Parallèle de l'architecture Antique et de la Moderne [...].

Large folio: [7]-100 pp. (some sm. tears without loss to text).

Contemp. calf, gilt orn. spine on 6 raised bands (sl. rubbed, upper joint partly split). Good copy.

Later re-edition of the 1689 edition (publ. by F. Jollain) of Fréart de Chambay's (1606-1676) architectural treatise. After travelling to Italy between 1635 and 1638, the French diplomat and architectural connoisseur began working on the "Parallèle" at the request of Sublet de Noyers, to whom it is dedicated. It deals with the orders and makes a comparative study of each of the five classical orders, by comparing the systems divised by the great architectural theorists of the previous generations such as Serlio, Scamozzi, Vignola, Palladio, Leon Battista Alberti, Jean Viola or Phillibert De L'Orme. It is the first architectural treatise of the seventeenth century to propose a fresh look at earlier treatises and can be considered as a kind of pattern book for the amateurs of architecture, rather than intended for a practicing craftsman. This edition is complete with 100 engr. pl. with text and representations of classical orders. The engr. front. is signed "C.T. fecit".
Ref. Fowler 127. - Millard I:76. - Brunet I:1762. - Architectura (http://architectura.cesr.univ-tours.fr/Traite/Notice/ENSBA_1665A13.asp?param=).