The book “A Collection of designs for rural retreats, as villas” by James Malton depicts designs of British country houses of the 17th century. He talks about the style of villas and highlights the rejection of Roman and Greek styles. Having that in mind I started searching for books that also focus on this topic. I first explored the Xenotheka by typing in “villa”, “country” and “British”. I didn’t find any works describing British house designs so I went on searching for villas in general.
The first book that I came up with was “The Roman Villa in the Mediterranean Basin” by Marzano. While Malton mainly occupies himself with drawings and floor plans of villas, Marzano describes Rome more vividly including life, history, and culture. Nevertheless, he also made detailed studies of Roman villas in the Mediterranean basin and can be used as a trustworthy reference.
In conclusion, both books describe completely different architectural styles and cultures but are interesting for study and close observation.