COURS D'ARCHITECTURE

 

BLONDEL, Francois Nicolas. COURS D'ARCHITECTURE.

Paris: The Author, 1683 - Parts I-V in two volumes. . Folios. Matching 18th century quarter- sheep, pink paper boards, vellum tips. (xxviii), 312 pages including engraved half-title 117 engravings and 20 woodcuts in the text, (1) double page plate; (xviii), 4 pages (numbered 313-799), (1) page, including engraved half-title, 136 engravings and 5 woodcuts in the text. First edition. [Fowler, 46; Berlin Catalogue, 2382].
Francois Blondel (1617- 1686) wrote the definitive theoretical eighteenth century dissertation of classical architecture. The main thrust of the book is a scholarly comparison of the orders previously written by Vitruvius, Alberti, Vignola, Palladio, and Scamozzi. Studying the theory of architecture was a new concept in a profession previously learned by practical apprenticeship. Blondel contributed significantly to the study of architectural history. Sylvia Lavin in Avery’s Choice #124: “Blondel’s Cours d’architecture was perhaps the most comprehensive and influential book written on French architecture during the eighteenth century and has come to be seen as the most essential compendium of academic Neoclassicism. Spines a little dusty, but a very good set of the first edition, nevertheless.

 

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