Vitruvio - De Architectura - 1586

The Code of Harmony: From Ancient Rome to the Renaissance workshop
This Lyonese edition from 1586 of Vitruvius’ De Architectura represents one of the high points of the Renaissance reception of ancient architecture. Curated by the French humanist Guillaume Philandrier (Philander), a pupil of Sebastiano Serlio, the work renders Vitruvius’ text through rigorous philological scholarship based on manuscripts and earlier printed traditions. The edition integrates the authority of the text with an iconographic woodcut apparatus of extraordinary didactic clarity, essential for understanding the most obscure passages. The volume presents itself as a true normative tool, intended not only for erudite reading but for the practice of the architect and the engineer, engaging proportion, geometry, constructive technique, and theory of ornament in dialogue. Printed in Lyon by Jean de Tournes, the edition testifies to the full maturity of sixteenth-century architectural publishing and the transformation of ancient knowledge into an operational model for modern Europe.
MARKET VALUE The sixteenth-century illustrated editions of De Architectura occupy a central position in the international market for old books. The editions curated by Philandrier and printed in Lyon are particularly valued for the philological quality of the text and for the precision of the wood engravings, often preferred for practical use over the more bulky Italian editions. Complete copies, with the folded plate preserved and in contemporary bindings, sit in a mid-to-upper market range between 2,500 and 3,500 euros, with a constant appreciation due to the interest of collectors of architecture, the history of science, and Renaissance art.

Contemporary binding in full stiff parchment with the title in gold within a panel on the spine. Presence of some stains and signs of use consistent with the period; an ancient manuscript note on the title page. Title page with the title within an elegant woodcut architectural frame; drop caps ornamented with fine workmanship. The volume is enriched with numerous woodcut illustrations in the text depicting architectural orders, human proportions (related to the concept of the Vitruvian Man), military machines, and hydraulic structures; there is the rare folding plate with Latin inscriptions between pp. 178–179. Leaves with some tears and browning. Pp. (6); 16 nn; 460; 34 nn; (6).

Full title and author
M. Vitruvii Pollionis De Architectura libri decem, ad Caesarem Augustum, omnibus omnium editionibus ante habitis emendatiores, cum commentariis Gulielmi Philandri Castilioni...
Lyon, at Ioannem Tornaesium, 1586.
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
Commentary by Guillaume Philandrier

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE The De Architectura is the only organic treatise on architecture to come down from antiquity, and it constitutes the theoretical foundation on which the entire modern Western architecture has been built. The Philandrier edition stands out for its aim of restoring an “operational” Vitruvius, clarifying technical terms and integrating the text with a pictorial apparatus that visualizes the canon of symmetry. In this respect, the treatise becomes a manual capable of guiding Renaissance practice, profoundly influencing the theory of proportions and the codification of the architectural orders that would define the European urban landscape for centuries.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR Marco Vitruvio Pollione lived between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD. Architect and military engineer active under Augustus, he composed the De Architectura as a synthesis of ancient technical knowledge, defining the three pillars of architecture: Firmitas (solidity), Utilitas (functionality) and Venustas (beauty). His work, rediscovered in the Quattrocento, became the theoretical foundation of Renaissance architecture. The commentator, Guillaume Philandrier, was a French ecclesiastic and humanist whose work on Vitruvius, begun in Rome, is considered one of the most important scientific contributions of the 16th century.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
The annotated editions of Vitruvius enjoyed extraordinary success in the 16th century. The workshop of Jean de Tournes in Lyon played a central role in the European diffusion of the classical texts, distinguished by a superior typographic aesthetic and millimetric care in the engravings. This 1586 edition is a milestone of Lyonese printing and circulated widely among the great architects of the time, becoming a direct source of inspiration for the development of Classicism in France and in Italy.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES

EDIT16, CNCE 37262;

Adams V-915;

Mortimer (French), 550;

P. Gros, Vitruvius and the tradition of architectural treatises;

J. Rykwert, The Dancing Column;

H. Burns, Andrea Palladio and the Tradition of Vitruvius.