Some Considerations on Traité de L'Art de Bâtir by Rondelet and the Technical Literature of his Time

The object of this paper is to understand the reasons for the success of Rondelet's celebrated Traité théorique et pratique de l'art de bâtir, a text of fundamental importance in the history of writings on building construction. Hugely successful, this general treatise of building construction was first published, privately, from 1802 to 1817. By 1885, seventeen editions had been published. Rondelet‘s Traité théorique which constitutes the first encyclopaedic approach on building construction quickly became a reference. The paper examines the treatise's position in the architectural literature at the time of its publication. The first part focuses on the production of the work (financing, distribution modes, price and shape of the various editions). The second part concentrates on the specificity of its contents, and in particular on the use it makes of references and historical models.