A Treatise on the Decorative Part of Civil Architecture
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)

9781108054690, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 16 August 2012

352 pages, 19 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 2 cm, 0.52 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 1 contains Gwilt's prefatory material, including an analysis of Grecian architecture's development, followed by Chambers' systematic treatment of the orders of architecture.

Dedication
List of subscribers
Preface to this edition
Life of Sir William Chambers
Of the elements of beauty in architecture
Of the origin of Grecian architecture
Of the progress and perfection of Grecian architecture
Dedication to the third edition
Preface to the third edition
Introduction
Of the origin and progress of building
Of the parts which compose the orders of architecture
Of the orders of architecture in general
Of the Tuscan order
Of the Doric order
Of the Ionic order
Of the Composite order
Of the Corinthian order
Of pilasters
Of Persians and catyarids.

Subject Areas: Architecture [AM]