Vitruvius Britannicus, or The British architect, containing the plans, elevations, and sections of the regular buildings, both publick and private, in Great Britain [...] = Vitruvius Britannicus, ou L'Architecte britannique [...].

3 vol., large folio: 10, 8, 12 pp.; 298 pl. (Vol. I: some pl. toned, sm. wormtrack at blank bottom edge margin of pl. 77-100 and fore edge margin of pl. 95, sm. tear in pl. 84 underlaid, pl. 34-48 bound in reversed order. Vol. II: text ff. toned, some pl. browned, some spotting. Vol. III: pl. 1-2 missing (as in Fowler's copy), tiny wormtrack in blank bottom and top edge margin of first 20 pl., some light soiling at some pl.).

Contemp. sheep (tears, corners bumped), covers with gilt-ruled frame (and blind-stamped decoration in vol. I-II), gilt orn. and titled spines with 7 raised bands (joints split (with lack of leather at vol. I), sm. def at heads & tails). Plates generally in very good condition.

First edition in three volumes of this large and famous treatise on architecture, the major work of the Scottish architect and writer C. Campbell (1676-1729). Contains 298 (100, 100, 98) numbered engraved plates of which several are on double or even quadruple page (with 2 or 4 pl. numbers on 1 double-page or folding pl.), focussing the attention on the architectural merit rather than the topographical situation: country houses, palaces, government offices and churches, mansions and their garden estates. Some famous examples are St Paul's Cathedral, Whitehall Palace, Banqueting House and the Royal Hospital at Greenwich. Most pl. of vol. II-III engr. by H. Hulsbergh from the designs of Campbell. "In the empirical vein, it was not a treatise but basically a catalogue of design, containing engravings of English buildings by Inigo Jones and Sir Christopher Wren, as well as Campbell himself and other prominent architects of the era." (Wikipedia). Although the title and the plates are written in English and French, the explanatory text is only in English. List of subscribers in preface of all 3 vol. Titles (vol. I-II) and dedication (vol. I) engraved (= pl. I and II of those vol.). Title of vol. III printed in red. A fourth and fifth volume were published in 1767 and 1771.
Ref. Fowler 76. - Berlin Kat. 2329. - ESTC. - BL.