VITRUVIUS: THE TEN BOOKS ON ARCHITECTURE

Description

Ten Books on Architecture (De Architectura) is a treatise on architecture written by the Roman architect Vitruvius and dedicated to his patron, the emperor Caesar Augustus, as a guide for building projects. The work is one of the most important sources of modern knowledge of Roman building methods as well as the planning and design of structures, both large (aqueducts, buildings, baths, harbours) and small (machines, measuring devices, instruments). It is also the prime source of the famous story of Archimedes and his bath-time discovery. Probably written around 15 BC, it is the only contemporary source on classical architecture to have survived in its entirety.
This is a reproduction of a book translated in English by Morris H. Morgan  and originaly published in 1918 by Harvard University Press.

CONTENTS

Book I

• The Education of the Architect
• The Fundamental Principles of Architecture
• The Departments of Architecture
• The Site of a City
• The City Walls
• The Directions of the Streets; with Remarks on the Winds
• The Sites for Public Buildings

Book II

• 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 III

• On Symmetry: in Temples and in the Human Body
• Classification of Temples
• The Proportions of Intercolumniations and of Columns
• The Foundations and Substructures of Temples
• Proportions of the Base, Capitals, and Entablature in the Ionic Order

Book IV

• The 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
• The Doorways of Temples
• Tuscan Temples
• Circular Temples and Other Varieties
• Altars

Book V

• 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 VI

• On Climate as determining the Style of the House
• Symmetry, and Modifications in it to suit the Site
• Proportions of the Principal Rooms
• The Proper Exposures of the Different Rooms
• How the Rooms should be suited to the Station of the Owner
• The Farmhouse
• The Greek House
• On Foundations and Substructures

Book VII

• Floors
• The 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
• Cinnabar (continued)
• Artificial Colours. Black
• Blue. Burnt Ochre
• White Lead, Verdigris, and Artificial Sandarachv
• Purple
• Substitutes for Purple, Yellow Ochre, Malachite Green, and Indigo

Book VIII

• How to find Water
• Rainwater
• Various Properties of Different Waters
• Tests of Good Water
• Levelling and Levelling Instruments
• Aqueducts, Wells, and Cisterns

Book IX

• 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 X

• Machines and Implements
• Hoisting Machines
• The 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

350 pages, b&w ills / 15,5 x 23,5 cm / English