Jean Baptiste Rondelet was an architect in France, and he was involved in the construction of the “Panthéon” in Paris. He was a student of Jacques-Germaine Soufflot who started the construction. Due to the death of Soufflot, his students continued the project. Jean Baptiste Rondelet was responsible for the Dôme. It was a difficult time in France with political riots and the revolution during the final years of the construction. Seven Years after finishing the Panthéon, Jean Baptiste Rondelet wrote the book “Mémoire historique sur le Dôme du Panthéon Français”. The book is out of firsthand. The text is written similar to a journal and describing the progress of the construction with technical details added.
The book contains four parts. The first Chapter is a description of the Monument. Jean Baptiste Rondelet writes about the inside and the outside of the Dome. The second part contains the historical details and the reason for its construction. He added notes in the text about things he observed on the construction site. The third part consists of dimensions and plans for the walls to resist the necessary forces and the fourth part describes all the mistakes and accidents connected to the columns of the dome and way to prevent/repair them.
The Text is not illustrated with pictures or drawings. The Size of the book is comparable to a DinA4 notebook. For better understanding and as references Jean Baptiste Rondelet added his Plans for the Dome at the end of the book and they’re unfoldable and exceed the size of the book.