Review: Da Gerusalemme a Pechino da Roma a Vienna: Sul Saggio di architettura storica di J. B. Fischer von Erlach, by Marco Folin and Monica Preti

Marco Folin and Monica Preti's Da Gerusalemme a Pechino da Roma a Vienna: Sul “Saggio di architettura storica” di J. B. Fischer von Erlach is a book about a book: the Entwurff einer historischen Architectur. Precursor of the global turn in architectural history, the Entwurff was unprecedented when it was first published in 1721 by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach (1656–1723), architect of the imperial Habsburg court. It was designed as an oblong folio, divided into five books. The first illustrates “Ancient Jewish, Egyptian, Syrian, Persian and Grecian” structures; the second, ancient Roman buildings; the third, edifices “of the Arabians and Turks” as well as modern architecture...