Traitté de l'architecture suivant Vitruve (A Treatise on Architecture, Following Vitruvius)
Paris: Pierre Daret, 1648. Second, augmented edition. Contemporary vellum. Folio (43.5 by 28.2 cm.) [6: title, engraved frontispiece, dedication, reader's preface], 7 (descriptive text); 41 (of 48) full-page engraved plates, numbered in five sequences. Contemporary vellum (lightly soiled; traces of old paper label at spine); edges stained crimson. Minor erosion at top margin title, just affecting one letter; intermittent moderate dampstain at top margin, notably extending into 12 leaves. Lacks final seven plates. A good, amply-margined copy, with otherwise clean, crisp text and plates.
Second, much augmented edition of this epitome of Vitruvius by the learned French nobleman, Julien Mauclerc (1543-ca. 1598), with additions by the editor, Pierre Daret. The work was first published in 1599/1600 by Jérôme Haultin at La Rochelle under the title Le premier Livre d'Architecture ... traictant tant de l'Ordre Tuscanique, Doricque, Ionique, Corinthe, que Composite. "It contains the 1600 text, with modernized or modified vocabulary... Daret removes the specific references to Book III of Serlio's work, but adds commentary to the figures he has enriched the plates with, including a method for drawing the Ionic volute explicitly borrowed from Vignola... The engravings are enhanced by a few elements added in the spaces left blank by Boyvin... Daret's additions contribute to the work's eclectic nature, but from this perspective, they are quite coherent. Indeed, by introducing Vignola, Palladio, and Scamozzi, they update the material of an eclectic method that Mauclerc practiced at the dawn of the century with Blum, Serlio, Labacco, and de l'Orme, now superseded by the three Italians whom Fréart de Chambray, in 1650, designated as the three modern masters, and who provided 17th-century French architecture with the essential elements of its repertoire in the realm of the orders. Moreover, the juxtaposition of the orders presented here recalls the method that Fréart himself develops in his own Parallèle" (Pauwels).
Regarding the work, Cicognara notes that "it is highly prized for its beautiful and clear engravings. Pierre Daret added the measurements and proportions of other masters to this work, as he notes on the title page. Indeed, Mauclerc could not have mentioned Palladio, Vignola, or Scamozzi, whose works were unknown to him during his lifetime. Therefore, it is clear that the five plates from 45 to 48, inclusive, in which these parallels appear, are by another engraver and were added by Pierre Daret to Mauclerc's work. All the other plates bear the original author's mark. As for the text, it is recognized that the notions are derived from Vitruvius, but succinctly, and confusedly and by avoiding difficult passages, such as those on the Ionic volute, on the Scamilli, etc."
The military and civil engineer Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (ca. 70-80 BCE - ca. 15 CE) is the author of the only surviving ancient treatise on architecture, arranged in ten books. By his own account, Vitruvius served in the Roman army under the command of Julius Caesar. Rediscovered by the Florentine humanist Poggio Bracciolini (1380-1459) in the library of Saint Gall Abbey, and publicized by Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472), Vitruvius’ De Architectura would later define the canon of classical architecture. His assertion that structures should exhibit the three qualities of stability (firmitatis), utility (utilitiatis), and beauty (venustatis) became a commonplace in architectural theory. The wide-ranging program of De Architectura deals with “principles of buildings in general, building materials, designs of theatres, temples and other public buildings, town and country houses, baths, interior decoration and wall paintings, clocks and dials, astronomy, mechanical and military engineering...” (PMM). Throughout the Renaissance, Vitruvius’ work provided inspiration for Michelangelo, Leon Battista Alberti, Donato Bramante, Lorenzo Ghiberti, Giacomo Vignola, Andrea Palladio and many others. The first printed edition of De Architectura appeared at Rome (ca. 1483-90); the first illustrated edition, at Venice (1511).
Notes on the engraved portrait plate and plate numbering: The portrait plate which appears as a frontispiece after the title leaf accompanied that first edition, and was engraved by Mauclerc himself; the elevation has been copied from the seventh book of Serlio: Tutte l'opere d'architettura di Sebastiano Serlio Bolognese (Venice: Francesco de Franceschi, 1584). Onto Serlio's composite style gate no. XIV, Mauclerc has grafted a rich iconographic mélange incorporating the nine classical Muses, the seven classical virtues, and the seven liberal arts: Grammar; Rhetoric; Dialectic; Arithmetic, Geometry, Music, Astrology. Over all hovers an allusion to Neoplatonism in the form of the five Platonic solids. The caption states: "... taillee au burin au mois de septembre 1566." The date must be an error, since Mauclerc was born in 1543. The caption in fact notes his age at the time of its design as 53; the correct date would be 1596. Columbia University notes the date of the portrait plate in their 1600 first edition as 1596. The appearance of the first "6" in the date on our plate suggests that an alteration was made. The engraved date has caused problems in the past, as indicated in Cicognara's confusing entry for the present work: "The first plate preceding the 50 figures contains Mauclerc's portrait, drawn and engraved by his own hand. The year 1535 was removed from the copperplate (but not sufficiently), and on our copy, which is of the finest quality, it reads 1535, although we find no mention of the author."
In some copies of this work, notably the copy described by Fowler, the 49 plates have Arabic numeration at the headline, nos. 2-50, beginning with the portrait plate. In addition, 46 of the plates are grouped into six unequal series, distinguished by Roman numerals at the bottom. In the present copy, however, the Arabic numerals do not appear on the plates, and the final Roman series (nos. I-V), added by Daret for this edition, and the two final plates which lack Roman numerals (nos. 49 and 50) are lacking.
Provenance: Latin entry of the library of the Discalced Carmelites at Montpellier (department of Hérault in Occitania) at title, across from an earlier, cancelled entry. Good. Item #55421
Cicognara Digital Library 563; Fowler 194 (but not locating Mauclerc's earlier edition). Y. Pauwels, "Traitté de l'architecture suivant Vitruve... Paris, Pierre Daret, 1648" [in:] Architectura: Architecture, Textes et Images [via:] Centre d'Études Supérieurs de la Renaissance, Université François-Rabelais, Tours (2006). Not in Millard.
Price: $950.00