Size: 8x0x11; 1997 Scala Books (London), 8 3/8 x 10 7/8 inches tall hardcover

Size: 8x0x11; 1997 Scala Books (London), 8 3/8 x 10 7/8 inches tall hardcover in publisher's unclipped dust jacket, pale blue paper-covered boards, dark blue lettering to front cover and spine, pictorial endpapers, copiously illustrated with color photographs and black-and-white drawings, index, 215 pp. Very slight rubbing to covers, with minor bumping to the tips. Otherwise, a near fine copy-clean, bright and unmarked-in a near fine dust jacket which is nicely preserved and displayed in a clear archival Brodart sleeve. Note that this is a heavy book, so additional postage will be required for international or priority orders. ~N~ [3.5P] A pictorial history of the famous French chateau of Nicholas Fouquet, Louis XIV minister of finance. This chateau set the standard for the renovation of Versailles under Louis. Built between 1658 and 1661 for Nicolas Fouquet, Marquis de Belle Île, Viscount of Melun and Vaux, the Superintendent of Finances of Louis XIV, the château was an influential work of architecture in mid-17th-century Europe. At Vaux-le-Vicomte, the architect Louis Le Vau, the landscape architect André Le Nôtre and the painter-decorator Charles Le Brun worked together on a large-scale project for the first time. Their collaboration marked the beginning of the Louis XIV style combining architecture, interior design and landscape design. The garden's pronounced visual axis is an example of this style.