A rare treatise on interior decoration and architecture: Joseph Friedrich zu Racknitz's Presentation and history of the taste of the leading nations

Abstract

"This volume translates Joseph Friedrich von Racknitz's Presentation and History of the Taste of the Leading Nations in Relation to the Interior Decoration of Rooms and to Architecture, a rare and little-known treatise that traces an early global history of design and ornament"--Provided by publisher.

Contents

Joseph Friedrich Freiherr zu Racknitz / Simon Swynfen Jervis -- Racknitz's Presentation and history / Simon Swynfen Jervis -- Racknitz and his Presentation and history : an assessment / Simon Swynfen Jervis -- Note on the translation -- Volume I. Presentation and history of the taste of the leading nations in relation to the interior decoration of rooms and to architecture -- Dedicatory letter -- Explanation of the vignettes and the end engravings -- Preface -- 1. Egyptian taste -- 2. Etruscan taste -- 3. Arabesque taste -- 4. The taste derived from the discoveries of Herculaneum, Pompeii, and Stabia -- 5. The noble Roman taste, combined with an outline history of architecture -- 6. Chinese taste -- Volume II. Explanation of the vignettes and the end engravings -- 7. Greek taste -- 8. Old German taste -- 9. Modern Persian taste -- 10. English taste -- 11. French grotesque taste -- 12. Tahitian taste -- Volume III. Explanation of the vignettes and the end engravings -- 13. Greek taste as it approached its decadence -- 14. Moorish taste -- 15. Turkish taste -- 16. Old French taste -- 17. Kamchatkan taste -- 18. Mexican taste -- Volume IV. Explanation of the vignettes and the end engravings -- 19. Ancient Persian taste -- 20. East Indian taste -- 21. Siberian taste, in conjunction with the Russian taste -- 22. Gothic taste -- 23. Modern, supposedly antique taste -- 24. Jewish or Hebrew taste.