‎LEUPOLD Jacob :‎
‎Theatrum pontificiale, oder Schau=Platz der Brücken und Brücken=Baues....‎

‎.: Leipzig, gedruckt bey Christopf Zunkel, 1726, in-folio, 36 x 23,5 cm, (xvi) nn pp + 153 pp + (5) nn pp + 60 full page engraved plates, numbered I-LVII, IIA, XVIA and XLA, bound in contemporary half vellum with marbled boards, edges painted red, plates tipped on with a small inner margin to full blank pages so that when consulting the text the plate can be folded out. Fine copy allthough due to the paper quality there is some slight browing and foxing at some pages, a tear in the vellum at the top of the spine, and a tear in plate XXI have been repaired. Traces of a removed ex-libris at the first paste down. Leupold's treatise is the most comprehensive of all the early bridge books and the first to be published in Germany. It covers masonry, pontoons, floating and military bridges but is is especially interesting for its description of long-span timber bridges. This is the first edition, it was reprinted in 1774. (see item 87 in catalogue 14 of Elton Engineering books).‎

Reference : 36848

‎‎