De architectura libri decem...omnibus omnium editionibus longè emendatiores, collativ vetribus exemplis. Accesserunt, Guliemi Philandri Castilionii, civis Romani, annotationes castigatiores, & plus tertia parte locupletiores. Adjecta est epitome in omnes Georgii Agricola de mensura & ponderibus libros eodem auctore.

(Lyon), Jean de Tournes, 1586. Title within architectural woodcut border, woodcut portrait of Philander on leaf 8 verso, printer's privileg in Civilité types on leaf 8 recto, one folding printed plate, woodcut illustrations and diagrams throughout, ornamental woodcut initials. [8] leaves, 460 pp., [18] leaves (index in Greek and Latin). 4to (240 x 160 mm). Contemporary vellum. (Lyon), Jean de Tournes, 1586. This handsome, scholarly second edition is a reprint of the first one ever printed in France by Tournes in 1552 and has the same corrections and annotations by the humanist Guillaume Philandrier (1505-1563). Vitruvius' text is in Roman letters, alternating with Philandrier's annotations in Italics. "The contribution of Philander and of the Accademia delle Virtu to mid-sixteenth-century architectural theory is of the greatest importance...Philander's notes would be cited almost without exception by every Vitruvius commentator and translator, from the date of its first appearance until the nineteenth cenntury" (Wiebenson, Millard Coll., vol. 1, pp.471ff.). "This famous book by the military engineer to Julius Caesar and to Augustus influenced the architects of the Renaissance including Bramante, Michelangelo, Palladio and Vignola. Subjects covered include architectural materials, chemicals, hydraulics, astronomy, geometry, machinery for civil and military use, optics and music" (Dibner, Heralds, p. 79). "Book 10 gives the first description of a vertical (Vitruvian) water wheel, which became the main source of hydraulic power for milling and other useful purposes during the next 1500 years" (Stanitz, Sources of Science and Technology 5). This edition includes also Agricola's "De mensuris et ponderisbus", the interesting "De staticis experimentis dialogus" of Cardinal Nicolaus de Cusa and Frontinus' treatise on the water supply of Rome (97 A.D.). The numerous beautiful woodcuts mostly by Bernard Salomon are from the original blocks which are based on Jucundus' edition of 1511 and the famous Como edition of 1521.- A nice and clean copy. - Cicognara 721; Riccardi I, 616; Adams V-910; Fowler 414; cf. Mortimer 550. ART & ARCHITECTURE & ARCHAEOLOGY ; GRAPHIC ARTS:ILLUSTRATED BOOKS ; SCIENCE:TECHNOLOGY ;