I met the book „Trattato della cognizione pratica delle resistenze geometricamente“ by Giovanni Battista Borra in the reading room of Bibliothek Oechslin in Einsiedeln.
General subject of the book:
The book is a treatise on mathematical and practical architecture. It is dedicated to the construction of arches, vaults, domes and to the materials necessary for building practice.
Further it explains types of wood, the way and period to cut trees suitable for the manufacture, how to produce bricks of good quality, suitable sand and lime and instructions on how to build in any type of terrain
Organisation of the book:
The book consists of 4 main parts with text and an appendix with figures.
Part one of the resistances is divided into 40 propositions, part two of the resistances is divided into 33 propositions, part three of the resistances is divided into 13 propositions, part four of the resistances is divided into 7 chapters and the appendix consists of 26 figures.
Size of the book:
height: 288mm, width: 215mm, breadth: 55mm
traditional standard format:
Fold Symbol: 4°, Name: Quarto, Size Letter: F
Total number of pages and illustrations:
The text of the book is spread on 313 pages but if you take the appendix and all the empty pages into account the book consists of approx. 360 pages.
Total number of illustration is 31.
