Wren's 'Tracts' on Architecture and Other Writings

the long version

Wren's "Tracts" on Architecture and Other Writings is the first scholarly study devoted to the theoretical work of one of the most important architects of early modern Europe. Trained as an astronomer, Wren applied seventeenth-century scientific methods to his investigation of ancient, medieval, and Renaissance architecture. From his analysis of ancient buildings, he posited a new version of the origins and development of the Classical style, thereby becoming one of the first to challenge theoretical principles of architecture that had been upheld since the fifteenth century. This edition of Wren's architectural writings includes, for the first time, accurate annotated transcriptions of the texts.