BOOKS ON ARCHITECTURE

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Transcribed version of the text

French

     With the Theatrum machinarum the Architectura curiosa nova is the best known of Böckler’s books. The date 1664 appears neither in the frontispiece nor on the title page, but only in the dedication to Guidobald von Thun, Archbishop of Salzburg. The book, written in German, was published in Latin, translated by Johann Christoph Sturm. It is a four-part book on hydraulics applied to garden ornaments, abundantly illustrated. The first part explains in detail a certain number of considerations on hydrodynamics and gives examples of hydraulic systems. The second part deals especially with varied forms of water-jets; the third part deals with fountains and ornamental lakes, combining the decorative effects of water with architecture and sculpture. The last part consists of thirty-six engravings of ornamental garden pavilions, more or less imposing, beneath which there are geometric motifs of parterres, and examples of real castles and palaces sometimes represented without surrounding plantings or ornamental water, as the Pitti Palace in Florence. One can recognize a few French residences among buildings of all Europe, for example the Luxembourg Palace and the châteaux du Raincy and de Verneuil.
The German version was published in Nuremberg in 1704.

Yves Pauwels (Centre d’études supérieures de la Renaissance, Tours) – 2014

Critical bibliography

Architectura curiosa nova. Nachdruck der Ausgabe Nürnberg 1664, re-issued in facsimile by R. Wagner-Rieger, Graz, Akademische Druck-u. Verlagsanstalt, 1968.