Full title:
A Collection of Designs for Rural Retreats, As Villas. Principally in the Gothic and Castle Styles of Architecture. With Their Ichnography, or Plans, Laid Down to Scale; and Other Appendages.
- The full title of the book reveals the exact content. The first part is a general insight of what we can expect. But the longer it gets, the more information is given. We know that it’s not only about designs for villas but that also their ichnography or plans in a certain scale are included.
- I think this title is speaking to anyone who is interested in this topic. But of course, also architects or maybe even historians who want to know more about designs for villas.
List of contents:
- The book doesn’t have a list of contents.
Illustrations:
- The book has a few illustrations towards the end. Most of them are a portrayal of a front view of a villa. They are very detailed drawings with shadows, plants, and other things. Otherwise, floor plans are depicted as well. The measurements are written, and each room is named.
- Towards the very end, a few design ideas for windows are shown as well.
Size / format:
- The book is on the thinner side. At the beginning, there is a text and then illustrations follow. The text is 43 pages long. The rest are only illustrations on so called “plates”. In total, there are 34 plates. It measures 34 cm in length.
- In my opinion, for the topic this length is appropriate. It’s a book about design ideas for villas and having a short text is crucial because those ideas are best visible in pictures.
Author:
- The author was a man called James Malton. He was born in 1761 and worked as an engraver and watercolorist. He also taught geometry and perspective and worked as a draughtsman for a famous Irish architect (source: Wikipedia).
- This book was his last work ever because he died a year after its publication. Malton’s work was all about showing architectural buildings around Dublin where he lived for some time.