Certainly the neo-classic elements are unmistakable, and the influence of recently excavated Roman ruins must have played a part in their popularity in Italy and, as this book illustrates, Germany. Germany had generally proved somewhat resistant to the charms of the antique styles, although the eventual flourishing of Biedermeier provided a Germanic twist to the elements which were staid in England and would eventually become a bit prissy in France. There is nothing prissy about a stone floor. The plates illustrate the stone being prepared and colored, the floor surface being planned, laid-out and prepared, and the stone being applied and smoothed. The workmen are, a la Diderot, all stylishly dressed for such a dirty job, and appear very happy at their tasks.
Young boys help with the work in a number of plates.
An interesting study of an important but under-documented subject. This appears to be an excessively rare item, with no copies located either in OCLC or the NUC nor in the Berlin catalog. Bound in newer quarter leather with marbled boards. Very slight stains in several places, several very discreet remnants of old institutional stamps, but overall an exceptional copy of a rare work. Smith, John Thomas.