Architecture moderne (1764), with 154 engraved plates (2 vol)

[Charles-Antoine Jombert] or [Charles-Etienne Briseux]:

Architecture moderne, ou l’art de bien bâtir pour toutes sortes de personnes. 1-2.

Paris, chez l’Auteur, 1764. 4to. (28 x 21 cms.) XXVI + 554; + VIII + 180 pp. + 2 engraved frontispieces + 152 engraved plates (103 double-page or folding). Additional engravings on pp. 1: 1, 291 & 445 and p. 2:1.

Two volumes, contemporary mottled calf, spines gilt in compartments, marbled endpapers, red edges. Bindings slightly worn and spines chipped at extremities, corners a little bumped, internally very fine. One plate in the second volume with small defect in upper margin (image unaffected).

Provenance: From the library of Gaspard Joseph de Servais, with ink inscription "Bibliotheca G F de Servais". No. 1768 in the sale catalogue of Servais's library (Malines, le 3 Octobre 1808). Recent provenance: Swedish architect Ivar Tengbom (1878-1968), one of the best-known representatives of the Swedish neo-classical architecture of the 1910s and 1920s; with the Tengbom family to date.

Second edition, with amendments by the author, of this work on the planning, construction and design of domestic architecture, first published anonymously in 1728. When first published, this work marked a

watershed between 16th-17th century publications with models for houses of all sizes, and 18th century rococo house publications with their emphasis on the design of houses for the propertied classes. The work is divided into six parts: I. De la Construction. II. Des Escaliers. III. Des Devis. IV. Du Toisé des Batimens. V. Des Us et Coutumes. VI. De la Distribution.

Berlin cat. 2398.

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