Circulation, Use, Impact

This monograph explores the role of the printed books in the transmission of architectural knowledge in the early modern eastern Adriatic. It aims to reach two different objectives. On the one hand, it sheds light on an under-investigated subject, gaining new knowledge for the local history of architecture in the Adriatic basin. On the other hand, it shows and tests an original methodology for the comprehensive study of the architectural knowledge communicated through the books, offering a model and a paradigm for similar investigations. In this respect, the research results presented in the book have both a particular and general value.

The author dissects and reconstructs the consumption of architectural books into three stages: circulation, use, and impact. “Circulation” deals with the book trade and commercial routes, but also investigates the presence of architectural books in early modern library inventories and present library catalogues of the area. “Use” concerns with the profiles of the book owners, their interests and reading practices as reconstructed on the basis of the material evidence detected in dozens of book copies. “Impact” finally assesses the outcome of the circulation and use of architectural books in the built architecture. It takes into account different aspects of architecture, such as design principles, decorative elements and the orders, building materials and construction techniques, but also matters of drawing, painting, decorative arts and theatre.

A full catalogue of the architectural books today preserved in the libraries of the eastern Adriatic (the coastal regions of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro) is appended, while table, graphs, and images complement the text.

Foreword: Peripatetics of Architectural Knowledge in the Eastern Adriatic by Jasenka Gudelj

Introduction

1. Circulation
1.1. Book Trade in the Adriatic
1.2. The Shipping List of Troiano Navò
1.3. Architectural Books in Early Modern Eastern Adriatic Libraries
1.4. Professional Libraries
1.5. The Coast and the Inland: Printing Places
1.6. The Coast and the Inland: Authors and Titles
1.7. Owners and their Books

2. Use
2.1. Owners: Social Status and Profession
2.2. The Book of the Artist, the Book of the Patron
2.3. Vitruvius and Renaissance Authors
2.4. Drawing and Perspective
2.5. Painting and Mathematics
2.6. Architectural Principles and the Orders
2.7. Antiquities and the Adriatic
2.8. Renaissance Architecture
2.9. Construction Materials and Techniques
2.10. Building Types: Palaces and Villas
2.11. Building Types: Churches
2.12. Building Types: Theatres and Baths
2.13. Urban Layout and Infrastructure

3. Impact
3.1. Design Principles and Proportions
3.2. House and Church
3.3. Gates and Classical Architectural Language
3.4. Materials and Techniques
3.5. A Case Study: Ignacije Macanović and his Workshop
3.6. Resistance and ‘Lost in Translation’
3.7. Impact beyond Architecture: Theatre, Painting, and Altars

Conclusions

Bibliography
Catalogue of Architectural Books
Index of Names
Index of Places