Philibert de L’Orme - Premier Tome de l’Architecture - 1567

FIRST COMPLETE EDITION OF DELL’ORME: BETWEEN ARCHITECTURE, POWER, AND NATIONAL IDENTITY
Published in Paris in 1567 by Frédéric Morel, Le Premier tome de l’Architecture by Philibert de L’Orme represents the first definitive edition and the only one published during the author’s lifetime of the most ambitious architectural treatise of the French Renaissance. Despite the title indicating a “first tome,” the subsequent volumes never came to light.
A very beautiful copy, original binding, In Folio - COLLECTOR'S COPY
Conceived as the start of a vast encyclopedic project never completed, these pages constitute a true theoretical and political manifesto of French national architecture. Richly endowed with figures, diagrams and plates, the volume fuses ancient tradition, medieval knowledge and modern innovation, placing itself at the border between an operational treatise, a pedagogical manual and a symbolic reflection on geometry as the universal language of forms. A rare, complete exemplar of exceptional material quality, an authentic collector’s copy worthy of institutional libraries and museum collections.
Market value
The first edition of 1567 occupies a position of utmost prominence in the international market for architecture books. Complete copies in good condition consistently command a price range between €20,000 and €35,000, with higher figures exceeding €40,000 for specimens particularly well preserved, equipped with contemporary decorative bindings or illustrious provenance. The combination of editio princeps, monumental iconographic apparatus, structural rarity and historical centrality makes this work one of the supreme trophies of Renaissance architectural collecting.

Physical description and condition - collector's copy
In folio. Paris, 1567, Fédéric Morel. 11 unnumbered leaves (blank, title, dedication, index and blank), 283 leaves. Collation: a4, e6, a–n6, o4, p2, q6, r4, s–v6, x4, y–z6, A–C6, D2, E–M6, N4, O–V6, X5, Y6, Z4, Aaa6, Bbb4, Ccc–Ddd6, Eee6. Trimmed and with stains at the margins Xiii and Xiiii.
Title within an engraved medallion enclosed by a wide architectural border; presence of geometric diagrams inserted in the notes and the text. An exceptionally extensive iconographic apparatus: 205 woodcut illustrations, including 74 full-page plates, 5 folding plates, and 2 double-page plates, dedicated to architectural orders, stereotomy, timber structures, and complex building systems.
A rigorously contemporaneous binding in dark morocco, boards and spine smooth with an imposing central medallion featuring a fleuron, gilt edges. A complete, fresh specimen of exceptional material and visual quality. In ancient books, with a multi-century history, there may be some imperfections, not always detected in the description.

Full title and author
The First Tome of the Architecture of Philibert de L’Orme, counselor and ordinary almoner of the King, and Abbot of St. Serge near Angers.
Paris, at Fédéric Morel’s, Rue Saint-Jean de Beauvais, 1567. With the King’s privilege.
Philibert de L’Orme

Context and Significance
The first tome of Architecture constitutes one of the foremost theoretical contributions of French Renaissance architecture and a conscious manifesto of national identity. The work is organized into eleven books, enriched by a vast corpus of unpublished figures, dedicated to the design of dwellings, ornament, proportions, materials, and rational and economical construction methods. De L’Orme develops original theories, including the formulation of an Ionic order “à la française,” distinct from classical models, and an advanced system of stereotomy applied to the construction of vaults, stairs, and complex structures. The influence of Antiquity is filtered through direct study of Roman ruins— triumphal arches, rotundas, monumental buildings—yet reinterpreted as a source of modernity, not as servile imitation. Central is the role of mathematics and geometry, which give projects an almost abstract and speculative character: architecture becomes the science of order, a secret language of universal harmony. The treatise also has a strong pedagogical vocation, aimed at training architects, blending medieval tradition and Renaissance humanism. It is no accident that the author was described by contemporaries as a kind of “French Michelangelo.”

Biography of the Author
Philibert de L’Orme (1514–1570) was the central figure of Renaissance architecture in France. Trained in Italy, especially in Rome, he absorbed the principles of ancient architecture and then reworked them into an original form that was profoundly French. A royal architect in the service of Henry II and Catherine de’ Medici, he carried out foundational works such as the château of Anet and significant interventions at the Tuileries and the Louvre. His theoretical activity, culminating in this treatise, testifies to a rare balance between intellectual rigor, technical innovation, and symbolic ambition.

Printing history and circulation
The first edition of 1567 is the only one published during the author's lifetime and represents the definitive editio princeps of the work. Although the title indicates a 'first tome', the subsequent volumes never saw the light. Reprints were rare and late, making the original edition quickly difficult to obtain already in the 17th century. Its circulation was limited but highly influential, contributing decisively to the definition of modern French architecture and to the transmission of Renaissance knowledge in both the constructive and theoretical spheres.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Fowler, Architectural Books, 229.
Mortimer, French Sixteenth Century Books, 325.
Cicognara, Catalogue of Art Books, 525.
Vasari, Lives of the Most Eminent Architects, ed. 1568.
Millard, French Books, 104.
Blunt, Philibert de L’Orme, London, 1958.
Ceccarelli Pellegrino, A., The "good architect" of Philibert De L'Orme. Hypotexts and anticipations, Paris/Fassano, Schena/Nizet, 1996.
Morresi, M., Philibert de l'Orme. The Homelands of the Language, in A. Blunt, Philibert de L'Orme, Milan, Electa, 1997, pp. 159–193.
Pauwels, Y., Philibert De L'Orme and Cesare Cesariano: the 'Doric pedestal' of the First Volume of Architecture, Revue de l'Art, 91, 1991, pp. 39–43.
Pauwels, Y., The Ancient Romans in the Treatises of Philibert de L'Orme and Jean Bullant, Mélanges de l’École française de Rome – Italy and the Mediterranean, 106, 1994/2, pp. 531–547.
Pauwels, Y., The French in Search of a Language. The Heterodox Manner/Orders of Philibert de l'Orme and Pierre Lescot, Revue de l'Art, 112, 1996, pp. 9–15.
Pauwels, Y., Architecture in the Time of the Pléiade, Paris, Monfort, 2002.
Pauwels, Y., On the Margins of the Rule. An Essay on the Orders of Architecture in the Renaissance, Wavre, Mardaga, 2008.
Pauwels, Y., Architecture and the Book in France during the Renaissance: 'A Magnificent Decadence' ?, Paris, Classiques Garnier, 2013, pp. 123–127, 175–189, 221–238.
Pérouse de Montclos, J.-M., L’architecture à la française. From the mid-15th century to the end of the eighteenth century, Paris, Picard, 2011 (1st ed. 1982).
Pérouse de Montclos, J.-M., Introduction to Philibert De L'Orme, Treatises on Architecture, Paris, Laget, 1988, pp. 43–44.
J.-M. Pérouse de Montclos, The editions of the Treatises of Philibert De L'Orme in the seventeenth century, in J. Guillaume (ed.), The Treatises of Architecture in the Renaissance, Paris, Picard, 1988, pp. 355–366.
J.-M. Pérouse de Montclos, Philibert De L'Orme, Architect to the King (1514–1570), Paris, Mengès, 2000.
Potié, P., Philibert De L'Orme. Figures of constructive thought, Marseille, Parenthèses, 1996.
Sakarovitch, J., Architectural Epures: from the cutting of stones to descriptive geometry, 16th–19th centuries, Basel/Boston/Berlin, Birkhäuser, 1998.
Copies preserved at the Bibliothèque nationale de France and at other major European heritage libraries.