Early Printed Books, 1478-1840: Catalogue of the British Architectural Library Early Imprints Collection

At the British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects, are housed 4,000 of the western world's most significant early architectural treatises from the U.K., Europe, and the Americas. Focal points of the collection include 15th-century first editions of Vitruvius and Alberti, 33 editions of 16th-century Italian architect Andrea Palladio, and representations of all the major British architects, such as Inigo Jones, Christopher Wren, Vanburgh, the Adams Brothers, and more.

Beyond the treatises are a unique assortment of early-19th-century ephemera -- off-prints, pamphlets, pattern books, price books, travel and guide books, builders' manuals, and official works -- in the fields of architecture as well as the related disciplines of carpentry and landscaping.

Early Printed Books identifies and describes these rare treasures in four volumes, complete with black-and-white illustrations from the collection itself. A comprehensive index is provided in the final volume.