General subject of the book: Francesco Lucio Durantino, Italian humanist and scientist, worked in Urbino and Venice in the first half of the 16th century. The book is the second edition and an adaptation of the first translation into Italian by the architect Cesare Cesariano around 1521. Cesariano’s translation only reaches to the 6th chapter of the 9th book because he stopped working after a dispute with his publishers. The translation was completed by Benedetto Giovio da Comasco and Bono Mauro da Bergamo. The ten differently weighted books deal with the historical, aesthetic and technical foundations of architecture as well as the construction of temples and residential buildings and urban planning.
Organisation of the book: The title is a red and black print and is framed by a cartouche with floral elements and signed with a “V”. The name of the editor Durantino appears on the 2nd page followed by a detailed list of the vocabulary from A to Z used in the book. Then follow the 10 books with their chapters, which are explained alternately with many woodcuts and text. Each further chapter begins with a small emblem. Marginal notes of the time can be found throughout the book and it was bound in a brown half leather binding with brown marbled paper.
Total number of pages and illustrations:
The book has 260 pages an 135 illustrations.
Size of the book: The book has a length of 315mm, a width of 220mm and a height of 24mm. This is to say that the size is “Folio”.