Magnificent collection of about 50 complete series of engravings of all kinds of ornaments and architectural details, mostly by Jean and Pierre Le Pautre. In the late seventeenth century, the enterprising Parisian print publisher Nicolas Langlois I (1640-1703) assembled numerous print series displaying designs for ornament, furniture, metalwork, interior decoration, architecture and gardens. He published them together under a general title, bound in one, two or more volumes with no table of contents and with a varying collection of print series from ca. 1655 to the time of publication. While several print publishers in Rome had issued collections of previously published and new print series already in the 16th-century, Langlois took the idea a step further by giving his collections a general title-page. In this respect his publication can be called the first French encyclopedia of ornament, decorative arts and architecture.
With the 2 general title-page slightly browned and worn, and the last few leaves of volume 2 with minor water stains, but otherwise in very good condition, with only an occasional spot, small marginal tear or other minor blemish. Rebacked. An extensive collection of French architectural ornamentation by some of the greatest masters of the age of Louis XIV. BAL 2712; Fuhring, Ornament prints 1, 889-996 passim, etc.; cf. Berlin Kat. 314; Fowler 182.