Okay, Vitruvius

Review of André Tavares, Vitruvius without Text: The Biography of a Book, Zurich: gta, 2022, 276 pages, 61 b&w illus. ISBN: 9783856764227. Print and open-access PDF. Vitruvius without Text presents a history of editions of De architectura from the Renaissance to the very recent past. It explores how decisions in the making of these editions as books has affected both their import in various periods and their legacies as vehicles for the diffusion of Vitruvius as an authority. This review reflects on Tavares’ project and also considers the implications of his analysis of the uptake of an obscure passage from De architectura.