Architecture.- Alberti (Leon Battista) L’Architecture et Art de Bien

Architecture.- Alberti (Leon Battista) L’Architecture et Art de Bien Bastir, first French edition, woodcut title, initials, headpieces and numerous illustrations, final f. laid down with loss to some words, small hole to title at gutter, O6-7 with small holes affecting a few words, light foxing and surface staining, occasional contemporary ink marginalia in French, 18th-century calf, rebacked, rubbing, [Adams A490; Brun 106; Fowler 7], folio (approx. 325 x 200 mm), Paris, par laques Keruer, 1553. *** First French translation of this monumental treatise on the art of building and one of the earliest printed works on architectural theory. Richly illustrated work with more than half of the woodcuts taken from the 1550 Italian language edition of the text by Cosimo Bartoli; the remainder were drawn from Fra Giacondo's edition of Vitruvius. Provenance: John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute, Luton Library (bookplate); James Grote Vanderpool, Dean of the Columbia University School of Architecture (ownership inscription).

Estimate:£2,000

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