.jpg?w=1)
Details
DESGODETZ, Antoine (1653-1728). The Ancient Buildings of Rome. London: George Marshall, 1771-1795. 2 volumes, 2° (552 x 370). Titles and text in English and French on facing pages. 137 engraved plates by George Marshall (134 plates), Tobias Miller and Charles White. (Lacking the English title-page to vol. II, some generally light spotting and occasional dust-soiling, 7 plates more severely affected by spotting, the final plate to vol. I with paper repairs to image.) Recent half calf gilt, spines gilt with morocco label, marbled boards, silk markers.
THE FIRST ENGLISH EDITION OF THE FIRST ACCURATE REPRESENTATION OF ANCIENT ROMAN ARCHITECTURE with the first issue title-page to volume one. Desgodetz was dispatched by Louis XIV's minister Colbert to Rome in order to measure 25 ancient monuments for the Académie Royale d'Architecture. He observed the buildings with scientific accuracy, measuring each to within a fraction of an inch, producing meticulous drawings which were engraved by the King's engravers on his return to Paris. Such was the success of the work that by 1755 Robert Adam recorded that it could 'not be had in England, France or Italy for under double the price', and Adam set about the task of republishing the work with a team of draughtsmen, but abandoned the project in the following year. The task of painstakingly tracing each plate was taken up by George Marshall, an unrecorded architect and engraver, resident at Kensington Palace. His address, along with the dedication to the King and the lack of a publisher or list of subscribers would suggest that George III commissioned and financed the publication of the first volume, as suggested in the February 1772 edition of the Monthly Review. However the second volume was published after Marshall's death by I. and J. Taylor who re-issued the first volume with a new title-page including their imprint. Harris, 196; RIBA I, 860; Fowler, 85 (with second issue title page to vol. I); cf. Brunet II, 625 (first edition); cf. Millard French books, 62 (first edition).
THE FIRST ENGLISH EDITION OF THE FIRST ACCURATE REPRESENTATION OF ANCIENT ROMAN ARCHITECTURE with the first issue title-page to volume one. Desgodetz was dispatched by Louis XIV's minister Colbert to Rome in order to measure 25 ancient monuments for the Académie Royale d'Architecture. He observed the buildings with scientific accuracy, measuring each to within a fraction of an inch, producing meticulous drawings which were engraved by the King's engravers on his return to Paris. Such was the success of the work that by 1755 Robert Adam recorded that it could 'not be had in England, France or Italy for under double the price', and Adam set about the task of republishing the work with a team of draughtsmen, but abandoned the project in the following year. The task of painstakingly tracing each plate was taken up by George Marshall, an unrecorded architect and engraver, resident at Kensington Palace. His address, along with the dedication to the King and the lack of a publisher or list of subscribers would suggest that George III commissioned and financed the publication of the first volume, as suggested in the February 1772 edition of the Monthly Review. However the second volume was published after Marshall's death by I. and J. Taylor who re-issued the first volume with a new title-page including their imprint. Harris, 196; RIBA I, 860; Fowler, 85 (with second issue title page to vol. I); cf. Brunet II, 625 (first edition); cf. Millard French books, 62 (first edition).