The book « Architecture, Peinture, Et Sculpture de la Maison de Ville d’Amsterdam » by Hubertus Quellinus (1619-1687) is written in one single font with serifs. The beginning is a short introduction to the topic. It is a short text of half a page that describes why Hubertus chose this exact building. This introduction is directly followed by 109 descriptive paragraphs that accompany the illustrations that follow in the second part of the book. These paragraphs are formatted into two columns per page. The paragraphs vary in length but always keep the same style and font. Their heading consists of the word “planche” (board) and the according roman numeral. All the headings are written in uppercase letters.
The second part of the book contains no text but only architectural drawings like floor plans, elevations and details like paintings and sculptures. These drawings have only a roman number next to them so that the reader knows which text to read. These illustrations are full-page, double-page and sometimes foldout over two pages.
Because of the very compact style of the text and the rather generous size of the drawings the book is mainly made up of the latter. There are around 25 pages of text and 250 pages filled with those 109 illustrations. It invites the reader to spend time looking at these illustrations. Not only because they are drawn nicely and very detailed but also because they have a lot more to tell than their respective description.
It is certainly useful for academic studies and as a reference. Every single part of the building is carefully drawn and described. Not particularly very technical but they are quite artistic and historical. Hubertus Quellinus intended this as well. The one and only goal this book has is to show the beauty and superiority of the town hall of Amsterdam.