A Treatise on the Decorative Part of Civil Architecture: Volume 2
With Illustrations, Notes, and an Examination of Grecian Architecture

This two-volume work, expanded and published in 1825, is regarded as one of the standard English texts on classical architecture.

William Chambers (Author), Joseph Gwilt (Edited by)

9781108054706, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 23 August 2012

322 pages, 42 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm, 0.48 kg

Sir William Chambers (1722–96), architect and furniture designer, wished to further his career in the 1750s by publishing on architecture. He also became the Prince of Wales' architectural tutor, architect to the office of works, then head of the royal works (comptroller and surveyor-general from 1782). Notably, he remodelled Buckingham House (1762–73) and designed Somerset House (1775–96), but Chambers' reputation rests also on his Treatise on Civil Architecture (1759), which he revised and expanded in 1791 as A Treatise on the Decorative Part of Civil Architecture. It is regarded as one of the standard English texts on classical architecture, and remains essential reading. This reissue is of the two-volume edition of 1825, annotated by the architect and writer Joseph Gwilt (1784–1863). Volume 2 focuses on the application of the orders as well as smaller architectural features, including doors, windows, balustrades, chimney-pieces and ceilings.

Of pedestals
Of the application of the orders of architecture
Of intercolumniations
Of arcades and arches
Of orders above orders
Of basements and attics
Of pediments
Of balustrades
Of gates, doors, and piers
Of windows
Of niches and statues
Of chimney-pieces
Of profiles for doors, windows, niches, chimney-pieces, etc.
Of block cornices and extraneous entablatures
Of the proportions of rooms
Of ceilings
Designs for casines, temples, gates, doors, etc.
Explanation of the principal terms employed in the science of architecture
General index
Directions to the binder
Errata.

Subject Areas: Architecture [AM]