DE L'ORME, Philibert

by Philibert De L'orme

£6,500 · Offered by Sokol Books

The third edition, using all the woodcuts of the first (1561), of this important and beautifully printed and illustrated treatise. De L Orme (c.1510-1570),was one of the great Renaissance architects of the 16th century, the first French architect to possess the universal outlook of the Italian masters without merely imitating them. Mindful that French architectural requirements differed from the Italian, and respectful of native materials, he founded his designs on sound engineering principles, fusing the orders with a delicacy of invention, restraint, and harmony characteristic of purest French classicism. the simple woodcuts are excellent examples of perfectly understood and clearly presented structural details and show De Lorme s system of built up timber roofs, requiring no ties or heavy timbers, which was successfully used as late as the end of the eighteenth century in the Halle-aux-Bles in Paris. Indeed, De Lorme is unique among the early writers on architecture for the emphasis he placed upon construction. ..A copy of the 1576 edition was in the library of Thomas Jefferson (Sowerby, No. 4183). Fowler (on the first edition). Of the leading early French architectural writers, De Lorme is the most interesting and original, but is less distinguished an artist than Jean Bullant and is less versatile as a draughtsman than Du Cerceau. De Lorme has been called the first modern architect because of his original contributions to construction and his skill as an organizer, but B

• Binding: Hardcover

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