19 - [ARCHITECTURE]. DESGODETZ (Antoine). THE ANCIENT BUILDINGS OF ROME, measured and drawn with great precision on site by the late Mr. Desgodetz, architect to the King. Paris, Claude-Antoine Jombert, from the printer’s own press, 1779. Large folio in marbled fawn calfskin, double gilt line framing on the covers, ribbed spine decorated with gilt floral panels, title label in ivy-green morocco, red edges (contemporary binding); title page and frontispiece, XI-(1)-140 pp., 137 plates. Lower cap trimmed flush with a loss of leather at the panel, a tear in the upper cap, upper joint split but stitching sound, scuffing and wear on the covers, a few scratches, rounded corners, a tear without loss on pp. 23/24. SECOND FRENCH EDITION OF THIS MAGNIFICENT WORK ON ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE, the original edition of which was published in Paris in 1682. This important publication reproduces the architectural surveys carried out in Rome by Antoine Desgodetz (1653–1728), architect to the king and professor at the Royal Academy of Architecture. The result of a stay in Rome from 1676 to 1677, it constitutes one of the most rigorous studies of the ancient monuments of the Eternal City. A REMARKABLE ILLUSTRATED WORK INCLUDING A TITLE-FRONTISPICE and 137 plates (excluding title page), engraved on copper, including a number of fold-out plates. They depict the plans, sections, elevations, profiles, and architectural details of Rome’s principal ancient buildings: the Pantheon, temples, triumphal arches, thermal baths, and other monuments. This new edition was published by Claude-Antoine Jombert using the original copper plates from the work. Thanks to the accuracy of its measurements and the precision of its engravings, this treatise exerted a major influence on European classical architecture and remained a reference work for architects for a long time. ATTRACTIVE COPY, complete with all plates, preserved in its period binding. ¶ Fowler, 102 - British Architectural Library, 859 - Cicognara, 3700 (for the original 1682 edition).