The book “Collection of Etruscan, Greek and Roman Antiquities” by Hugues Hancarville is organised in one column texts. There is always one page in the original language French and the following page is translating the French part into English. The different chapters are indicated by headings that are written in capital letters and with a bigger font size. The title as well as the general text are written in serif font, which may also be a reason for the good legibility.
Throughout the whole book there aren’t a lot of illustrations. Most of them are found in the beginning or the end of a chapter. Illustrated are perspective views that show very detailed objects and natural elements. The illustrations get a bigger meaning because of the simple and monotonous text pages. Although some of them are nicely brought into the text, such as the drawings in the beginning of every chapter that show the first letter of the sentence in an architectural context. In the end you even have some pages that show one drawing of antique objects on each page. The images aren’t numbered and there isn’t a reference list at the end of the book.
I’d say that the text holds a bigger meaning throughout the book then the illustrations do. It seems as if the illustrations are a way of showing in pictures what is said and provide a reading break to the reader. While reaching the end of the chapter and seeing the illustration, you automatically start reviewing the read. The book shows a collection of Etruscans, Greek and roman antiquities. It’s probably used as a reference handbook. But it could also be useful as an academic study book, as it provides a lot of additional informations about architecture and the way of living at that certain time.