SAUNDERS, George.

A very good copy, with its original edges, of the first edition of this unusual, beautifully illustrated architectural book entirely devoted to European public theatres, with innovative detailed remarks on phonics and architectural acoustics.

George Saunders (1762-1839) designed, among others, the façade of the New Street Theatre, in Birmingham, which is still visible today, and an extension of Montagu House for the Trustees of the British Museum. Based on the idea and designs of Dumont’s ‘Salles de Spectacles’, ‘Treatise on Theatres’ sought to ‘forward an inquiry into the essentials of a good theatre’, at a time when the building of theatres was becoming widespread. Saunders inserts his work in a recent avenue of investigation on theatres – started by Count Algarotti in 1762, and continued by Noverre and Patte – seeking to illustrate how to build functional theatres not ‘inimical to a beautiful form’. The 100-page introduction is especially important for the section on the theory of architectural acoustics and phonics (e.g., the ‘cubical form’ of sound), and because Saunders was ‘was the first to publish results of tests he had undertaken on theatre acoustics. He was familiar with Patte’s guide [and like him provided diagrams of acoustic models] and also with the first modern scientific work on acoustics by the French mathematician and music theorist Marin Mersenne (1638) whose scientific approach he adopted’. He also ‘used his understanding of acoustics to produce designs for both an “Ideal Theatre” and a similar opera house which also incorporated the latest ideas on protection against fire, including staircases constructed entirely of stone and enclosed by walls’ (Addis, pp.3-4).

The Introduction also discusses the various parts of the theatre (boxes, pit, galleries, also specifically for opera), and an examination of the architectue and design of 19 European theatres. These are Villa Simonetta, near Milan, ‘as it appeared 1650’; the theatre in Pompei, Teatro Farnese, Parma; Teatro San Carlo, Naples; Teatro Argentina, Rome; Teatro Regio, Turin; Grand Theatre, Bordeaux; Teatro Comunale, Bologna; Teatro San Benedetto, Venice (the ‘bottle theatre’, defined as ‘an absurdity’); Teatro Cavalieri Associati, Imola; Teatro allla Scala, Milan; ‘Theatre Italien’, Paris; Odeon, Paris; and Covent Garden Theatre, London. For each, Saunders provides the dimensions and structure, as well as notes and personal comments on its construction, functionality and decoration, including acoustics and the distribution of space (e.g., ‘the public should not submit to be crowded into such narrow seats’). A most interesting work in the history of entertainment architecture.