Palladio - Traicté des Cinq Ordres d’Architecture - 1647

The Five Orders of Architecture: The Dawn of French Classicism in the "Grand Siècle"
This Paris edition of 1647 of the Traité des cinq Ordres d’Architecture marks one of the decisive moments in the French reception of Andrea Palladio, filtered and reinterpreted through the work of Pierre Le Muet. More than a simple translation, the volume is a true theoretical and visual re-foundation of ancient architecture, adapted to the constructive, aesthetic and technical needs of seventeenth-century France. Printed by Pierre Mariette and entirely engraved, the work unites proportional rigor, didactic clarity and a strong visual impact, confirming itself as one of the most influential architectural manuals of the modern era.
Market value
In the antique market, the seventeenth-century illustrated editions dedicated to the five architectural orders, especially when entirely engraved and linked to Palladio’s name, occupy a constant, cross-cutting range of interest among collectors of architecture, graphic arts, and the history of taste. In this case, while noting the absence of the title page of Traicté des galleries, along with mouillures and salissures, the substantial completeness of the engraved material, the quality of the Mariette edition, and the noble provenance allow us to place the commercial appraisal of the specimen, within the current context of the European market, in an indicative range between €800 and €1,600, with possible fluctuations tied to demand for French architectural manuals of the Grand Siècle.

Physical description and condition
A volume in full early 20th-century pasteboard(?) binding in antique style, with a spine featuring richly gilt ribbing; binding solid but not contemporary. Leaves with foxing, stains, and diffuse browning, consistent with use and the age of the specimen. An edition entirely engraved, illustrated by an engraved title, 15 hors-texte plates and 73 full-page engravings. The Traicté des cinq Ordres occupies pages 1–166 and includes a title and 34 engravings; the Traicté des galleries occupies pages 167–229 and includes 15 hors texte plates (of which 13 are engraved recto-verso) and 24 full-page engravings; title page missing for the second part. In old books, with a long, multi-century history, there may be several imperfections not always noted in the description. Pp. (4); 8nn; 230; (6).

Full title and author
Treatise on the Five Orders of Architecture, which the Ancients used.
Paris, by Pierre Mariette fils, 1647.
Andrea Palladio & Pierre Le Muet.

Context and Significance
The text arises from the encounter between Palladio’s absolute authority and Pierre Le Muet’s technical sensibility, a central figure in French architecture of the seventeenth century. If Palladio provides the proportional system and the reference to antiquity, Le Muet adapts it to contemporary construction needs, introducing practical solutions and updated typologies, as in Traicté des galleries. The work thus becomes an operative tool, destined not only for theoretical architects but also for builders and engineers, contributing decisively to the diffusion of a rational and measured classicism in France during the Grand Siècle.

Biography of the Author
Andrea Palladio (1508–1580) was the most influential architect of the European Renaissance. His works and his writings, especially The Four Books of Architecture, codified a language based on harmony, mathematical proportions, and deliberate imitation of the antique, destined to influence Western architecture for centuries.
Pierre Le Muet (1591–1669) was a French architect and theorist, the author of fundamental practical treatises on civil architecture. His work played a crucial role in the transition from the Italian Renaissance model to a French functional and normative classicism.

Printing history and circulation
Mariette Editions of architectural treatises are among the most important in French Seventeenth-Century publishing, thanks to their high engraving quality and editorial care. This Treatise enjoyed wide circulation among architects, engineers, and educated patrons, often worn by practical use. Complete sets of the plates and in good structural condition, like the one described here, are today considerably rarer.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Millard, French Books on Architecture 1600–1750.
Fowler, Palladio and Palladianism.
Berlin Catalogue, Architectural Treatises of the 17th Century.
USTC, Parisian editions by Mariette (1647).

Provenance
From the library of Juan Manuel Acevedo, with a heraldic ex libris.