coincidence in the remains of Grecian architecture which 
was not to be discovered amongst the vestiges of the art in 
Italy. 
When it is remembered that Vitruvius is the only ancient 
writer upon the science of architecture whose works have 
reached our times, an enquiry into the authority for admitting 
the various readings and interpolations may not be thought 
uninteresting: because, if that authority should be deemed 
insufficient, and it be made to appear that the reading of the 
manuscripts is compatible with his avowed practice of 
seeking amongst the edifices of Greece for the principles 
he disseminates, the ancient readings may, in many instances, 
be restored, and the text in some degree purified from the 
corruptions with which the early editors have loaded it. 
Former translators, in following the text of the printed 
editions, have propagated these errors, which, in many 
instances, are wholly subversive of the principles of 
architecture our author intended tó inculcate. 
An acquaintance with the remains of ancient art in 
Greece and in lonia, obtained by studying upon the spot 
the principles of their construction, has been the chief 
inducement with the author of the following translation 
to devote his leisure to the examination of those books of 
Vitruvius, in the illustration of which such a knowledge is 
not only particularly applicable but essentially necessary. 
It is obvious that the objections to the various readings 
apply almost exclusively to those parts of the author which 
relate to the civil architecture of the ancients; for which 
reason these alone have been selected for examination.