99, [1] p. Small 8vo (160 x 107), cont. calf (joints a little worn), red morocco lettering-piece on spine, spine gilt. Paris: C.A. Jombert, 1754.

First edition of this uncommon book, which contains an essential lecture given by Blondel at the opening session of the fifth Cours Publique in his independent Ecole des Arts. This school was founded in 1743, and was able to provide an exhaustive curriculum to a larger and more diverse audience than the Académie. Leading figures of the neo-classical such as Chambers, Patte, Wailly, Desprez, Boullée, and Ledoux all took classes at the school.

This work represents the first appearance of Blondel’s famous lecture in print. To replicate the experience of an actual lecture, the text is supplemented with footnotes, some of which take up several pages. An extensive and most interesting list of important architectural works recommended by Blondel is found on pages 83-89. More

Numerous tables in the text. xv, [1], 955, [1], 6 pp. Large thickish 4to, cont. polished calf (foot of upper joint with a short & unimportant crack), spine gilt, contrasting morocco lettering piece on spine. Paris: la Veuve Desaint, 1780.

First edition and an enormously useful book in which the author compares many of the weights, measures, and currencies of antiquity with modern counterparts throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Paucton (1736-98), professor of mathematics at Strasbourg, was later in the Paris bureau of surveys.

This is a classic book in the history of weights and measures; Gibbon described it as “useful and laborious.” “At... More