Philibert de L’Orme - Architecture - 1567

FIRST ENTIRE EDITION OF L’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 absolute edition and the only one to appear in the author’s lifetime of the most ambitious architectural treatise of the French Renaissance. Although the title indicates a “first tome,” the subsequent volumes never saw the 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. Rich with figures, diagrams and plates, the volume fuses ancient tradition, medieval knowledge and modern innovation, standing at the border between an operative treatise, a pedagogical manual and a symbolic reflection on geometry as the universal language of forms. A rare exemplar, complete and of exceptional material quality, an authentic collector’s copy worthy of institutional libraries and museum collections.
MARKET VALUE
The first edition of 1567 holds a position of absolute prominence in the international market for architectural books. Complete copies in good condition typically range between €20,000 and €35,000, with peaks above €40,000 for particularly well-preserved specimens, equipped with decorative contemporary 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 (fly, title, dedication, index and fly), 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 marginal stains at Xiii and Xiiii.
Title within a medallion impressed and enclosed by a wide architectural border; presence of geometric diagrams inserted in the notes and in the text. An exceptionally wide iconographic apparatus: 205 woodcut illustrations, including 74 full-page plates, 5 folding plates and 2 double-page plates, devoted to architectural orders, stereotomy, wooden structures and complex construction systems.
Strictly contemporary binding in dark morocco, boards and spine smooth with an imposing central gilded medallion and floret, gilt edges. Complete copy, fresh, of exceptional material and visual quality. In old books, with a centuries-long history, a few imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description.

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Le Premier Tome de l’Architecture de Philibert de L’Orme, conseiller et aumosnier ordinaire du Roy, & Abbé de S. Serge lez Angiers.
Paris, Chez Fédéric Morel, rue S. Jean de Beauvais, 1567. Avec privilege du Roy.
Philibert de L’Orme

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
Le Premier tome de l’Architecture constitutes one of the foremost theoretical contributions to Renaissance French architecture and a conscious manifesto of national identity. The work unfolds in eleven books, enriched by a vast corpus of unpublished figures, devoted to the design of houses, ornament, proportions, materials and methods of rational and economical construction. De L’Orme develops original theories, including the formulation of a French Ionic order, distinct from classical models, and an advanced stereotomic system 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—but reinterpreted as a source of modernity, not as servile imitation. Central is the role of mathematics and geometry, which give projects a nearly 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 the training of architects, fusing medieval tradition and Renaissance humanism. Not incidentally, 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 to then reshape them into an original and profoundly French form. A royal architect in the service of Henry II and Catherine de’ Medici, he carried out foundational works such as the Château d’Anet and significant interventions at the Tuileries and the Louvre. His theoretical activity, culminated 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 were never issued. Reprints were scarce and late, making the original edition rapidly difficult to obtain already in the 17th century. The circulation was limited but highly influential, contributing decisively to the definition of modern French architecture and to the transmission of Renaissance learning in construction and theoretical spheres.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Fowler, Architectural Books, 229.
Mortimer, French Sixteenth Century Books, 325.
Cicognara, Catalogo dei libri d’arte, 525.
Vasari, Vite de’ più eccellenti architetti, ed. 1568.
Millard, French Books, 104.
Blunt, Philibert de L’Orme, London, 1958.
Ceccarelli Pellegrino, A., Le « bon architecte » de Philibert De L'Orme. Hypotextes et anticipations, Paris/Fassano, Schena/Nizet, 1996.
Morresi, M., Philibert de l'Orme. Le patrie della lingua, in A. Blunt, Philibert de L'Orme, Milan, Electa, 1997, pp. 159–193.
Pauwels, Y., Philibert De L'Orme et Cesare Cesariano : le « piédestal dorique » du Premier Tome de l’Architecture, Revue de l'Art, 91, 1991, pp. 39–43.
Pauwels, Y., Les antiques romains dans les traités de Philibert De L'Orme et Jean Bullant, Mélanges de l’École française de Rome – Italie et Méditerranée, 106, 1994/2, pp. 531–547.
Pauwels, Y., Les Français à la recherche d’un langage. Les ordres hétérodoxes de Philibert De L'Orme et Pierre Lescot, Revue de l'Art, 112, 1996, pp. 9–15.
Pauwels, Y., L’architecture au temps de la Pléiade, Paris, Monfort, 2002.
Pauwels, Y., Aux marges de la règle. Essai sur les ordres d’architecture à la Renaissance, Wavre, Mardaga, 2008.
Pauwels, Y., L’architecture et le livre en France à la Renaissance : « Une magnifique décadence » ?, Paris, Classiques Garnier, 2013, pp. 123–127, 175–189, 221–238.
Pérouse de Montclos, J.-M., L’architecture à la française. Du milieu du XVe siècle à la fin du XVIIIe siècle, Paris, Picard, 2011 (1re éd. 1982).
Pérouse de Montclos, J.-M., Introduction à Philibert De L'Orme, Traités d’architecture, Paris, Laget, 1988, pp. 43–44.
Pérouse de Montclos, J.-M., Les éditions des traités de Philibert De L'Orme au XVIIe siècle, in J. Guillaume (éd.), Les traités d’architecture à la Renaissance, Paris, Picard, 1988, pp. 355–366.
Pérouse de Montclos, J.-M., Philibert De L'Orme, Architecte du roi (1514–1570), Paris, Mengès, 2000.
Potié, P., Philibert De L’Orme. Figures de la pensée constructive, Marseille, Parenthèses, 1996.
Sakarovitch, J., Épures d’architecture, de la coupe des pierres à la géométrie descriptive, XVIe–XIXe siècles, Bâle/Boston/Berlin, Birkhäuser, 1998.