[4], xvi, 249 pp. With 55 lithographed plates (12 double-page and 10 color). 57.5x37 cm. (22½x15"), original half morocco & cloth, top edge gilt. First Edition.

Important study of Greek and Roman architecture with a view to its mathematical perfection, finely printed on thick paper. John Pennethorne studied architecture and worked in the office of John Nash in London. In the 1830 he went on a grand tour and studied buildings in Europe and Egypt, visiting Paris, Milan, Florence, Venice, Rome, Sicily, Athens, and Thebes. "He came to the conclusion that there was no foundation in fact for the conventional belief that the system of design in Greek architecture was absolutely rectilinear. The same conclusion had already been reached by Josef Hoffer... published in C. F. L. Forster's Allgemeine Bauzeitung in 1838." Blackmer 1280. Bookplate of Peter Pennethorne Laing, likely a family member, on front endpaper verso.