Enlightened Architects of Edinburgh
Carl Atkinson
MSc Enlightenment Studies
The enlightened architects of Edinburgh ...
William Adam
Andrea Palladio
Piranesi
John Adam
Robert Adam
James Adam
An enlightened circle of friends ...
Alexander
Wedderburn
James
Boswell
Allan Ramsay
Sir John Clark
John Home
David Hume
Colin
Maclaurin
William
Robertson
Alexander
Carlyle
Adam
Ferguson
Adam Smith
James Hutton
The texts in the library
Andrea Palladio
The Architecture of A. Palladio ,1742 (1715-20)
William Adam
Vitruvius Scoticus, 1812
Andrea Palladio
I quattro libri dell’ architettura ,1737/8
Joannis Batista Piranesi
The Magnificent and Architecture of Rome, 1761
The texts of brothers Adam Esquires
Robert and James Adam
The Works in Architecture
(Peter Elmsly, 1778)
Robert Adam
Ruins of the Palace of the Emperor
Diocletian at Spalato in Dalmatia
Robert and James Adam
The Works in Architecture
(French reprint of 1900-2)
The philosophy of beauty in the Scottish Enlightenment
“The figures which excite in us the ideas of
beauty seem to be those in which there is
uniformity amidst diversity ... What we call
beautiful in objects, to speak in the
mathematical style, seems to be in a
compound ratio of uniformity and variety; and
where the variety is equal, the beauty is as the
uniformity”
Frances Hutcheson, Inquiry into the Original of
Our Idea of Beauty and Virtue, 1725
“...we have a taste for proportion independent
altogether of utility. One thing indeed is certain,
that any external object proportioned to our
taste is delightful”
Henry Home, The Elements of Criticism, 1762
“But the beauty arising from regularity and
variety , must always yield to that which
arises from the fitness of the form for the end
intended”
Thomas Reid, Of Beauty - Essays of the
Intellectual Powers, 1785
“Beauty is such an order and construction of
parts, as either by the primary constitution
of our nature, by custom, or by caprice, is
fitted to give a pleasure and satisfaction to
the soul”
David Hume, On Beauty and Deformity, 1739
“Beauty is no quality in things themselves: it
exists merely in the mind which
contemplates them; and each mind
perceives a different beauty”
David Hume, On the Standard of Taste, 1757
“...Utility is one of the principal sources of
beauty ... The convenience of a house gives
pleasure to the spectator as well as its
regularity, and he ids as much hurt when he
observes the contrary defect, as when he
sees the correspondent windows of different
forms, or the door not placed exactly in the
middle of the building ”
Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral
Sentiments, 1759
The philosophy of architecture according to Palladio
Andrea Palladio,
The Architecture of A. Palladio
The philosophy of architecture according to Adam
“It is not always that such variety can be introduced into the
design of any building but where it can be attained without
encroaching upon its useful purposes, it adds much to its merit,
as an object of beauty and grandeur”
Robert & James Adam, The Works in Architecture, Preface to
Volume I Number 1, 1773
“Architecture has not, like some other arts, an immediate
standard in nature, to which the artist can refer, and which
would enable the skilful instantly to decide with respect to the
degree of excellence attained in any work. In architecture, it
must be formed and improved by a correct taste, and diligent
study of beauties exhibited by great masters in their
productions; and it is only by profound meditation upon these,
that one becomes capable of distinguishing between what is
graceful and what is inelegant; between that which possesses,
and that which is destitute of harmony ”
Robert & James Adam, The Works in Architecture, Preface to
Volume I Number 2, 1774
“Whether our works have not contributed to diffuse these
improvements in architecture, throughout this country, we shall
leave to the impartial public”
Robert & James Adam, The Works in Architecture, Preface to
Volume I Number 1, 1773
“Architecture has already become more elegant and more
interesting. The parade, the convenience, the social pleasures
of life, being better understood, are more strictly attended to in
the arrangement and disposition of appartments. Greater
varoety of form, greater beauty in design, greater gaiety and
elegance of ornament, are introduced into interior decoration;
while the outside composition is more simple, more grand,
more varied in its contour, and imposes on the mind from the
superior magnitude and movement of its parts.”
Robert & James Adam, The Works in Architecture, Preface to
Volume I Number 5, 1778
“Without detracting from the talents and merit of other
artists, we are encouraged, by the public approbation, to
flatter ourselves, that our works have somewhat contributed
to diffuse juster ideas and better taste in architecture”
Robert & James Adam, The Works in Architecture, Preface to
Volume I Number 5, 1778
The Images I ...
Andrea Palladio,
Villa Pisani
William Adam,
Mavisbank House
The Images II
Piranesi
Terme di Tito & Port of Ripetta, Rome
Robert Adam
Port at Spalato & Syon House
The buildings I
Adam Family - Hopetoun House, nr Edinburgh
Robert Adam - Charlotte Square, Edinburgh
The buildings II
The Project Deliverables ...
A Genealogy of Architectural Books of the Adam Family: Eighteenth Century Architectural
Treasures in the Central Library’s Fine Art Collection
This paper describes the various architectural editions held in relation to their publication
history whilst providing a short commentary on the origin of and influences contained
within the editions. They are set out in chronological order.
A. Andrea Palladio’s I quattro libri dell’ architettura or The Architecture of A. Palladio in
Four Books)
Andrea Palladio was an architect active in the Republic of
Venice. Influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, he is
widely considered the most influential individual in the
history of Western European architecture. In addition to
his significant achievements as an architect, he was an
accomplished author and illustrator who produced a
number of books of architectural drawings that were in
many personal libraries and widely read.
The most famous of his books is ‘I quattro libri dell’
architettura’, initially published in four volumes in Venice in
1570, illustrated with woodcuts after the author’s own
drawings. It contains Palladio's own designs celebrating the
purity and simplicity of classical architecture. Whilst some
of these ideas had not progressed further than the
drawings, others, in particular the designs and plans for
villas, had been successfully built for clients in the Veneto.
Palladio drew inspiration from surviving Roman buildings, Roman authors, especially the architect
Vitruvius, and Italian Renaissance architects. However, ‘I quattro libri dell'architettura’ provided
systematic rules and plans for buildings which were creative and unique. Palladio’s villa style is
based on details applied to a structural system built of bricks. He offers two types of general rules in
the corpus: design rules (those based on appearance) and construction rules (those based on the
logic of villa construction). As a consequence, the volumes includes essays on building materials, the
classical orders and decorative ornaments, Palladio’s own designs and his reconstructions of Greek
and Roman designs, plans for ancient towns, bridges, highways, and basilicas, and plans for the
reconstruction of early Roman temples.
The book inspired numerous patrons and other architects, including Inigo Jones who on visiting the
villas in Veneto in 1610 wrote that ‘All of Palladio’s works are lighter than in the drawings’.
Palladio’s villas became an important stop on the Grand Tour for northern European literati during
the eighteenth century. Palladian architecture grew in popularity across Europe and, by the end of
the 18th century, had extended as far as North America. The books were subsequently reprinted
and translated in many editions, mainly in single and two volume formats, in English, French,
Spanish, German, Russian, Swedish, Polish Romanian and Czech. At least twenty three English
language editions were published during the eighteenth century alone.
Bibliography ...
Primary Sources in the Fine Art Library, Central Library, Edinburgh
Palladio, A., I quattro libri dell’ architettura or The Architecture of A. Palladio in Four Books (1570). Editions by:
 Isaac Ware, London, (1737/8)
 Leoni & Dubois, publisherd by Ward, Birt, Browne, Davis, Osbourne & Millar, London, (1742)
Adam, W., Vitruvius Scoticus (1812). Black & Robertson in London and Underwood & Taylor in London.
Ward, A., Architecture (1750s). London: self published.
Adam, R., Ruins of the Palace of the Emperor Diocietian at Spalato in Dalmatia (1764). London: private.
Piranesi, J.B., Le Antichita Romane (1756). Rome: unknown.
Piranesi, J.B., The Magnificent and Architecture of Rome (1761). London: Antiquarian Society of London.
Adam, R. and J., The Works in Architecture (1778). London: Elmsly .
Adam, R. and J., The Works in Architecture (1900/2). Dourdan: Thezard.
Adam, R. and J., The Architecture, Decoration and Furniture of Robert and James Adam (1880). London: BT Batsford.
Secondary Sources
Black, J., The British Abroad: The Grand Tour in the Eighteenth Century (1992). Stroud: Sutton.
Flaming, J., Robert Adam and His Circle in Edinburgh & Rome (1962). London: John Murray.
Gifford, J., William Adam: A life and times of Scotland’s universal architect (1989). Edinburgh: Mainstream/RIAS.
Graham, R., Arbiter of Elegance: A Biography of Robert Adam (2009). Edinburgh: Birlinn.
Klein, L. E., Politeness and the Interpretation of the British Eighteenth Century, The Historical Journal, Vol. 45 (4), December 2002,
pp. 869-898.
Sanderson, M.H.B., Robert Adam and Scotland (1992), Edinburgh: Scottish Records Office.
Tait, A.A., Robert Adam: Drawings and Imagination (1993). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.