Ruins of the Palace of the Emperor Diocletian at Spalatro in Dalmatia

[London]: for the Author, 1764. First edition. Modern full morocco. Very good. Large folio (53.0 by 38.0 cm). iv, [7, subscribers' list], [1, blank], 33, [1, blank] pp; 53 (of 54) leaves, comprising 60 (of 61) engraved plates (7 double-suite, 6 folding), each numbered according to the descriptive list on pp. 19-33. Plate I serves as frontispiece; five leaves each contain two or three smaller plates. Plate VI, a floor plan of the palace restored, is lacking. Recent full speckled light brown morocco boards (lightly rubbed at extremities), gilt dentelles, spine with raised bands and gilt morocco lettering piece. A touch of mild soiling at the title; light foxing and staining (almost exclusively confined to the margins) throughout; adhesive at the joins in the large folding plates sometimes a bit darkened. A very good, amply-margined copy.

First edition of this magnificently illustrated work, with views, elevations, sections, and architectural details of the emperor Diocletian's palace at Spalato (today known as Split). While the modern town was built into the ruins of the palace precinct, the two temples, the inner peristyle and most of the encircling walls remain.

The origin story of the work is notable. Upon the death of William Adam (1689-1748), the leading architect in Scotland, Robert Adam (1728-1792) and his two brothers succeeded to their father's practice. In order to remedy his deficiencies in architectural understanding, Robert decided upon a Grand Tour of the monuments of classical antiquity so as "to acquire a proper manner and taste, and an elegant style of drawing" (Millard). Being the only significant unexplored classical sites in southern Europe, Spalato would prove ideal for such a project. After meeting Charles-Louis Clérisseau (1721-1820) in Florence in 1755, Adam chose to engage the young French architect as guide and drawing instructor for the next two years. Clérisseau accompanied Robert Adam during the five weeks of the summer of 1757 devoted to exploring Spalato. The engravings were probably based on drawings by Clérisseau (six of which are preserved in the Hermitage Museum), who would also go on to supervise much of the engraving. The Critical Review (October 1764) offered high praise for these illustrations which exhibited "a taste and execution that has never been equalled in this country." In his Decline and Fall (chap. 12), Edward Gibbon offered a pithy critique: "There is reason to suspect that the elegance of his designs and engravings has somewhat flattered the objects which it was their purpose to represent."

Adam clearly hoped the project would generate publicity, as he sought to emulate the success of such works as Dalton's Antiquities and Views in Greece and Egypt (1751-1752), and Robert Wood's The Ruins of Palmyra (1753). The format of the present work is in fact modeled on Palmyra, though Adam has included a far greater proportion of picturesque views than appear in Wood's opus. "The plates, engraved by F. Bartolozzi, E. Rooker, F. Patton, P. Santini, A. Walker, K. Cunego, J. Bassire and Antonio Zucchi, are of interest not only as fine examples of architectural engraving but as showing the source of some of the motives of the Adam style" (Fowler). Adam's cousin, the scholar and historian William Robertson wrote the proposal, the dedication, and the preface. Digital Cicognara Library 3567; ESTC T46923; Fowler 2; Millard (British Books) 1.