coincidence in the remains of Grecian architecture whichwas not to be discovered amongst the vestiges of the art in

Italy.

When it is remembered that Vitruvius is the only ancientwriter upon the science of architecture whose works havereached our times, an enquiry into the au thority for admittingthe various readings and interpolations may not he thoughtuninteresting: because, if that authority should he deemedinsufficient, and it he made to appear that the reading of themanuscripts is compatible with his avowed practice ofseeking amongst the edifices of Greece for the principleshe disseminates, the ancient readings may, in many instances,he restored, and the text in some degree purified from thecorruptions with which the early editors have loaded it.Former translators, in following the text of the printededitions, have propagated these errors, which, in manyinstances, are wholly subversive of the principles ofarchitecture our author intended to inculcate.

An acquaintance with the remains of ancient art inGreece and in Ionia, obtained by studying upon the spotthe principles of their construction, has been the chiefinducement with the author of the following translationto devote his leisure to the examination of those hooks ofVitruvius, in the illustration of which such a knowledge isnot only particularly applicable hut essentially necessary.It is obvious that the objections to the various readingsapply almost exclusively to those parts of the author whichrelate to the civil architecture of the ancients; for whichreason these alone have been selected for examination.