DIETTERLIN, Wendel (1551-1599) Lot n° 4

- Architectura. Von Außtheilung, Symmetria un proportion der Fünff Seulen. Stuttgart: [?], 1593 followed by Architectura de Postium seu Portalium ornatus uario. Strasbourg: Bernhard Jobin's heirs, 1594-1595. Reunion of the two original editions of 1593 (t.I) and 1594 (t.2), including 99 engravings by Dietterlin. This architectural treatise is recognized on a par with the works of Serlio and Jacques Androuet du Cerceau. The two-volume set includes a study of the five architectural orders in German, as well as a study of pillars and portals in Latin. The work was republished in 1598 by the brothers Hubrecht and Balthasar Caymox with a hundred additional plates, under the full title: Architectura von Außtheilung, Symmetria und Proportion der Fünff Seulen Und aller darauß volgender Kunst Arbeit von Fenstern Caminem Thürgerichten Portalen Bronnen und Epitaphien. Volume I was first printed in Stuttgart in 1593, with the text in German. The copies of t.I held by the BNF and the University of Strasbourg are less extensive than our copy (37 plates instead of 40). t.II was printed in Strasbourg, the frontispiece indicating 1594 and the colophon at the end of the work dating printing to 1595, by the heirs of Bernhard Jobin. W. Davies, Catalogue of early German Books, I, 134; British Museum, Catalogue of German books 1455-1600 p.243; Brunet, II, 706: Graasse, II, 391; Fr. Édouard Sitzmann, Dictionnaire de biographie des hommes célèbres de l'Alsace. t.I, p.382-383; R. Ménnard, p.84; Édouard Charton, Le Magasin pittoresque, p.305-306; Elizabeth J. Petcu, Amorphous Ornament, p.29; Benezit, IV, p.579. 2 t. in 1 vol. in-folio (382 x 272 mm). First editions, 99 engravings including 93 full-page, most numbered and sometimes out of order: 40 engravings in t.I including a frontispiece dated 1593, 59 engravings in t.II including a frontispiece dated 1594 (median wetness to the last two leaves of t.I, marginal browning, more pronounced in the second part). Handwritten note in pen pasted on second endpaper describing the 19th-century work in English (by William Stirling?), and a handwritten note quoting Summerson: "A collection of extravaganzas of the most sinister character". Bound in later vellum, with unidentified arms on the front cover [certainly Maxwell's]. Provenance: William Stirling Maxwell (1818-1878, bookplate, vignette: the words "Arts of Design", surrounding the name "Keir"): great Scottish art collector, bibliographer and politician. He was also known as an art historian, specializing in Spanish artists. An attractive volume, gathering the two first editions of Dietterlin's works, dated 1593 and 1594-1595, comprising 99 architectural etchings. From the collection of the Scottish politician, art collector and bibliographer William Stirling Maxwell. To bid, please consult the "Sales information" section.