Sir William Chambers (1723–1796) was a Swedish-British architect with an unusual record. He designed fanciful manor house buildings and luxurious interiors as well as simple, rational works of functional architecture. After growing up in Sweden and studying in Paris and Rome, he worked mostly in England. He was a favourite of George III and was regarded the most influential architect of the late eighteenth century. Chambers was one of the founding members of the Royal Academy in 1768 and he published a number of practical as well as theoretical books on architecture, landscape and interior design. A Treatise on Civil Architecture was published in 1759 and is a handbook where Chambers explains the foundations of the art of building in a pedagogical way. Even today, it serves as an excellent guide to classical architecture with concise texts and beautiful illustrations of different kinds of buildings and their functions. 2023 will mark the 300th anniversary of William Chambers’ birth. This will be commemorated through this reproduction of one of his most important works, among other ways. His books are highly relevant to contemporary architecture and garden design.

The book has a newly written preface by Frank Salmon.