La nuova architettura civile e militare [...] in questa nuova impressione diligentemente corretta, ed accresciuta.

Two volumes bound together. 8vo (224 x 160 mm). [28], 356 pp.; [12], 184 pp. and [7] woodcut folding plates. Contemporary marbled boards, rebacked, red sprinklled edges, marbled pastedowns. Woodcut portrait of the author in both parts. Several historiated initials, head- and tail-pieces. With numerous wood illustrations in the text of architectural elements and engineering tools (some full page). Two holes on the index of volume two with minor loss of text, some marginal tears to a couple of plates, but a very good copy. 

Volume one (five chapters on the five architectural orders: Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, Composite):

• Book I: Delle Terre; Delle Piante; Delle Viti; Dell'Agrimensura. ("About Lands; Plants; Vines; Agricolture.")
• Book II: Delle Fabbriche. (About Factories)
• Book III: Delle Misure; Delli Fieni (About Mesurments; Hay)
• Book IV: Della Geometria; Delle Acque (About Geometry; Water)
• Book V: Delle Machine (About Tools)

Volume two: 

• First Part: Della Geomtria; Delle Fortezze all'Olandese (About Geometry; About Dutch fortresses)
• Second Part: Delle Fortezze all'Italiana, Del livellare l'Artiglieria; Del Baculo Mensorio; Delle Leve. (About Italian forts; Artillery; Levers)
• Third Part: Delle Machine; de' Molini; Delle Fontane; Delle Trombe da Acqua (About Tolls; Mills; Fountains)

Definitive edition, with additions, of Capra's works La nuova Architettura Famigliare (1st ed.: Bologna, 1678) and La nuova Architettura Militare (1st ed.: Bologna, 1683). The edition is dedicated by the publisher to Francesco Arisi, the author of the Cremona letterata.

This important architectural and engineering treatise by Alessandro Capra, an architect, stage designer, inventor and military engineer from Cremona, represents the culmination of the author's practical and theoretical work in civil and military architecture. Trained in the Lombard architectural tradition, Capra worked in the service of the Spanish governors of the Duchy of Milan. He studied with the military architect Jacopo Erba in Milan between 1628 and 1630, and worked as a military architect on the defence of Cremona during its siege between 1647 and 1648. He devoted much of his career to military engineering, hydraulics, surveying, and the design of mechanical devices. His publications occupy a distinctive place in seventeenth-century Italian technical literature, combining architectural theory with practical instruction and scientific observation.  Published posthumously in 1717, La nuova architettura civile, e militare is the definitive, expanded edition of Capra's earlier works on domestic and military architecture, bringing together his two main publications. Divided into two volumes, the work covers a remarkably broad range of subjects. The first volume covers civil architecture, land surveying, agriculture, hydraulic engineering, building materials, measurements and the construction of machines and mechanical devices. The second volume is devoted to military architecture and fortification, illustrating the principles of defensive design that were central to early modern warfare.

Of particular note is the book's rich visual apparatus, consisting of numerous woodcut illustrations and several folding plates. These images depict fortifications, surveying instruments, hydraulic machines, lifting mechanisms, mills and other devices. They reflect Capra's view that architecture is not just the art of building, but also an applied science closely connected with mathematics, mechanics and engineering. The treatise therefore lies at the intersection of architecture, technology, and military science in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. The 1717 Cremona edition, printed by Pietro Ricchini and published at the expense of Giuseppe Forbici, is widely considered to be the most comprehensive and authoritative edition of Capra's architectural writings. Combining practical instruction with extensive illustration, it remains an important document for studying early modern engineering, architectural theory, military fortification and the history of scientific knowledge in Italy. 

"Capra does not consider architecture as the art of building but as a science with a strong engineering aspect. In his work he provides the embryonic theoretical distinction between architecture and building. The singularity of Capra's works lies in the localized quality of his references and his focus on the technical aspects of architecture; all his precepts are technological" (The Mark J. Millard Architectural Collection, Volume IV: Italian and Spanish Books, Fifteenth through Nineteenth Centuries, Washington DC-New York, 2000, p. 100).

Italian Union Catalogue, IT\ICCU\VIAE\001878; Fowler, nos. 79-80; Berlin Catalog, 2752 and 3534; Riccardi, I, 234; Michel & Michel, II, p. 38; Cicognara, 461.

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