Folio (411 x 249 mm.). Handsomely bound in contemporary full calf gilt, red morocco and gilt label to the spine; finely engraved allegorical frontispiece by Henry Roberts after Henry Wale, title-page printed in red and black, with an engraved vignette of the Pantheon by Henry Roberts, [viii], including a list of the engraved plates and errata, 748, [12], 3 additional unnumbered explanatory leaves, engraved vignette of an aqueduct to the head of the first page, 115 engraved plates (including frontispiece), erratically numbered [1], 2-30, ‘29-30’, 32-37, 37[bis], 37 [[ter], 39, 39 [bis], 40, [41], 42, 45, 47-48, 48, 49, 49[bis], 50-80, ‘81,82.’, 82, ‘82. 83.’, 83-96, 98, 99, 101-107, ‘110. 111.’, [110-112], [112 bis], 113, [114-122], of which thirteen are double-page and folded and twelve of these assigned two numbers each; the binding lightly rubbed and abraded in a few places, otherwise very good, the upper corner of pp.739/740 uncut and folded back, occasional light binding creases to the leaves, otherwise a particularly fresh, clean, sound copy.

First edition. Issued in eighty parts between November 1755 and September 1757. Isaac Ware’s A Complete Body of Architecture, takes its cue from Vitruvius and Alberti, being organised in ten books covering practical instruction, history and theory: Book one commences with definitions of the most common architectural terms, followed by a discussion of materials. Book two starts with the siting of a building and a description of its functional parts. Book three is concerned with the construction of the house, the following three books deal with doors, windows and interior ornament. Books seven and eight are devoted to exterior decoration, garden buildings, and bridges. Book nine is an analysis of ‘the true principles of architecture’. Book ten is a discussion of mathematics and mensuration. Of particular interest are the engraved plates illustrating Ware’s own designs, an important source for information on his work, demonstrating that he did ‘much work on London town houses, in addition to major buildings such as Wrotham Park and the now demolished Oxford Town Hall’. (Weinreb)

BAL Early Printed Books 1478-1840. 3579; Fowler 436; Harris/Savage 906; Millard British Books 87.

Stock number: 1575