Augustin d’Aviler “Cours d’Architecture”:
Architecture course: which includes the Orders of [Jacques Barozzio, dit Le] Vignole, with comments, figures & descriptions of his most beautiful buildings, & those of Michelangelo, instructions and precepts & several new ones designs concerning distribution & decoration, material & construction of buildings, masonry, carpentry, roofing, locksmithing, carpentry, gardening, & generally all that relates to the art of building (Google translated)
Is a book outlining in a course format the orders of Vignole and catering to architects or other groups with special interest in architecture.
The table of content reveals all the different architecture disciples covered by d’Aviler as partly covered by the title. d’Aviler comments on the 5 Orders by Vignola and further develops these to become something more. Spanning from building elements like: doors, windows and niches to more general aspects like decorations and floor plans, to gardens., he walks the reader through the new modern architecture as he sees and teaches it
These different architecture disciplines are accompanied by several illustrations exemplifying d’Aviler’s massage of how a more modern and further developed architecture should be practiced.
Further adding to the quality of the illustrations and their message is the large format of the book, both with regards to the page number and size. This literature work is substantial, which is well reflected in its large format.
The author Augustin d’Aviler was sent to Rome from France on a scholarship to study Roman architecture. During the period of 1676 to 1679 d’Aviler spend in Rome drawing and studying its building. When he arrived back to France he wrote books on the topic of Vignole’s 5 Orders and commented much on their importance resulting in a new more modern architecture building on Vignole.