official in the short-lived Republic. However, with the arrival of British and Neapolitan forces there in 1800, they (he and his brother) fled with the rest of family to Paris where they set up business as to Calcographie des Piranesi Frères. Besides establishing in 1803 a manufactory of terra-cotta replicas of antiquities from his father's collection. Francesco issued the bulk of his father’s graphic works in a handsome new edition of twenty-seven volumes between 1800 and 1807. After Francesco’s death, the entire stock of Piranesi plates was acquired by the publishers Firmin Didot which continued to issue prints in Paris until 1839 when the plates were purchased for Pope Gregory XVI and returned to Rome to enhance the Calcografia Camerale.“ (John Wilton-Ely in Placzek). The mausoleum of the Scipio family had been discovered some five years before, and this is its first pictorial illustration. The monument was composed of two square floors, of which the second has not survived, dug in the rock. It was a huge local with semicolumn on the walls; in the spaces between the semicolumns there were the statues of the famous representatives of the Scipio family. Sarcophages and epigraphs lined the empty spaces. The text had been compiled by the renowned archeologist Ennio Quirino Visconti (Rome 1751 -1818), who became from 1799 professor of archeology in Paris. The discovery of the mausoleum originated a long novel of Alessandro Verri (Le notti romane al sepolcro degli Scipioni), one of the most original production of the literary neo-classicism in Italy. “Le dotte illustrazioni di questi monumenti vennero estese dal sig. Ennio Quirino Visconti. Le tavole illustrate sono 6“ (Cicognara).

& Berlin Katalog 1878 (Paris edition): Fabia Borroni 8188; Cicognara 3838; Books on art II, pag. 1612; Placzek (MacMillan Encyclopedia of Architects) III, pages 421-422; R. C. Lumetti (La cultura dei Lumi fra Italia e Svezia. Il ruolo di Francesco Piranesi, Roma, Bonacci, 1990) pages 59-62; RIBA (Early Printed Books) 2545; Kissner 357 (a much later Didot edition of 1836).

P-19 - Giovanni POLENI Exercitationes vitruvianae hoc est… commentarius criticus de Vitruvii architecti X librorum editionibus, necnon de eorundem editoribus, atque de aliis, qui Vitruvium quorumque modo explicarunt aut illustrarunt. Padua, typis Seminarii, apud Joannem Manfré, 1739 (sectional title 1741).

€ 3600

First edition. The author, Marquis Giovanni Poleni (Venice 1683- Padua 1761) was known especially as a prominent physicist. His scientific activities were paralleled by archeological and architectural researches which made him so famous that the Pope called him to Rome to examine Saint Peter’s dome and to propose means to prevent its further movement. This work had been devised in nine parts, but only the three gathered here saw the light. The first part is the first Vitruvian bibliography rediged with scientific criteria; all edition of Vitruvius appeared from 1486 through 1728 are described and commented. The second part contains a letter of Morgagni on different passages of medical interest comprised in the works of Vitruvius, the biography of Vitruvius written by Bernardino Baldi, a XVII century historian of mathematics born in Urbino, and an anonymous compendium of Vitruvian teachings with the annotations of Poleni. The third part contains the commentaries on Vitruvius written by different prominent mathematicians and architects, ranging from the same Baldi to Kircher, Buteo, N. Goldmann, Cavalieri and Salviati. This section comprises the second printing of Baldi’s “Scamilli Impares Vitruviani”. Three of the sections of this last part deal with theatral architecture, an old interest of Poleni, who had been the author of projects for the restoration of the Palladian Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza. “In the Exercitationes Poleni produced the first scientific study of an architectural text produced after the great Renaissance season. Adopting a philological method he provides in the first section a thorough study of the manuscript tradition (recensio), follwed by a critical analysis of the text to determine authenticity (examinatio), correcting the Vitruvian text where he considers it manifestly in error. This work can also be interpreted as an examination of the publishing history of Vitruvius … The Exercitationes is more elegant than the Frontinus edition as a result of the decorations by the architect Antonio Visentini. ... His contribution to the development of the “science of architecture” placed Poleni at the center of the great debate of the middle of the century regarding the restoration of the dome of Saint Peter in Rome. Poleni ... has been called the father of the architectural restoration …” (Millard).

& Millard Italian 104; DSB XI, pages 65-66; Fowler 250: “An important early critical and bibliographical work ...”; Cicognara 612; Riccardi 1/I, 295: “Bella edizione ... Contiene eruditissime osservazioni scientifiche e letterarie dell’A.”; British Architectural Library III, 2587; an account of the circumstances of publication can be found in A. Delneri (“De architectura: dal genotesto al testo” in “Prodotto Libro” - exhibition catalogue -  Gorizia 1986), pages 119-134.

P-21 - Giovanni Poleni Memorie istoriche della gran cupola del Tempio Vaticano, e de’danni di essa, e de’ristoramenti loro, divise in libri cinque. In Padova, 1748, nella stamperia del Seminario.

€ 3750

Only edition. Marquis Giovanni Poleni (Venice 1683 – Padua 1761) made himself a name as an eminent physicist, especially involved in research on hydraulics and astronomy. His scientific interests were paralleled by a keen involvement in archeological research, where he contributed a series of memoirs on disparate subjects as the temple of Ephesus and the ancient theaters and amphiteaters, and in architecture, to which he contributed a basic bibliography of Vitruvius and especially the present book. “In 1748 he was called to Rome by Pope Benedict XIV to examine the cupola of Saint Peter and to propose means of preventing its further movement …”  (DSB). Already in the first years of the XVIII century cracks were observed in the dome of Saint Peter’s, and considerable concern arose on the stability of the structure. Pope Benedict XIV, on his installation, had initiated a thorough investigation to determine whether the stability of the cupola had been prejudiced, and the panel of experts gathered to decide the question issued the opinion that the dome was not repairable and there was extreme danger in keeping it. Poleni, on the contrary, maintained that the lateral thrust in the upper regions was not prejudicial to stability and recommended that five more iron rings (of a type already used under Sixtus V) be added to the construction. The book is divided in four parts; the first deals with the history of the construction of the Vatican church and with the methods used by Poleni to assure its stability; the second is a general reflection upon the statics of domes and cupolas seen through example cases of the domes of Montefiascone near Rome, Venice, Florence and Padua. The third and fourth sections contain several abrégés of books and manuscripts by prominent architects, including Boscovich, many unpublished, relating to the security of the Vatican dome, accompanied by the notes and the criticisms of Poleni. During the permanence of Poleni in Rome much help was given him by the famous architect Luigi Vanvitelli, who was also, according to a place in the text, author of at least the 19 plates in the central part of the book; one of the manuscript contributions subsumed by Poleni is also by Vanvitelli. There is some discrepancy in bibliography about the number of plates; Riccardi mentions 29 plates, Cicognara 27, whereas Olschki settles the correct number to 28. We have seen no copy in trade with 29 plates, and there is none in NUC. Moreover the numbering of the figures of the plates H-K are consecutive, indicating that there was no plate in between and the text refers to no further illustration.

& Riccardi I/2, 297 (citing the copy of the Marciana library in Venice): “Bella e rara edizione …”; Cicognara 3842: “Nobilmente stampata … La dottrina dell’autore ci risparmia di far cenno alla preziositá del testo”; Olschki 17835; Kissner 361; DSB Xi, pages 65-66; not in Schudt and Fowler.

P-41 - Franz RAUSCH Von TRAUBENBERG Elementa architecturae ad structuras oeconomicas applicatae in usum academiarum per Regni Hungariae et eidem adnexas provincias conscripta. Budae, typis Regiae Universitatis, 1779.

€ 1500

First edition, reprinted in 1799 and 1816. Franz Rausch Von Traubenberg (Prelenkirchen on the Austro-Hungarian border, 1743 – Györ 1816) was a Jesuit and a professor of civil and military architecture at the Theresianum in Vienna. After the suppression of his Order, he became professor of mathematics at the University of Pest and subsequently a professor in Pressburg and Györ. This is his first book, followed by others concerning i. a. surveying, minerary technology and hydraulics. The recently (in 1777) founded University of Pest had taken over the Jesuit University of Tyrnau, the first and most famous of Hungary, founded by Cardinal Péter Pázmany in 1636. The official language of the Tyrnau University was Latin, which served as a means of communication between the different nationalities of the Hungarian kingdom. In order to understand the complicated ethnic puzzle of XVIII century Hungary it will be sufficient to recall that there were nine official languages. The use of Latin did not however last in the Pest University, being replaced by German some decades later and Hungarian still later. The book is a complete summary of rural architecture, starting with a discussion on the local building materials, including a large section on the different types of concrete and other binding materials. The following sections of the first part contain instructions on how to raise walls, how to set up and coat ceilings and how to divide the space into rooms. Other subjects concerned are the different sorts of buildings, including a large section on cellars, and also dealing with heating sources, poultry pens, stables for livestock and barns. Attention is dedicated also to the construction of country residences and to the computation of costs for architects. The Hungarian nobility was essentially a landed gentry, who spent several months a year on the countryside, and whose essential revenues derived from agriculture. Therefore it is obvious that one of the first autochtone architecture manuals published in Hungary dealt essentially with countryside architecture. Indigenous manuals on city architecture were only published in the XIX century, due to the formation of a typical Hungarian taste, clearly to be distinguished from the cosmopolitic Austrian taste of Dietzenhofer or Fischer Von Erlach.

& De Backer-Sommervogel VI, 1491-1492; Poggendorff II, 576; Petrik II, 184; not in D. Wiebenson & J. Sisa (eds.) (The architecture of historic Hungary, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1998), Cicognara, Fowler, Millard, RIBA Catalogue, Kat. Berl. and Kress.

P-10 - Vincenzo Scamozzi Les cinq ordres d’architecture ... Paris, chez J. B. Coignard, 1685. (bound with) C. Perrault Ordonnance des cinq espèces de colonnes selon la méthode des anciens. Paris, chez J. B. Coignard, 1683.

€ 7000

An interesting convolute in a prize binding of the Jesuit college of Paris. These two books were often bound together and are found sometimes in a binding as the present one, which is identical to the one of the Millard copy. The presence in the Millard copy of the misbound pages 121-124 induces one to think that these pages were misbound in most or all copies; in this copy they were reinserted at the appropriate location by the binder, suffering the damage described above. The Millard copy lacks moreover the two plates of the first book not inserted in the text, as well as the additional title with the portrait of Scamozzi, which is of rare occurrence as stated by Fowler, whose copy lacks it either. The first book is the first French translation of Scamozzi’s 6th book and in the same time the first appearance of a text of Scamozzi in French. The 6th book of Scamozzi was often published independently; its English translation, appeared for the first time in 1675, was reprinted five more times and the present French edition was reprinted in 1736. The complete text of Scamozzi appeared in French only in 1713. The plates are the same as in the Italian original; Coignard had probably bought them from the Italian publisher. “Book 6 deals with columns but is fundamentally flawed by the lack of chapters on secular and religious buildings to which Scamozzi refers as though they have been written and made available to the reader ... Critical of his predecessors, in this section of the treatise Scamozzi discusses proposed designs by Caporali, Cataneo, Vignola and Palladio by name rather though veiled allusions. He establishes his own modular system of the orders, giving proportions not only for columns, but also for intercolumniations, doors, windows, and niches. Scamozzi is critical of twisted columns, like those on the façade of the cathedral of Arezzo, overwrought applied decoration, like that on the second floor of the library of San Marco, and open, broken, and multiple pediments. His unease with undulated lines, layered surfaces, and figurative architectural ornaments, have been seen as a rejection of architectural design at the end of the XVIth century. Despite these shortcomings book 6 appealed to a broad northern European audience: translated by Augustin Charles D’Aviler, it became the best-known part of the Idea” (Millard Italian). “Although it appears two years after Claude Perrault’s revolutionary Ordonnance, D’Aviler seems to be unaware of the momentous developments in architectural theory which were taking place ... He intends that the book be used mainly by workers rather than by theoreticians, for he maintains that Scamozzi’s concept of the orders is the most extensive and the most practical available in France. D’Aviler associates Palladio’s book on orders directly with Scamozzi’s in the method of obtaining modular proportions by dividing the column into sixty parts, or minutes ...” (Millard French 151). The second part of this convolute is the first edition (later translated into English) of the only book of Claude Perrault (1613-1688), brother of the better known Charles. “The Ordonnance is one of the most precise statements of a position on architectural theory to be published at any time, and one of the main documents of the architectural expression of the Ancient-Modern quarrel ... Perrault, in his theory of architecture, cuts through several centuries of traditional attitude to build a case for the authority of national habit and custom as opposed to the authority of professional tradition ... The importance of the Ordonnance is centered in its long introduction. Perrault ... considers the Ordonnance as a supplement to Vitruvius’ treatise on architecture, bypassing modern theory ... Perrault’s book is a critique of the academic position ... Like Fréart, Perrault consults interpretations of the proportions of the orders as they have been developed by major modern architects. But, unlike Fréart, Perrault develops a single proportional system for each order. In addition, he alters the proportions of the orders from those of his chosen models in order to reduce them to easily commensurable measurements, maintaining that he is following the Vitruvian spirit of  “easy and commodious reason”. In his search for a simplified system of proportions he is closest to Vignola ... Perrault maintains that the proportions are not the result of absolute and universal principles, but of habit and taste ... He interprets positive or absolute beauty as that which is measurable, composed of magnitude, situation, and orders which are expressed by richness, size, and workmanship ... The only traditional attribute of beauty Perrault considers to be absolute is symmetry ... Perrault’s real authority is science. With considerable audacity he even opposes Science to the Church ... The main text ... is divided in two parts. The first is concerned with the general rules of proportion that are common to all orders, the second with the size and characteristics of the members of each of the five orders as they are determined by a selection from both ancient and modern examples. Commissioned by Colbert, the Ordonnance was produced as a major work and appears as an elegant folio volume ...” (Millard French).

& Ad1: Millard Italian 123; Cicognara 654: “Questa versione fatta giudiziosamente da un uomo profondo nella materia si é resa rara oltre modo per lo scarso numero degli esemplari, o pel consumo che ne fu fatto”; Fowler 299; not in Kat. Berl. Ad 2: Millard French 138; Cicognara 607: “Opera ben eseguita, e istruttiva, con sei belle tavole di accuratissimo intaglio, oltre varie figure, stampate fra il testo”; Fowler 247; Kat. Berl. 2386; Comolli IV, page 206.

P-37 - Johann David Steingruber Practische bürgerliche Baukunst mit den Haupt- und Specialrissen und Gesimslehren zum gemeinnützlichen Gebrauch… Nürnberg, bey Christian Gottlob Hausse, 1773.

€ 1400

Second edition, preceded by an edition of 1763-1765 in instalments. Johann David Steingruber (Wassertrüdingen 1702 – Ansbach 1787) was born in a family of stonemasons. He developed his experience in the exciting athmosphere of the Margravial Court of Ansbach, where the Margraves fostered a blooming climate for architecture, which resulted in the creation of the Residenz and the Hofgarten, beyond several stately mansions in the city. Steingruber collaborated with the first architect Zocha and his successor, the Italian architect Leopoldo Retti, in the erection of the Residenz; in 1750 he succeeded Retti as leader of the construction work of the Residenz. Steingruber signed this book as “building inspector”, a position he occupied since 1734. He published two more books, i. e. the first volume of a collection of projects for stately mansions, and an interesting “architectonical alphabete” where letters were represented by buildings. Steingruber had become acquainted with the forms of the French Baroque in Rastatt and Mannheim, where he had spent some time as an apprentice. This influence remained visible in his books and projects, and was possibly instrumental in his decision to publish its unfinished collection of projects in a bilingual version. Steingruber’s influence remains to this day visible in Ansbach thanks to the more than 200 houses he built and the urbanism works he superintended. The present book is a complete manual for civil architecture in the tradition of D’Aviler. Germany had no textbooks which could attain the fame of D’Aviler though this last was often translated into German. Steingruber, who was experienced in all the facets of the architectural activity (he had been trained as a stonemason by his father and uncle since his childhood), tried to undertake this task. Though the author was known in the whole region of Franconia and Coburg, the diffusion of the book was only local. The work is a complete manual on building practice, aimed both to secular and clerical customers (Steingruber built also several churches) and describing all constructive details for every sort of building, including doors, chimneys, stoves. Several projects depict edifices erected by the same Steingruber. The plates are unsigned, but it appears possible that they were drawn by the same Steingruber, who signed the headpieces.

& Kat. Berl. 2026; not in Cicognara, Fowler and Millard.

P-50 - (Simone Stratico) Dell’antico teatro di Padova. In Padova, nella Stamperia del Seminario, 1795.

€ 1300

Only edition. Simone Stratico (Zara 1730 – Padova 1824) was a mathematician and an expert on nautical matters. He was associated to the University of Padua and supervised several hydraulic works. The project to reclaim habitable land from a marshy surface within the town of Padua was started in 1775 by Andrea Memmo, a Venetian nobleman, and remained partly unfinished. Stratico, when in charge of the works, discovered the remnants of the old Roman theater, which could keep up to 7000 spectators. After the fall of the Roman empire the theater had fallen into ruins, being largely demolished during the XVI century in order to gather building materials for the church of Santa Giustina and the Rialto Bridge in Venice. The outcome of the project was the Prato Della Valle, one of the largest and nicest piazzas of Europe, surrounded by two circles of statues representing illustre Patavines. The project was due to the architect Domenico Cerato. In this book Stratico describes the conditions of the ruins and discusses their possible use, possibly restoring the old building. In the following sections he compares the audience of old theatres with that of the modern ones, issues a criticism on the tract written by the British author Sander “On theatre” and concludes with a concise history of modern theatrical architecture.

& Cicognara 800: Lozzi 3271; not in Kat. Berl.

P-15 - Leonard Christoph Sturm Architectura militaris hypothetico-eclectica oder gründliche Anleitung zu der Kriegs-Baukunst aus denen Hypothesibus und Erfindungen derer meinsten und besten Ingenieurs dargestellet. Nürnberg, verlegts Peter Conrad Monath, 1719. (Bound with) The same Project (!) de la resolution du fameux probléme touchant la longitude sur mer. A Nuremberg, chez Pierre Conrad Monath, 1720.

€ 4000

A convolute of two works of the scientist, architect and theologian Leonhard Christoph Sturm (Altdorf 1669 - Blankenburg 1719). He studied mathematics at the university of his native town and acquired European renown as editor of the posthumous writings of Nicolaus Goldmann, to which he appended several works of his own conception. His theorizations were broader than those of Goldmann and led him even to formulate proposals for a new architectural order, the "German", which was substantially a more richly carved and ornamental version of the Ionic one. He was most active during his period as city architect of the Dukes of Mecklemburg in Schwerin. He authored also books of different subject, as theological treatises, mathematical textbook, polemics against different opponents and geographical handbooks. Ad 1) First definitive edition, enriched by 6 chapters, 24 pages of tables and several illustrations with respect to the first edition of 1702. The unsold copies were reissued with an updated title in 1720 and the book was frequently reprinted in Germany during the XVIII century and translated into Russian in 1720. "Encyklopädie der Befestigungskunst, in welcher mehr als 80 verschiedene Manieren (Bauarten) besprochen werden" (Jähns). "A remarkable work, in which the ideas on fortification of a large number of authors are critically discussed and compared in dialogues between the engineer/author and his patron. The opening notes on each author give some bibliographical detail of his published work, usually including a rudimentary collation (number of quires, number of plates)" (Breman). This book is therefore the most complete survey of the state of art in fortification technique in the first half of the XVIII century, not only discussing the innovations brought forth by the different authors, but also taking a definitely critical stand against some of them such as e. g. Vauban, whom Sturm had already attacked in previous works. At the same time it constitutes the first modern bibliography of military architecture. Ad 2) Only edition, published posthumously. Sturm had worked on the problem of finding longitude by sea, which was necessary to determine the distance run by a ship and therefore its position. The British admiralty had set up a Board of Longitudes for the solution of this problem. The Board had instituted in 1714 a prize of 20000 pounds for the scientist who could contribute a workable and reproducible method for the determination of the longitude. Many famous and less famous scientists attempted to obtain this prize, which was gained by Harrison in 1767. The proposal of Sturm for the determination of the longitude consisted in the use of a log apparatus, which had originally been invented by Vitruvius and perfected by Besson during the XVI century and by the same Sturm. It consisted basically in a modification of the Vitruvian odometer, which was composed by a large wheel of known circumference mounted in a small frame; when it was pushed along the ground by hand it automatically dropped a pebble into a container at each revolution, giving a measure of the distance traveled. The improvement proposed by Sturm consisted in  the use of a clock set in action by the wheel to precisely measure the time elapsed and consequently the distance. Though anticipating the idea of Harrison, the clock of Sturm did not have the same precision and was susceptible to changes of athmospheric conditions, thus making the invention inapplicable.

& Ad 1) Jordan 3679; Jähns, pages 1389 and 1704; Marini page 178; Kat. Berl. 3538; H. W. Kruft (A history of architectural theory from Vitruvius to the present) pages 182-186 and passim; Breman (Books on military architecture printed in Venice, Hes & DG 2002) page 413; Architekt und Ingenieur no. 341. Ad 2) Stratico page 69; Crone collection 433a/b; Houzeau-Lancaster 10413; Polak 8933; Baillie page 158: "I can find no copy of this book"; Honeyman 2938; not in Bromley and Tardy.

A-7 - Giuseppe Viola ZANINI Della architettura libri due … In Padova, appresso Francesco Bolzetta, 1629.

€ 5500

First edition, reprinted in 1677-78 with an addition of five pages and one woodcut on how to prevent smoking chimneys. This text was, however, written by Andrea Minorelli from Padua and is therefore no work of Viola Zanini. More recently a fac-simile has been issued. Giuseppe Viola Zanini (Vicenza 1575 – Padua 1631) was a painter and architect active especially in the region below Venice. “Zanini’s treatise is distinguished by its regional focus. Aimed at a local audience, Zanini’s ideas were exemplified through buildings and works of art predominantly drawn from Padua and nearby nnorth Italian cities … Another distinguishing feature of this book is that its author was a decorative painter rather than a practicing architect, and thus was interested in architecture as a support system for his chosen art form. Zanini’s main contribution is that he provides the first formal discussion of the principles of quadratura ceiling painting, a subject explored in great depth by other XVIIth century authors, such as Agostino Mitelli … This large work is divided into two books. The three sections of the first book deal with the origins of architecture, building materials, and the ‘elements’ of architecture. The second book is devoted entirely to the five orders of architecture. In the ‘Origins’ Zanini deals with the definition of geometrical principles, subdivisions of regular polygons, and artificial perspective, concluding with a discussion of sotto in su ceiling perspectives. In the second section the author discusses the preparations necessary before building, such as choosing the site, foundations, building materials (varieties of stone and marble, brick, lime, gravel, mortar, metals and wood), techniques for working stone, and the characteristics of trees … The third section of the first book concerns the harmony of parts and decoration of buildings, but also the layout of buildings and their orientation, instructions for finding water, wind, and the zodiac among many other subjects … The second book is thoroughly focused in its discussion of the orders of architecture. After asking himself and the reader why the ancients decorated architecture, Zanini discusses each order in turn, from the Tuscan to Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and composite orders. His examination of each order is consistent throughout, including the diminution of the column shaft, the swelling of the shaft, the base and the capital, the cornice, intercolumnations, and arches …” (Millard). “A ‘softened’ system for long ceilings similar to that developed by Colonna and Mitelli had first been advocated by G. Viola Zanini in 1629. Zanini gives a geometrical method for illusionistic ‘softening by the manipulation of the focal point’, an invention he plausibly attributes to the Rosa brothers in Venice …“ (Kemp). Despite its local focus this book was widely studied outside Italy, and Fréart de Chambray and Blondel wrote much on it, remarking the disorder in which the notions were exposed, but also noticing the good doctrine of the author. Inigo Jones is said to have possessed a copy of it. To this list of famous architects having taken advantage from this book the name of Luigi Rossini can now be added.

& Riccardi I/2, 650; Cicognara 687: “Libro ripieno di ottime nozioni in ogni teoria, ed ogni pratica dell’arte … scritto da un autore nudrito dei migliori principi …”; Vinciana 4429; Fowler 446; Kat. Berl. 2614; Comolli IV, pages 160-167; Millard Italian 167 (second edition); M. Kemp (The science of art) page 137; Vagnetti EIIIb18.

A-20 - Nicola Zabaglia Castelli e ponti ... con alcune ingegnose pratiche, e con la descrizione del trasporto dell’Obelisco Vaticano, e di altri del cavaliere Domenico Fontana. In Roma 1743, nella stamperia di Niccolò e Marco Pagliarini.

€ 7000

First edition, reprinted in 1823. Traditionally attributed to Zabaglia, the real author was identified as Lelio Cosatti because Zabaglia was completely illiterate. Maestro Nicola Zabaglia (1664-1750) was the foremost builder in Rome during the last decades of the XVII and the first half of the XVIII century; he was i. a. charged with the restoration and consolidation works to the Vatican dome after the earthquakes of 1703 and 1730. His experience, as evident, was remarakably practical and nourished by no written source. His book is a complete treatise on the most remarkable aspects of Roman architecture, i. e. construction and restoration of vaults and ceiling, erection of appropriate scaffolding, transport and hoisting of heavy weights, exemplified by the transport of the Vatican Obelisk, which was erected by Domenico Fontana with techniques substantially unchanged until the days of Zabaglia. An engraving by Specchi after Natale Bonifacio illustrates this enterprise; it is accompanied by two more engravings who depict particulars of Fontana’s masterwork which were not sufficiently illustrated in the two editions of Fontana’s work. Some copies have plates (the complete suite was composed of 6 engravings) from the suite of Albertini on the suspended bridge which hung in the Vatican during Zabaglia’s works; these plates are mostly found in presentation copies and are not an integral part of the book, as evident from the text.

& Riccardi II/2: “Bellissima e rara edizione ...” (with 2 out of the 6 Albertini plates); Cicognara 968; Honeyman 3149 (with 1 Albertini plate); Kat. Berl. 2755; Brunet V, 1515: “Ouvrage curieux et fort recherché”; Millard IV. 166: “This is the first publication to present engineering solutions for the raising and transportation of building materials …”; not in Fowler.