FÉLIBIEN, André, Sieur des Avaux et de Javercy.

Des Principes de l'Architecture, de la Sculpture, de la Peinture, et des autres Arts qui en dépendent. Avec un Dictionnaire des termes propres à chacun de ces Arts.

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Engraved frontis. & 65 finely engraved full-page illus. in the text. Title printed in red & black. 12 p.l. (incl. frontis.), 542 pp. 4to, early 18th cent. French red morocco, triple gilt fillet round sides, gilt fleurons in each corner, spine gilt. Paris: chez la Veuve & J.B. Coignard, fils, 1699. "The Principes, first published in 1676, is a handbook of the principles and practices of the three arts of architecture, sculpture, and painting. By far the most important section is that on architecture. The author states that the book is written for the general public: its purpose is to do away with craft "secrets" and "mysteries," to make the many crafts associated with the arts intelligible to the layman, and by implication to give these crafts some uniformity. It is not only an early treatise written for the layman, but one of a group of treatises emphasizing practicality over principles... "The fact that the author of the book was a person of considerable distinction in academic and court circles, and that the work was dedicated to Colbert's son, then surintendant des bâtiments, suggests political interest in a systematization of the techniques as well as the products of the crafts. However, Félibien's approach to his subject is as personal as it may be official. It is in marked contrast to the selective and exclusive approach of the architectural treatises which preceded it, and which focused on principles of design rather than of execution, and to the handbooks, which were concerned with a single craft, and with drawing and measuring rather than with tools. The contents of this work are unique, although they would be imitated immediately in England by Joseph Moxon... "Félibien began his project with a proposal to collect trade terms in a dictionary. He soon realized that since his dictionary was intended to instruct, he would need to include a description of each trade and an essay on the principles of that art with which the trade was associated. In addition, he found it necessary to turn to craftsmen for explanations of their various trades, as well as to written authorities... "The first section, on architecture, is in part a development of theoretical material from earlier architectural treatises. Chapter 1 is concerned with the history of architecture. Here Félibien considers not only the conventional view of architecture as a series of monuments that will confirm the importance of the reign of the king (Louis XIV), but also sees it as an older craft tradition, referred to by Philibert de L'Orme and Alexandre Francine, in which God is the sovereign Architect of the Universe, and geometry is emphasized as a fundamental discipline. Chapters 2 through 10 are devoted to an exposition of the orders. These are still close to the view of Fréart de Chambray and Abraham Bosse, that the Ancients established a single interpretation for each of the orders, and that each had its special beauty; the Moderns, on the other hand, differed among each other in their solution to the problem of the proportions of the orders. Like Fréart, he ranks Palladio first among the Moderns... "But Félibien, despite the preferential place and attention he gives to the orders in his introduction, states that priority in architecture should be given to siting, materials, and use; only after these are satisfied should character and the elements of beauty, which he defines as the relation of parts, just proportions, and symmetry, be considered. Chapter 11 is devoted to the types of building, 12 to materials, 13 to military engineering, and 14 through 22 to the trades (crafts). Following this introduction are engraved illustrations of the tools of each trade, with a list of the names of each tool on the facing page... "The sections on sculpture and painting repeat this format, but not the size nor the scope of the architectural section. The dictionary, which had been proposed as the original project, forms the second part of the work... "The Principes achieved instant popularity; it was reprinted in 1690, 1697, and 1699. In 1774 it still held sufficient authority that J.B. Quélard would base a part of his Encylopédia on it."­The Mark J. Millard Architectural Collection. Volume I. French Books Sixteenth through Nineteenth Centuries, 71. A very fine copy. This is the 1699 reissue of the 1697 third edition, being identical apart from the new title-page.

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• 书商: Jonathan A. Hill, Bookseller, Inc. (USA)