Fürstlicher Baumeister, Oder: Architectura Civilis, Wie Grosser Fürsten und Herren Palläste, mit ihren Höfen, Lust-Häusern, Gärten, Grotten, Orangerien &c. (Erster Theil, Anhang zum Ersters Theil & Anderer Theil)
Decker, Paul
Augsburg. Peter Detleffsen for Jeremias Wolff. 1711–1716
Sold
First edition of Decker's Architectura Civilis, a highpoint of German Baroque architectural design.
Decker's elaborate and fantastical architectural designs are presented alongside designs for gardens, fountains, town plans as well as architectural elevations and ground plans. The plates (including those large folding plates that required two copperplates) were engraved by many of the finest engravers of the day: Georg Conrad Bodenehr, Heinrich Ostertag, Johann August Corvinus, Karl Remshard, Joseph de Montalegre, Johann Ulrich Kraus, Johann Conrad Reiff, Martin Engelbrecht, Philip Heinrich Kleinschmidt, Tobias Gabriel Beck, Johann Balthasar Probst, Gottfried Stein, Johannes Böcklin and Gottfried Pfauz.
'Paul Decker (1677 - 1713), one of the most important exponents of German Baroque, went to Berlin to study under Schlüter, then returned to his native Nürnberg to become architect of Salzbach in Bavaria and later of the Bayreuth Court where his influence is clear, for instance, in Ränz's Hermitage built between 1715 and 1718. He had little opportunity of putting his grandiose fantasy to practical tests, but in the pages of his book designed one of the most complete and magnificent palace-and-grounds schemes any King of his time could have wished for. These designs, superbly engraved by the best masters of the period, show an extension of the high-point of Italian baroque building, sculpting and quadratura painting, while at the same time spreading the taste of Louis XIV decoration as defined in the work of Bérain'. (Weinreb).
[Millard Northern European 23; Fowler 97; Cicognara 487; Berlin 1990; Weinreb 11:11].
Decker's elaborate and fantastical architectural designs are presented alongside designs for gardens, fountains, town plans as well as architectural elevations and ground plans. The plates (including those large folding plates that required two copperplates) were engraved by many of the finest engravers of the day: Georg Conrad Bodenehr, Heinrich Ostertag, Johann August Corvinus, Karl Remshard, Joseph de Montalegre, Johann Ulrich Kraus, Johann Conrad Reiff, Martin Engelbrecht, Philip Heinrich Kleinschmidt, Tobias Gabriel Beck, Johann Balthasar Probst, Gottfried Stein, Johannes Böcklin and Gottfried Pfauz.
'Paul Decker (1677 - 1713), one of the most important exponents of German Baroque, went to Berlin to study under Schlüter, then returned to his native Nürnberg to become architect of Salzbach in Bavaria and later of the Bayreuth Court where his influence is clear, for instance, in Ränz's Hermitage built between 1715 and 1718. He had little opportunity of putting his grandiose fantasy to practical tests, but in the pages of his book designed one of the most complete and magnificent palace-and-grounds schemes any King of his time could have wished for. These designs, superbly engraved by the best masters of the period, show an extension of the high-point of Italian baroque building, sculpting and quadratura painting, while at the same time spreading the taste of Louis XIV decoration as defined in the work of Bérain'. (Weinreb).
[Millard Northern European 23; Fowler 97; Cicognara 487; Berlin 1990; Weinreb 11:11].
3 vols in 1. Folio. Engraved frontispiece by Decker, calligraphic title printed in red and black for each part (Erster Theil and Anderer Theil), calligraphic title in black for Anhang zum Ersters Theil, dedication leaf by Jeremias Wolff, prefatory text by Decker (leaves A - C), 59 engraved plates (Erster Theil); 32 engraved plates (Anhang zum Ersters Theil); 40 engraved plates (Anderer Theil), of which a large number are folding including one plate that measures more than two metres when unfolded. Contemporary calf-backed speckled paper boards, banded spine with gilt decorative tooling and red morocco title label in six compartments, black morocco-backed black solander box.
#35196
