(Architecture) - PALLADIO, Andrea I quattro libri dell’architettura [...] ne’ quali, dopo un breue trattato de’ cinque ordini, & di quelli auertimenti, che sono piu necessarij nel fabricare, si tratte delle case private, delle vie, de i ponti, delle piazze, de i xisti, et de’ tempij. Venice, Domenico de' Franceschi, 1570 4 parts in 1 vol., folio: 67-[1 bl.]-66 [78]-[2 bl.]-46-[1-1 bl.]-128-[6-2 bl.] pp. (some very min. spotting, some ms. annotations in ink in the margins, tear in verso E4). 17th-c. vellum, flat spine (sl. rubbed head, sm. def. at tail), speckled edges (ties gone). A very good copy notwithstanding the fact the margins are sl. cut short. First edition of the main work of the leading Venetian Renaissance architect Palladio (1508-1580). "Palladio’s lasting influence on architectural style in many parts of the world was exercised less through his actual buildings than through his textbook. This is divided into four sections: orders and elementary problems, domestic building, public building and town planning and temples. Palladio’s style was directly inspired by Roman classical models through the writings of Vitruvius and Alberti" (PMM). Book I, with dedication to Count Giacomo Angaranno, deals with foundations and materials, the 5 orders, types and proportions of rooms, flooring and other coverings, doors, windows, stairs and roofs. Book II covers the private house, villa and palace, with reconstructions of the Graeco-Roman villa and material on some of Palladio’s own villas. Book III, with dedication to Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy, deals with public spaces - roads, bridges and the ancient basilica - and with further material on the architect’s contemp. projects. Book IV covers the ancient Roman temples and concludes with a discussion of the work of Bramante. This is the original ed. (fingerprint identical with Edit16 27391), not the 1768 contrafact. 4 architectural title-pages within elaborate woodcut border, 218 woodcuts by Giovanni and Cristoforo Chrieger, Cristoforo Coriolano and others of which 155 full-page. Mark at the end. Ref. Edit16 27391. - Fowler 212. - Mortimer (Harvard Italian) 352. - Berlin Kat. 2592. - PMM 92. - STC Italian (BL) 485. - BnF. - COPAC. - Not in Adams.