Serlio, Architecturae liber septimus, Frankfurt, 1575, contemporary tooled vellum

Sebastiano Serlio. Sebastiani Serlii Bononiensis Architecturae liber septimus. In quo multa explicantur, quae architecto variis locis possunt occurrere, tum ob inusitatam situs rationem, tum si quando instaurare, siue restituere aedes, aut aliquid pridem factum in opus adhibere, aut caetera huiusmodi facere necesse fuerit: prout proxima pagina indicatur… Il settimo libro d'Architettura di Sebastiano Serglio Bolognese. Nel qual si tratta di molti accidenti, che possono occorrer' al Architetto, in diversi luoghi, & istrane forme de siti, è nelle restauramenti, o restitutioni di case, è come habiamo à far, per servicii de gli altri edifici è simil cose: come nella sequente pagina si lege. Frankfurt am Main: André Wechel, 1575

The first printing of Serlio's Book VII, begun in 1542, but unpublished for nearly two decades after his death. "It represents the first publication to deal with the practical problems, or 'situations' (as the title has it), that an architect was likely to encounter, such as the design of buildings for irregular sites and slopes, or the re-use of columns when refacing Gothic façades" (Hart and Ricks). Jacopo Strada, the editor, outlines in the preface that "he visited Serlio in Lyon in 1550 and, finding him in an infirm and impoverished state, purchased much of the manuscript material in his hands", including manuscripts of the text and illustration for the unpublished Book VII (BAL RIBA).

First edition, state a, folio (370 x 246 mm). Italic type. collation: à⁶ A-Z⁴ Aa-Ff⁴ Gg⁶: 128 leaves. Title-page with woodcut device, numerous woodcut illustrations. (Lower margin of title-page renewed with loss of date, title-leaf plausibly supplied from elsewhere, spotting and browning, final leaf with slight paper flaw.)

binding: Contemporary vellum (372 x 250 mm), tooled in silver (now tarnished black), single fillet border with fleurons at corners, small central ornament, foredge flaps, stubs from 2 pairs of ties, plain edges. (Some staining to covers, new endpapers, probably a remboîtage.)

provenance: Erased ownership inscription to title, with inventory number 3753 — ownership inscription of "F. Rief" and inkstamp of "F.R. Inspecteur des Batimens" to à2r — K.K. Staats-Gewerbeschule in Wien (Viennese State Vocational School, est. 1881), inkstamp to D2r, O2r, and T1r. acquisition: Purchased in 1999 from Robin Halwas, London. references: BAL RIBA 2966; Fowler 326; Paper palaces: The rise of the Renaissance architectural treatise, Hart and Ricks, eds. (1998), p. 144