GRAPALDI, Francesco Maria.

by Francesco Maria Grapaldi

£5,950 · Offered by Sokol Books

Handsome copy of the scarce third edition of the Parmese humanist Grapaldi's architectural work on the layout of Roman houses, gardens and estates, first published 1494. The work opens with a lengthy index of Latin terms used by Grapaldi. In the spirit of Vitruvius, he begins with a brief chapter on the ancient invention of housing by feral humans, before describing the janua or door, vestibule, and atrium. Rather than immediately entering the house, however, the first part describes the provisioning and cultivation of a Roman country estate: there are chapters on the peristyle or colonnade, cisterns, food- and wine-cellars, fountains, hippodromes and horse-pastures, stables, fish-ponds, rabbit-hutches and aviaries, baths and thermae. The second part concerns the rooms and parts of Roman houses and buildings: stairs, floors, walls and pavements; porticoes; the dining room and kitchen; bedrooms and women's apartments; infirmary; sanctuary for the household gods; library; armoury; grain storage' and towers and roofs. Grapaldi has an eye for detail, describing not only the layout and function of the rooms but also the materials of which they were made and their furnishings, for example the eating and drinking implements of Roman kitchens. His descriptions also inspire digressions on Roman behaviour, such as their diet and attitudes towards wine, for example whether women and children were allowed to drink. There are in fact several discussions of wine, Grapaldi's description of

• Binding: Hardcover

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