VITRUVIUS.

£6,950 · Offered by Sokol Books

A very good, clean, wide-margined copy of the first French translation, by Jean Martin, of Vitruvius De Architectura . It is a beautiful example of C16 French printing by Jean Barb é, who had, in 1545, printed the French edition of Book I-II of Serlio (Fowler). This French translation includes a couple of additional text pages included for the benefit of contemporary French readers. As part of Book VIII, the section on the effect of the soil (its quality, moisture and composition) on the flavours of fruit that grows there is slightly adjusted to the early modern French context to shift the focus to viticulture, perhaps the earliest mention in print, of go‚àö¬™t de terroir, i.e., how land itself determines the taste and flavour of wine. Vitruvius (80/70-15BC) was a Roman architect and engineer; his De Architectura is the only architectural work that has survived from antiquity. Divided in ten books, it begins from the basics (what is architecture, the building of foundations, the qualities of wood and stones), and proceeds with the handsomely illustrated examination of building structures (the decoration and proportions of the five orders of columns) and the construction of specific buildings (e.g., temples, theatres or baths, private or communal residences), down to their painting and the effects of humidity. Most famously, in book III, Vitruvius described the proportions of temples to those of the human figure a theory which inspired Leonardo s immensely influential drawing

• Binding: Hardcover

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