Vitruvius. De architectura, 1521.

Stuart & Revett. The antiquities of Athens, 1762-1816.

Watkinson holdings in architecture and archaeology span five centuries.  Highlights include:

16th c. treatises:

• early editions of  Vitruvius’ De architectura, including the first edition printed in the vernacular, Como, 1521
• Serlio’s Tutte l’opere d’architettura, 1559
• Vincenzo Scamozzi’s Discorsi sopra l’antichita` di Roma, 1582

18th- and 19th-century expeditions and plate books:

• Stuart and Revett’s Antiquities of Athens, 1762-1816
• Saint Non’s Voyage pittoresque … de Naples et de Sicile, 1781-1786
• Description de l’Egypte, 1809-1827, commissioned by Napoleon I
• Robert Wood’s The ruins of Palmyra, 1753
• Piranesi’s complete works
• Charles Garnier’s Le nouvel Opéra de Paris

Other highlights of the collection:

• early illustrated works on Palladio
• Humphry Repton’s Sketches and hints on landscape gardening, 1794
• 19th century British and American architecture periodicals
• extensive holdings by Gothic Revivalist A.W.N. Pugin

American architectural classics:

• Abraham Swan’s The British architect, 1775, the first book on architecture printed in the Colonies 
• Early builders' handbooks: works by Asher Benjamin, including The American builder’s companion, 1806, and Minard Lafever.
• Architects' pattern & theory books: Samuel Sloan’s The model architect, many works by Andrew Jackson Downing
• The J. Cleveland Cady Collection, a rare example of an extant 19th-century architect's library.

20th-century material relating to Meso-America.