VITRUVE - PERRAULT (Claude). - Lot 97

Lot n° 97
Go to lot
Estimation :
600 - 800 EUR
Result with fees
Result : 937EUR
VITRUVE - PERRAULT (Claude). - Lot 97
VITRUVE - PERRAULT (Claude). Les Dix livres d'architecture de Vitruve corrigez et traduits nouvellement en François, avec des Notes & des Figures. Paris : Jean-Baptiste Coignard, 1684. - In-folio, 425 x 283 : (10 ff.), 354 pp. 8 ff. Brown calf, spine ribbed and decorated, spotted edges (contemporary binding). Second edition, after that of 1673, revised and enlarged, of Claude Perrault's translation of Vitruvius' De architectura. This translation had been ordered by Colbert. It responded to the desire of Louis XIV's minister to define a global doctrine of great French architecture: "based on rational principles that were to find their historical and theoretical support in the works of Antiquity, in fact in the creations of the Roman imperial period, the only ones that were truly accessible at the time, this doctrine was to ensure that the monuments of the reign of Louis XIV would have universal value and restore France to its rightful place in the concert of European nations. (Pierre Gros, Les Livres d'architecture, 2008). Claude Perrault's translation is unique in that he enriched it with abundant footnotes, which are a large part of the interest of this work, some of which are more extensive than the text of Vitruvius. In this way, Perrault took an active part in the debate that affected architecture at the time. The other interest of this work is its illustration which is of great finesse. It includes a frontispiece engraved by Gérard Scotin after Sébastien Leclerc, 2 bands, the first with the king's coat of arms, drawn and engraved by Sébastien Leclerc, 2 unsigned initials (the first printed upside down), a cul-de-lampe also engraved by Leclerc, more than 80 woodcuts in the text, and 68 beautiful intaglio engravings, 23 in the text and 45 full-page, engraved by Sébastien Leclerc, Pierre Lepautre, Nicolas Pitau, Georges Tournier, Gérard Edelinck, Étienne Gantrel, Jacques Grignon, Pieter Van de Banck and Jean Patigny. Each plate is accompanied by an explanation. A good copy in contemporary binding. Some restorations to the spines, cracks to the hinges, at the height of the last box, traces of spotting, dull corners. Light staining in the margins of the first few leaves. The engraving on page 173 is very slightly cut.
My orders
Sale information
Sales conditions
Return to catalogue