As the book name already reveals, it is looking for Parallels of Ancient Architecture and the (then) Modern. It compares the different measuremnts taken by different Architects and Theoreticians such as Scamozzi, Vignola, Palladio, defining the 5 Orders or respectively their proportions, with is both illustrativ by text and comparing drawings with the deviating measurements.
It is organised as the each Order is described in a General text, followed by some exemples of the there discussed Order (images and text), followed by the comparisions categorized by the two people beging compared against each other.
The booktitle repeats itself on every textfilled double page in Capital letters, accompagnied by the page number on the same hight.
Beneath the booktitle, at beginnings of new chapters the title is written in italics but names succeeded by the chapter number.
There is a table of Contents, but not one for the illustrations, eventhough they are numbered.
Text – Illustration – ratio is about equal in those comparitve parts whitch make apporoximately 3/4 of the book. The other pages only contain text; Where there is a longer only-text part right at the beginning (Preface), cummulating with the foreword to the first Partie, again there is a foreword to the Second partie. The book finishes with an Explication in text format.
The illustrations often take up a whole page, are really detailed (architectural drawings, drawn in view) and completed with exact measurements. They are rammet by a double frame. They seem to take on an Even more important part than the text.
The book tries to summarize and generalize the proportions of the 5 orders, translating Vitruvius in a way as he is mentionned several times, it gives examples and brings together the opinions of the Most important architects of the described time. It opens up the then being rediscovered ideals of Roman and Greek architecture brought and being built in Italy to the French area.