05Introduction2

toc =Image= Source: <> book of architecture containing designs of buildings and ornaments / by James Gibbs. http://www.e-rara.ch/zut/content/pageview/203798 =Transcript= (ii)

Some, for want of better Helps, have unfortunately put into the hands of common workmen, the management of Buildings of considerable expence, which, when finished, they have had the mortification to find condemned by persons of Taste, to that degree that sometimes, they have been pull'd down, at least alter'd ad a greater charge than would have procur'd better advice from an able Artist, or if they have stood, they have remained lasting Monuments of the Ignorance or Parsimoniousness of the Owners, or, it may be, of a wrong judged Profusedness. What heaps of Stone, and even Marble, are daily seen in Monuments, Chimneys, and other Ornamental pieces of Architecture, without the least Symmetry or Order? When the same or fewer Materials, under the conduct of a skilful Surveyor, would, in less room and with much less charge, have been equally, if not more, useful, and by Justness of Proportion have had a more grand Appearance, and consequently have better answered the Intention of the Expence. For it is not the Bulk of a Fabrick, the Richness and Quantity of the Materials, the Multiplicity of Lines, nor the Gaudiness of the Finishing, that give the Grace or Beauty and Grandeur to a Building, but the Proportion of the Parts to one another and to the Whole, whether entirely plain, or enriched with a few Ornaments properly disposed.

In order to prevent the Abuse and Absurdities above hinted at, I have taken the utmost care that these Designs should be done in the best Taste I could form upon the Instructions of the greatest Masters in //Italy//, as well as my own Ob-