Architecture - Rare & Archival Collections

The Ryan Rare Book Room (RRBR) houses multiple collections of early architectural publications including first editions of some of the most important treatises on architecture. You may search the entire rare book collection using the search box below. Noted collections include the Helen Park List, the Hitchcock List, Italian Architectural Treatises, Roman Vedute, Rome outside of Rome, Greek Architecture, French Architecture, and others. Some titles may be included in multiple collections. 

For details of specific collections please see descriptions and holdings below. Many titles are not part of specific collection. Please note that additional rare books are held in the Rare Books & Special Collections department in the Hesburgh Library. Materials are added to the collection regularly. 

Helen Park’s article, “A List of Architecture Books Available in America Prior to the Revolution” was originally published in the Journal of Architectural Historians in 1961, with 87 titles, and revised and printed as a book in 1973, with an expanded list of 106 titles. This work is an invaluable catalog of architectural publications that were available in colonial America, published between 1485 and 1775. In fact, this list demonstrates the origins of a colonial architectural style. Specific titles illustrate motifs that were directly employed by builders. What is also significant about this work is that it shows precisely what books were not available in the colonies and exactly how British in nature the architecture books are that were available. Specifically, colonial America was influenced by British Palladianism, through the Earl of Burlington and his followers Colen Campbell, Giacomo Leoni, Robert Morris, and William Kent. While this list is predominantly British, it also contains the most important architectural treatises, including those by Palladio, Alberti, Vitruvius, and Serlio.

This list also highlights the use of “handbooks” for building, as alternatives to using trained architects, who were scarce in colonial America. Instead, early American buildings were built using these guidebooks, many of which show the signs of their obvious use, having been carried in pockets, used in all types of weather, and held with dirty hands. These guidebooks, of which all British authors of the genre are present, demonstrate the foundation of colonial America.

The Architecture Library’s collection of the Park List was started with an initial donation of over 60 titles by the Ryan family in 1997. We are, whenever possible, able to add to the collection, which now consists of over 80 titles and is fully searchable through our online catalog. The complete list of Park List books can be found in both our Reference Collection and within the Ryan Rare Book Room in the Architecture Library.

Park, Helen. A List of Architecture Books Available in America Prior to the Revolution. New edition, Revised and Enlarged with a foreword by Adolf K. Placzek. Los Angeles: Hennessy & Ingalls, 1973.

In 1946 Henry-Russell Hitchcock published a bibliography entitled American Architectural Books: A list of Books, Portfolios, and Pamphlets on Architecture and Related Subjects Published in America Before 1895. The purpose of this bibliography, in Hitchcock’s own words, was “to serve students of American architecture on the periods between the Revolution and the end of the nineteenth century, as well as institutions and individuals who collect American architecture books” (Hitchcock, vii). Since its publication, however, this bibliography has served a much larger role in the history of American architecture. It demonstrates the source material that became the foundation for American design and the origin of American taste. What this list also provides is a printed record of buildings, some of which are no longer extant. This work, as noted by Adolf K. Placzek, in his forward to the 1976 edition, is “a historical record of the 18th and 19th centuries, stopping just short of the new era” (Hitchcock, vi).

The Architecture Library’s collection of the Hitchcock list was begun with the acquisition of over 250 titles from the list, made possible by a gift from Gwen and John Burgee and Mary O’Shaughnessy and continues to grow with new additions being added whenever possible. The collection is fully searchable in the online catalog. A full list of Hitchcock titles can also be browsed in the Architecture Library’s Reference Collection.

Hitchcock, Henry-Russell. American Architectural Books: A List of Books, Portfolios, and Pamphlets on Architecture and Related Subjects Published in America Before 1895. New and Expanded edition, with a new introduction by Adolf K. Placzek. New York: Da Capo Press, 1976.

Robert Wood. The Ruins of the Palmyra, otherwise Tedmor, in the desart. London, 1753.

Robert Wood. The Ruins of Balbec, otherwise Heliopolis in Coelosyria. London, 1757.

Robert Adam. The Ruins of the Palace of the Emperor Diocletian at Spalatro in Dalmatia. London, 1764. 

Fréart, Roland, Leon Battista Alberti, and John Evelyn. The Whole Body of Antient and Modern Architecture... London : Printed for J.P., sold by C. Wilkinson etc.], 1680.

Lagardette, Claude Mathieu de. Les Ruines De Paestum Ou Posidonia, Ancienne Ville De La Grande Grèce, a Ving-Deux Lieues De Naples, Dans Le Golfe De Salerne (The Ruins of Paestum). A Paris : Chez l'auteur et Chez H. Barbou, 1799. 

Le Roy, David. Les Ruines Des Plus Beaux Monuments De La Grece... (The Ruins of the Most Beautiful Monuments of Greece...). Paris,: H.L. Guerin & L.F. Delatour; etc., 1758. 

Overton, Thomas Collins. The Temple Builder's most Useful Companion : Being Fifty Entire New Original Designs for Pleasure and Recreation : Consisting of Plans, Elevations and Sections, in the Greek, Roman and Gothic Taste: Calculated for the Ornamenting of Parks, Forests, Woods, Gardens, .. London : Printed for Henry Webley ..., 1766.

Riou, Stephen. The Grecian Orders of Architectvre : Delineated and Explained from the Antiquities of Athens, also, the Parallels of the Orders of Palladio, Scamozzi and Vignola to which are Added Remarks Concerning Pvblick and Private Edifices with Designs. London : Printed by J. Dixwell, for the author, 1768.

Society of Dilettanti, London, Richard Chandler, Nicholas Revett, William Pars, and William Wilkins. Antiquities of Ionia,. London,: 1769.

Stuart, James and Nicholas Revett. The Antiquities of Athens, Measured and Delineated by James Stuart and Nicholas Revett, Painters and Architects. London: J. Haberkorn, 1762.

Blondel, Jacques-François. Réimpression de l’Architecture Française de Jacques-François Blondel, exécutée sous les Auspices du Ministère de l’Instruction Publique et des Beaux-Arts sous le Controle de MM. Gaudet et Mascal. Paris: Emile Lévy, 1904. 8 parts bound in 4 volumes.

Bullant, Jean. Reigle Generalle D’Architecture des cinq manieres de colonnes … veu, recorrigé & augmenté par l’aucteur de cinq autres ordres de colonnes suiuant les reigles & doctrine de Vitruve. Paris: Hierosme de Marnef & Guillaume Cauellat, 1568.

Conseil Municipal de Paris. Atlas des Anciens Plans de Paris; Reproduction en Fac-Simile des Originaux les Plus Rares et les Plus Intéressant pour l’Histoire de la Topographie Parisienne. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1880.

Dézallier d’Argenville, Antoine-Nicolas. Voyage Pittoresque des Environs de Paris: ou, Description des Maison Royales, Chateaux & Autres Lieux de Plaisance, Sintué à Quinze Lieux aux Environs de Cette Ville. Paris: De Bure, 1779.

Félibien des Avaux, André. Des Principes de l’Architecture, de la Sculpture, de la Peinture, et des autres Arts qui en Dependent. Avec un Dictionnaire des Termes Propres à chacun de ces Arts. Paris: Coignard, 1690. Second Revised Edition.

Guilbert, Pierre. Description Historique des Chateau Bourg et Forest de Fontainebleau, Contenant une Explications Historiques des Peintures, Tableaux, Reliefs, Statues, Ornemens qui s’y Voyent; & la Vie des Architectes, Peintres & Sculptures que y on Travaillé. 2 volumes. Paris: Cailleau, 1731.

Le Roux de Lincy. Eglise Saint Eustache à Paris Mesurée, Dessinée, Gravée et Publiée par Victor Calliat Architecte, avec un Essai Historique sue l’Eglise et la Paroisse. Paris: [the Author], 1850.

Mariette, Jean. L’Architecture Française: Réimpression de l’Edition Originale de 1727. Paris: Van Oest, 1927-1929.

Narjoux, Félix. Paris: Monuments Elevés par la Ville 1850-1880. Ouvrage Publié sous le Patronage de la Ville de Paris. I. Edifices Administratifs. Edifices Judiciaires. II. Edifices Consacrés à l’Instruction Publiques. Edifices d’Utitlié Générales. III. Edifices de la Consacrés aux Beaux-Arts. Edifices Religieux. IV. Edifices Décoratifs. Edifices Sanitaires. Edifices de la Force Publique. Paris: Morel, 1883.

Paris. Ecole Nationale de Beaux-Arts. Concours Rougevin & Godebouef. Paris: Helio, ca. 1902.

Piganiol de la Force, Jean Aimar. Nouvelle Description des Chateaux et Parcs de Versailles et de Marly: Contenant Une Explication Historique de Toutes les Peintures, Tableaux, Statues, Vase & Ornaments Qui s’y Voient: leurs Dimensions; & les Nomes des Peintres, des Sculpteurs & des Graveurs Qui les Ont Faits. Paris: Delaulne, 1730. Sixth, enlarged edition.