When I used Alice to find books in the Xenotheka library, I first thought of key words to use. As my book is one of the “Säulenbücher” I tried this keyword first. Sadly, this didn’t bear any results. With my next search words, I stuck with the topic of architecture.
As the author of my book (Gabriel Kramer) compares his book with the ten books of Vitruvius, I used the search words “Vitruvius” and “columns” next. This was very interesting.
Firstly, I found the book: “Renaissance and baroque architecture” by Wiley Blackwell, 2017. This book is interesting, as it has a chapter on “Vitruvius and the Architectural Treatise in Early Modern Rome”
Secondly, I was surprised to find “Elements of Architecture” by Rem Koolhaas as a search result. This is a book that I own, and I did not know that it too deals with Vitruvius’ view on the columns. It explains how Vitruvius’ writings were praised by Serlio, but still deviated from in his architecture.
This is similar to Architectura by Gabriel Kramer, as the author praises Vitruvius, while changing the orders to his liking.
Thirdly, I stumbled upon a text (not a book) which compares musicians and architects. “Musicians never differ on the correctness of the notes of a chord, (…) whereas architects almost always hold distinct opinions on proportions” This again plays with the concept of column order books, such as Architectura by Gabriel Kramer. The quote talks about the different thought process that musicians and architects have.
Vitruvius says that an architect should have knowledge in other professions, such as that of the musician which is mentioned here.
Overall, it was difficult to find texts and books that directly reference Gabriel Kramer. It was possible however, to find books that deal with similar subjects, such as the column orders and Vitruvius. Being able to read these books was interesting.