Traicté des Cinq Ordres d’Architecture desquels se sont seruy les Anciens Traduit du Palladio Par Le Sr. Le Muet.

PALLADIO, Andreas.

$2,500.00

Item Number: 96516

Paris: F.Langlois , 1645.

First edition of Le Muet’s free translation of Palladio’s treatise and the second edition of Le Muet’s L’Art de Bien Bastir, first published in 1623. Two volumes bound into one, bound in full contemporary vellum, engraved frontispiece to the second book, woodcut initials, illustrated with numerous full page architectural engravings and diagrams throughout. In very good condition without the initial blank and first additional pictorial title.

First published in Italian in 1570, Palladio's treatise popularized classical decorative details, becoming what is probably the most influential architectural book ever printed. Incorporating many of his own designs to illustrate the principles of classical Roman architecture, Palladio strongly influenced 18th-century architecture in the British Isles, Italy and America. While Palladio's work was the most common architectural book owned by designers and builders, it was difficult to obtain in America. Thomas Jefferson commented in 1804 that "there never was a Palladio here [in Washington] even in private hands till I brought one… the chance of getting one in America is slender."