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Rare Architecture Books

At Forum Auctions

Rare architecture books rank amongst the most prestigious and impressive of rare books to come up for auction. Often as large in physical scale as they are in ambition, antiquarian architectural books are crammed with visually arresting and elaborate engraved or etched plates. Dizzying in their detail or almost zen-like in their use of minimalist geometric lines & shapes upon the otherwise white space of a page, double-page spread or folding sheet.

The importance of such books lies in their capacity to transcend time and continue influencing architectural thought and practice. They serve as reservoirs of knowledge, showcasing the evolution of architectural styles, techniques and philosophies. From the classical principles elucidated by Vitruvius to the neoclassical elegance championed by Palladio and Adam; from Canaletto's meticulous renditions of Venetian cityscapes or Piranesi's hauntingly surreal prisons, to the imaginative re-renderings of classicism as exemplified by Lutyens, rare architectural books capture the essence of architecture as both an art and a science.

15 Keystone Architectural Books at Forum Auctions

Forum Auctions have been fortunate over the years to offer up some of the finest rare architectural books to come to market. The great works, especially when complete and in a contemporary binding, can achieve the sorts of high prices that would make even Gustave Eiffel suffer vertiginous anxiety. However, there are plenty of other important architectural tomes, in various sizes, that offer a more affordable entry level for those interested in the subject. Whether you crave classicism, need neoclassicism or covet Le Corbusier, our Art & Architecture auctions do offer something to house everyone.

In the list below we reflect on some of the best rare architecture books to come through our rooms in recent years. If you have any architectural books you would like our opinion on, please contact our specialist Dido Arthur.

Art & Architecture at Forum Auctions

Architecture & Design is one of the many popular disciplines covered by our Art & Architecture department's auctions. Click below for more information.

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Vitruvius Pollio (Marcus) De Architectura Libri Dece, first edition in Italian, Como, Gottardo da Ponte, 1521. Sold for £20,000.
The first vernacular edition of Vitruvius: "The Como edition of 1521 is the first in Italian...it has splendid new illustrations...and is the most beautiful of all the early editions". (PMM)
Serlio (Sebastiano) Il terzo libro...nel qual si figurano, e descrivono le antiquita di Roma..., Venice, Francesco Marcolini, 1540. Sold for £15,000.
A monumental work representing the first treatise on architecture in which the illustrations assumed primary importance, leading to its becoming one of the most important architectural books to disseminate knowledge of antique heritage and invention throughout Europe during the Italian Renaissance.
Palladio (Andrea) I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura, first edition, Venice, Domenico de' Franceschi, 1570. Sold for £23,750.
A milestone in the history of architecture: the first edition of the Quattro Libri dell'Architettura by the Paduan theorist and practising architect Andrea di Pietro della Gondola, universally known as Andrea Palladio.
[Hardouin-Mansart (Jules)] [L'Eglise des Invalides], only edition, Paris, c.1680. Sold for £7,500.
Rare. "These very elegant, beautifully engraved, large-scale sections of the chapel of the Invalides, built by Jules Hardouin-Mansart from 1680 to 1691, were used to calculate estimates of the material needed for the construction of the chapel. The original plates were never sold and are now in the Chalcographie du Louvre." Millard.
Campbell (Colen) & others. Vitruvius Britannicus [&] The New Vitruvius Britannicus, together 7 vol., [?1725]-1808. Sold for £18,750.
Campbell's monumental work promoting the virtues of neo-Palladianism and featuring many of the great houses of England. Rare to find all 7 volumes together, the later Richardson volumes, also present here, are particularly scarce.
Marieschi (Michele) Magnificentiores Selectioresque Urbis Venetiarum Prospectus ... Venetij MDCCXLI, 1741. Sold for £44,000.
Magnificent example of the first edition of this famous and sought-after collection of views of the Serenissima, a masterpiece by painter and engraver Michele Marieschi.
Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal, called) Urbis Venetiarum Prospectus Celebriores, 3 parts in 1, Richard Ford's copy, Venice, Giovanni Battista Pasquali, 1751. Sold for £17,500.
Richard Ford's copy of the second edition of this magnificent collection of views of Venice after Canaletto.
Piranesi (Giovanni Battista) Le Antichità Romane, 4 vol., Rome, 1756. Sold for £28,750.
Early edition of Piranesi's monumental landmark survey of the remains of the Eternal City. Eight years in the making, the four volume magnum opus illustrates Piranesi's interest in recording not only 'the vanishing past for scholars, but [his desire] to present antiquity as a fund of experimental ideas for the inspiration of the present.'
Adam (Robert) Ruins of the Palace of the Emperor Diocletian at Spalatro in Dalmatia, first edition, 1764. Sold for £9,375.
Superb architectural record of Diocletian's palace at Split, inspired by the success of Wood's Ruins of Palmyra which had established Wood's reputation and which Adam hoped to emulate.
Paine (James) Plans, Elevations and Sections, of Noblemen and Gentlemen's Houses..., 2 vol., first edition, [1767]-1783. Sold for £8,750.
Vol.1 features designs for completed buildings, mostly in the Palladian style, including Sandbeck, Axwell Park and the magnificent stables at Chatsworth. The second volume concerns later designs, many for Catholic patrons.
Riou (Stephen) The Grecian Orders of Architecture, first edition, 1768. Sold for £4,375.
Riou was in Athens while Stuart and Revett were working there, and decided to produce an architectural theory for the use of the Greek architectural orders then being described and measured by Stuart and Revett.
Soane (Sir John) Description of the House and Museum on the North Side of Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, first edition, pres. copy from the author, 1830. Sold for £6,875.
Scarce guide to the architect's house and museum, privately printed for presentation. Inscribed to the private secretary to the Duke of Wellington and under secretary of state for Ireland.
Pennethorne (John) The Geometry and Optics of Ancient Architecture, 1878. Sold for £1,250.
First and only edition of this lavishly produced work, the first book to reveal the use of curvature in ancient architecture.
[De Forest (Lockwood)] Indian Architecture and Ornament, 1887. Sold for £2,250.
Rare; apparently one of only 150 copies (according to the copy at the University of Edinburgh).
Georgian Society (The). Records of Eighteenth Century Domestic Architecture and Decoration in Dublin, 5 vol., first edition, Dublin, 1909. Sold for £1,890.
Rare complete set of this Irish architectural record.