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Vitruvius : the ten books on architecture

By: Publication details: Dover Publication New York, 1960Description: 331 pages : illustrations ; 21 cmISBN:
  • 9780486206455
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 720 VIT
Contents:
Book 1. The education of the architect Fundamental principles of architecture Departments of architecture The site of a city The city walls Directions of the streets; with remarks on the winds Sites for public buildings Book 2. The origin of the dwelling house On the primordial substance according to the physicists Brick Sand Lime Pozzolana Stone Methods of building walls Timber Highland and lowland fir Book 3. On symmetry: in temples and in the human body Classification of temples The proportions of intercolumniations and of columns Foundations and substructures of temples Proportions of the base, capitals, and entablature in the Ionic order Book 4. Origins of the three orders, and the proportions of the Corinthian capital The ornaments of the orders Proportions of Doric temples The cella and pronaos How the temple should face Doorways of temples Tuscan temples Circular temples and other varieties Altars Book 5. The forum and basilica The treasury, prison, and senate house The theatre: its site, foundations, and acoustics Harmonics Sounding vessels in the theatre Plan of the theatre Greek theatres Acoustics of the site of a theatre Colonnades and walks Baths The Palaestra Harbours, breakwaters, and shipyards. Book 6. On climate as determining the style of the house Symmetry, and modifications in it to suit the site Proportions of the principal rooms Proper exposures of the different rooms How the rooms should be suited to the status of the owner The farmhouse The Greek house On foundations and substructures Book 7. Floors Slaking of lime for stucco Vaultings and stucco work On stucco work in damp places, and on the decoration of dining rooms The decadence of fresco painting Marble for use in stucco Natural colours Cinnabar and quicksilver Artificial colours. Black Blue. Burnt ochre White lead, verdigris, and artificial sandarach Purple Substitutes for purple, yellow ochre, malachite green, and indigo Book 8. How to find water Rainwater Various properties of different waters Tests of good water Levelling and levelling instruments Aqueducts, wells, and cisterns Book 9. The zodiac and the planets The phases of the moon The course of the sun through the twelve signs The northern constellations The southern constellations Astrology and weather prognostics The analemma and its applications Sundials and water clocks Book 10. Machines and implements Hoisting machines Elements of motion Engines for raising water Water wheels and water mills The water screw The pump of Ctesibius The water organ The hodometer Catapults or scorpiones Ballistae The stringing and tuning of catapults Siege machines The tortoise Hegetor's tortoise Measures of defence Note on scamilli impares
Summary: Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, a Roman architect and engineer flourishing in the first century B.C., was the author of the oldest and most influential work on architecture in existence. For hundreds of years, the specific instructions he gave in his "Ten Books on Architecture" were followed faithfully, and major buildings in all parts of the world reveal the widespread influence of his precepts. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, he was "the chief authority studied by architects, and in every point his precepts were accepted as final. Bramante, Michelangelo, Palladio, Vignola, and earlier were careful students of the work of Vitruvius." His book is thus one of those rare works that have been supremely important in the creation of the greatest art masterpieces. Vitruvius describes the classic principles of symmetry, harmony, and proportion in architecture; the design of the treasury, prison, senate house, baths, forum, and temples; the construction of the theater: its site, foundations, and acoustics; the proper style and proportion for private dwellings; the differences between the Ionic, Doric, and Corinthian styles; methods of giving durability and beauty to polished finishings; and many other topics that help us understand the methods and beliefs of the Roman architect. It is a direct, authoritative, and detailed introduction to the ancients' methods of construction, the materials of the architect, and the prevailing aesthetic beliefs of the times; but it is also a work of art. Vitruvius wrote in such a fascinating manner, and digressed from his subject so often (as, for instance, when he wrote about the winds, Archimedes in his bath, and why authors should receive awards and honors at least as often as athletes), that his book has had a continuing appeal to the general reader for many centuries. Besides being an instructive treatise on nearly everything connected with Roman and Greek architecture, it is an entertaining description of some aspects of the life and beliefs of the times. This edition is the standard English translation, prepared over a period of several years by Professor M. H. Morgan of Harvard University.
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" ... an unabridged and unaltered republication of the first edition of the English translation by Morris Hicky Morgan, originally published ... in 1914"--Title page verso

Book 1. The education of the architect
Fundamental principles of architecture
Departments of architecture
The site of a city
The city walls
Directions of the streets; with remarks on the winds
Sites for public buildings
Book 2. The origin of the dwelling house
On the primordial substance according to the physicists
Brick
Sand
Lime
Pozzolana
Stone
Methods of building walls
Timber
Highland and lowland fir
Book 3. On symmetry: in temples and in the human body
Classification of temples
The proportions of intercolumniations and of columns
Foundations and substructures of temples
Proportions of the base, capitals, and entablature in the Ionic order
Book 4. Origins of the three orders, and the proportions of the Corinthian capital
The ornaments of the orders
Proportions of Doric temples
The cella and pronaos
How the temple should face
Doorways of temples
Tuscan temples
Circular temples and other varieties
Altars
Book 5. The forum and basilica
The treasury, prison, and senate house
The theatre: its site, foundations, and acoustics
Harmonics
Sounding vessels in the theatre
Plan of the theatre
Greek theatres
Acoustics of the site of a theatre
Colonnades and walks
Baths
The Palaestra
Harbours, breakwaters, and shipyards. Book 6. On climate as determining the style of the house
Symmetry, and modifications in it to suit the site
Proportions of the principal rooms
Proper exposures of the different rooms
How the rooms should be suited to the status of the owner
The farmhouse
The Greek house
On foundations and substructures
Book 7. Floors
Slaking of lime for stucco
Vaultings and stucco work
On stucco work in damp places, and on the decoration of dining rooms
The decadence of fresco painting
Marble for use in stucco
Natural colours
Cinnabar and quicksilver
Artificial colours. Black
Blue. Burnt ochre
White lead, verdigris, and artificial sandarach
Purple
Substitutes for purple, yellow ochre, malachite green, and indigo
Book 8. How to find water
Rainwater
Various properties of different waters
Tests of good water
Levelling and levelling instruments
Aqueducts, wells, and cisterns
Book 9. The zodiac and the planets
The phases of the moon
The course of the sun through the twelve signs
The northern constellations
The southern constellations
Astrology and weather prognostics
The analemma and its applications
Sundials and water clocks
Book 10. Machines and implements
Hoisting machines
Elements of motion
Engines for raising water
Water wheels and water mills
The water screw
The pump of Ctesibius
The water organ
The hodometer
Catapults or scorpiones
Ballistae
The stringing and tuning of catapults
Siege machines
The tortoise
Hegetor's tortoise
Measures of defence
Note on scamilli impares

Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, a Roman architect and engineer flourishing in the first century B.C., was the author of the oldest and most influential work on architecture in existence. For hundreds of years, the specific instructions he gave in his "Ten Books on Architecture" were followed faithfully, and major buildings in all parts of the world reveal the widespread influence of his precepts. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, he was "the chief authority studied by architects, and in every point his precepts were accepted as final. Bramante, Michelangelo, Palladio, Vignola, and earlier were careful students of the work of Vitruvius." His book is thus one of those rare works that have been supremely important in the creation of the greatest art masterpieces.
Vitruvius describes the classic principles of symmetry, harmony, and proportion in architecture; the design of the treasury, prison, senate house, baths, forum, and temples; the construction of the theater: its site, foundations, and acoustics; the proper style and proportion for private dwellings; the differences between the Ionic, Doric, and Corinthian styles; methods of giving durability and beauty to polished finishings; and many other topics that help us understand the methods and beliefs of the Roman architect.
It is a direct, authoritative, and detailed introduction to the ancients' methods of construction, the materials of the architect, and the prevailing aesthetic beliefs of the times; but it is also a work of art. Vitruvius wrote in such a fascinating manner, and digressed from his subject so often (as, for instance, when he wrote about the winds, Archimedes in his bath, and why authors should receive awards and honors at least as often as athletes), that his book has had a continuing appeal to the general reader for many centuries. Besides being an instructive treatise on nearly everything connected with Roman and Greek architecture, it is an entertaining description of some aspects of the life and beliefs of the times. This edition is the standard English translation, prepared over a period of several years by Professor M. H. Morgan of Harvard University.

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