Durand's Architectural Manual

DURAND, J.N.L.  PRECIS DES LECONS D'ARCHITECTURE DONNEES A L'ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE.  Two volumes.

Paris: Chez L'Auteur, 1802 and 1805. 4to. Contemporary quarter-calf, marbled boards (iv), viii, 110, (2) pages, 10 and 22 double-page engraved plates; (vi), 104 pages, 32 double-page engraved plates. First edition. [Fowler, 112].

Durand's architectural manual was influential to many generations of architects.  His emphasis on geometric planning based on a modular grid provided inspiration for the Bauhaus and International movements of the twentieth centuries.  While often reprinted throughout the nineteenth century, this first edition is surprisingly rare.  Neither Geoffrey Steele or Ben Weinreb catalogued a copy.  Our set has been respined using the original spines as an overlay.  The original boards are rubbed.  A mostly marginal waterstain appears on several leaves of Volume II.  A good copy only of a rare book.

$1,750.00