antique prints, maps and watercolors

...Ambresbury in Whiltshire... Vitruvius Britannicus...London, 1715-1735. $250.00

click for detailed image campbellawbresburyvlg.jpg

"Ambresbury in Wiltshire the Seat of the right Honourable the Lord Calton president of Council."

Colen Campbell’s Vitruvius Britannicus or, the British Architect… is considered to be one of the greatest 18th century British illustrated books on architecture. The large, strikingly beautiful prints of stately English country houses are distinguished by a high quality of engraving and fine laid paper. Campbell was the architect to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. He was a proponent of the symmetry and simple lines of the Neo-Palladian style which he helped to popularize thereby replacing the excessive fussiness of the Baroque style of the preceding century. Inigo Jones and Sir Christopher Wren are two of the famous British architects whose designs Campbell included in the work.

11 5/8 x 18 inches, sheet
Copperplate engraving.
Excellent condition.