Book Series Archipelagus, vol. 1

Circulation, Use, Impact

The Consumption of Architectural Books in the Early Modern Eastern Adriatic

Cristiano Guarneri

  • Pages: 312 p.
  • Size:216 x 280 mm
  • Illustrations:9 b/w, 115 col., 1 tables b/w.
  • Language(s):English
  • Publication Year:2025


Pre-order*
  • € 75,00 EXCL. VAT RETAIL PRICE
  • ISBN: 978-2-503-61520-2
  • Hardback
  • Forthcoming (Dec/25)
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Open Access


This book seeks to answer seminal questions in the field of architectural history, with specific concern to architectural treatises.

Subject(s)
BIO

Cristiano Guarneri is a researcher of architectural history at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy, affiliated with the ERC Architectural Culture of the Early Modern Adriatic and FARE Architectural Culture of Contact Regions projects. His research focuses on different aspects of early modern architecture, particularly on the intersections of design and building practice with emerging scientific knowledge. He has investigated specific building types such as fortifications, observatories, and museums, construction techniques and building materials, and the circulation of architectural models through printed media.

Summary

Alongside stone and mortar, a stream of ink and paper poured into the eastern Adriatic architectural market during the early modern period. This book reconstructs the history of how printed books transformed architecture in an under-investigated region.

This groundbreaking study dissects the life cycle of architectural knowledge as it travelled from the pages of printed books onto actual buildings. It traces the circulation of books from commercial routes to early modern libraries, examines their use by a diverse array of readers––from stonemasons to curious patrons––and assesses their ultimate impact on the built environment.

By combining meticulous analysis of individual book copies with an original evidence-based methodology, the author provides a fresh perspective on local architectural history while offering a promising new paradigm for similar studies. Complete with a comprehensive catalogue of preserved architectural books and rich visual materials, this is an essential read for anyone interested in the profound connection between printed ideas and constructed reality.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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

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