De Urbibus

Folio.
Full contemporary vellum.

330 x 225 mm.

Dürer, Albrecht. De Urbibus, Arcibus, Castellis, Condendis, ac muniendis rationes aliquot, praesenti bellorum necessitati accommodatissimae ; now recently translated from German into Latin.
Paris, From the workshop of Christian Wechel under the Basle shield, 1535.

First original Latin edition.
Bohatta 16a ; Meder pages 287-288 ; Adams D-1056 ; Mortimer 184 ; Shaaber 319.

It consists of 40 leaves (10 folded) adorned with several copper-engraved initials and 21 full-page or even double-page woodcuts and the Wechel printer's mark on the title and final leaf.

“Christian Wechel made known in France, through Latin translations adorned with good illustrations, the works that Albrecht Dürer had written in German for the instruction of artists. In 1532 and 1533, he published in-folio a Latin version of the illustrious master's Geometry, Underweisung der Messung, and in 1533 the architecture, Etliche Underricht, etc., under this title: De Urbibus, arcibus, castellisque, in-fol.” (A. F. Didot).

The first German edition was printed in Nuremberg in 1527, one year before Dürer’s death.
Joachim Camerarius (1500-1574), German humanist born in Bamberg, translated the German edition into Latin.

This architectural book by Dürer is famous for its woodcuts.

“It contains some of Dürer’s chief architectural works” (DNB).

“The art of designing fortifications had always been an integral part of architectural theory going back to Vitruvius himself, who was a military architect serving both under Julius Caesar and Augustus. The theme was revived during the Renaissance and figured prominently in the treatises of many Italian theorists, such as Alberti, Filarete, Francesco di Giorgio… THE FIRST RENAISSANCE TREATISE DEVOTED EXCLUSIVELY TO FORTIFICATIONS, however, was written by a Northerner. Dürer’s Etliche Underricht… Dürer’s work had been prompted by Ottoman incursion into Europe and by the recent revolution in artillery warfare brought about by cannons fired by gun-powder and the use of iron cannon-balls…”
(Millard III, North European Books, page 22, without describing a copy).

“Urban circuits with semi-circular elements in the protruding corners and other different fortifications are found in the treatise of Dürer… The bastions built according to the Dürerian model have been considered to be impossible to build due to their huge dimensions and costs. Their static structure induces however to think that Dürer had gathered a remarkable experience as a builder. Even though some authors have seen in him Flemish influences he appears more influenced by Francesco Di Giorgio and Leonardo. The fortifications of the Addizione Erculea in Ferrara could have especially influenced Dürer, who most likely saw them during his second trip to Italy in the years 1505-1507. In this second trip he went to Bologna to learn “secret perspective”, i.e. the geometrical rules which constitute the basis of the art of fortification. He may have met Leonardo during this last trip, and this would explain some Leonardesque character of the parapets of his bastions. Also some influence of Fra Giocondo is visible… Dürer’s system for the defense of towns is extremely rigorous from a geometrical point of view…”
(A. Fara, La città da Guerra (Military Towns), Turin, 1993, pages 41-45, translated and adapted).

Copy with immense margins (height: 330 mm), absolutely pristine, preserved in its authentic contemporary vellum binding.