ACBA library rare book collection a national resource
American College of the Building Arts augments rare-book library
Mar 14, 2020 Updated Aug 20, 2020
Every student of architecture sooner or later encounters the great Italian Renaissance master Andrea Palladio. They learn of his classical predilections, his interest in symmetry and harmony, his simplified forms and how they determined function. They study his urban palaces and churches, his Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza and, especially, his countryside villas.
To do so, students hold in their hands Palladio’s world-renowned treatise “The Four Books of Architecture,” which has influenced every architect since its publication in 1570, including Thomas Jefferson. But the version today’s students obtain for school is a large-format paperback replica, a $25 book published by Dover.
It’s helpful. It’s got reproductions of all the intricate etchings, and the text translated into English.
But it’s not the real thing.
The real thing is bigger, its text and illustrations printed on linen. Looking at it, the importance of the work is evident.
And now the American College of the Building Arts in Charleston possesses an early 18th-century trilingual folio of the complete treatise, in two volumes, the same edition that once was part of Jefferson’s personal library.
The ACBA managed to buy this book from an antique dealer in California thanks to a $20,000 gift from an anonymous donor, according to President Colby Broadwater. (About half the amount was used in the purchase; the other half will be used for future book purchases.)
It’s part of an effort to secure authentic editions of titles once owned by the Founding Father and former president. To raise the money, the school is seeking support from other donors and is applying for grants.
Years ago, when the ACBA was located in Charleston’s Old City Jail, it acquired some rare books and needed to build a climate-controlled space to keep them. The Daughters of the American Revolution stepped in to help, Broadwater said.
The new facility on Upper Meeting Street includes a rare-books room, named for the organization that provided the critical financial support that enabled the ACBA to start its collection in the first place.
The general idea to collect more old books about architecture and the building arts was formed early last year, but to secure a new $10,000 grant from the Daughters of the American Revolution, the school needs a comprehensive plan, Broadwater said. So he and his colleagues are working up an application that describes their intention to replicate a part of Jefferson’s library.
Jefferson had sold 42 books from his collection to the Library of Congress. Some of the titles were duplicates or exceedingly rare. ACBA Library Director Morgan Kinder has identified 28 of them the school can procure.
“I never thought I’d be doing anything quite like this,” Kinder said.
Another recent acquisition, and one of the books Jefferson sold to the Library of Congress, is a second edition of Thomas Chippendale’s “Gentleman and Cabinet Makers’ Director” from 1754.
A 1565 Italian-language version “The Architecture of Leon Battista Alberti,” originally published in 1485 in Latin, arrived at the school about two weeks ago.
“This (is) the oldest book in our special collection by 150 years,” said Library Director Morgan Kinder.
Palladio’s treatise, Alberti’s books and the 10 classical volumes that comprise “De architectura” by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (the only treatise on architecture, written in the 1st century B.C., that survives from antiquity) all are fundamental texts familiar to students of the building arts.
The ACBA also just secured a copy of Joseph Moxon’s 1693 “Mechanick Excercises, or, The Doctrine of Handy-Works.” Though this was not among Jefferson’s possessions, it has long been on the school’s wish list, according to Broadwater.
It’s the only one located in the Southeast, Kinder said. The next closest copy is at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C.
The Palladio set is one of 45 known to reside in libraries worldwide. (Duke University has one.)
The Chippendale is one of 36. (The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has the same edition.)
The school is hoping to land a 1673 edition of Vitruvius’ famed treatise collection, Broadwater said.
“Like the Palladio book, Vitruvius’ book is another that we give reprints to students here,” he said. “So, if everything goes right, we’ll have four of the 28 here soon.”
The team wants to add four historic books a year, so long as funds are available.
“The goal is to have the best building, visual and decorative arts collection in the Southeast,” Kinder said. “Getting these books is a huge leap forward on that front.”