Description:
12mo, pp. [x], 90, 43, [1] blank; with four folding leaves of plates at end; woodcut headpiece and initial on p. [iii]; small tear to bottom corner of F1 with loss of a couple of letters, and small marginal dampstain to least few leaves, not affecting text, but otherwise clean and fresh throughout; in contemporary calf, spine with raised bands and gilt morocco lettering-piece; some wear and bumping, with suggestions of very old repairs, but still a good copy.First edition, rare, of what may be the first treatise dedicated to the history and practice of road-building, also the first work by the Languedoc engineer Henri Gautier (or Gaulthier, 1660-1737).
Gautier notes in his preface that the architectural treatises he knows tend to deal only in general principles rather than particularities, and that he is unaware of any writer who has covered road-building. The present work is an attempt to rectify this. Over the course of eleven chapters, he examines the principles, techniques, and usage of Roman… Read More