MARIETTE (Jean). L'architecture françoise, ou... Lot n° 116

[MARIETTE (Jean). L'architecture françoise, ou Recueil des plans, élévations, coupes et profils des églises, palais, hôtels & maisons particulières de Paris et des châteaux et maisons de campagne ou de plaisance des environs, et de plusieurs autres endroits de France, bâtis nouvellement par les plus habiles architectes et levé et mesurés exactement sur les lieux. Volume one [- second (of 3)]. In Paris, by Jean Mariette, 1727. Two strong volumes in-folio, contemporary speckled tan calf, spine with 6 nerves, tan calf title-piece, ornate caissons, gilt roulette on the edges (bindings carefully restored; browning in the margins, in places a little more extensive). First edition of the first two volumes of this important collection of engraved architectural plates, conceived and published by the engraver and print dealer Jean Mariette (1660-1742). It offers one of the most beautiful panoramas of French architecture of the Grand Siècle, highlighting works by the most prestigious builders of the time, including Jean Marot, François Mansart and Jules Hardouin-Mansart, Germain Boffrand, Jean-François Blondel. This copy gathers 358 plates, some double, some folding (some reversals of plates between the 2 volumes). As this is a collection of engraved plates, the bibliographies give various figures, but agree that the work consists of a little more than 500 plates, which are generally bound in 3 volumes. The two title pages are identical and show the tomaison on labels typographed at the time. (Berlin Kat., 2497; Millard, I, 113-114).