VITRUVE Architecture ou Art de bien bastir. Mis de latin en françoys par Jean Martin.

Millard, French, 163 ; Berlin Kat. I, 1807 ; Fowler 403 ; Mortimer, French, 549.

First edition in French of the only surviving architectural treatise from Antiquity, which continued to dominate the architectural thinking and building of the Renaissance even after the treatises of Palladio and Serlio. The translation was made by the humanist Jean Martin and illustrated by the major sculptor Jean Goujon. Along with Cousin's perspective treatise, this is one of the few French 16th century books to rival Italian treatises for the graphic interest of its illustrations.

« Jean Martin, secretary to Cardinal de Lenoncourt, is known today as a popularizer who, with his translation, spread the knowledge of Italian Renaissance architectural vocabulary and theory to Northern Europe » (Millard).

« Cette traduction française du traité de Vitruve s’inscrit dans le contexte du renouveau architectural des années 1545-1550 : elle est contemporaine des projets de Philibert De l’Orme pour Anet et de Lescot pour le Louvre. La redécouverte par les Français du langage ornemental à l’antique rendait nécessaire l’accès au texte fondateur. C’est aussi l’époque où s’élabore le langage moderne de la critique d’art en France. (…) Dans la dédicace au Roi ou l’avertissement aux lecteurs, Martin ne manque pas de rendre hommage à tous ceux dont les ouvrages lui furent précieux (Fra Giocondo, Serlio, Philandrier, Budé) » (Frédérique Lemerle, Cnrs, Cesr, Tours, sur le site Architectura).

The illustration of this work is remarkable, consisting of a beautiful woodcut portrait (Jean Martin, Jean Barbé or Vitruvius?) and 150 woodcut figures in the text, 33 of which are full-page. Some of these illustrations are borrowed from the fine Venetian edition of Vitruvius by Fra Giocondo of 1511 and from Cesariano's commented edition of 1521, while the others were specially produced by Jean Goujon in the years 1544-1545, as attested by the presentation manuscript of the first book preserved in the Bibliothèque nationale de France (ms. fr. 12338).

“The new attitude is most strongly brought out by Goujon in his appended essay on Vitruvius, in which the sculptor states that geometry and perspective are the two most important sciences for the art of building and ornamenting architecture” (Millard).

Pleasant copy, rubricated. Some minor marginal restorations to title and some leaves including folding plates, some very light occasional marginal waterstain.