First Sentence

"The book that I now offer to the public contains descriptions of these buildings; to which I add reflections on the general principles of architecture, and on what is called good taste in art; without entering into detail on the various branches of knowledge necessary for an architect, or on those arts that enter into the construction of buildings, on which Vitruvius, Palladio, Scamozzi and other modern architects, both Italian and French, have written, and which they have extracted from the ruins of Greek and Roman edifices, some of which were still extant in their day, and of which some precious remnants are still left to us."