Buchotte - Règles du Dessein - 1754

ILLUSTRATED MANUAL OF TECHNICAL DRAWING AND MILITARY ARCHITECTURE
Important seventeenth-century treatise devoted to the technique of architectural and military drawing, with particular attention to the representation in plan, elevation, and section of fortifications and buildings. Buchotte’s work provides practical rules for the use of geometric drawing and the wash technique, fundamental for rendering light and shade, elevations, and depth in technical projects. Enriched with 24 folded engraved plates with examples of plans, profiles, and fortified structures, it represents a significant testimony of eighteenth-century French engineering culture.

WHY TO BUY
IMPORTANT TEXT IN MILITARY ENGINEERING - A work intended for the technical training of engineers and draftsmen of the eighteenth century.
COMPLETE ICONOGRAPHIC APPARATUS - The 24 engraved plates illustrate methods of representing fortified works, buildings and architectural structures.
Representative exemplar of the scientific and military production of the Enlightenment era.
Preserves a refined contemporary leather binding with title and gold decorations on the spine and red edges.

MARKET VALUE
Eighteenth-century works on military architecture and technique, especially complete with engraved plates and in antique binding, are sought after by collectors of the history of engineering, architecture and fortifications. Indicative commercial value: €500–1,000, with variations according to completeness of the plates, condition, and binding quality.

CONDITION
Contemporary leather binding, spine with decorative raised bands, and gilt title on a label. Boards with normal age-related marks and slight abrasions. Red edges. Frontispiece with an engraved typographic mark. Complete with 24 engraved plates printed off the text, some folded, depicting plans, profiles, sections and systems of technical representation. Pages in good overall condition with mild foxing and marginal marks from use. In ancient books with a multigenerational history, a few imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. This listing contains AI Visualizations. Please refer to the original photographs to verify the actual condition of the item. Images are an integral part of the description. Pp.: (4); 16; 214; 2nn; (4).

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Les règles du dessein et du lavis.
À Paris, Chez Charles-Antoine Jombert, 1754.
Buchotte.

CONTEXT
In the eighteenth century, graphic representation became an essential tool for military engineers, architects, and technicians. The wash drawing allowed highlighting depth, elevations, and structural differences through tonal variations, becoming a fundamental technique in the design of fortifications and buildings. Buchotte’s work fits into the great French tradition of technical manual production tied to military engineering and the training of engineers, offering a systematic method for producing plans, profiles, and elevations.
Important seventeenth-century treatise devoted to the technique of architectural and military drawing, with particular attention to the representation in plan, elevation, and section of fortifications and buildings. Buchotte’s work provides practical rules for the use of geometric drawing and the wash technique, fundamental for rendering light and shade, elevations, and depth in technical projects. Enriched with 24 folded engraved plates with examples of plans, profiles, and fortified structures, it represents a significant testimony of eighteenth-century French engineering culture.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY
Buchotte was a French military engineer active in the eighteenth century, belonging to the technical corps involved in the design and representation of fortified works. His activity falls within the era of great development in French military engineering, characterized by the codification of surveying, design, and technical drawing methods.

PRINTING HISTORY
The first diffusion of the work dates to the mid-eighteenth century; this edition of 1754 was published in Paris by Charles-Antoine Jombert, a renowned publisher specialized in works on mathematics, architecture, military arts, and applied sciences. The work circulated mainly among engineers, architects, military academies, and European technical libraries.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
USTC – Universal Short Title Catalogue.
WorldCat.
Bibliothèque nationale de France, catalogues of eighteenth-century French editions.
Ouvrages sur l’histoire de l’ingénierie militaire française.
Renouard, Annales de l’imprimerie des Jombert.