Hardcover
1721 · London
by SCAMOZZI, Vincenzo (1552-1616) BROWN, John (Philomath) (17th century) -- LEYBURN, William (early 18th century) SCHUYM, Joachim, ed. (fl. 1662)
London: Printed for J. and B. Sprint, at the Bell in Little Brittain, 1721. Hardcover. Fair. 4to (195 x 160mm). Disbound copy of a scarce book. 58 leaves. Pagination: ii (of iv), 1-111pp. (lacking engraved title frontispiece and preliminary page with description of Schuyms scale). Signatures: *2, B-P4. Preface To the Lovers of Architecture signed R.M. Text of the Mirror and pp. 1-16, after page 16, 1-40 numbered engraved plates on the orders of classical columns (Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Roman, Corinthian) by fellow Vincentine Battista Pittoni plus bound-in 8 leaves (containing nine engravings) on capitals, arches, perspective, staircases, and mantles, plus one folding plate of a scale for measuring tangents (60 x 340mm). Pages 17-39 contain, The description and use of an ordinary joynt-rule fitted with Lines for the ready finding the Lengths and Angles of Rafters and Hips, and Collar-Beams ... by John Brown. 2 (of 3?) folding plates of diagrams for folding engraved rule. For pp. 41-56: selections from Henry Wottons Elements of Architecture, the nine plates for this work bound in after those in the Mirror. After page 56, separately titled with same publisher is the Architectionice: Or, A Compendium of the Art of Building ... by William Leyburn. One plate of diagram after p. 96. Pagination and register are continuous. On verso of plate 41, a Corinthian capital, is a curious dated inscription, Benjamin Roberts tumbled into a well at Winchcombe and was drowned, July 31st 1745. The same time Mr. Applegates house was built. 18th-century signature on preface Rob.t Hill. Bookplate of Ogden Codman, Jr. on front pastedown, inscribed with purchase information from Goodspeeds 1954. Sticker: Loaned to the Metropolitan Museum of Art by Ogden Codman. Ogden Codman (1863-1951), was a noted New York based architect. Circa 1950 ownership inscription of James van der Pool of the Avery Architecture Library also on front pastedown.
Stated Sixth Edition of Scamozzis Mirror of Architecture edited by Dutch author and translator Joachem Schuym for an original edition of 1669. The 40 numbered plates in the Mirror by eighteenth-century architects Brown, Wotton, and Leyburn are worn copies from the original plates of the 1669 edition. Wottons plates are bound after the Mirror plates here and are from a variety of unknown sources; equally the whole is rich in rare architectural impressions. Scamozzis Ground-Rules sought to avoid chaos, as the poets fancy in matters of architecture. Scamozzi was a prolific chief-builder in Venice. While known for executing the unfinished works of Palladio, Scamozzi also published widely on architectural theory and practice. His main philosophy was to establish the idea of a universal architecture of which a wide array of pupils could be influenced. The Mirror was Scamozzis textbook treatise, setting the guidelines for young architects of Europe and was reprinted to at least a seventh edition in 1734. Fashion for Scamozzis design theory was greatly boosted in Britain by architect James Gibb (1682-1754), who also made his own rules book based on Scamozzi in 1732. This important English printing of the Mirror was invaluable to mid-eighteenth century builders on both sides of the Atlantic and surely influenced the popularity of Palladian-style architecture in early America. (Inventory #: SAV121)
Stated Sixth Edition of Scamozzis Mirror of Architecture edited by Dutch author and translator Joachem Schuym for an original edition of 1669. The 40 numbered plates in the Mirror by eighteenth-century architects Brown, Wotton, and Leyburn are worn copies from the original plates of the 1669 edition. Wottons plates are bound after the Mirror plates here and are from a variety of unknown sources; equally the whole is rich in rare architectural impressions. Scamozzis Ground-Rules sought to avoid chaos, as the poets fancy in matters of architecture. Scamozzi was a prolific chief-builder in Venice. While known for executing the unfinished works of Palladio, Scamozzi also published widely on architectural theory and practice. His main philosophy was to establish the idea of a universal architecture of which a wide array of pupils could be influenced. The Mirror was Scamozzis textbook treatise, setting the guidelines for young architects of Europe and was reprinted to at least a seventh edition in 1734. Fashion for Scamozzis design theory was greatly boosted in Britain by architect James Gibb (1682-1754), who also made his own rules book based on Scamozzi in 1732. This important English printing of the Mirror was invaluable to mid-eighteenth century builders on both sides of the Atlantic and surely influenced the popularity of Palladian-style architecture in early America. (Inventory #: SAV121)