Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio was one of the most influential figures that the field of architecture has ever produced. For classical architects, the term Palladian stands for a vocabulary of architectural forms embodying perfection and beauty. Of even greater significance than Palladio's buildings is his treatise I quattro libri dell'architettura (The Four Books On Architecture), the most successful architectural treatise of the Renaissance and one of the two or three most important books in the literature of architecture. First published in Italian in 1570, it has been translated into every major Western language.

This is the first English translation of Palladio in over 250 years, making it the only translation available in modern English. Until now, English-language readers have had to rely mostly on a facsimile of Isaac Ware's 1738 translation and the eighteenth-century engravings prepared for that text. This new translation by Robert Tavernor and Richard Schofield contains Palladio's original woodcuts, reproduced in facsimile and positioned correctly, adjacent to the text. The book also contains a glossary that explains technical terms in their original context, a bibliography of recent Palladio research, and an introduction to Palladio and his times.

The First Book discusses building materials and techniques, as well as the five orders of architecture: Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite. Palladio describes the characteristics of each order and illustrates them. The Second Book discusses private town houses and country estates, almost all designed by Palladio. The Third Book discusses streets, bridges, piazzas, and basilicas, most of ancient Roman origin. The Fourth Book discusses ancient Roman temples, including the Pantheon.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Perhaps the most influential practitioner in the history of Western architecture and one of the earliest neoclassicists, Palladio created a singular corpus of architecture, the legacy of which is seen and felt in buildings of all types throughout the Western world. His theoretical and promotional treatise, I Quattro Libri dell' Architecttura, was first published in Venice in 1570 and sets forth a grammar of architecture. From building materials to residences to Roman temples, Palladio covered an incredible breadth of topics in his four volumes. This new translation in English, the first since Isaac Ware's of 1738, is simultaneously elegant and readable. The organization of the volume is immaculate: in addition to the informative introduction‘which serves as a bibliographic essay on the various editions of the work‘the list of illustrations from the 1570 edition, glossary, and bibliography all enrich the value of this treatise immeasurably. This edition also features the original woodcut illustrations, which are not as pristine as the engravings produced for Ware's edition but are carefully interleaved with the text. An important addition to academic libraries, architectural collections, and libraries collecting in the theory of art and architecture.‘Paul Glassman, Pratt Inst. Lib., Brooklyn (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

CHOICE Review

Andrea Palladio's seminal treatise (Venice, 1570) is undoubtedly the most influential book in Western architecture. Thanks to its succinct text and its many clear and accurate illustrations, it appealed to practical builders as well as to their erudite patrons; it remained for centuries in wide use and continued admiration. Through its dissemination Europeans and Americans acquired the principles of classical architecture, and to many far away from the Veneto Palladio was the Palladio of The Four Books. Hard as it may be to believe, the only edition in English until now was a Dover reprint of Isaac Ware's 1738 translation. The new translation, therefore heartily welcome, is admirable in accuracy no less than in kindness; words that call for special attention are accompanied by their Italian counterparts, and a thoughtful 40-page glossary is appended. For the benefit of those who might have wished to have a bilingual edition, the plates and text are keyed to the Hoepli facsimile of editio princeps. A brief introduction by Robert Tavernor, cotranslator, explains Palladio's debt to Vitruvius, Alberti, Serlio, and Alvise Cornaro, among others. Beautifully printed and bound, the book is definitely for all libraries. General; undergraduate (including two-year technical program) through professional. T. K. Kitao Swarthmore College

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Palladio is one of the most influential architects in the history of architecture. He is known as the first professional architect, since he was trained to build and in fact pursued that career throughout his life. Palladio was born in Padua but moved to Vicenza to apprentice with a stonemason. There he built some of his greatest works. Like many artists of the Renaissance, he was a student of Latin literature and of the works of the Roman architect Vitruvius. He found a patron in Giangiorgio Trissino, who in 1545 took him to Rome, where Palladio was able to study the remains of ancient architecture. This led to his revival of Roman symmetrical planning, which is particularly evident in the several villas he built in the Veneto from 1550 onward and for which he is now famous. Among these are the Villa Rotonda outside Vicenza.

Palladio set forth his theories and achievements in his Quattro Libri dell'Architettura (Four Books of Architecture), which he published in 1570 and which has been republished many times throughout the world.

(Bowker Author Biography)