Beschreibung:

vol.I-III, vol.I & II with engraved title, vol.III with letterpress title printed in red & black, vol.I with engraved calligraphic dedication, vol.I with 98 engraved plates on 84 sheets of architectural views and plans (complete), including 14 folding or double-page, mostly unsigned or with "C.Campbell Delin" or "Inv et Delin.", vol.II with 99 engraved plates on 74 sheets (complete), including 17 folding or double-page, mostly by Hulsbergh after Campbell, vol.III with 85 engraved plates on 66 sheets (only, of 98 plates on 73 sheets - see note for details), including 17 folding or double-page, mostly by Hulsbergh after Campbell, one plate with small pinhole burn to blank area, 2 plates with small repaired tear to margin, a few plates including title and dedication in vol.I with slight damp-staining affecting margins or corners, Sold by the Author [&c.], 1715-17-25 § Woolfe (John) and James Gandon Vitruvius Britannicus, or The British Architect [a continuation], vol.IV & V, both vol. with engraved title and engraved calligraphic dedication, vol.IV with 98 engraved plates on 79 sheets (complete), including 19 folding or double-page, vol.V with 98 engraved plates on 75 sheets (complete), including 25 folding or double-page, after Gandon, Woolfe & William Chambers short tear & creasing to head of vol.IV title with resultant minor marking to head of dedication, one plate with minor damp-stain, n.p., 1767-71, together 5 vol., first editions, titles in English & French, a few plates trimmed close to or just within plate-mark, some very occasional minor marking or age-toning, but overall internally very good, uniformly bound in contemporary mottled calf, hinges cracked with one cover detached but present, worn at spines and corners, [Millard, British Books, 10 & 94; Harris 97, 99 & 945; Fowler 76; Berlin Kat. 2329], folio. *** Campbell's celebrated "pattern book" for English architecture, a monumental work extolling and advancing the virtues of neo-Palladianism throughout Britain: "All in all, there is no underestimating the influence of Vitruvius Britannicus on English architecture. Both Campbell's panorama of English architecture as well as the presentation of his own designs make this lavish publication a virtually inexhaustible trove of architectural ideas, which...was to exert a considerable influence on architectural practice." Architectural Theory: From the Renaissance to the Present, Taschen, 2003. The lists of subscribers also provide an insight into the work's significance, featuring such notable figures as Robert Adam Joseph Addison, Nicholas Hawksmoor Nathaniel Hone Joshua Kirby, James Paine Joseph Pickford Thomas & Paul Sandby and John Wood as well as Campbell's employer The Earl of Burlington, himself a key advocate of Palladianism. Volume III in this set is lacking seven sheets of plates, namely Castle-Howard in Perspective (double-page), General Front of Wanstead...(double-page), Apple-Dorecombe...(single-page), Long-Leat House in Perspective (double-page), Chatsworth House in Perspective (double-page), Althorp in Perspective (double-page) and Duncomb in Perspective (double-page).