Lot 3814: Tessin, Nicodemus (1658-1728), Count, the younger. , "Architectura militaris oder Fortification ohne Calculation, welche allein auß der proportional Linia proponiret undt proportioniret wirdt"

folio (317 x 204mm.), late seventeenth-century manuscript, signed by nicodemus tessin on the title ("Nicodemus Tessin m[anu]p[rop]ia"), 136pp., illustration : 52 pages of geometrical diagrams of fortifications facing the text, executed in pen and ink with colour washes (11 further pages with borders but without illustrations), binding: contemporary vellum boards, blind-ruled borders, early inscription to spine, monograms on loose flyleaf

Count Nicodemus Tessin the younger was one of the most important Swedish architects. His works (for Charles XII) included Stockholm Palace, Drottingholm Palace and Gottorp Castle, near Schleswig. The ownership inscription "manu propria" on the title of this anonymous work may mean that it is a translation or fair copy of an unpublished work by Count Tessin himself. The manuscript is not in the same hand as the inscription. If this is Tessin's copy of a work by another architect, it is as yet untraced. The contents, layout and illustrations are rather similar to Johannes Teyler's Architectura militaris (1697; see lot 3817), but it appears to be a distinct work.